Girlfriends, it’s HOT out there and we’re spending more time at the pool than in front of the computer screen. But, we haven’t forgotten our girlfriends! What are you planning for girls night in June, July and August? We’d like to offer you a few great summer girls night ideas: 

Get wet

About.com entertaining guide Donna Pilato offers this pool party plan. Pool parties are a great way to cool off! See also our bachelorette pool party ideas, which you can certainly adapt to non-bachelorette occasions. Won’t it be fun to make a splash with your girlfriends?

Get thinking

Summer is a great time to hit the hammock with a good book, and that’s why our Summer Book Swap party is so popular with our girlfriends. It’s easy for you to host one, too. Just click the link to find menu ideas, invitation wording and a downloadable book swap form. 

This most relaxed of all seasons is also a good time to think out of the box when it comes to girls night. Our Six Summer Shindigs article gives you some unique summertime girls night ideas, from a Miniature Golf Gala to a Drive-in Diva outing. Check it out and you’re sure to come away inspired! 

Get away from it all

What a perfect time of year for a girlfriend getaway! Rent a cottage on a lake, go camping, hit the big city, or seek out the best flea markets and county fairs. Pick a destination, find someone to watch the kids, dog, cat, or fish, and get away with your girlfriends. HOT TIP: Loews Hotels just announced its “Recessionista Respites” Getaway packages designed for girlfriends! Choose from great values in Denver, Lake Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Quebec City, San Diego and Santa Monica. These packages definitely include thoughtful extras such as spa credits and shopping gift cards, so be sure to check them out by visiting LoewsHotels.com. Select your destination, then click on “special offers” and look for the Recessionista package.

Also, visit our contributor Casey Wohl’s website for fabulous travel tips, ideas and deals especially for girlfriends.

So, there are a few quick summer suggestions, girlfriends. As always, we’d love to hear from YOU. What are you planning with your girlfriends this summer? Photo via flickr.  Read the rest of this entry »

In Part 1, Christine Arylo helped us define the kinds of friends we would like to have. In part two, she takes it a step further by identifying four friendship rings and the expectations we should have for each. 

By Christine Arylo

Not all girlfriends are the same – we have different friends for different reasons. Some are closer than others… some you connect with because of work or shared interests, or because you’ve known each other for years. When you understand the different levels of friendships, a.k.a. your Friendship Rings, you’re empowered to ask for and get what you need from every friend. Unknown, unmet and unexpressed, expectations are one of the major causes of friendships failure.

Action: Define your expectations for each Friendship Ring. On a piece of paper, draw a set of four concentric circles, one for each ring. Then list your expectations for each. Your expectations should differ depending on the type of friendship.

 Soul Sisters: Your closest circle. You share your lives.

 You may all have different mothers but these women are your heart and soul. They’re here for you in the best and worst of times. You can expect that they will pick up the phone when you call at 2 a.m. with a broken heart; that you can share all of yourself with them—the good and the ugly—and they will love you anyway; and that you can be completely honest about your feelings, even when you’re angry, and that they will listen and work with you to create an even deeper friendship.

Good Time Gals. You have fun with these girls. You share a good time.

You chat. You laugh. You never go too deep. You can expect that they will invite you to do things with you and accept the invitations you give; that they follow through on what they say they are going to do; and that when you’re together you can share what’s going on in your life and get some good advice, but nothing too deep.

Affectionate Aficionados. You work at the same company, belong to the same club, or run in the same social circles, but that’s as far as it goes. You share common interests.

You can expect that you will have a good time when you are together; that you will share your enthusiasm for your common interest but maybe not much more; and that they add good energy to your life, not suck it away or create drama. You can also expect that when that common interests shifts, you may no longer stay friends.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, girlfriends! We’re so excited to bring you this guest post from the dynamic Christine Arylo, self-love expert and developer of the Create Fabulous Friendships program. Christine wrote this article,  just for Girlfriend Celebrations readers. In it, she guides you through three questions to help you get clear on who you really want to call “girlfriend.” Look for part two on Monday!

by Christine Arylo

If you were asked, “What’s the biggest challenge you face to create the friendships you really want,” what would you say?

