These are a few of our favorite things…

Lashes and diamonds, ATM machines

Ok yes to all of those, but for real, our annual favorite things party with our best friends is quite possibly the most anticipated night of the year.

Sometimes we have it at a restaurant, sometimes we have it at one of our houses. The Mourton Manor was the obvious choice for this year’s soiree.

In case you are new here, and haven’t read the previous year’s favorite things blog posts, allow me to introduce to you the HBC.

Erin: Mom to 3 boys. Jeni’s sister in law, they are married to twin brothers which means a lot of togetherness. Oh and they are married to GREEK twin brothers, which means even more togetherness. It’s a good thing they go together like Tzaziki and chicken. Erin is building a spectacular home right across the street from Jeni and Nick. #familygoals

Dayme: Three kids, boy, girl, boy. She is the interior design expert that helps Jeni and I pull it all together while still keeping our individual styles in tact. Small town values, living in the middle of Dallas, juggling way too much daily and has an “it’s not that serious” attitude that I relate to and adore.

Jenny: Sweet as can be, but also no nonsense when necessary. Keeping kindergartners in line since the early 2000s with her charming and lovable energy. Great style, travels often, mom of two daughters, also a small town girl in the middle of Dallas.

Allison: Amazing elementary school principal with an impeccable voting record. My own personal ride or die chick since 8th grade. She still has cheerleading moves that will poke your eye out. Mom to a girl and a boy, she works her tail off with style and grace.

Jeni: blah blah, you know her.

Paige: blah blah blah, you know me.

We started this party off with some TJ’s Winter Wassail Punch and vodka. Holiday spicy and sweet. The first sip I hated, from the second sip on I was intrigued which quickly grew to obsessed and it’s the only drink I finished in it’s entirety. Add a cranberry and whatever that green thing is and you’ve got yourself a holiday cocktail for the non Pinterest mom. Amen.

A deep dive was done all over this merry charcuterie which Jeni did such a great job on, with a little help from her neighbor friend KK.

Each one of us brought a cocktail to share and a gift for everyone. It was originally started as our actual legit favorite things to gift each other, but now it’s acceptable to bring something we would like or know our girls would like. We have a $50 limit that we may or may not pay attention to. When it was your turn to give your gift, you also served your high quality craft cocktail.

First up, Jeni’s gift!

These keep your white claw, or red bull if you are into uppers like I am, cold for hours. See that bracelet printed on a piece of paper? That’s the most exciting part and something I have had my eye on for quite some time. So excited about this, but shipping got slowed down and they were delivered a day too late. Can’t wait to get my hands on this beauty!

Dayme wins for cutest drink presentation, which surprises no one. She put honey and crunched up soft peppermints on the rim of a wine glass, filled it with Prosecco and stuck a candy cane in there for some extra flair. The peppermint goes shockingly well with Prosecco!

We were all really happy about these beautiful arrangements from Botanical Mix! She killed it with this gift! She always gives a home decor item because that is where she shines. Someone commented on that and she said, “I mean, do y’all really want a tube of my favorite mascara, stick to what you are good at.” Word.

Botanical Mix

Erin made us a holiday mule situation. So cute with the apple and cinnamon stick garnish!

She brought the cozy with her gift this year! The blanket almost feels like a soft fuzzy liquid, the pants could not be more comfortable and she threw a box of sour patch in there and that, my friends, is my love language. Actually all of those are. She has warmed my 3 sizes too small heart.

Dayme may have taken first place for presentation, but JV got the gold medal for straight up yummy yum that yummy yum that yummy yum. Sometimes cheating is winning, (just kidding Blake, Kylie, Aven and Griffin) she went to Fireside Pies and picked up some Sangria and we couldn’t get enough!! Get this for your next party, I feel like I just got let in on DFW’s best kept secret.

Who doesn’t like fuzzy slippers? No one. Not one person. I’ve even caught Griffin shuffling around the house in these. They are incredibly soft and really warm! Wearing mine as I type.

This was some type of champagne and blackberry joint. It’s supposed to ombre down the glass in the most delightful of ways, but as you can see here, it just looks like tea. Pop to the clink to the fizzedy fizzle.

Principal Al gave us her favorite workout leggings (that do NOT cost $200 haha) and workout top. If anyone can find a great bargain, it’s Allison “Dave Ramsey” G. We all love it and three of us wore it yesterday! The pants are like butter.

Wrapping up the evening with a White Christmas Martini, was me, Paige. We were tired of alcohol by this point, so I’m the only one that tried it. I can assure you it is great and you should leave one out for Santa. My green sprinkle rim is clearly amateur as there are many displaced green specks that could use a search and rescue mission for presentation purposes. I’m a sloppy messy eater and unfortunately that has bled over into my cooking and mixology techniques. You can’t win ’em all, even if you are an enneagram 3.

My gift was loungewear because isn’t that all we wear anymore? The ride or die bracelets are me being sentimental and emotional. A token of true love and appreciation for the girls who lift me up when I’m in rock bottom’s basement, challenge me to be my best self, forgive me when a ghoul from some other dimension takes over me for a short period of time (inside joke from college, I’m not literally possessed), love me through soul crushing times and high five me in the victories and pinnacles of life. I would do, and have done, the same for them in a heartbeat. We ride out the hard times or die trying.

Start a tradition like this with your group of girlfriends, it’s the only guaranteed gift opening experience where you can confidently tear into the presents knowing you won’t have to fake excitement.