As busy women with hectic calendars, we are always looking for ways to make more time for play in our days. With this in mind, Peapod, the online grocery shopping and delivery service, invited the Girlfriends-In-Chief and some fellow bloggers on a warehouse tour to show us how they could make our lives easier with the click of a mouse. As busy wives and moms, we were all quick to see how Peapod could help de-stress our domestic lives.

But what really put the icing on the cake was how Peapod’s delivery service can make entertaining easier: Helping a girlfriend take out the frazzle of eleventh- hour shopping and put the dazzle back in a last-minute soiree. Yes! What we learned can help us—and you— delete one more obstacle to having a fabulous girls night. Read on to see what we learned about their food quality and offerings for entertaining. And, see the end of this post for a great offer from Peapod that will save you $20 on your next grocery order.

It’s Cold in There

Our tour guide, Tony Stallone, Peapod’s Produce Guru, helped to put all our apprehensions about grocery stores of the 21st century to rest. Being skeptical yet savvy consumers, we initially thought that one would have to physically go to a store to get the freshest produce. But Tony was convincingly quick to point out that in order for Peapod’s service to succeed, the produce has to be better than the produce you would pick for yourself.  Simply put, if you were to pick bad cherries, you would only have yourself to blame. If Peapod were to send you bad cherries, it would not only be the pits for you but for them as well because as a consumer, you’re going to complain. Peapod’s produce goes through a careful inspection process. The fruits and vegetables are not only hand-selected but they are also tasted to ensure a positive experience for the customer. After touring the many different temperature zones in the warehouse (which, it seemed to us, were cool, chilly, cold, colder and freezing—because Peapod takes pride in never breaking the chain of coldness the entire time the food is in their warehouse) and walking among the peppers and apples (each have their own temperature-and humidity-controlled zone, by the way), we were sold on the quality of Peapod’s produce. The fruit in their warehouse looks much better than the room-temperature fruit selection we see at our local Jewel or Ultra. We won’t think twice when it comes to ordering a fruit tray or appetizers from Peapod for our next girls night.

Just a side note, the Produce Guru has his own blog about *drumroll please* produce which you can find here. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to selecting and storing produce: even grandma would be impressed. Here are a few of the tips he shared with us en toure.

• Strawberries – Inspect the entire box of strawberries, don’t be afraid to turn the box over. The strawberries on the bottom and sides of the box will go bad first. Look especially at the shoulders of the strawberries, that’s where bruising occurs first.  Strawberries will last longer if kept at a colder temperature.
• Apples – Refrigerate them. Keep them cold or they will go mealy.
• Avocado – If the button pops off the end easily Makes, it is ripe.
• Guacomole Dip – To store dip overnight without it turning black, place a plain piece of saran wrap over the dip and gently press down until all of the air is out of dip. Keeping the air from coming in contact with the dip will ensure it stays green.

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While book clubs seem all the rage these days, gathering with the girls to discuss books leaves little room for a girl to express her creative side. Why not change up your next girls night in with a hip and soulful poetry party? With inspiration from National Poetry Month, Girlfriend Celebrations has created a party plan for girlfriends like you looking for a fresh, expressive outlet. A poetry jam for women who want a creative slice of life or an alternative to the humdrum girls night. Yes, you can create this party with poetic ease, even if you’re feeling at a loss for words.  So go ahead, get your guest list together and plan away with us. Read the rest of this entry »

With winter in full force, don’t let the idea of six more weeks of snowy cold give you the blues! Warm some hearts today by planning a charitable card party for your girlfriends. Sharing fun times and memories with the ones closest to your heart is a great way to stir up one’s soul in the still of winter. Girlfriend Celebrations has planned a unique way for you to show appreciation to friends who are loved, provide inspiration for charitable giving, and celebrate the life you cherish with your girlfriends. In honor of February’s American Heart month or March’s American Red Cross month, why not host a unique charitable hearts party for your next girl’s night in and spread some love. Read the rest of this entry »

Another girlfriend year is coming to a close, so we wanted to look back and remember some of our favorite post of 2009. We’ve had some great ones this year! In fact, narrowing the list down to 10 favorites was tough, but we selected 5 party ideas and 5 articles that we thought represented the best of GirlfriendCelebrations this year. Read on and see if you agree, and let us know in the comments. You can also VOTE for your favorite GirlfriendCelebrations party idea of 2009 in our twtpoll in the left-hand column. If you missed any of these great posts, you may want to consider subscribing to our e-newsletter. That way you’ll never miss a minute of the celebration!

