October is coming to a close, your Halloween plans have already been made, so what’s the next girls night on your calendar? Let us make a suggestion: November is the perfect time of year to invite your girlfriends to a gratitude party. November is the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. (our Canadian girlfriends have already celebrated Thanksgiving), and it’s also when holiday preparations begin in earnest. With the days getting shorter, bad news and politics filling the air with tension, and the holidays coming at us like a freight train, it’s time to combat your feelings of anxiety with appreciation. Did you know that grateful people tend to be happier, more helpful and forgiving, and less depressed than their less grateful counterparts? Luckily, appreciation is a skill that can be practiced. It’s safe to say we all feel grateful for our girlfriends, so girlfriends and gratitude should be a natural pairing. Here’s how to create an evening of comfort to nurture your friends.

Invitations

A handwritten note would be most aligned with the intent of this party, but of course feel free to phone or email your girlfriends too. Simply say, “Girlfriend, I appreciate you! We’re going to celebrate gratitude without attitude on Thursday night, at my place. Please come!”

Setting and Setup

Make your home warm and inviting for this gathering with the glow of the fireplace or soothing scented candles. Music definitely helps to set the mood. Try some smooth jazz, ambient or whatever makes you feel good.

You might consider making a thankful tree as a decoration. Using some tree branches collected from outside and stuck into styrofoam in a pretty pot. Cut leaves out of pretty paper, and create a hanging loop with raffia. As each girlfriend  arrives, have her write something she is thankful for on a paper leaf and hang it on the tree.

Food and Drink

You could go one of two ways here: Either healthful food to nourish the body, or comfort food to nourish the soul. Maybe it’s the cold wind blowing as we write this, but we’re envisioning something warm and creamy…macaroni and cheese? (Homemade, of course)! This would be a great party to ask each girlfriend to bring a dish to pass. We don’t always recommend this, but it is a busy time of year and a potluck approach might make it more likely for you to invite those girlfriends over. In addition, it enables each girlfriend to share a little love through food.

Connecting Activities

Our girlfriend Dea of Quelynn,Inc. suggested these gratitude-focused activities. A life coach, business consultant and empowerer of young women, she is herself an inspiration, and we are grateful for her help. Choose one or more activities to focus your girls night:

-Ask your friends to bring items that represent what they are grateful for. Have a “show and tell” where each woman tells the story of her item.

-Start a “Girlfriends Gratitude Blog” where each girlfriend can blog about what they are grateful for each day. This is a great way to send your gratitude out into the universe! You can also pass a gratitude journal among your girlfriends. Take turns writing in it for a day or a week at a time, then pass to the next girlfriend.

-Do a 30-day gratitude challenge. Have the women pair up and check in with each other at the end of each week to discuss what they were grateful for. Reconvene at the end of the 30 days and celebrate your new gratitude habit!

-Have girlfriends make and write “thank you” notes for family, friends, and even the people they encounter everyday… the postman, clerk at the cleaners, doorman, or anyone who makes life a little more pleasant.

Party favors

This is a classic gratitude journal and it would be lovely to provide one to each of your friends:

Otherwise, try a simple aromatherapy candle or a box of pretty thank-you notes with instructions that they must be used up by the next girls night.

We’re truly grateful for each other, our families, our online and real-life girlfriends (of course), our subscribers, our Twitter followers, and YOU, our faithful readers! Thanks for being there. We hope you share the spirit of gratitude with your girlfriends. And, as always, feel free to share your thoughts below!