Holy hell, you guys, where did this year go?

I truly cannot believe we’ve made it to the last day of 2024. It seems like just yesterday I was eating cheese curds in my father-in-law’s living room watching John Mayer ring in the new year from a Japanese cat bar.

What can I say? I like to party.

But heading into 2025, I’m in my Paulina Gretzky era. And by that I mean I’m bundled up in multiple layers (waiting for the Polar Vortex) and drinking a glass of wine the size of my face.

If I’m being completely honest, though, 2024 has kicked my ass. It had its redeeming moments, sure, but overall, the year was not kind to my family and me.

So I, for one, cannot wait to sit in the living room tonight (mine this time, not my father-in-laws), eat some more cheese curds and ring in 2025. I have a good feeling about the year ahead, and I hope you do, too. Nothing but good vibes allowed here, friends!

You’ll drink to that? Excellent. Pop the bubbly and settle in. It’s Nightcaps time!

Kesha Is Manifesting For 2025

Have you decided on your New Year’s resolutions — how you’re going to instantly become a better, hotter and more successful person starting tomorrow?

Personally, I think the trick to any “resolution” is to start small and keep it realistic. If you start throwing a bunch of massive lifestyle changes at yourself all at once, you might stay motivated for the first week or two. But eventually you’re going to crash and burn — especially if the changes are very hard and very stupid.

Like these:

That said, if you haven’t finished your 2025 vision boards, you still have a few hours to get that done! Or else the whole year will be a waste. No pressure.

What’s a vision board, you ask? I’ll let Mac and Dennis explain:

Simple as that. All you have to do is say it, visualize it, believe it, and the Universe will make it happen! It’s called manifesting, and it’s like Santa Claus for grown-ups.

Here’s my vision board:

Turns out, though, even people who already have lots of money practice manifestation.

Take Kesha, for example. In a recent interview with On the Red Carpet, the pop star explained that she’s not really into resolutions.

“I’m kind of like a witch that goes into the woods, decides what I’m going to manifest, and then I’ll spend the year making sh*t happen,” Kesha said. “So in a way, I have resolutions, but, like, a little more bitchy and a little more witchy.”

So what is Kesha asking the Universe to bring her in the new year? It’s quite simple, actually.

“For 2025, I’m manifesting a sugar daddy and a yacht,” she said, “and I would like to be on my sugar daddy’s yacht in Italy as soon as possible, baby.”

OK, I changed my mind. I would also like to add a yacht in Italy to my vision board.

Probably not the sugar daddy part, though. I feel like my husband might take issue with that.

NFL Players Getting Engaged

Apparently, weddings are on the vision board for a couple of NFL players. We saw both Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Reaves propose to their girlfriends over the past week.

Penix put a ring on his girlfriend Olivia Carter just days after making his first NFL start (a 34-7 win over the New York Giants). And he went ALL OUT — with “MARRY ME” spelled out in gigantic block letters, at least a grand’s worth of red flowers and enough candles to burn down a house if left unattended.

Olivia is a former collegiate soccer player for the University of Nevada.

Not as fancy but with the same lack of subtlety, Reaves dropped to one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, Mikaela Worley, on the field after the Commanders’ latest win — which, ironically, was an overtime win over Penix and the Falcons.

Mikaela is a physician assistant and a former collegiate volleyball player for Louisiana-Monroe.

Also, I admire her fashion sense.

I kid, I kid. Congrats to the happy couples!

And speaking of happy couples…

Saquon Barkley Congratulated By Girlfriend After 2,000-Yard Milestone

The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday to clinch the NFC East title. Of course, the Cowboys would have won — if not for that pesky scoreboard.

But during the game, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season.

Imagine being a Giants fan and watching the season Saquon is having. It’s like breaking up with your girlfriend, and then she gets SUPER hot. She finds a filthy rich, successful new boyfriend, and you’re just the loser stalking her Instagram thirst traps from your burner account.

Poor Giants.

Speaking of girlfriends, Saquon’s longtime girlfriend Anna Congdon posted a sweet tribute to the two-time Pro Bowler on her own Instagram account.

You outshine the morning sun.

I’m going to borrow that caption for my husband’s next birthday and see how long it takes him to get mercilessly roasted by everyone he knows.

TikToker Gets Dress-Coded At Universal Studios

Quick story time: I went to a Catholic school for 13 years (K-12), so from the time I was 5 years old until 18, I had to wear an ugly, stiff uniform to school.

Every once in a while, though — as a treat — we were blessed with an “out of uniform day” or a “jeans day,” where we could wear whatever we wanted. Within reason, of course.

