As 2014 comes to a close I can’t help but feel optimistic. A fresh start is right around the corner, a new year filled with hope and promise. As the Counting Crows song says, “It’s been a long December, and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” Maybe next year I won’t wake up with so many hangovers. Maybe next year I can start writing that novel. Maybe next year I won’t get drunk and write “eat shit” on the tip line when my ex-boyfriend hands me my bar tab. (In my defense, I also left $20.)

New Year’s Eve I know I’ll spend New Year’s Eve right where I belong: behind the bar with a bottle opener in my back pocket and a martini shaker in my hand. There’s comfort in routine, and I like being sober as the new year starts, watching everyone else stumble into 2015 a blur of sequins, spilled champagne, and sloppy midnight kisses.

It’s been a long December and I’m grateful for so much; I love this life I’ve created. I am truly living in Never-Never-Land with a slew of Lost Boys and Girls. Through all the bar fights, piles of puke, shitty tips, brilliant tips, shitty customers, and wonderful regulars, I know that next year will most likely be exactly the same, so put on your fanciest beer goggles and get ready for another year of absolute bar havoc.