Friendsgiving 2025 Tablescape

In 2025, I developed a brand-new hobby: tablescaping! I have LOVED sharing my Tablescapes this year for my 26th Birthday Brunch (here), 1st Annual Harvest Dinner Party (here), and Fall Family Dinner Party (here). It has been SO much fun putting together Tablescapes throughout 2025 and especially this Fall 2025, and I am excited to share ALL of the details behind my Friendsgiving 2025 Tablescape.

Every year, I host a Friendsgiving gathering to bring together my friends. I LOVE how Friendsgiving is a wonderful time to come together and feel gratitude for the friendships that we have in our lives. Just like family, I feel that friends are such a vital part of our well-being and our chosen family. I feel SOOO lucky to have so many great friendships in my life, and I find Friendsgiving just one special time that I can spoil my friends! This Friendsgiving 2025, I had a smaller group as I scheduled it closer to Thanksgiving and many of my friends were tied up, however, we had a wonderful time and I enjoyed having a smaller group this time around (although others were missed!).

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

For more preppy style & grand millennial home content, check out my Preppy Fashion & Grand Millennial Home page.

One of the unique things that I did for this year’s Friendsgiving Tablescape is that I used things that I had on-hand. From previous Home Goods runs during likely the August/September time frame, I found some ultra-fun turkey-themed party poppers and turkey-themed slogan napkins. While at home, I used some of my Fall decorations (aka my mini pumpkins which are linked at the end of this post!) and a ceramic turkey that I thrifted earlier this year. For cups and glasses, I used my newly purchased gold accented glasses that I got at the Old Lucketts Store’s Holiday House 2025 (see my experience there in 2025 here and my guide to the Holiday House here). As for linens, I used my Draper James table runner, which is floral and I find it to be PERFECT for the cooler months (!!!) and my satin light blue curtain that I thrifted and repurposed as a tablecloth a few years back. And, for just about every occasion, I use my antique tray that used to be my Grandma’s to display the table’s centerpiece.

Til 2026 for the next Friendsgiving!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Fall Family Dinner Party 2025 Tablescape

This Fall, I decided that I wanted to start hosting a quarterly Family Dinner Parties to bring my family together. Another reason I wanted to start hosting Family Dinner Parties was to put my hobby of tablescaping to use! Over on my Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee), I shared a bit about my 1st Annual Harvest Dinner Party (see my Tablescape here) that I’ll be hosting with friends moving forward each September. So, I’m excited I got to host a dinner party for my family so soon after my Harvest Dinner Party! Nevertheless, the Fall Family Dinner Party was such a success that my family wants me to host them quarterly each year!!

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

For more preppy style & grand millennial home content, check out my Preppy Fashion & Grand Millennial Home page.

I have taken after my Grandma when it comes to my love for using paper plates and napkins over fancy china plates (for the most part!) when hosting as it makes the clean-up process much easier to handle. I did the same thing for utensils and grabbed some plastic utensils and napkin sets from Home Goods, alongside my paper plates and napkins. I, then, mixed in some family crystal glasses for wine with my Kate Spade cups for water. To add some Fall fun into the mix, I added my decorative pumpkins and chicken pitchers which were all a big hit from my guests! Nevertheless, I have linked what I could find for your own Fall hosting desires!

Happy hosting!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My 1st Annual Harvest Dinner Party Tablescape!

To kick off the Fall 2025 season this year, I wanted to start a brand-new tradition given my mega passion for cooking which I do regularly for me and my Papa: an annual Harvest Dinner Party! This year was the first of many dinner parties that I plan to host for my close friends and it was a HIT!!! I had an incredible time hosting my Harvest Dinner Party and putting together my Harvest Dinner Party Tablescape.

For my Harvest Dinner Party, I opted for a colorful sort of Lilly Pulitzer (see my post all about predicting the brand’s Sunshine Sale here!) color palette with pink and green as the mega statement colors alongside some touches of white and blue. Nevertheless, my Tablescape was a super fun grand millennial and Lilly Pulitzer-coded setting! Scroll to the end of this blog post to shop some of my Harvest Dinner Party Tablescape!

