With winter in full force, don’t let the idea of six more weeks of snowy cold give you the blues! Warm some hearts today by planning a charitable card party for your girlfriends. Sharing fun times and memories with the ones closest to your heart is a great way to stir up one’s soul in the still of winter. Girlfriend Celebrations has planned a unique way for you to show appreciation to friends who are loved, provide inspiration for charitable giving, and celebrate the life you cherish with your girlfriends. In honor of February’s American Heart month or March’s American Red Cross month, why not host a unique charitable hearts party for your next girl’s night in and spread some love. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day we received a lovely email from Ed Han of Tiny Prints, thanking us for participating in The Gratitude Challenge. Tiny Prints has put together an inspiring video about the challenge, which you can watch below. Even better, they’ve now made the Gratitude Challenge available to everyone! You can download the Gratitude Challenge pledge, download the Gratitude Challenge calendar with all the tasks and prompts for the 21-day challenge, and add a Gratitude Challenge widget to your own blog. We really hope you will check it out and consider taking the challenge yourself. It only takes 21 days to form a grateful habit that could change your life! If you’d like to revisit our gratitude journey, you can check out all our Gratitude Challenge posts here.

Watch the video and read an excerpt from Ed’s letter below.

“We started this project as a internal movement focused on helping our colleagues to achieve one simple goal—to counter everyday stress and negativity with daily affirmations of gratitude. As The Gratitude Challenge grew to include bloggers outside of our company, however, we learned just how much gratitude can change a person’s life.

From tornadoes to car accidents, fires and family drama, The Gratitude Challenge saw our bloggers through meaningful, life-changing events. We learned so much from this experience that we made a short video about how gratitude can revitalize your perspective.” [watch it above]

“We hope this experience has meant as much to you as it has to us, and we hope that you and your readers will to continue to follow our progress as we invite the world to join the movement at gratitudechallenge.com.

Ed Han

Tiny Prints Founder & CEO

Life is Like a Bowl of Stone Soup“

Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriend-In-Chief Tina here:

It’s Day 21 of our Gratitude Challenge. Today’s instruction reads: Publicly reflect on the 21 days of the gratitude challenge and what this process has meant to you.

So today is the end of the road for my journey in experimental gratitude. I have to say I’m a little sad, in a way; it was nice to have the daily reminders to think about my not-so-perfect world in a cheerier way. It kept me on my toes, always finding something good out of something mundane or not so great.

The challenge made me appreciate the small things in a different light. For that, I am grateful. I’ve always thought I was a positive person and agreed to do the challenge because I thought it would be easy-peasy pie. However, a few days into it, I realized my true colors. I truly wasn’t the rosy person I’d claimed to be and it was really hard trying to find something good in certain situations. Some days, it was really a lot of work for my mind.

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit. My hope is that gratitude is a way of life for me now. I know I’ve been in a better frame of mind and have been looking at things in a more positive light.  In fact, I think if more people rode the gratitude wagon we would have less need for antidepressants and therapists. I know that gratitude has spilled into my relationship with my husband. I no longer gasp at all the things he doesn’t do for me (bring me flowers?) and I focus on what he adds to my life (a loving, caring guy with no romance skills).  I truly think we would need less divorce lawyers if couples were made to do gratitude counseling.

I’ve even realized how important it is for my children to be thankful for the small things in life too!  So we’ve started a gratitude journal to talk about at dinner time.  We share 3 things we are grateful for that day. It’s sometimes hard for them to think about something other than the yummy dessert to be thankful for. But just like me, I’m hoping it gets easier over time. Read the rest of this entry »

Only a few more days before football season officially begins for all of you fantasy football widows out there! Don’t miss out on the fun: Plan your own fantasy football league with the best of your girlfriends.

Remember the saying “If you can’t beat them, you may as well join them”? Well, why not?  Not only will it give you the perfect excuse to meet up with the girls more often, it may give you something to talk about with your other half besides kids, money, and what’s for dinner.

To start the season off in style, GirlfriendCelebrations has designed a party plan just for the occasion. A Fantasy Football Draft party can bring together players that are experienced, inexperienced and even clueless for some fun, friendship and laughter.

Setting and setup

There are only a few requirements for a football fantasy draft:  A big-screen TV if you actually plan on watching the games, a laptop for everyone to join the league on, wi-fi, which makes it a whole lot easier for your girlfriends to bring their laptops (the more laptops you have, the quicker the draft will go), a league name, a commissioner (person to be in charge of the league), and a team name. Read the rest of this entry »

Here it is, our first video blog, courtesy of the people at The Gratitude Challenge. Hope you enjoy it.

