past, present, future: confetti
3, 2, 1...
Happy New Year’s Eve! Confetti is one of those things you typically experience at special events—New Year’s celebrations, weddings, sports games, concerts, and Broadway shows. I still have confetti from concerts and shows from years ago—little souvenirs I grabbed mid-air and pocketed before they hit the ground.
Sometimes confetti is paper, soft and wrinkled. Sometimes it’s plastic and shiny, catching the light as the glitter-like pieces drift down from above. It’s always breathtaking the moment confetti explodes into the air (if not startling), and there’s a moment of peace as the confetti flutters down like leaves in the wind. For me, this moment is quickly followed by thoughts of how long it will take to vacuum (sweep?) all of the confetti once it’s served its purpose and goes from being something magical to…litter. Even still, confetti is symbolic and can add a special touch to an already special moment.
Confetti comes from the Latin past participle of conficere, meaning “to prepare, compose, or make ready.” In French, the word took on the sense of “preserving,” as in confit (preserved meat) or confiture (jam). In 18th-century Italian, confetti meant “little sweets,” and in England, the word “comfit” described nuts and seeds coated in sugar.
In literature, the first reference to confetti dates back to the 14th century in Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron novellas. Confetti used to be candy-like confections made from dried fruit, honey, seeds, and nuts, which were thrown around during parades and celebrations. It also consisted of coins, fruit, eggs, candy, and mud balls. Yes, there were incidents. In Italy, sugared almonds were a popular form of confetti, and are known to have inspired the name.
The confetti we know today was invented by Enrico Mangili, a textile mill owner from Milan, in 1895. He gave his employees paper from the trays of silkworm eggs (which were used to help the eggs hatch) to throw during Carnival. This paper confetti was a much gentler item to toss, more affordable, easier to clean up, and more colorful.
Today, plastic and paper confetti are still in use. You can find confetti in over 2,000 different shapes. With manufacturing technology, a wide variety of shapes, words, colors, and finishes can be created.
However, there are even more replacements and ideas for confetti. Because plastic confetti (polyvinyl chloride, or PVC) can take a thousand years to break down, alternatives like leaves, flowers, birdseed, or rice are great options.
You have likely also seen digital confetti on your screens when you type in words like “Congratulations” or “Happy New Year” into an iMessage, or in a celebratory email, or when you complete a task online.
This year, for the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, people’s wishes will be added to the confetti that floats down from above. You can also share your wish on their mobile Wishing Wall or on social media using #ConfettiWish.
Ultimately, because much of confetti used is not biodegradable (though some paper confetti can decompose in 2-4 months or shorter depending on the weather), moving toward more earth- and animal-friendly confetti on a larger scale (at sports events, NYE celebrations, etc.) would be a more thoughtful approach. And as we’ve seen over time, the material confetti is made up of has changed while the symbolism and celebratory connotation of confetti largely remains the same.
Fun facts:
🎉 Tonight, it’s expected that 3,000 pounds of confetti will be dropped in Times Square from seven different locations. If you’ve ever wondered how they time when to drop the confetti since it takes time to float down, it’s released a few seconds before midnight.
⏱ Last year, I wrote about the Times Square New Year's Eve ball drop—more fun facts in this!
As we get closer to the pub date (1/10/23), I have some very fun updates to share.
🎉 Lunar Love is a January Book of the Month Main Selection pick!! It's not every day you get to make your own book a Book of the Month box selection 😭 🌙💙 BOTM was the first book club subscription I was ever a part of, and to now have LL be included in this way (and to have it as a hardback!) is so incredibly special.
I'm beyond grateful to my entire team at Forever and to Book of the Month for this opportunity, as well as my editor, Alex Logan, and agent, Ann Leslie Tuttle. There are so many people involved with putting a book out into the world and I’m grateful for every single one of them. And so many thanks to the incredible Carolyn Huynh for her beautiful words, including: "Lunar Love will leave you seeking out rats and snakes when it comes to love (and yes, please take that out of context). After all, animals can’t ghost you, can they?" And I agree, please take that out of context 😂📚 Lunar Love was included in some very nice round-ups, including POPSUGAR, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, The Nerd Daily, and Buzzfeed.
💬 There have also been more nice words from authors, including Amy Lea, Kerry Winfrey, Hannah Orenstein, Sarah Hogle, Lynda Cohen Loigman, Amy Poeppel, and Farah Heron.
🗓 There are a few fun events on the calendar! My in-person launch event will be at The Bookshop in Nashville. I am also excited to be participating in the 11th Annual Movable Feast Weekend. Keep an eye out for more events (I’ll be updating my Events page on my website).
📘 Lunar Love is still available for pre-order and will be out on January 10, 2023 (so soon!). If you would like *~personalized, signed, and stamped~* copies, you can order those now from The Bookshop. AND it'll come with a custom foodie postcard!✨
As a reminder:
For personalized copies, pre-orders must be placed by January 5, 2023.
Pre-orders placed after January 5, 2023 will be signed and stamped only.
That’s all for now! After tonight’s countdown to the new year, another countdown begins (10 days to Lunar Love)!
Cheers to the last few hours of 2022 and to a warm welcome of 2023! 🥂
Talk to you in the future,
Lauren
Keep following the thread on Twitter and Instagram and Goodreads
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