Party Ideas

1. Patio Crawl Tina says: “I like this because it’s hip to host at any age. It can be held virtually anywhere from a large subdivision to a small apartment complex. If you wanted to include the opposite sex, it wouldn’t too hard to modify. What a great way to celebrate the fall season! And last but not least…I secretly really, really, really want to host one of these ~ sounds like so much fun.”

2. Welcome-to-Town Cookie Party Tina says: “I love that you can host this for girls of all ages. It’s a unique twist on the old favorite cookie exchange. It’s a fun way to get the “chore” of seeing all your close friends and extended family without traveling from house to house during the time-crunched holiday season.”
3. Karaoke Girls Night Dawn says: “Classic GirlfriendCelebrations: Fun, easy, cheap, and unique. This is a great Japan-themed girls night to warm up a winter night by bringing out your inner diva.” Read the rest of this entry »

Girlfriends, check out the latest post on Fractured Friendships, the blog of our girlfriend and Huffington Post columnist Irene Levine. Girls Nights On the Cheap: Staying Connected Without Spending A Fortune features us, the Girlfriends-in-Chief, dishing about budget-friendly fun for girls night out and girls night in. While you’re there, check out the rest of Irene’s blog, where she explores the nature, meaning, and depth of female friendships. We think you will appreciate her thoughtful, expert advice to women struggling with friendship dilemmas or hurts. And, look for more from Irene coming soon right here on GirlfriendCelebrations!

Bunco getting a little stale? Need to shake things up at your next girls night? Get your girlfriends rocking with a karaoke girls night that is sure to bring out your inner diva! GirlfriendCelebrations.com has all the how-to details for a home karaoke girls night that will provide memories for months to come. Karaoke is wildly popular in Japan, as you probably know, and throughout much of Europe as well. In the U.S., karaoke has its devotees, but many of us have never rocked the mic at our local karaoke night—nor would we dare to! Fortunately, it’s easy to host a karaoke party for your gal pals at home and have all of the fun without all of the stage fright! Singing is therapeutic, a sure cure for the winter blahs, and, recessionistas, it’s low-cost entertainment. Here’s how to do it! Photo, “Anime festival contest winner,” by Suvudu via flickr Read the rest of this entry »

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, girlfriends. One way to survive this “celebration of love” is to turn it into a day of appreciation that leaves everyone feeling loved—romantically attached or not! What can you do to make Valentine’s Day a positive experience? Take a lesson from our girlfriend Carmen. Carmen belongs to our Facebook group and she wrote to us about “Lucky Reds” —her girlfriend group’s fun Valentine underwear tradition. Why not use her idea as a starting point to start a fun valentine tradition with your gal pals?

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When was the last time you went dancing with your girlfriends? Well, how about tonight? Dancing is fun, freeing and relieves stress, and it’s great exercise. Going out dancing is a time-honored girlfriend tradition, and it’s especially good when your respective guys don’t like to dance (cue Abba’s “Dancing Queen,” flashing disco ball, and girlfriends dancing in a circle). But if you don’t feel like hitting your local dance club, we have some other ideas for ways to get movin’ and groovin’ with your circle of friends.

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As Breast Cancer Awareness month continues, GirlfriendCelebrations.com would like to help you support your girlfriends with breast cancer, the best way we know how—with a little pink party! Not just for October, this party works perfectly ANY time of year to support a friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer, to honor a breast cancer survivor you love, or to raise money for a special breast cancer organization. The issue of breast cancer really touches us all. As Becky Olson and Sharon Henifin, founders of BreastFriends.com, state, ”One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. The other seven will know her.” If you know someone affected by breast cancer, you surely want to help her feel less lonely and isolated, but you may not know how. By gathering together we can truly help—one party at a time—by celebrating and supporting our sisters, girlfriends, mothers and daughters touched by breast cancer. (By the way, please check out Becky and Sharon’s website. It offers tons of useful information to girlfriends trying to help someone with cancer. Their “hat shower” idea inspired us as we worked on this party plan!)

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Has this happened to you? An envelope arrives in the mail. The return address is that of a long-lost girlfriend. You feel excited–you’ve missed her! You feel honored that she took the time to get back in touch with you. You open the envelope and see what looks like an invitation. With great anticipation, you open it, wondering if she’s finally getting around to having that dinner party she mentioned last year. But wait! It appears your friend is having a (candle, jewelry, purse) sales party. Your reaction is: Read the rest of this entry »