I threw my first Christmas Party last night! I have always loved this season, but this one has been especially difficult for myself and friends. Our studies have grown a lot harder and I feel like we have all been so focused on school that we haven’t had much time to see each other. We normally have weekly dinners together, but that fell out as the semester progressed and we got busy with exams and assignments.
So I wanted to throw a little something together to celebrate the end of finals and the end of this semester! This is particularly exciting for some of us as it’s the penultimate semester of our undergraduate careers. My finals this week were pretty brutal, but I am glad they are over and I can enjoy the company of my friends before we go our separate ways and enjoy the company of our families.
I wanted to keep the menu pretty simple since I wouldn’t have a lot of time to cook, plus it is a celebration so all I really wanted to eat was a bunch of junk food. I baked most of my cookies last weekend, partly for my enjoyment, partly for Andrew, and partly for the party so I mostly had to just throw thing in a crockpot or pull it out of the fridge!
The Menu
Appetizers:
- Toasted Ravioli, served with marinara dipping sauce
- Rotel Dip, served with tortilla chips (and whatever else you want to dunk this glorious spicy cheese dip with)
- Vegetable Tray, served with French onion dip and ranch
- Little Smokies, served in KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce
- Crackers, cheese, and summer sausage tray
Dessert:
- Banana Cream Pie
- Brownies, with green icing and sprinkles to look like Christmas Trees
- Milk Chocolate covered pretzels
- White Chocolate covered pretzels
- Peanut Butter cookies, with either a Hershey’s Hug or a Reece’s Peanut Butter cup in the middle
- Haystacks, which are butterscotch coated chow mein noodles and peanuts
Drinks:
- Hot chocolate
- Jello shots, stacked in the shape of a Christmas Tree
- Seagram’s Wild Berry, Strawberry Daiquiri, and watermelon flavored beers
- Various assorted vodkas, rums, juices and soda (I am no bartender)
My Outfit
A couple of weeks ago, I found this cute holiday skirt at Kohl’s that I just couldn’t pass up. It was originally $25 but I got it down to about $17 with some coupons that I had. I paired it with some black leggings since it’s a bit cold out and the skirt is a bit short, a black shirt, and some fuzzy polka-dot socks because my feet always get cold. If I were to have been going out, I would’ve opted for either some plain black flats or heels. I also had a green scarf to make the outfit less dark, but I ditched that because it kept getting in the way of my food, haha. Food before fashion!
The Party
We had seven friends over, which seems kind of small, but it was perfect for our tiny apartment. I’m not sure we could have fit many more. 
We ended up having waayyyy too much food. We didn’t even hardly touch the desserts I made!
We started out watching Jurassic World, though about halfway through we all got really chatty and didn’t pay much attention to the movie. It’s the booze talking. Then we did our Dirty Santa / White Elephant gift exchange. I ended up getting a cowbell. 
I keep teasing Andrew I’m going to ring it to make him come to me. We also gave out the presents we individually got for our friends.
We finished the night with Cards Against Humanity. Somehow earlier in the night, my grandpa’s racism came up as a topic of conversation, so I kept getting all the racist cards. My friends are terrible.
It was a really fun night. It’s something that I definitely want to continue in the future!
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It sounds like you had a really lovely night. The menu sounds so good (my mouth is watering!) and nothing finishes a party off quite like Cards Against Humanity! I’ve bought one of the expansion packs for Tyrone for Christmas because we love the game so much.
I keep forgetting that they have expansion packs. I gave Andrew the original last year for Christmas so I need to remember this for next year!
Yum, that’s so much food, and that sounds like a really fun party! I think that’s funny that you ended up with a cowbell. It makes me think of the SNL cowbell sketch, haha. Cards Against Humanity is always a great way to end a party, especially with a large number of people! I’m glad you had a fun time!
This post made me miss my friends. We have our own works and different lives now, so we hardly see each other. Your Christmas party sounds so fun and cozy. Perfect for catching up with friends.
And your cookies/brownies looks delectable ~ you must be good at baking :p
This party is a bit bittersweet for me because once we all graduate we will be moving so I won’t see them often. Being away from your friends is so hard!
Haha thank you! I am trying
This is the first time I’ve heard of Friendmas (I suppose this takes after Friendsgiving XD). I think it’s a neat idea to do AFTER finals. I’m glad to hear that you’re done with the semester and enjoying your break! The cookies look delicious and cute with the kisses on top! The menu sounds pretty good and probably kept everyone full for a while.
