Friendsgiving 2013 was a success!
We had friends drive in town from all over Florida on Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving, drink mulled wine and apple cider sangria and eat delicious food. It was a wonderful day and I loved spending time with some of our best friends, including several of my closest girlfriends from college, some of Ryan’s fraternity brothers and their families and my sister and her fiancé.
Leslie and Ross were the first to arrive.
They drove in town from Jacksonville in the late morning to help with some last-minute prep work before everyone else showed up in the early afternoon.
As always, Ryan and Ross were on turkey duty, so they immediately got to work and prepared our 20+ pound turkey for roasting.
They used the same off-the-cuff technique they used last year and the turkey received rave reviews again!
Sadie made sure to thank Ross for his hard work with lots of hugs.
She was in heaven throughout our Friendsgiving party since two of her favorite guys came in town to celebrate with us. Sadie is obsessed with Ross and our friend Dru.
She soaks up all the lovin’ she can when these two are around!
Right before everyone arrived, I prepped two festive drinks: Apple cider sangria and mulled wine. I made the apple cider sangria by loosely following Jess’ recipe. I combined a bottle of Riesling, a bottle of sparkling moscato, one cup of ginger brandy, five cups of apple cider, one cup of club soda, three chopped pears and two chopped Honeycrisp apples. It was delicious!
The mulled wine was my favorite drink and was really easy to make! I followed Gimme Some Oven’s recipe and then transferred the hot wine into our crockpot set on low so it remained hot throughout our party.
Once our friends arrived, we took a break from kitchen prep work and chatted with everyone for a while before it was time to put the finishing touches on our Friendsgiving feast.
The Fagan’s:
It was so great to meet Dru and Carrie’s almost two-month-old baby, Aiden!
He was the sweetest! Within two minutes of holding any baby, I feel like I somehow make them cry, but Aiden was such a sweet and calm little guy. He let me hold him for a long time and just looked around without squirming or crying. What an adorable little boy!
We also got to see Aiden’s big brother Noah again!
Remember when he was just a baby!?
Once everyone arrived, it was time to eat!
On our menu:
- Turkey
- Mashed potatoes and gravy
- Stuffing
- Glazed carrots
- Cranberry sauce
- Pineapple soufflé
- Quinoa salad with pecans and raspberries
- Rosemary and parmesan roasted Brussels sprouts
- Green bean casserole
- Fruit salad
- Peas
- Sweet potato casserole
I filled my plate and went back for seconds of stuffing, sweet potato casserole and fruit salad.
After dinner it was time for a white elephant gift exchange!
Everyone brought a gift that they already had at home and wrapped it up to give away at the party. We drew numbers to see who would pick first and after the first person chose a gift, everyone after them had the option to open a new gift or steal one of the gifts that was already opened. Each gift could only be stolen a maximum of two times.
With so many newlyweds in the group, re-gifted ridiculous wedding presents were quite popular and gave all of us quite a bit of laughs.
I initially opened up a new set of Tupperware which was a great gift, but it immediately got stolen.
In the end, I ended up with a new pair of slipper socks from WalMart, The Princess Bride movie (Ryan was psyched about this one) and a box of Reese’s Pieces. I’d say I did quite well!
After our White Elephant gift exchange, it was time for dessert.
We had cookies, a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin pie and apple pie.
It was a wonderful Friendsgiving and I’m so grateful to our friends who made the drive to Ocala to celebrate with us!
I can’t wait to do it all again next year!
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WOW! I have never been first to comment before! (I love having the day off! haha!) Looks like yall had a blast and I LOVE your dress! Too cute!! Your food pictures look sooo yummy!
Haha! Yay for #1! 🙂
hahaha!!! 🙂
What a fun get together!!! I love the pictures of Sadie. The food looks wonderful and the desserts…. yum.
Looks like you had a great time! I’m drooling over all of the food photos — especially that chocolate + pb cheesecake! Yum! 🙂
Ohhh White Elephant AT Friendsgiving! That’s so great. I had a nice Friendsgivukkah his year, since Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving!
not sure what camera you used, but your pictures came out great!
Thanks! It’s my sister and her fiancé’s camera. It’s AMAZING. I want to steal it forever. 🙂
I was going to ask too, the photos are amazing! Do you happen to know what model they have?
Nevermind! Saw you answered that a bit farther down 🙂
Sounds good! 🙂 It’s an awesome one!
Looks so great! I cant wait for Thursday all this thanksgiving blog talk is making me hungry.
You can see the fun (and deliciousness!) from the pictures! Love this 🙂
sounds like a fantastic Friendsgiving! I want to host one next year! Those beverages sound delicious and the food looks so good!
Beautiful pics! Looks like it was a fun night!
Yay Friendsgiving! We did one this weekend too – it’s crazy how many different dishes there are for Thanksgiving dinners. We had a few of the same “staples” as you, but also a bunch of really different ones. Good food and good friends for the win!
I am having a friendsgiving brunch on Thursday morning (first time) before we all head to our families. Super excited!
Was the apple cider sangria good? I was going to try making it for our thanksgiving but I don’t want it to be a dud!
YES! It went fast, which I think says it went over well with everyone. 🙂
Wow sounds like it was a great time! Love the white elephant gift idea that is awesome.
I love the sound of that apple cider sangria too. We don’t celebrate thanksgiving here in Australia but looking at the spread you had I wish we did.
