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A Toast to the Future

Originally published December 31st, 2020

I’ve loved New Year’s Eve ever since I was a kid. It was so much fun to see my parents get all dressed up to go out with friends, and on New Year’s Day, I’d get to play with the paper crowns and hats they’d been given the night before. They also brought home noisemakers, which I used judiciously until a certain point in the day. I couldn’t wait to be old enough to go out and ring in the new year with the grownups.

Jim and I usually celebrate New Year’s Eve by going out to one of our favorite restaurants and then heading to an event with live music and dancing – bonus points if it’s vintage-themed. We both love special occasion clothes, so I always make or buy a new outfit for the holiday season. This being 2020, my holiday outfit is a fancy bathrobe – I guess “dressing gown” sounds a bit more elegant. I got the fabric at Hamed in NYC last year, found a pattern online, and put the whole thing together earlier this month. Added a few of my favorite vintage baubles, some heels, and a bottle of bubbly and it became a photo shoot waiting to happen.

Dyana Neal in a pink robe and mask
Dyana Neal in a pink robe and mask
Bottoms Up!
Bottoms Up!

2020 has been quite a year. We’re grateful for our jobs, good health, and the support of our loved ones, but it’s been very hard to watch so many people suffering, including some of our nearest and dearest. Here’s hoping 2021 brings much brighter days, and thanks to all of you who have supported WBJC in 2020. You are the silver lining in this dark cloud of a year. Cheers!

Hi – I’m Dyana Neal, WBJC’s midday announcer since 1993. I love classical music of all periods, but am especially drawn to early 20th-century Russian pieces and all manner of vocal works, the latter probably because I’m a singer.