Here are some ways to celebrate New Year's Eve and make the most of New Year's Day:

Dinner at Ashley's at the Capital, with reservations starting at 5 p.m. ($125 per person or $175 per person with wine pairings), is a seven-course tasting menu that includes leek and potato soup with crabmeat and white truffles and caviar with buckwheat cakes and creme fraiche. A parting gift includes fried black-eyed peas to bring luck and prosperity in 2012. For reservations call (501) 370-7011.

Cajun's Wharf will feature music by Cody Belew and the Mercers, along with party favors, an appetizer buffet from 7 p.m.-midnight and a midnight champagne toast. Cover will be $25, and doors open at 4:30 p.m. For more information call (501) 375-5351.

Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack's New Year's Eve party will feature Fayetteville-based pop-rocker Benjamin Del Shreve and band. Opening the 18-and-over show at 9 p.m. will be Magnolia-based pop-punk rockers Belair and melodic pop-rock group Care Worn of Bald Knob. Tickets are $15 in advance at http://www.ticketalternative.com/Venues/37.aspx. For more info call (501) 372-7707. 

The Rev Room's 18-and-over event, Fireball 6: The '80s Party featuring The Venus Mission & Friends, starts at 9 p.m. Tickets to are $15 at www.ticketalternative.com/Venues/32.aspx. For more information call (501) 823-0090.

Crowne Plaza Little Rock will feature the music of the Big John Miller Band from 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.A two-person package that includes hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, party favors, champagne toast at midnight and a guest room for $149.99 plus tax. Just want the party? It's $50 per person. Dinner specials are $20.12 per person in Cafe 201 Restaurant. For reservations click here or call (866) 276-6648.

New Year's Eve Wine Dinner Dance, 8 p.m. until it's over at The Empress of Little Rock, is $250 per couple. It's an evening of four-course dining with musical accompaniment on an 1870s Steinway piano, wine, dancing in the parlor and entertainment. Custom-made Victorian mementos and a champagne toast are included. Attire is black tie. For more information click here, call Jessica Ledbetter at (501) 374-7966 or e-mail hostess@theempress.com.

Peabody Little Rock's annual New Year's Eve party, which runs from 9 p.m.-midnight, includes music by Tragikly White, Tyrannosaurus Chicken, Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers, Epiphany and Tomorrow Maybe, Tre Day, DJ G-Force and DJ Brandon Peck. Tickets are $45 in advance (available in the Peabody gift shop and by clicking here) and $55 at the door. A Duck Master VIP Club, which includes a four-hour open bar and breakfast snacks, is available for $149. Overnight packages start at $229 for two guests. For more info call (501) 399-8059.

SBiP's restaurant in Quapaw Towers, 700 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, will be serving a five-course dinner with a champagne toast. The menu includes harvest salad (dried fruit and candied walnuts over mixed greens), lobster bisque or chicken vegetable soup, lemon sorbet, filet mignon with rock lobster tail or stuffed chicken breast with basil pesto cream (both accompanied by steamed asparagus and Dauphinous potatoes) and dessert. Entertainment will be by Wine & Roses featuring William Stuckey. Cost is $75 per person and $125 per couple. For reservations call (501) 372-7247.

Vieux Carre, 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, will be open for dinner from 5:30-10 p.m., serving a varied Chef's Favorites menu. Reservations are available by calling (501) 663-1196. The adjoining Afterthought will open at 4:30 p.m. for happy hour. A New Year's Eve Party will start at 9 p.m., featuring music by the Good Time Ramblers. There will be party favors, festive decorations and a champagne toast at midnight. Cost is $20.

Vino's will showcase the music of FreeVerse, Interstate Buffalo and Justin Bank and the Knights of Pulaski at an all-ages show that will start at 8 p.m. Tickets, which include a champagne toast at midnight, are $15 for general admission and $25 for reserved seating. To purchase click here. 

In its first year offering alcoholic beverages, the city of Harrison is staging a New Year's Eve celebration featuring a performance by Arkansas' own Cate Brothers at 9 p.m. in the historic Lyric Theater, 115 W. Rush Ave.. Enjoy dinner at area restaurants now serving adult beverages including John Paul's, DeVitos, Coltons Steakhouse, Rooster's BBQ and The Wharf and an overnight stay at the restored 1929 Hotel Seville at 302 N. Main St., where there will be a concert after-party in the Terrazzo Dining Room and a balloon drop in the lobby at midnight. Tickets to the Cate Brothers show are $20 per person or $30 per couple. After-party tickets to the Seville are $20 at the door. Room packages begin at $235. Reservations may be made by calling (870) 741-2321 or clicking here.

Then there's New Year's Day:

Brunch at Ashley's at the Capital, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., $35 per person. This brunch includes Gulf shrimp and Arkansas rice grits with housemade andouille, fried green tomatoes with goat cheese and pepper jelly, sourdough buckwheat pancakes with black apples and cinnamon-orange whipped cream, brown butter catfish with spring onion, quinoa and pecans and blackeyed peas with braised cabbage and corned beef. For reservations call (501) 370-7011.