Annual Favorite Things Party

For the past 6 years, our college bestie group has been getting together for a favorite things party! What is a favorite things party? Think Oprah giving her favorite things to everyone in the audience with overflowing glee, except we all take turns being Oprah. And except we all only give 1 or 2 items. And except we aren’t billionaires so we have a spending limit. And except no one cries and trembles with starstruck disbelief. But still. 

Before I get into the gifts, let me introduce you to the cast of characters, excluding Jeni and I because if you don’t know us by now just stick around a while and I promise you will REAL soon. We were named the HBC probably 10 years ago by a random hotel patron and although it’s a cheesy and bizarre name, we don’t really tell many people what it stands for. You won’t ever guess either.

JV: She can be quiet or feisty and can throw down a hilarious one liner. A compassionate kindergarten teacher for a long time and loving mama to 2 girls. One brand new baby (see precious pic!) and one hysterically funny preschooler. Her husband is a high school friend of mine and lifelong friend of Jeni’s. She is fabulous and stylish and knows all about the best places to travel!

Al: She has been my ride or die since 8th grade. We cheered together, rolled (t.p.ed?) houses together, dealt with high school boyfriend bullsh together, were roommates at Texas Tech, built our first houses on the same street and the list continues. She is a principal and has been in education since we were probably way too young to be in charge of anyone’s children. 😉 She has two kids, a girl and a boy but many many many more “kids” through her job that she gives her all to every day. And just so you know, she knows more about football than your dad and your husband combined. 

D: The resident interior design guru, we all rely on her expertise to keep our houses looking like we know what we are doing. She can chop a pillow and style a shelf like nobody else and she is doing the interiors for both mine and Jeni’s new homes. She’s from a tiny town you have never heard of and is just the best person ever. She has two boys with a girl, pictured here, sandwiched right in the middle. She is care free and laughs a lot and brings a sense of chill and non emergency vibes to the group. 

Erin: As our token brunette and boy mom, this lady was lovingly added to the group long after the rest of us had already been buddies. She is married to Jeni’s husband’s twin brother, so obviously she needed to be initiated into the HBC immediately. She was a perfect fit, she went to Tech, she is the same age as us, she is real and funny and so easy to be around. I love her sense of humor and her overwhelming commitment to being #grateful and always filled with #gratitude. If you see a car driving around with a GR8FUL license plate, that is her. (jk of course)

Photo cred: Paige Walker Photography. Duh! 

On to the goods!!!! After ordering drinks, one of each and every appetizer, two enormous salads and two pizzas, we were ready to start opening our gifts! But first, dessert. However, dessert was brought during the gift opening process and I stressed quietly and obsessively over the ice cream melting before I got to dig in. My name is Paige and if there is a dessert near by, I think of nothing else. It didn’t melt and it was worth the wait. 

Tradition says that we must all open the same gift at the same time, the gift giver must watch and hope everyone loves it, then the gift giver takes a group photo of the recipients with their items. The gift receivers all look cute and normal except for Paige, tradition says that she must do something obnoxious in each photo. It’s in the bylaws. 

Al’s gift. Baublebar studs ($10!!!) and Mac Lipglass! YES SIR-EEEEE! These studs are the perfect amount of sparkle without being over the top and can be worn with jeans and a tee or a fancy dress! These nude glosses are just so very right. 

Next up, Erin’s gift. Heart sweatshirt. It’s like she read my mind. She tapped into my brain and knew the exact thing I would want and wear over and over and over to the point of being made fun of by friends who love me most. This does not mean I will get rid of my beloved Chaser heart sweatshirt. Nice try, Erin. But I will enthusiastically add this to my collection of sweatshirts that I hold so dear. I already wore it today. I mean, just look at me beaming. And how could I forget the gratitude journal, I almost forgot the gratitude journal!!!! #gratitude #grateful #blessed #gr8ful 

We are all wearing smalls except for Allison on the far right, she asked for a medium, I mean a smedium. 

JV’s gift. The coziest 1/4 zip pullover! This thing is going to get some major use! The neutral color is great, it also comes in a beautiful blush and a nice gray color that I love. It’s warm, it’s sherpa and it has cute pockets. What’s not to love?! Also it’s 20% off currently! Jeni, Dayme and I are wearing smalls. ***These are sold out right now*** I found similar great ones here, here, and here.  

D’s gift. Leave it to the designer to have the best wrapping paper, best overall wrapping job, best ribbon and most thoughtful gift. Dayme (pronounced Day-me for anyone thinking huh?) nailed it with these personalized makeup bags! They come in 6 colors and are seriously the perfect gift for any girl you have left on your list. But wait! There’s more! Inside these little bags we found, drum roll please……………….THIS!

Finally, it was the moment we had all been waiting for. What was the gift that Paige and Jeni went in on together? What have these new to the blog world ladies found? What secret gift have they been raving about and obsessing over for weeks? What is this expensive thing that Jeni accidentally threw away at the gas station before she even got to wear once, forcing her to have to buy yet another one?! The wait is over, we built it up, so please don’t be disappointed. But, for real, if you are disappointed over this “it” item that is constantly sold out and so cute, then I don’t know if I can be your internet friend anymore. And I really like being your internet friend.

BANGLES!!!!!!!!!! But not just any bangles!

Let’s all take a minute to learn about these beyond great stack of bracelets. Ok? Ok.

These are all weather bangles. Weightless. Soundless. Waterproof. TSA proof. They suggest that as you put them on you affirm your intentions for the day and when you remove them you fill yourself with thoughts of gratefulness. #grateful #gratitude #gr8ful They also suggest saying the serenity prayer when you put them on. Flexible and filled with gold dust filament, you just can’t go wrong. It also needs to be known that these come in rose gold, which is next on my wish list, and silver. We are all wearing medium here except for Jeni, who opted for a small. These are comfortable and not at all bothersome. Once you own these bangles you will want to wear them all the time, people keep asking me what they are and where I got them because they are that cuh-ute!

Now that you have seen everything, you need to know that we are having a super easy to enter giveaway on our instagram page! So head on over there and enter!  You can click on the instagram camera icon at the top of the home page, or search styleduplicated in instagram.  Thanks and good luck! 

I leave you with this piece of advice. Put time in and nurture your relationships with your girlfriends. Whether you have been friends since elementary school or you just met a few months ago. Having even one solid friend that you can turn to for advice, venting, laughing and going through life with is one of the biggest blessings life has to offer. We are all busy, I know this, I live this, boy do I freakin live this, but I try and make time to text or call one of my friends every day. I’m not talking about HBC either, we have a group text that sounds more like a constant ringtone. So reach out to that girl you have lost touch with or haven’t seen in a year, go to dinner, chat on the phone, go get some drinks, I promise you will be glad you did.