1. The new year gets off to a partly cloudy start with temperatures topping out at 36 degrees today, dropping to 18 degrees overnight, according to weather.com.
2. Happy New Year! I thought I'd kick off with a few fun facts about New Year's Day traditions. Most people ring in the New Year with family and friends. It's a long-held belief that the first visitors you see after ringing in the New Year would bring you good or bad luck, depending on who you keep as friends and enemies. Keep your friends close and your enemies far, far away!
3. I don't know what you're planning to eat today but food plays a big role in New Year's traditions. Eating black-eyed peas, ham or cabbage are thought to bring prosperity. However, stay away from bad luck foods like lobsters, because they move backwards, and chicken, because they scratch in reverse. It is believed that eating these on New Year's day might cause a reversal of fortune.
4. Did you make a New Year's resolution? According to this survey, 40 to 45 percent of American adults make one or more resolutions each year. The top New Year's resolutions include weight loss, exercise, quitting smoking and better money management. By the second week of January, 25 percent of people have abandoned their resolutions.
5. In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year's Day as a symbol of good luck for the upcoming year. What the heck, it can't hurt to try, right? Here's wishing everyone a happy, prosperous, and safe new year!
