By. Ivy Prince ’17

November and Dec. is the best time of year. From Thanksgiving to the holidays, we enjoy relaxing breaks while enjoying time with our family and friends. The best thing to look forward to has got to be Friendsgiving, a holiday dedicated to sharing cooked meals with friends, and of course the fun, gift giving exchange of Secret Santa. Here are the best ways to have a successful Friendsgiving…

#1 Meal Planning

The best way to have a great Friendsgiving with your closest friends is to have an abundance of food. Make an excel sheet and have the host write down the food they need everyone to bring. “Last year my friends and I each signed to bring a different meal, one focused on desserts, another brought a mac and cheese. It’s more fun to do different dishes rather than the usual turkey and stuffing,” said Sophie Epstein ‘17.

#2 Secret Santa

Of course you can always have a separate dinner closer to holidays to do a Secret Santa with your friends, but the best method is to have a mix of Friendsgiving and Secret Santa in early Dec. “Secret santa is such a great thing to look forward to. With my friends, we set a budget of around twenty dollars and write out what we want to get, having it either be candy, or small fun cute gifts,” said Mackenzie Wood ‘16. The best part of secret santa is to have it all be a surprise, “There are perfect websites that you can use to put all the people’s name in and match it with someone else, so that way nobody knows who has who,” said Thea Petta ‘17. Some perfect places to get festive and fun gifts in town are Paper Source, or Urban Outfitters.

#3 Get Creative

Of course, eating should be the main focus of Friendsgiving. But, what can make the dinner even better are fun activities. Making pilgrim hats attached to a popsicle stick can be perfect for taking photos, and a cheap take home gift to remember the night. A fun game to play is Cards Against Humanity. “My friends just bought the ‘Holiday Edition’ of the card game and cannot wait to play it this weekend at our Friendsgiving. It makes everyone laugh and is something fun to do after we eat,” said Bri Rotella ‘17.

Have fun with it; time well spent with your friends and family is pretty rare, so make every minute count!