I could tell you 1,000 stories about funny uniform violations I saw over my developmental years, but one of my favorites happened in high school during Homecoming Week. We all loved Homecoming Week — not for the awkward “sock hop” that was held in the school gym that weekend after the football game, though. Rather, we loved Homecoming Week because it was five whole days of not wearing our uniforms.

Each day that week had a different “theme,” and one day during my sophomore year had a tropical beach theme. One of my friends was a huge Parrothead (RIP Jimmy Buffet), so he wore a Margaritaville T-shirt that he had recently brought home from a family vacation.

The shirt had a picture of a tiki hut on it with various tropical animals and, in very small font on top of the hut, was a sign that read “Margaritaville.”

The nuns didn’t like that one. (Which didn’t make sense when you think about it. Because if there’s anything Catholics love more than popping out babies, it’s drinking alcohol.) But instead of changing out of that shirt, he simply covered the “Margaritaville” sign with a small piece of masking tape that read, “MMMMM, Iced Tea!”

Anyway, I’d expect this kind of authoritarian rule from a Catholic high school. But did you know there’s a dress code at Universal Studios?

A TikToker named Alexa learned that lesson the hard way when security asked her to remove a T-shirt that read, “Women don’t owe you sh*t.” A clip posted to the social media app showed her putting on a sweatshirt to cover the forbidden garment.

“Apparently you can’t wear @CHNGE shirts,” she wrote, apparently trying to frame this incident as a grave injustice.

CHNGE, for those who don’t know, is an ethical clothing brand focused on making clothing that promotes various social justice issues.

But apparently, park security was worried that the woman would remove her sweatshirt once they let her go. Because a follow-up video showed Alexa handing over the inflammatory item to a security guard, after which she’s given a card bearing the words “restricted item.” Turns out, Universal has a “coat check,” of sorts, where they’ll store all your contraband. 

Women don’t owe you, sh*t, Universal Studios! (Except our expletive-ridden clothing items.)

According to the Universal Studios dress code, visitors are not allowed to wear “clothing likely to incite a disturbance or display offensive language or content.” Disney has a similar policy — for obvious reasons. Despite what the weirdo Disney adults will tell you, it is a children’s theme park, after all.

Up until recently, the parks would simply allow people to cover up their inappropriate clothing with a complimentary T-shirt. But since influencers kept taking advantage of this policy just to score a free T-shirt, I’m told Disney doesn’t give away shirts for free anymore.

Now, the influencers will have to pay $45 like the rest of us.

Jason D. Found The Worst Music Video Ever

Last week, I shared with you the best worst music video I’ve ever seen in my life: “Gucci Gang” by Lil Pump. And no, “best worst” wasn’t a typo. The video is so horrendous it’s actually incredible.

Jason Writes:

I know you didn’t ask for it, but I see your Lil Pump “Gucci Gang” and raise you T-Baby “It’s So Cold in the D.”

Amber:

I almost have no words.

The sad thing, though, is that if you just up the production quality on “It’s So Cold in the D,” you have …Sexxy Red. And she made millions off this trash.

(DO NOT WATCH THIS VIDEO AT WORK OR IN FRONT OF CHILDREN.)

And after whatever that was, I think there’s only one thing to say:

And now for a jarring transition…

One More Thing: Remembering Aaron Brown

If you’ll allow me, I’d like to end today’s Nightcaps with a quick tribute to one of the best journalists I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

By now, you’ve probably heard that legendary anchor Aaron Brown died over the weekend. He was best known for his live coverage of the 9/11 attacks from CNN’s rooftop in Manhattan, for which he won the Edward R. Murrow Award.

I was fortunate enough to have Aaron as an instructor while I was a graduate student at Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School. I’ll admit that his evening class was never one I looked forward to attending. Sure, his vast experience and his dry sense of humor made for an entertaining lecture. But Aaron’s methods were humbling, and the class was hard.

He challenged me daily. He pushed me to dig deeper and to never settle for less than the best I could give. 

“Why be average,” he would say to me, “when you are capable of being exceptional?”

Even when I turned in a script that I thought was brilliant — a masterpiece of language — Aaron would read it carefully, pick it apart, and then hand it back to me for a re-write. 

As frustrating as that revision process could be, he nailed it every time. He was right: it could be better. And there was nothing more satisfying than turning in that final product just to watch him smile and say, “There it is.”

He made me a stronger writer, a deeper thinker, a better journalist. Aaron Brown was exceptional.

OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m.

Follow me on X / Twitter at @TheAmberHarding or email me at Amber.Harding@OutKick.com.