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

For more preppy style & grand millennial home content, check out my Preppy Fashion & Grand Millennial Home page.

Currently, my heart and stomach are full with so much gratitude and excitement. I also cannot wait for next year’s Harvest Dinner Party!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My 26th Birthday Brunch Tablescape!

For my 26th Birthday, I wanted to celebrate with friends in a way that brought us together and didn’t compel us all to spend a ton of money (and gas/Metro worries!) on an experience dining out together. Given my newfound passion and 2025 goal of hosting more at home, I opted to host a simple 26th Birthday Brunch at my apartment with an elaborate tablescape to celebrate. That way, my love for hosting and bringing people together worry-free and *of course* celebrating another trip around the sun was the reason for us all coming together. Overall, my 26th Birthday Brunch was a lovely time that my friends and I all spent together and I am so grateful that I decided to host my celebratory occasion with friends within the comfort of my own home!

At the same time, I want to mention that so many people choose to celebrate their Birthdays with friends, whether it be on a trip, dinner/brunch on the town, or a unique experience such as Tea on the Town (see more on my friend Briana’s Birthday experience there and my fully transparent review on the experience here). Just know that whatever you choose to do for your birthday should be right for you, however that may look.

While I won’t spend too much time sharing much about the menu for my 26th Birthday Brunch (and hence don’t have any photos of the food either – LOLLL!), I will share a few details of what I chose. I opted to go for a simple menu that required less preparation on anyone’s parts. I had two celebratory dinners on the town with family members and was a bit tired from those late nights with 9-5 work days and wanted something on the simpler side. For the menu, I went with a nice bagel display with plain and everything bagels as well as plain and strawberry cream cheeses to choose from alongside a blueberry and cantaloupe with a few sprinkles of fresh mint fruit salad. For drinks, I had coffee/tea, Mimosas (alongside orange juice only for those who don’t drink), and water to keep us all hydrated. For dessert, we had Georgetown Cupcake which was my biggest splurge! I pick up a dozen Georgetown Cupcakes every year for my Birthday in lieu of a cake and have found it to be the best and most special way to commemorate another trip around the sun.

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you. Additionally, this post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

For more preppy style & grand millennial home content, check out my Preppy Fashion & Grand Millennial Home page.

& NOW for my tablescape details…

China – I used dinner plates that I *surprise* normally use around my house for meals and dressed them up with bread plates, and tea cup/saucers that are from my Great-Grandmother, Nana Martha Seaton’s, China collection! I inherited my Nana Martha Seaton’s China collection a few years ago and am proud to have currently used and will continue to use her gorgeous collection for years and generations to come.

Water Cups – My water cups are from Kate Spade and I’ve had them for a few years via a FabFitFun box when I was a member.

Wine Flutes – For a table of 6, I opted to mix and match given what I have! For the wine flutes on the sides, I used my newly purchased Kate Spade X Target wine flutes that happen to be plastic and are SO FUN! As for the heads of the table, I used my gold wine flutes that I got earlier this year at Target and regularly use for lazy wine nights/dinners in.

Tablecloths and Napkins – I have been on THE HUNT for some elegant cloth napkins for hosting! When the Kate Spade X Target collection launched, I snagged some of the 4-pack cloth napkins sets for hosting purposes. They are uniquely embroidered and ADORABLE!! I got the matching table runner from the Kate Spade X Target collection and paired it with an aqua sheer thrifted curtain that I repurposed as a tablecloth.

Party Poppers – I wanted to invest in something unique for my 26th Birthday Brunch Tablescape. I actually got these party poppers first when visioning for my tablescape! On an April solo date to my happy place aka Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, I popped into Boxwood – a gorgeous boutique on King Street focused on home and hosting goods – and happened to chat about my 26th Birthday Brunch with the lady working there (whose name I wish I remembered!). She graciously showed me a few things storefront to get my inspiration going to which these beautiful party poppers were then shown to me. I *knew* that they would be the perfect touch to my tablescape and am SO excited that I got them, after memories of using party poppers as a kid during the holidays. Needless to say, they were a hit at the table!!