Your outfit is super nice! I love how Kohl’s have all of these awesome deals going on. It’s addicting to shop there when they always hand out $10 coupons XD. Cards Against Humanity is an awesome game.
Yeah it’s basically the same thing as Friendsgiving
the original plan was to do it the week before but it would have been just to crazy and I don’t think we would have enjoyed ourselves as much.
Oh my goodness yes. Those dang coupons get me everytime. I go in to JUST spend the $10 and leave with like three more things!
A lot of people talk about a Friendsgiving, but now seeing this makes me wish I had people to have a little friends’ get-together/dinner party. :3 Hopefully I’ll find allergy-friendly peeps close by soon.
Those cookies look delish. >.<
And despite the food being thrown together, it sounds like you had a pretty big menu!
It sounds like you had a wonderful time! 7 seems like the perfect number to have over. It’s still intimate but a pretty good number gathered. We had 21 over for Thanksgiving and I do not think we’ll be doing that any time soon, lol.
As for the abundance of food, you can always gift them to people or donate to a homeless shelter. The important thing to remember is that you didn’t run out of food, I’d say that would be worse!
Oh my goodness. I cannot imagine having that many people over and feeding them. I would be a nervous wreck! Kudos to you!
I sent a lot of the extra desserts home with friends so they could eat them or share with their families. The rest we’ve just been microwaving and eating as leftovers!
Thanks for your comment and for stopping by, Angie!
This is the first time I believe I have ever heard about friendsgiving or friendsmas. I guess I need to step up with the time and lingo.
The menu sounds rather tasty. I am sorry that you got stuck with all the racist cards. Haha, though that’s probably what would have happened to me as well. Overall; it sounds as though you had a great party. I really love the outfit you wore.
Hey! My feet get rather cold as well. I wonder if it has anything to do with bad circulation in our feet? It’s really weird.
I actually heard of Friendmas after I had planned the party, but I thought it was a cute name
I’m pretty sure mine is due to poor circulation. My hands and feet are always way colder than the rest of me! Though I am naturally pretty cold too.
I am sure it is poor circulation. I never had this problem ( so I believe) when I was younger, only recently have I been noticing this sensation. It’s really weird that you and I have a lot in common. My hands don’t get cold that often, unlike my feet.
definitely sounded like a great merry friendmas night for you guys. i feel you with all the junk food craving as well! but one of the greatest things about this season is not really feeling guilty about stuffing yourself with food? like there are food and parties everywhere!
and oh gosh, the cards against humanity game!
Yes! Normally I would feel terrible about how I’ve been eating lately, but around the holidays I don’t pay it much thought. I just want to enjoy it! Cards against humanity is almost always a crowd pleaser. We play it all the time!
What a way to celebrate the end of exams! A small get together with a movie and cards against humanity sounds like a great time! I’ve still got a bunch of friends that have exams on the 23rd this year. I’m surprised that they are going super late this year, we probably won’t be able to see each other until after the holidays.
Your desserts look delightful! =) I made over 250 egg rolls for my Christmas lunch at work and for my boyfriend’s potluck. Ended up being quite a bit left over and he’ll be eating egg rolls for a few more days yet haha.
Oh my. Exams two days before Christmas??? That would be a huge bummer. I thought mine seven days before was a big deal, haha.
Haha! We have been eating a ton of dip and little smokies! My mom is having them on Christmas Eve so I hope we aren’t sick of them by then
That is so lovely that you wanted to have the party. I can understand that a lot of people would be busy, so it’s nice to have that time to come together before going home to families.
The treats look so awesome and delicious!
I really like the outfit, the fuzzy polka-dot socks make it.
I am glad that you had a really nice time.
I filled out the survey.
Haha the socks were a last minute addition. I was just going to wear black flats but I thought it was silly to wear shoes in my own house so I put on some socks to keep my feet warm
Thanks, Kya! I appreciate your input!
Sounds like a fun night. I’m jealous of all of the food. Everything looks and sounds so delicious.
That sounds amazing. I hosted a shabu-shabu dinner last Sunday, just for my sister and my boyfriend, and even that was A LOT OF WORK… I love crock pot cooking. Always looking for easy & delicious recipes… I loved going to parties my friends hosted back in college… Especially dumpling parties. They make hundreds of dumplings and we just gulp them down.
And that’s a lot of prepping and fooding! Always better to have too much than too little, I say!
Happy Holidays!!
Super cute outfit! =3
And sounds like a fun party! And such yummy stuff. *steals everything peanut butter*
Food looks delicious and you look beautiful in that skirt. Merry Christmas! Thank you for your kind words, honestly!