hosting galentine's with my girls

Lately I am loving any excuse to dress up and throw a party. There is just something about gathering together with your girls that boosts your confidence-- and reshapes your sense of reality at times too! It's so good for the soul, and apparently it's good for regulating our estrogen/progesterone levels as well! Just heard that on a podcast the other day (Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark-- check her out!) and thought that was important enough to share with all the ladies!

Anyways, my sisters and I actually started taking turns hosting monthly dinners at the end of last summer. I saw an idea on Pinterest about doing "cookbook club" where the hostess picks a cookbook and chooses the entree she will make and all other attending guests choose a side dish out of the same cookbook. I did not think it was necessary for all of us to try and acquire the same cook book every month so we just choose a theme and share our dishes beforehand so it flows with the rest of the meal.

The idea was to push ourselves to make things we otherwise wouldn't. It was meant to introduce everyone to feeling comfortable with hosting but also showing the importance of never arriving empty-handed to family functions anymore. We try to keep things low key so no one feels like they are pressured to compete with whoever hosted last. I would love to include some non-family members one day but since there are already 8 of us, it can get kind of crowded. But I still hope to start another group with friends and maybe do more arts and crafts kind of dates so we shall see how that fares if we ever get around to it!

Anyways, I digress. This month we chose to do a belated Galentine's dinner and I was hosting. I would have loved to write a separate post about my attempt at flank steak roll ups (from this website https://easybudgetrecipes.com/flank-steak-pinwheels/) but they did not turn out all that pretty. But I will reattempt at a later time and see if we can make some tweaks to do it right the second time! -- Tangent again. This is my life. Sorry!

In this post, I want to showcase all the Pinterest ideas I was able to bring to life via decor! I was doing research for a few weeks when I found out I would be hosting so my idea boards were full and I was excited to see what I could actually make work!

1. My top trend that I was obsessed with was BOWS everywhere! It just looks too cute and dainty and romantic. So I put them everywhere. On the candlesticks. Around the drinking glasses. As a folded napkin tucked into the tea cups. I could have done more but I promised my sisters I would tone it down a notch from the last time I hosted... so I tried to do just that!

2. Rose shaped ice cubes! So easy, a little extra, but too dang cute to pass up! I threw some strawberries into a few of them then just filled up the ice cube molds with sparkling strawberry lemonade. No fuss, no mess.

3. This one might not be for everyone but I thought the idea was darling-- canvas paper tablecloth with personalized names and art work! I did a trial run and loved how it looked but decided to use some personalized place cards instead that I threw together on Canva. Everyone took those home with them as I posted a cute picture of a memory I had with each guest on the back of the card. But I still plan on using the canvas as a tablecloth at another dinner party!

4. Lastly, a standing "rose tower" I guess is what I would call it? It was so simple to put together-- just stick a few stems into flower frogs and cover up whatever you use as a base with more bows and ribbons! This was the hit of the party for sure as I placed it up on our fireplace mantle so it was the first thing you spotted as you entered our home.

I am no perfectionist-- as you can probably tell by my photos! But I did try my best to make it a special night for all of us. The food was delicious, the company was fun and easy-going per usual. The desserts were phenomenal-- and left my heart racing all night as I typically do not eat much sugar on a day to day basis! But there were no regrets nonetheless.

If you ever get a chance to start a dinner club, do it! It can be intimidating at first but everyone will ease up after the first few meals. But until next time,

cheers to being nurtured by friendships and naumi flavors!

Ayla