Sometimes getting together with friends isn’t always the easiest. Everyone has their own families, work schedules, and extracurricular activities so sometimes getting together on the weekends is a little hard. Last week a few of my girlfriends and I had just gotten home from Orlando, but I had previously arranged to have a girls’ night mid-week to get together with a few of our friends who couldn’t make the trip to Florida. Truth be told, I was exhausted.

I got home Monday morning and went to work, Tuesday night I worked late, Wednesday I was traveling for work and Thursday was a super early morning and dinner was that night. But sometimes you just have to fight through it and suck it up. Lucky for me I used a few of these tips to make sure my weeknight dinner party ran smoothly.

Prep Throughout the Week
Monday I went grocery shopping, Tuesday night after work I cleaned my entire living room, kitchen and dining room. Wednesday I made sure to have all of the food I was going to serve prepped and ready to go. I put together all of the supplies for a charcuterie board, bought stuffed breads, prepared the dining room with all of the wines I was serving and made a pumpkin pie dip dessert.

Make it a Pot Luck
The theme of the night was a wine and soup night. I asked the girls to each bring a soup. Most of them prepped a crock pot soup the morning of, since they had work too. I did the easy stuff. Wine, stuffed breads, cheese and meats. Literally I did not have to make anything. I knew with cleaning the house, decorating and getting everything together I would never have time (r patience) to cut up veggies and get a soup together. Instead I requested to have everyone bring a little bit of something.

Make it Casual
Most of my friends and I have been friends for well over 15 years. We have no one to impress. It was leggings and sweatshirts for us that night which was perfect since most of us were either rushing from work or rushing home to get to bed at a decent hour to wake up for work the next day. During the week no one has time to look good in front of each other.