Favorite Things Party

I have been to one 'Favorite Things' party before. We only had seven people, but it was so fun to exchange gifts and see what other people love. I decided that I wanted to throw one as well. And I figured I may as well do it for my birthday. However, in January of 2019, I threw my back out big time. It was so terrible and all I wanted for my birthday was to be able to walk around like a normal person. I did get that wish, but all thoughts of planning a party for myself slipped away.

Fast forward one year and I still wanted to have that party. There was nothing stopping me now. So I made invites and sent them out to a billion people. Well, not quite that many, but lots of people. I blurred all the lines between work, book groups, neighbors, and old friends. I just wanted to share this day with all the great people I know.

The nice thing is that I have a lot of helping hands, and when you say 'party,' everyone is willing to help. The younger girls put up streamers for me. They did a fantastic job.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do for refreshments. I finally figured that we should stick with the theme. I asked my kids what their favorite treat was and I made each of them for the party. June (whose favorite changes all the time) chose bananas and Biscoff. Robyn made her famous cookies (she makes the best....better than mine). Ivory chose cheese sticks. Daisy chose tiger butter, and Pearl chose Muddy Buddies. I chose pastries since I love them so. Since we had mostly sweet stuff, we also added a veggie tray and we wrote next to it, "Nobody's Favorite." :)

Camie Call was so nice to come over and help us get things ready. An extra hand is always useful with pastries, although I wouldn't make them if they were too tricky.

I even got a couple balloons to put outside so people could find the house. You can definitely tell it was January. At least it didn't snow on the day of the party.

Then people started arriving. It was so fun to have all these people I love come with their favorite items.

It filled up pretty well. I had no idea how many people would come, but we had just the right amount of chairs.

Then we got to the fun part. If you've never been to a favorite things party, it works like this: You bring three of the same item (each item should be under $10 so you don't spend over $30 total). Then you write your name on three slips of paper and put two into one bowl and one into another. When everyone is there, you give someone the bowl. They describe their item—why they like it and then they draw two names out of the bowl. Those two people receive that item. The third item goes on the table to be used later. Then the bowl passes to the right and it is the next person's turn. That means, by the time the bowl goes all the way around, your name will be drawn twice and you will have two new things.

Daisy was really helpful. She was good at running items across the room to the correct person. She did not participate in the game. The older girls did, but they had to buy their own items in order to be included.

By now, you have a table full of items. You take the second bowl and draw people's names. When your name is drawn, you get to pick an item off the table. Now that you know what everyone brought, you can pick something you think you'd like. We had so many fun things to choose from.

It was really a blast. At the end, you have three new items and you can exchange with other people if that works for both of you. Hopefully you go home with something that might be your new favorite thing. I hope everyone got something they liked.

A few people had to leave quickly, so I didn't catch everyone in the group picture, but just know that I adore every person in this photo. They are all worth knowing, and they are definitely my favorites.