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Your biggest challenge is not time or the inability to meet new people. Your biggest challenge is you. You determine both the quantity and quality of your friendships based on who you are and how well you know who you want as a girlfriend, regardless of who’s in your circle today. Think about it. You wouldn’t consider dating or getting married without giving thought to who your mate is. Yet, even though we have close, intimate relationships with our girlfriends, we rarely give conscious thought to the kind of women they are. Instead, we choose friends by chance or duty, and with the busy lives we lead, you can’t afford to waste your friendtime on friendships based on obligation or on friendships that take more than they give.

If you’ve never stopped to ask yourself questions like, “What kind of women do I want in my life? Does my current circle of friends reflect the kind of energy I want to surround myself with?” chances are you are missing out on some great friendship opportunities, and spending too much energy on ones that don’t give you what you really want.

If you know who you want as a friend, you’re much more likely to attract that kind of person into your life. And she is much more likely to fit the life you are creating for yourself. So do yourself a favor, and take the time to get clear on who you really want to call girlfriend and why. Ask yourself the following questions using the action activities to get you crystal clear on your answers.

Questions For Creating Fabulous Friendships

QUESTION 1:  Why do I want friends?

It seems like a no-brainer question. Who doesn’t want friends, right? True, but this is a question worth answering because your response will tell you a lot about what you expect friendships to do for you. We all have different motivations, most of us just don’t know what they are.

Read the rest of this entry »

So, the results of our “Favorite Girls Night Out Activity” poll are in, and we’re not all that surprised…the activity with the largest response was “Chatting Over Dinner”! What does that tell us? Girlfriends love to talk, and connecting is the main activity we care about. That’s why you’ll almost always find “connecting activities” included in our party ideas. Girlfriends crave connection, and that’s what makes us different than guy friends.

“Cocktails and Clubbing” came in a somewhat distant second, followed by “Catching a Movie.” “Taking a Class” got a few votes as well, but came in last. Although several of you selected “Other” as your choice, only one person used the comments form on the poll to tell us her “other” activity. (Which, by the way, was plugging a home sale party. Unless you’re a sales rep, we have a hard time believing that is your favorite GNO activity. Just sayin!) Well, we can certainly suggest some “other” activities—this website is chock full of them—but we would like to hear from you, too! If you have a favorite Girls Night Out thing to do, why don’t you click the title of this post to get to the comment form and spill it, ok? Thanks, ladies! Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that May was National Salad Month? The month may be over, but salad is a girlfriend staple. Especially in summer, it seems like we’re always bringing a salad of some sort to parties, barbecues, luncheons, and potlucks. Many of our girlfriends are eating light these days, so we thought it would be fun to do a roundup of favorite salad recipes. We’re sharing our favorites and some of our girlfriends favorites below. Share YOUR go-to salad recipe in the comments. And by the way, among our readers, twitter followers, and real-life girlfriends, we’ve assembled quite a delightful girlfriend salad. Thank you for brightening our days!

Dawn always brings this retro layered salad (recipe from Kraft Foods). Chances are, if you are of a certain age, you had this growing up. It’s not exactly low-cal, but people LOVE it. You make it the night before, so it’s a time-saver too.

Tina wins rave reviews with her Asian-inspired Ramen Noodle Coleslaw. The recipe is similar to this one from StartCooking.com. Crunchy and yummy, it always disappears!

Our twitter girlfriend @love2cookmb shared her recipe for Orzo Salad with Veggies We’re definitely trying this one – it looks delicious. Check our her fun blog, called My Italian Grandmother.

Girlfriend Biana Babinsky of Marketing Salad is a salad queen! She shared this Avocado Salad recipe on her blog Tasty Galaxy.

Now it’s your turn! Share your salad recipes in the comments, or simply link to your blog containing the recipe. Bon appetit! We hope you enjoy healthy and delicious fare at your next girls night! Read the rest of this entry »