Holiday Entertaining {Girls Night In}

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I love going out with my girls. There’s a local pub that is fantastic and fun to go to here in town. It’s low key and yummy…and expensive. A margarita is $7. A long island iced tea is $6. Yowzers.

This is why those sorts of outings are far and few between. Instead the BFF and I love to have girls night in. We’re actually having one this Friday, and I thought it’d be cool to give you all some ideas of how we plan our night in so maybe you can host something similar with your girlfriends. The great thing about girls night in is that they are usually affordable, FUN, and PJ’s are considered couture fashion (AKA: totally acceptable!)

Entertainment:

-We love renting games from Redbox. At $2 a night, this is a fun way for us to look like total dorks doing Mario & Sonic Winter Olympics 2012. For what it’s worth, we take it super seriously and also for what it’s worth, I suck at the rhythmic ribbon competition. Also? We get super psyched & competitive. Here’s a girls night in photo from earlier this year.

Megan was very excited to win that Mario Kart race.

-Watch cheesy chick flicks. Our recent favorites? Burlesque, Bridesmaids and Dirty Dancing. This is a good time to scour your DVD collection and dust off an oldie but goodie. Or again, Redbox is your friend.

-Talk. We talk a lot (right, Candy?) about anything and everything. And sometimes, that is truly the best entertainment.

Food & Drink:

-Pizza is always an economical choice. Locally, we have a place that offers pizza for $5.55 or Domino’s usually has carry out for $6.99. Another thing we’ve also done a lot of is BYON: Build your own nachos. One friend will bring tortilla chips, I’ll brown up some taco meat, another brings some queso and everyone else brings other toppings or drinks.

-We love to create our own cocktails. Usually they involve 1 liquor of our choice (lately it’s been cake or whipped cream flavored vodka) + soda. This keeps it simple, cheap and tasty.

-Or if you don’t want to bother with food, you could ask everyone to bring a dessert. Someone brings cookies, someone brings ice cream. The point is that everyone can pitch in, which makes it easy on the checkbook and stress free.

Location:

-Whether it’s at your house or your BFF’s, the main things I focus on are the 3 S’s: seating, scents and stuff.

• Seating: have ample seating for your guests to be comfy and lounge.
• Scents: If you don’t have time to clean your house before your girls arrive, scented candles are your best friend. Plus, instant décor!
• Stuff: Make sure you have plenty of stuff to eat & drink and stay entertained.

I hope those ideas help inspire you to host a girls night in. Hey, you can even host one and have them help you wrap gifts before Christmas. A girls night in is affordable, no fuss but much fun. Get to planning!

The above photo is of my girlfriends getting ready for their Mario Kart race to start. Look at how prepared they all are…love them. :)

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.