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14th Annual Christmas Pajama Party
Pajamas: Lilly Pulitzer c/o (top/bottom). All pajamas come in tank and short options. Matching slippers, robes, and blankets!
I
n a blink of an eye, I found myself hosting our 14th annual Christmas pajama party. It feels like yesterday when we started this tradition (the first year was not pajamas but we quickly realized it needed to be the following year and has stuck since!).
This was our first overnight party if you can believe it or not, mainly because we realized how much safer it is to stay the night and not drive home tired at 3 an, and now the Steffen house has enough beds and couches to accommodate everyone comfortably! I also think we just want more girl time, can you blame us? A big thank you to my friends at Lilly Pulitzer for providing pajamas and my friends at Flower Child for the food, all items that have become tradition for our party and help me with hosting – I can focus on decor and activities which I will share all in this post from what I served to what the agenda was for the night.
I create an excel list that goes over what I ordered, when to order and what ingredients to buy. It might sound extreme but I need this to be like clockwork when I do the same thing every year and I can also adjust notes to know what not to order again, or order less of if there were too many leftovers. My mother-in-law taught me this!
Also I must give my girlfriends recognition for showing up over these years and putting in the time and effort to make it to our 14th year another fun year for all of us – we missed one babe because life just happens and we missed her! Next year will be our 15th year and no one will be missing, we won’t let that happen! I mentioned we met through pageantry and they are not only beauties but their souls are so incredibly kind, funny, light hearted and so much fun, we have grown so much together over the years and I am proud to have them as some of the best girlfriends anyone could ask for!
It is an honor to host and see your friends clear schedules (ditch other parties) to make it to our traditional party. I hope this posts inspires you to create your own traditions and parties, reach out to friends and commit to each other – and remember the more the merrier, and who can show up can and those who can’t can come the following year, it’s just about being together this holiday season!
Here are some of my IG stories from the night –
The Activities
Set out appetizers, play the music, let the girls get changed into their jammies, and get comfy! We eat after 7 pm when everyone is settled in and we excitedly eat and catch up around dinner for at least an hour laughing and chatting. Then we move onto our big activity which takes us about an hour or two – photo time!
- Photoshoot time (tradition)
- Left Right Center game with $1 bills
- Gift exchange ($30-$40 value)
We eat some more, talk, and find ourselves tired around 1 am this year – which is way earlier than usual. We need to rally next year ladies.
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nd of course must share the funnest part of all, the photos we took from our little shoot in my photo studio. I need to remodel this next *wink* We laugh so much when we do this that it makes for a fun activity for us, we just keep going, have so a blast! Find yourself some friends who like to take photos and aren’t afraid to show their personality.
Pajamas: Lilly Pulitzer c/o (top/bottom). All pajamas come in tank and short options. Matching slippers, robes, and blankets!
The Menu
- Drink: Trader Joe’s Winter Wassail + Ginger Ale + Ice (thanks to Lauren).
- Appetizer: Cranberry Baked Camembert Cheese
- Dinner: Flower Child: Steak, chicken, gluten free mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli (c/o)
- Dessert: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Carmel apples, fudge, chocolate dipped chips.
- Breakfast: Coffee, cinnamon rolls (from AJ’s), breakfast casserole from Brenna.
I am obsessed with red and green during the holidays and I used my French steak knives I bought from last month’s trip!
I finally used the Laguiole Steak Knives I bought in Aix-en-Provence to use! These are authentic and there is a replica style sold at Anthropologie here (I think they are made in China according to the review, they aren’t stamped France but they are similar). Plates are from Ballard Designs collaboration I did a few years ago, faux garland is from Gardners (see the post on how amazing they are), and the hats are from Paper Source recently.
And just like that, another great party and memory in my memory bank. I hope you are enjoying this lovely season.
Remember there are so many women out there looking for lifelong friendships and all you need to do is reach out, invite some over and feel your heart fulfilled! Merry Christmas!
Diana Elizabeth always looks forward to hosting this party and she felt the Christmas season was too short – probably because she was gone for a lot of November, so she added another small party the following week – yes, this Friday. She hopes to add even more next year once the house is done.
Sommer
I love this party more than anything! The pajamas were beyond comfy, the food was amazing and the company was the best! I am so thankful for you and all our amazing babes!