My Favorite Things

Whether you were ever an Oprah fan or not, I am sure you remember Oprah's My Favorite Things show, or her magazine column by the same name. You know, she reveals thousands of dollars of Christmas gifts while her audience screeches, squeals, oohs, ahhs, and maybe even passes out cold from the excitement of it all. It is a spectacle that only my friend Gina could see and then think, "Now, that's exactly the kind of fun my friends would be up for!" And another tradition was started: the annual My Favorite Things party!

The rules are simple. 8 girls - you = 7 gifts. Each girl goes one at a time, telling the Oprah-style narration of why her gift (x7) is her most favorite thing this year. (Can't you almost hear it, "We. Love. Ooooooopraaaaaah!") We then hand out our gifts to each girl and everyone unwraps at the same time, giving way to all of the ooh and ahhs you've seen on the show. Any passing out would likely be from the Prosseco. (Although, I am pretty sure that's never happened. At least not during the gift opening.) We are now at a $15 per gift limit, to include gift wrapping, but we started off small, at I think $5 and increased the limit over the years.

And how many years have we been doing the My Favorite Things party? That's a good question. And somehow it seems that every year, in a haze of cocktails and conversation, we count up the number years we're sure we've had the party (always at Gina's house, and yes, that includes Gina's old house, which still doesn't help us get to -- or remember -- an exact number). But, for reporting sake let's call it 10. We are pretty sure about 10 years sounds right, as our time-honored tradition, is now honed to a science. We all bring our favorite appetizer or dessert, as those are the best food groups anyway, right? And the chit-chat has evolved over the years from weddings to diapers to public or private school (a hot topic most reently).

Oh, and one other rule: if you're not there we can talk about you. I am only half-kidding. In fact, our friend Gayle comes from Chicago to take part in the festivities! In a time of our lives when our families keep my friends and I from jetting up to Chicago like we used to (although Gina and I will still relive our visit to the Jenny Jones show from our rocking chairs when we retire, I am sure) we are so glad Gayle makes the effort. (And Oprah, if you are reading this, we only went to Jenny Jones because after 93 unsuccessful hours on the phone trying to get tickets to your show, we instead enjoyed seats at Jenny's show and were entertained by numerous upstanding Chicago residents who knew what to wear in order to obtain free groceries. Who knew?)

Now, on to the gifts! This year my favorite thing was crafting. I learned to sew this year, I got on Pinterest and am completely addicted, and thanks to a handy neighbor friend I even got all DIY on our home improvement projects. So, I wanted to make the girls something. And thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, I came up with a variation on this project: http://jonesdesigncompany.com/create/5-days-of-favorite-projects-day-2/  I will let you use her tutorial directions. And instead of a bird, I added some of my favorite quotes from my bookmark project and printed the girls names which I heart-punched and voila!

Huge thanks to Gina for being our fearless founder & host. And thanks to Tracy + Gayle + Julie + Beth + Dayna + Michelle for being my friends. And for all of the memories...and of course for the loot. I promise they are the best gifts I get every single year! Here's to 10(ish) more years of My Favorite Things! Cheers!