New Year’s Eve rundown: Jennifer and I kicked off the night with a fantastically filling dinner at Fogo followed up with some people watching along 16th street then dessert and drinks at the Brown Palace Tavern. Did you know the Brown Palace is the only place in Denver (that we’ve found) selling authentic, French macarons? Well they are…but they’re sold under the pseudonym “Almond Macaroons”. While they were deliciously rich, crispy and worth the $10 price tag, they fell short of the real deal found only in France and at Miette, a quaint little pastry shop we frequent in San Francisco. Business tip: open up a French bakery in Denver and sell authentic macarons. We’ll buy enough to put your kids through college.

So after a failed attempt at getting into the private party at the Thin Man (if only we’d remembered our techno-Victorian garb), we met up with a dear old friend at the charming Horseshoe Lounge which happens to be next one of my favorite eateries in uptown, Jonesey’s. The Horseshoe’s decor is straight out of a highschooler’s basement party circa 1995 complete with an aspiring DJ spinning fem-friendly hip-hop dance tracks, grandma’s old furniture, a pool table serving as extra seating and Schlitz by the can. Naturally, we felt right at home.

Jennifer’s younger sister and her crew caught up with us there around 10:30 and after many, many $10 bottles of champagne, embarrassing dance moves and a late countdown (I think we were behind by 5 minutes or so), we toasted in the New Year and made it back to Mortimer by 2 a.m.

I wish you all many blessings and much prosperity in 2010!