Flowers – Last but not least, my Papa graciously gifted me a bouquet of flowers that coincidentally paired SO well with my tablescape. I put them in my Lilly Pulitzer-inspired painted vase that I thrifted from Goodwill a couple of years ago for the perfect finishing tablescape touch.

Shop my tablescape here!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Yes, We Need to Party More in 2025!

Freshly baked cookies on platters, beautifully made table settings with name cards at every seat for every guest, and an array of cocktails and beautiful food displays were my holiday norms. My family and friends all came together, sometimes 25+ people for one holiday or gathering all sitting around laughing, eating, drinking, and just being together. Truly, it was a magical time for me! Growing up, I always felt the magic of a house party thanks to my Mom and late Grandma. Over on my Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee) during the December/January timeframe, I came across an Instagram Story that essentially had a headline saying “Americans need to party more.” And, simply put, I think we do too.

And, before I get into the meat of this post, I want to share my thoughts on the definition of the word “party”. To me, a party or house party is a get together at someone’s house, whatever it may look like.

Many of us over the years are less likely to be invited to a house party or social gathering of any kind at someone’s house in 2024 and into 2025. Less and less people are hosting house parties and gatherings of any kinds at their homes. Over on YouTube, I have found myself coming across several video essays on my feed about how lonely Gen Z is and how Gen Z prefers to spend more of their spare time resting at home than past generations. At the same time, the so-called “third place” is gone, e.g. the cafes, hangout spots, etc. where people would frequent and regularly interact with others beyond the home and school/the workplace. In our current state of the world, a lot of chaos is happening and we are also in the post-COVID years where the world essentially shut down and went fully remote. Nevertheless, a lot of what we are experiencing is a result of the rapid adaptation of technology, current state of our world, and the post-effects of the pandemic. Anddddd, ALL of us are feeling the effects of loneliness into the early months of 2025.

2025 has been a year of chaos and change in the world of current events. I feel like EVERY time I turn on the news, something new and pretty chaotic is happening in our world and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. The same concept goes for social media platforms, too. There’s a lot of change and stress and uncertainty during this time for many people. Given ALL the chaos and stress and uncertainty in our world right now, a lot of us need that time to be alone to just process it all mentally. A lot of people simply want that time that they have after work to be peaceful and quiet. And guess what?!?! I truly understand the need to simply decompress and be chaos-free in a world currently full of lots of chaos. There’s SO MUCH going on in our world right now which can leave people feeling extremely overwhelmed and less likely to want to put themselves in situations where their peacefulness which can be rather limited is in jeopardy.

Humans are social beings at the end of the day. And, while we need the time to rest, rejuvenate, and recharge, we also need time with others (no matter HOW introverted you may be!). While a pretty chaotic year 2025 has been so far, I think that we need to come together now more than ever before. I am SO excited and honored to be invited to a social gathering at a friend’s house on the upcoming weekend – something that feels far and few in between since my childhood days but does happen on occasion. I think planning more house parties and social gatherings is truly a way that we can make a positive change in 2025. Not only do house parties bring people together and facilitate community, but they also bring a positive boast to our mental and physical wellbeing. And, at the end of the day, it reduces loneliness, depression, anxiety, and so much more. We need to be together more often than not, and put on a good party.

Truly, I miss the days when social gatherings that my late Grandma put on were the norm. I feel very fortunate that my Mom and Step Dad still host lovely dinners and social gatherings for our family from time to time. There is something truly so magical about a lovely table display full of delicious food and drinks to enjoy together. The time together is truly special and makes it the party of a lifetime that we can have again and again and again!

Nevertheless, I am excited to be apart of the change in bringing parties back, alongside some of my dear friends who have hosted me in the past and will continue to. It only takes one person to make a difference in somebody’s life and in these days that difference can be an invitation to a house party to meet others. The magical moments that my Mom and late Grandma gave me during my childhood are things that I am looking forward to bringing to others in my life and to the future generations. I thank them everyday for the love and magic that they showed me through their house parties and I’m excited to bring them back in 2025 (and beyond!).

XOXO – Katie <3

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