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Cozy Up This Holiday Season With Your Friends + Diet Coke

Cozy Up This Holiday Season With Your Friends + Diet Coke

Cozy Up This Holiday Season With Your Friends + Diet Coke

Happy Wednesday friends! I hope you’re having a great week! I had a slow start getting into the holiday spirit this year but now I’m in deep decorating and enjoying friends and family and I couldn’t be happier about it! We had a small girls gathering last week and I’m hosting a full fledged dinner party this weekend! Our turquoise door has turned into a revolving one and I love it!

Inviting friends into our home regardless of the size or reason fills my heart and when Diet Coke asked us to share a gathering of friends this holiday season I was thrilled! I immediately began to make a to-do list for a casual and stress-free get together with some of my dear friends that I’ve meet in Charlotte along this crazy blogging journey.

Maggie of Polished Closets, Kristen of Every Chic Way, Lindsey of Lindsey Regan Thorne and of course Paige of Paige Winn Photo joined me for a relaxing afternoon of conversation, yummy bites and a few Diet Cokes (or 10)! You can read their posts to see what the holidays mean to them!

I wanted to make it easy by using a lot of items I had around the house and by keeping the food and drink simple. I borrowed a few platters from a friend and picked up some simple place cards from Target to label the food.

      

I used a simple plaid scarf as a make-shift table runner and grabbed a bouquet and eucalyptus branches from Trader Joe’s – my go-to for flowers – to dress the table. I made a few of the food items but some were from the freezer section and I am TOTALLY okay with that :)

I did make a fun Diet Coke inspired dessert that I’ll be sharing the recipe for real soon…promise! If you saw our soiree from last year you may remember the Diet Coke cake I made that was to die for! Seriously, if you need a delicious and completely fattening comfort food dessert to take to a party it’s a must!

Every year I feel like I talk about how important it is to take time out during the holidays to focus on the true meaning of it all so as not to be hyper focused on the chaos of hosting and shopping. So here I am again and I’m sure you’ll have a different post to read next year with a similar message but it’s because I feel so strongly about this. I refuse to allow having friends and family over feel like a chore. That’s not what it’s about, that’s not how it’s supposed to be.

Shop my outfit:

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Of course I want things to look pretty and yes I want the food to taste good, but the minute that stuff takes over the fun I’m out. I have to check myself and be reminded what the real point of it is if I get overwhelmed: to build relationships, to be happy, to have a grateful heart for the people that God has put in our lives.

We huddled around the table nibbling and sipping Diet Coke catching up with one another and what has been happening in our lives. Taking a breath during the busy season and really enjoying the company and conversation.

Cozy and casual was definitely the theme here and we weren’t shy about it! We threw off our shoes, grabbed a cozy blanket and hung out on the sofa sipping a little spiked cider to top off our time together. It was a nice change from a fancy party to be able to show up comfortable, casual and relaxed. I think the basket of blankets might have had something to do with it!

Shop our home:

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At the end of the day I was tired but my belly was full and my heart was happy. I was thankful that we were able to come together and spend some real time. And I’m grateful to Diet Coke for inspiring it and giving us the little nudge we needed to embrace the spirit of gathering.

{All Photos by Paige Winn Photo}

So let’s make a pact you guys! Let’s open our doors this holiday season regardless if every corner is spotless or if all the food is store bought. Invite your friends, family and neighbors over for a Diet Coke and a few laughs. Surprise someone with an invitation. Brighten someone’s day, they might just need it more than you know…

Cheers!

{Thank you Diet Coke for sponsoring this post and thank YOU for supporting the brands that make Simple Stylings possible. All designs, ideas and opinions are my own.}

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8 Comments

  1. Will you be sharing the Diet Coke Fudge recipe soon? Your spread looked great & beautiful appointed table!!

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