Sadie is too cute as always 🙂
Are you using a new/different camera than usual? Your pictures look absolutely stunning!
Yes! These pics were taken with my sister and her fiancé’s camera. It’s amazing!!! I am in love with it.
Wow, your party looks absolutely lovely! And the pictures are beautiful! Thanks for the inspiration as always… my husband and I just might plan one of these for our friends next year! 😀
How fun! I love that white elephant game too. We play that every year with a group of friends and there are always guaranteed to be a ton of laughs.
Looks like fun! Is there a recipe for the pineapple soufflé? =)
The food looks amazing and you are all such a pretty group of ladies :). Did somebody make that peanut butter chocolate cheesecake??? I want it…now. 🙂
my husband and i hosted a friendsgiving potluck over the weekend, and it turned out great! never thought to do the white elephant game, though — we will have to add that next year too!
sounds like so much fun, that peanut butter chocolate cheesecake looks unbelievable!
Oh my goodness, that PB Chocolate Cheesecake looks amazing! What a fun night, makes me want to plan a Friendsgiving next year 🙂
Beautiful bright professional looking photos missus!!! Amazing array of food too and love the gift idea!!! Never heard of it before!
The pictures are amazing, I especially like the first one of the group of girls, so pretty! And the reeses pie dessert thing looks amazing!
sounds like you and your friends had a BLAST! the food looks absolutely delicious, as well. i want to do a friendsgiving potluck with my friends next year! =)
Hi, I hate to three-peat what people have said, but the photos are fantastic… what make/model/lens is your future brother-in-law’s camera? I’m attached to my current Nikon set-up, but these are incredible…
Just texted him to ask! Here’s the info: “It’s a Canon 6d with a 50mm 1.4 lens.” I hope this helps! I know that he and my sister sold both of their DSLRs to buy it together. 🙂
Babies always cry around me too!! I joke that dogs love me, but babies…eeesh.
I assume (hope) my future kids won’t find me cry-worthy??
What a fun Friendsgiving! I love white elephant games!
seriously fantastic photos!!! you have definitely learned some lighting skills!! What a great day and yes the white elephant gifts are such a hoot!
This looks like SUCH a blast! Christian and I will have to host one of these in the next few years 🙂 I love the photos in this post!! What camera did you use?! PS- your dress = ADORABLE
Thank you! I took the photos with my future brother-in-law’s camera. It’s a a Canon 6d with a 50mm 1.4 lens.
Great pictures! Looks like a fun time! Can you do a tutorial how you do your hair? i LOVE it. 🙂
Yes!!! It is on my to-do list!! 🙂
your hair looks amazing!
Wow this looks like such a great time! That Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake looks amazing right now!
Looks like SO much fun!! We’re heading to a friendsgiving on Wednesday and I love your white elephant gift exchange idea- might have to pass that one along!
P.S.- Thanks SO much for the book, the Dinner! I got it in the mail today and CAN’T wait to finish up this semester’s grad classes so I can read it!
So glad it arrived!! Hope you love it!!
Wow! Everything looks delicious, and all of the photos came out so beautifully! What a great way to celebrate together with friends 🙂
Gorgeous. It all looks so relaxed and cosy. That sangria sounds soooo good.
I love this post! What a great party. It looks like you all had such a good time. I want to copy your idea for an Elephant Gift Exchange. What a fun way to add some playfulness to the day and besides…who doesn’t love presents!
That Reese’s cheesecake you mentioned?? OMG Did someone make it or buy it? I want to make it!
Your pictures were amazing and tell your story wonderfully. It looks like you had such a good time with friends. Awesome!
My friend Leah’s aunt made it. It was incredible. The crust was the best part!
Oh my! The recipe would be a great thing to post (*wink wink*) I’m going to look up some 🙂
Your annual Friendsgiving looks like the best day ever! 🙂
How fun! And let me just say – you look SO beautiful!! Love the hair, dress, everything. 🙂 And wow – that peanut butter chocolate cheesecake?!?! It sounds amazing!
What a blast. I’m always so envious of your friendsgiving celebrations. I would love to host one someday. However, I just moved to a new city all alone so that will have to wait! Bravo on all the food. It looks amazing!
Looks like such a fun Friendsgiving! I definitely would love to have one of these with my friends one year. You are all a great looking bunch, and I love your dress. Of course, the food looks delicious and I love the gift exchange idea!
Looks like such a lovely time & the good looks delicious!
I love white elephant gift exchanges! My husband just started a new job & he suggested this to his new team for the holidays & nobody had heard of it!
I lurvvve your dress, where is it from??!
Thanks! It’s Cynthia Rowley and I got it at TJMaxx.
Love these photos! Sadie is such a monkey!
The Princess Bride is the BEST!
Your photos turned out so well! Love your dress!
Your hair looks so great curled!
I need that Reese’s cheesecake recipe in my life!
Hello Julie,
I’m so happy to hear that you had such a lovely Friendsgiving. That is such a wonderful idea.
Also…..
Oh. My. Goodness! Do you think there is ANY WAY you can get and post the recipe to that “Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake????” It looks so divine!
Thanks!
~Amy 🙂
Loving the white elephant idea!! Thats a great transition in between dinner and dessert! I did a friends-giving over the weekend and that would have been perfect! Next year for sure. Your photos are awesome! The one thing I forgot to do at mine was take pictures! 😛
This looks so so fun!! And the food looks delicious 🙂
You look good with a baby, Julie… hehe 😉