Friendsgiving: while the concept is not an officially recognized holiday, it’s widely known as Thanksgiving’s better-looking and all around more enjoyable cousin. From brunch to dinner it’s more versatile, arguably more festive, and definitely more stress free than a holiday meal full of questions from relatives and a heightened degree of stress. While Thanksgiving is truly great at its core as a celebration of family, at the end of the day it is notorious for testing even the closest-knit bunch. Friendsgiving serves as a nice way to balance this out, and I highly recommend everyone gives it a try. Here are some surefire ways to make it a success.
1. Make it a brunch
Brunch food is the best food, at the best time. One full blown thanksgiving meal is enough, and more likely than not you’ll already have enough mashed potatoes in your fridge to last you a lifetime. Having a Friendsgiving brunch either the day before or after Thanksgiving dinner gives you an opportunity to try out festive breakfast foods – such as pumpkin scones, sweet potato biscuits, or apple cider donuts – without being repetitive.
2. Decorate
Go all out! At your family Thanksgiving celebration it may not be appropriate to hang up a banner, have balloons, and decorate pumpkins, but anything goes at Friendsgiving. The more you live out your Pinterest dreams, the more fun it’ll be for everyone.
3. Invite moms
Make it a mother-daughter affair! I personally look forward to seeing my friends’ moms just as much as seeing them over holiday breaks, so why not combine the two. While Thanksgiving can be rocky for family, Friendsgiving is a low-stress opportunity to spend time with both spheres of people you’re thankful for.
4. Have one at school
Before everyone embarks home, only to return to basically finals season, a Friendsgiving meal is one of the last opportunities in the semester where everyone is relatively stress free. Show the people you spend an unprecedented amount of time with that you love them by either cooking or simply going out to dinner – bring an inflatable turkey to put on the table or just embody the Friendsgiving spirit.
However you celebrate it, Friendsgiving is a necessary extension of Thanksgiving gratitude for your loved ones – and there are no cons to double the good meals and company. Happy Friendsgiving!