Holiday Parties

We're hosting a combined Friendsgiving/Christmas holiday get together tonight.  Our group of friends is just as busy as we are so it was a struggle to come up with date but we managed to get about half of our group on board! Maybe we will get lucky and find another time to get together closer to Christmas with the whole gang! I'm sharing some Pinterest party finds and some tips to host a party without a hitch!

1. Plan A Menu - Make sure to choose dishes you know people can/will eat! Be sure to avoid any food allergies your friends may have and if you do have things with allergens be sure to keep them separate and labeled well! Our group of friends tends to do a pitch in style get together so we typically throw around ideas of what we will bring via text beforehand so we avoid having three of the same thing. 

2. Decide On Any Décor - You know I love an excuse to decorate! For the dinner this evening, I haven't done anything special but I did make sure to have our Christmas décor out! If we had gotten together before Thanksgiving, I probably would have tried some ideas I have found on Pinterest.

3. Move Furniture Around/Add Additional Tables/Chairs - Depending on your house or apartment you may want to rearrange furniture to allow for guests to mingle comfortably all in one area.  Our eat-in kitchen opens to the living room so we considered borrowing an extra table and chairs for our get together but decided we could make it work without it this time since 5 or 6 couldn't come.  We did move some extra chairs around to the living room to add additional seating there.

3. Make A Timeline For Day Of Prep and Cooking - Plan out each hour of the day (even if it's just relaxation time) so you don't get caught up in something and end up not prepared for guests to start arriving!

4. Enjoy spending time with your friends and family! I love getting together with our friends because it's such a nice time to just sit and chat with everyone and catch up.  So many of our friends in town have kids so it's also great getting watch as they grow older.

Find some helpful pins on my Holiday Get Togethers: From Friendsgiving to New Year's Eve Pinterest board here.






Hosting the get together is our day three activity in our advent activities!

Give Thanks!

Well November came and went in the blink of an eye.  Just this weekend, I realized it was the first weekend in so long that we truly had no plans beyond our weekly get together with Wyatt's Pa. It's no wonder this year is speeding by so quickly.  After Halloween, I made sure to change out my holiday decor to prepare for Thanksgiving and was ready to soak up every last bit of fall.

I never get tired of the view out of my office window.

We went to dinner with friends followed by a bon fire to get together for Don's birthday one weekend back in November.

We also had a Friendsgiving in Indy at Jen and Billy's house the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Lafayette got about 3 inches of snow that weekend so the trip down was gorgeous with a blanket of white on the ground.

We had Thanksgiving with Wyatt's family the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving.  The snow was almost gone for the more part, with only a little bit lingering around.  This was the view out Steve and Nancy's front door that evening.  It was such a pretty night, I had to snap this picture to capture it.

We met up with a few friends for a drink at the Black Sparrow on Thanksgiving Eve.  It is still a bit weird to me not to be at home in Washington at the famous Washington vs. Barr Reeve annual basketball game, but I it was so fun to hang out with friends in Lafayette.  We spent Thanksgiving day with my family in Orange County before returning to Steve and Nancy's to hang out with them and Judy so more.  Somehow it was Wyatt that convinced me to get out shopping on Black Friday, but we only went to a couple of stores and for the most part avoided the madness since we didn't make our way out until around lunch time. I began decorating and baking for Christmas and finished our Christmas cards that Saturday. I made Spritz with my new cookie press (will post more about those later) and made some sea glass inspired hard candy to take to Folly Beach with us.  On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we had a Friendsgiving with our Lafayettte friends and Don and Tracy's house.  Wyatt fried a turkey at his parents' house that day before we headed over for the most amazing meal.  Everyone did a great job.  The only picture I managed to get that night is of Connor (and Gavin photobombing it perfectly in the background!).

And somehow it's now December and January will be here before I know it!

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving is a time to spend giving thanks and appreciating what you have.  We were lucky enough to get to have two different Friendsgivings (on the same weekend no less) this year.  We got together at Devin and Jake's house down in Indy with all the girls from college one night and then the next day had dinner at Dan and Kalysa's here in town. It was so much fun!  I am sure I ate wayyyyy too much (delicious) food, but it was well worth it to spend some quality time with my favorite people!

Thanksgiving for us was a whirlwind trip.  I drove down to my parents' house after work on the day before Turkey Day so I could spend a little extra time with them since Wyatt had to work until 11 that night.  He drove down and picked up Allison on Thanksgiving morning and they met up at my aunt's house for the Easterday Thanksgiving with my mom's family.  We had lunch there and hung out for a while before hitting the road and heading back to Lafayette for Thanksgiving dinner with Wyatt's family.  It was a long two days but well worth it.  I enjoy every chance I get to spend time with family.  

Wyatt, Allison, and I with Papaw at Thanksgiving