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Bring in the Year of the Dog!

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How are you celebrating the end of 2017 and the beginning of a whole new year? If you're not sure yet, we have a few ideas for celebrating Tacoma-style this New Year's Eve. There's the entire First Night festival downtown for spending the night out in the community, and you'll find some low-key suggestions below as well. Whichever way you celebrate, we hope you'll find something worth remembering from this year, and something worth looking forward to in the next. 

1. First Night Tacoma (25th Anniversary), Downtown Tacoma
Sunday, December 31st, 6 pm - the New Year!

We're still looking for volunteers for this year's festival! Everything from walking as a puppeteer to button checkers at venues! Sign up today! www.firstnighttacoma.org/volunteer

63 Likes, 3 Comments - First Night Tacoma (@firstnighttacoma) on Instagram: "We're still looking for volunteers for this year's festival! Everything from walking as a puppeteer..."

What is it?
First Night is Tacoma's annual festival to celebrate the New Year! Find free activities and performances as well as venues requiring a button for access (more on buttons below). 2018 is the Year of the Dog, so you'll see a fabulous dog theme including the Iditarace (a human-powered dogsled race at 9 pm!) and a Dog Town (for people only, I'm afraid).

First Night has everything from a Kid's Zone full of games, a scavenger hunt, rock painting, putt-putt golf, and all kinds of shenanigans, to late-night concerts and a performance by Pyrosutra to bring in the first moments of 2018.

Buttons: $15 day of the event/Children 10 and under are free. With your button you can access all the indoor venues hosting First Night events and performances (The Pantages, The Rialto, Theater on the Square, Urban Grace, The Pythian Temple, Lower Pythian Temple)

Where can I buy this button? Click here for a full list, or visit Bluebeard Coffee (you'll need some caffeine to power-up for the big night anyway) or the Parkway Tavern (squeeze in a game of shuffle board before you leave). 

Free Museums!: Visit the TAM, Children's Museum of Tacoma, and the Museum of Glass with your family for free with your First Night Buttons! 

What's happening when? Check out the Schedule of Entertainment 
image from @firstnighttacoma

2. Peaks and Pints New Year's Eve Cider Social, 3816 N 26th St
Sunday, December 31st, 11 am - 1 am

We're pFrieming of a Craft Christmas. ... #pfriembeer #craftbeer #BasecampProctor #tacoma

158 Likes, 6 Comments - Peaks and Pints (@peaksandpints) on Instagram: "We're pFrieming of a Craft Christmas. ... #pfriembeer #craftbeer #BasecampProctor #tacoma"

Peaks and Pints in Proctor is cozy, friendly, and delicious with a Western red cedar tap log pulling it all together. This New Year's Eve they'll feature their favorite ciders, including Finnriver, 2 Towns, Snowdrift, and more along with their entire bottle shop's worth of craft beer. If this is your year to go out and settle- in, give this a try. Champagne toast at midnight.

If that sounds close to fun, but you'd rather just go home, drive over to Pint Defiance for their Belgian New Year celebration at 3 pm. They'll have a selection of some of their favorite Belgians on draft. Try a sample at the bar, fill up a growler, or pick some pints from their bountiful bottle shop to carry home.  

image from @peaksandpints (who wouldn't want to celebrate with this crew?)

3. Night In: You + Pet + Netflix + Journal + Yoga
At Home: (insert your location here)
Time: it's all up to you

Not really feeling a night-out, mix-and-mingle kind of vibe for your last day of the year? I've been there myself (many times...). It might sound lonely, but I've loved some of the years when I've just been home with the dog while Michael worked late. We (the dog and I) watch whatever movie or BBC mystery series we feel like, eat snacks (toaster pastries anyone?) listen to music, and close to midnight I write in my journal, reflecting on the year, what's happened, what I remember, what I'm hoping for while the fireworks go off in the neighborhood. It's peaceful. Sometimes that's all you need, or even all you can really stand. If that's what you're feeling this year, consider it OKAY! Also, try some Yoga With Adriene to keep you company. Maybe her recent "Cozy" practice would suit for your New Year's Eve in (includes her lovable pal Benji!). If you like it, make sure you don't miss TRUE, the 30 Day Yoga Journey starting on Monday, January 1, 2018 - a new free yoga practice released each day for 30 days! I'd say that's a pretty good way to end one year and begin another.

Whether you celebrate by wandering the city at First Night, go out to a favorite Tacoma pub, or stick closer to home this year, we hope you find what you're looking for! Happy New Year!

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Hi, I'm Michael Duggan, a licensed broker with Windermere Abode. I would love to help you through the home buying or selling process. Please contact me to set up a meeting and get things started.