Girlfriend-in-Chief Tina here. Since I’ve had more than enough time to contemplate the Gratitude Challenge

today and something that I am grateful for, my list of things to be thankful for is growing by leaps and bounds. But that is what a total of
five hours and twenty-one minutes to be exact, driving alone in the car post-vacation will give you. Lots and lots of time to think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriends love to spa—and when they can spa for charity, they feel even better! We recently had the pleasure of hosting, along with Chicagonista.com, a Girls Night Out for Charity at Juvenesse Spa in Chicago. It was a fantastic evening for girlfriends to network in the tranquil environs of Juvenesse, a hidden gem in the River North neighborhood. All proceeds from the event benefited Peace Journey, a charity started by spa owner Jeannette Kravitz. Girlfriends attending the event enjoyed complimentary champagne, a fabulous spread of hors d’oeuvres, and two mini spa services, ranging among chair massage, eye zone therapy, and makeup application.

In addition to receiving a $25 gift card for a future visit to Juvenesse, spa samples, and discounts from Juvenesse, girlfriends also received a bag full of swag thanks to our fabulous sponsors! In the bag:

The Wildwater Walking Club, a new novel by Claire Cook from Hyperion Books and Voice. This novel, about a woman who has to figure out what she wants out of her life after some bumps in the road, follows three women as they begin to find a new path. Great summer reading! Our guests each received a hardcover edition. For more about the book, click here.

The Art of the Apology by Lauren Bloom. This book by a business ethics expert teaches how to apologize effectively to practically anyone. Since a sincere apology is an essential friendship skill, we were happy to have this book in our swag bag!

Conversation Confetti from Chicago-based always a girls girl.  This package of 20+ cards with talk-about-it questions and scenarios gets your guests mingling! Get a conversation confetti FREE when you purchase a conversation tin from always a girl’s girl using the code “Girlfriend Celebrations”!

PakNaks These decorative accessories transform plain backpacks, bags and other stuff into personalized, ever-changing, colorful works of art. Over 40 adorable peel-and-stick designs are available. We can totally see using these to brighten up a summer tote bag. And there’s no ironing, sewing or pinning! www.paknak.com PakNaks has a special offer for GirlfriendCelebrations readers: Receive 20% OFF your order with the code “PAK20″!

Discount card from Tunix - the site for chic, American-made tunics perfect for beach, resort, or lunch with the girlfriends!

“Piggy” wine charm and recipe book from the National Pork Board 

GirlfriendCelebrations bookmark

M&Ms also supported this great event. Have you tried M&Ms Premiums? We tried the Raspberry Almond flavor and they are quite the delicious little splurge. 
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Hey, girlfriends! We’re pleased to announce that we are new contributors to Chicagonista, a blog for “movers, shakers and baby-makers…always dishing on Chicago’s hidden treasures for the family.” Check out our first post here.  We’re excited about this new partnership that will enable us to review some of the great girlfriendly places we visit locally. If you have a suggestion for a place to review, be sure to let us know! And as always, stay tuned for more universally fun suggestions on GirlfriendCelebrations.com.

Swapping is hot! In these tricky economic times, girlfriends everywhere are looking for creative ways to be fabulous while pinching pennies, and they’re rediscovering the beauty of swapping everything from books to jewelry to party dresses. At Girlfriend Celebrations, we’ve been brainstorming unique swap parties to help you trim the fat off your budget and nourish your soul with some girl time. We’re also looking to add your ideas to our swap-o-rama! Photo via flickr.

Our longtime readers already know about our Book Swap, Accessory Swap, and Fashion Sharing parties. Be sure to click the links and check out the party plans; they are some of our most popular parties, because they help girlfriends grab great new finds on the cheap, all while enjoying the company of friends. Here are some additional ways for you and your gal pals to increase your fabulousness without spending a dime!

Magazine Swap  

With a careful review of the budget, subscribing to new magazines is one luxury that often gets trimmed to cut costs. So why not swap magazines with your gal pals? It is a great way to recycle and reduce paper waste. While being good for the environment, it is also an economical way to read magazines that you might not otherwise spend the money on. Ask your girlfriends to save their magazines and bring them to your next girls night. It’s always interesting to see what magazines people read, too!  Read the rest of this entry »

All right, girlfriends, the leadership of America is changing. As our first African-American president takes center stage on January 20th, 2009, the moment will be history in the making. While listening to the inaugural speech, girlfriends all across America will be hoping for a brighter tomorrow. Are you planning on watching our 44th president make American history? Who will you share the moment with?

Happily, we can all take part in this exciting occasion, even if we’re not traveling to Washington or attending a fancy ball. Simply invite the girls over and dream of a better American future with your support network by your side. Powerful moments can be even more poignant when shared. Plus, GirlfriendCelebrations has some quick-and-easy ideas to help you make this historic occasion even more fun. Inauguration Day is on its way and your last-minute party planning should start today! Read the rest of this entry »