Every year my college friends and I get together for our annual “favorite things” Christmas. Now, we all know how hectic the holiday season is especially when you throw in kids, dogs, and the whole thing. So, we always plan this get-together after the new year. Last year because of illnesses we scheduled it in March, but we usually shoot for January. There are 12 of us that come to the celebration, and we’ve been doing it every year since 2011. We pick the date early in the year and you better have a REALLY good excuse to miss such an event since it is the only time all of us can get together every year! Now, there are many reasons why this is such a beautiful tradition. Of course, the main reason is to reunite and catch up, but two other wonderful parts of this tradition are that we wear our pj’s (a sleepover with my besties and a party I get to show up in pj’s to—sign me up) and because we each bring a gift to exchange. Now, here is how it works, everyone has a “favorite thing” that they bring 3 of. Then we all pick numbers out of a bowl and pick a gift when it is our turn. You end up walking away with three different gifts. We set a price limit before, so everyone has the same amount in their mind to spend on each of the items. If the limit set is $25 then you end up spending $75 ($25 on each of the items). There have been quite a range of gifts over the years from beauty supplies to beautiful nativity scene décor. Everyone was clearly obsessed with candles a few years ago because I think 9 out of 12 people brought a Bath and Body candle as their favorite thing. It is a time to catch up without any distractions from kids, husbands, pets, etc. and just be together. We reminisce about the good ol’ days and celebrate how far we all have come in our lives.

I hope you all have traditions with your friends and if you don’t, here is your nudge to start one. It doesn’t have to be centered around the holidays or include gifts because honestly, friendship is the best gift of all. I think building a community and a strong relationship with other women could be considered one of my core values—add creating my core values to my to-do list. I think we need friendship!  Friends build us up, are there to listen, encourage us when we are scared to take the leap, and cheer us on when we finally do. And…if you don’t feel like your friends do this for you, maybe that should be your nudge to find some that do. I promise you that once you do, your cup will overflow.

I thought it might be fun to share with you what everyone brought as their favorite things. There are links to purchase or visit the websites to purchase below. Some are local to KC and others you can purchase anywhere. I’m sure you can guess what my gift included, yes, a book…and no, not T-Rex and Tuck-ha. We made a rule a while back once some of us started having kids that the gifts couldn’t be child or parent related because there was a mix of moms/non-moms in the group. I truly cherish these annual get-togethers and can’t wait until next year. Let me know if you have any of these items already or can’t wait to try some. It’s usually fun to see how different everything is and try new “favorites” out. Do you and your friends do anything like this annually?

I hope you have a great weekend and as always, happy reading!