A Favorite Things Party

So I can't take credit for coming up with the idea of a Favorite Things Party--
I found the idea on "Pinterest"--
loved it and ran with it.

What got my attention is the idea around the party
that by sharing our "Favorite Things"
we can get to know each other better.
What held my attention is how easy it sounded to throw a party together!
It's not expensive,
and can be easily tailored to fit any budget or group of friends.

In my efforts to live our 2012 Family Motto of
"Don't Suck"
I thought this could be a fun way to reach my goal
of not sucking.

So I made some lists--
who I wanted to invite was first.
Since my purpose in hosting the party was get to know
more women that I barely know
half of the guest list was made up of those gals.
The other half was made up of women that I know are comfortable
in their own skin and would have no problem welcoming the newcomers;
aka "my friends".

Does that sound cheesy or contrived?
That's not what I was going for,
but seeing it written makes it seem like it was less
than just wanting to widen my circle of friends.

Next, I planned the menu.
Since I was hosting this at lunch time,
I went with something easy--
a salad bar.
Lettuces, spinach, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced zucchini,
carrots, sprouts, etc.
Lynnel brought a fruit bowl, cuz she's awesome like that.
And I had some soft rolls from Whole Foods.

The invitations.
At first I wanted to go all out and use the Sound of Music's
"Favorite Things" song
as my inspiration.
Brown paper, velum, blue ribbon--
but we had a stretch of bad weather and I didn't make it out of the house
to get the needed supplies.
So, I sent out Evites instead.
Not as impressive, but very convenient and Free!
I just had to get everyone's email address.

Included in the evite was the instructions on what a
"Favorite Things Party" is--
choose your favorite thing,
it should cost less than $6.00 w/tax. (you can adjust that to your budget)
Buy 5 of them.
At the party,
write your name 5 times on 5 separate slips of paper
then toss it in a bowl/hat/basket/whatever.
To start the "Sharing",
the hostess goes first and introduces her favorite thing.
In my case,
it was boxed soaps.

I love them because they remind me of my Granma Guy.
She had them in her special drawer of her bureau,
and they smelled so nice.
She gave me some when I was a little girl
and I've loved them since.
So I bought an assortment of them from Marshall's for $3.99 a peice.

Okay, so after the Favorite Thing has been introduced by the guest who brought it,
they draw 5 names outta the bowl/hat/basket/whatever
and those 5 guests get one of them--in my case, it was boxed soap.

And on and on it goes
until each guest has shared her 5 things and every one has 5 things
that they didn't bring with them!

I loved this idea
and the results were just perfect too.
I got to know something different about my friends,
and they enjoyed it so much,
we sat around tossing out ideas for the next party:
They suggested making the next one in the evening
so more women can come,
making it a potluck,
rotating it around to other women's homes,
having one every month,
telling every one to invite 5 friends too--
all great ideas that I personally like.

Now, you can g**gle "Favorite Things Party"
and get more ideas from others who've hosted them too.
Some I've seen included party games,
different themes,
fun decorations and food as well.
I kept it simple
because that's the way I roll,
so if you decide to host a Favorite Things Party,
please post about it and share your ideas!