I love my girlfriends. I love spending time with them, individually or as a group. There is something amazingly empowering and fun about being surrounded by strong, funny, smart women.

I’m fortunate to have many of these women in my life, women who build each other up, provide support, encouragement and love. These women cheer for me when things are going well and hug me when things go south. They recharge my soul right when I need it. I have always appreciated my girlfriends throughout all chapters of my life, but I notice that my friendships are deeper and more precious as I get older. (I, of course, adore my guy friends too! It’s a different type of friendship.)

I get together quite often with my girlfriends, which I love! There is always the guarantee of smiles, laughs and good conversations. Staying in with friends is an easy, cheap opportunity to have fun and connect/catch up. There are so many activities to enjoy. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites. The biggest catch to a relaxing night in – ditch the technology. Leave your phone in your purse and instead tune into your friends.

1. Cook new recipes. Sometimes the hostess will try a new dish or we each bring a dish to share.
2. Choose a theme. Plan a spa party, fiesta night, ’80s theme. You can plan food, decorations, games and more around the theme.
3. Wine tasting. Everyone can bring a bottle of wine to sample. Make it a theme, such as from certain locations (Michigan, Napa, etc.) or types (white, red, merlot, Riesling, etc.).
4. Facials and nail polish. Who doesn’t love getting pampered??
5. Movie night. There are some great girls’ movies! You can go ‘old school’ with movies like Dirty Dancing, 16 Candles, Breakfast Club or Pretty In Pink. We also like any Melissa McCarthy movie, Love Actually or sappy romances such as The Notebook.
6. Games. There’s everything from cards to board games to video games and even ‘made up’ games (and drinking games if it’s that kind of night!).
7. Plan an activity. Make cards, DIY spa items, holiday craft or vision board.
8. Girl talk! My favorite of girl time is catching up on everyone’s lives. It’s a great time to reconnect. We always touch on topics across the spectrum, from love to career to hair styles to family to recipes to exercise to favorite travel spots to lingerie to…..well, I don’t need to spill it all. You get it. Any topic is up for conversation.