A Friendsday Night
Summer parties are on deck. Yes, it’s that time of year folks. The weather is warming up, and the drinks are cooling down. It’s time to get outside and have some fun. The first official day of summer is almost here.
Mikes and I kicked summer party season off with a Friendsday Night. We recently moved to a new house and had yet to invite anyone over. So we gathered up a few friends to have dinner and drinks in our courtyard. We have a lot of decorating still to do, but we knew our closest friends wouldn’t mind. That is why after all they are our besties.
To set the scene and prepare for the event, we brightened up the courtyard couches with some colorful pillows and flowers. The bar cart with a fun banner above served as the centerpiece of the courtyard. And we put out a couple of blankets in a basket for guests in case they wanted to cozy up.
Grapefruit Jalapeño Bubbly Margaritas served as our signature cocktail for the evening. To make one yourself, mix together 2 parts IZZE® Sparkling Grapefruit, 2 parts silver tequila, 1 part lime juice, and 1 slice of jalapeño. You can strain out the jalapeño or serve the margaritas with the slice as a garnish. You can also garnish the margaritas with a slice of grapefruit. I suggest pouring the margaritas in a salted rim glass. To make the salted rim glass, wet the glass with a slice of grapefruit, and dip in coarse sea salt.
A game of bocce was definitely in order while the guests waited for the food to be served. Who doesn’t love a competitive game of bocce?
We first sat down for dinner and then went out to the courtyard for some drinks. We decided on a Mediterranean menu: skewers on the grill, rosemary white beans, rice, Greek salad, and hummus and pitas. We roasted s’mores on the outside fireplace for dessert. That was a blast. Most of us hadn’t made s’mores in years. We made dark chocolate s’mores so we felt a lil more sophisticated.
At dinner the non-alcoholic beverage choices were water, IZZE® Sparkling Blackberry, and IZZE® Sparkling Clementine. As far as alcoholic beverage choices, we served beer, wine, and jalapeño margaritas. We told stories and reminisced at dinner. It was such a blast catching up.
Post dinner we had some fun taking photos with my Polaroid. While digital cameras are awesome, there is nothing like going old school with some Polaroid shots. It brings out the goofy in everyone.
I seriously want to do a Friendsday Night every week now. It was so good getting everyone together. Lots of laughs were had. Hope these tips give you some inspiration to host your very own Friendsday Night. You will have such a good time.
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Disclosure: This post was sponsored by IZZE® through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about IZZE®, all opinions are my own.
