Happy YOU Day: Tips for Celebrating Your Gal Pals in the Summertime

Thank you Middle Sister for sponsoring this post. Bring your favorite Middle Sister wine along to all of your celebrations this year!

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I became irrationally worried about making friends with other parents once she was older. Almost all of my friends at that time were in the city, and I kept thinking that meeting like-minded parents here in the suburbs, especially based on friends my daughter chose, would be a challenge. Then when my daughter was 2.5, she took a ballet class and bonded with a few little girls who just happened to have the coolest mamas ever. We ended up becoming great friends, and now we regularly meet up for wine and grown up talk. It's the best!

Each of these moms, like me, has her hands full with work and kids and family, and doesn't do much for herself. I decided that it would be fun to take a break from our little ones and responsibilities for a few hours, and have a day dedicated to the mamas themselves. Instead of celebrating our kids' birthdays or school/activity accomplishments, it would just be a day to celebrate us - a YOU Day. The best part about this (other than the awesome hang time with friends) is that it's something you can quickly throw together without spending a lot of time or money (we do enough of that for our children's parties, right?), and still have it be an incredible time.

I'm sure many of you could use some downtime for good conversation and delicious wine with your girlfriends as well, so today I thought I'd share my tips for how to treat your own gal pals to a You Day this summer - without the stress of planning something extravagant.

1. Decorate with flowers you have on hand. Flowers make every get-together better. And they may seem like an obvious choice for decor, but the great thing about summertime is that most people already have flowers on hand. If you have a flowering bush or tree in your yard, cut off a couple and put in vases for your gathering. Or use flowering plants from around your home as instant decor.

2. Keep food simple. I usually try to serve wine and cheese with some pretty pastries when I have friends over, but in the summertime, I most often just throw together things I already have around the house. I'm a big fan of making pasta salads in the summertime, so I'll throw that together and then serve summer fruits and something crunchy like pretzels or crackers. It's completely possible to create a snack spread that looks and tastes great without going over the top.

3. Serve a variety of (fun!) wines. I've learned that you don't need to put together a full bar in order to give choices when you're entertaining friends. Instead, I stock up on the Super Six Middle Sisters wines: Rebel Red (Blend), Wild One (Malbec), Drama Queen (Pinot Grigio), Goodie Two-Shoes (Pinot Noir), Mischief Maker (Cabernet Sauvignon), and Sweet & Sassy (Moscato). It's an easy way to offer lots of choices without having to go over the top. Plus it's really fun to see if each mama's varietal preference matches her personality. (My husband says that my favorites - Cabernet and Pinot Grigio, aka Mischief Maker and Drama Queen - fit me perfectly. Hmmm.) I always opt for Middle Sister wine (which was created 10 years ago by the founding women of what is known as the Wine Sisterhood - love that so much!) when I'm hanging with my gal pals at my house. The wine itself is absolutely delicious, and the premise behind it is so fun. Terry Wheatley, Middle Sister founder, was fascinated by her best friend's middle daughter, Erin, who was always more outrageous, more free-spirited, and larger than life. Inspired by her, Terry decided to create Middle Sister wines for middle sisters everywhere, so they finally get the attention they deserve. (I'm the older sister, but I think we all have a little middle sister in us, right?) Middle Sister has a great sense of humor too, through snarky "Drops of Wisdom" in their communities and messages printed directly on their labels. The fact that Middle Sister winesalso support causes women care about - including Sonoma Valley Wine Business Executive MBA Scholarship for women in the wine industry, Angels Share and Heart of the Vine - is pretty great. You really can't choose a better wine for a girlfriend get-together.

4. Make a sign. I have always been a sign fan, way back to my days of showing my eco-clothing collections at trade shows. Simple signs take the ordinary up a notch, especially at parties. Grab a letter board or chalk board, write "Happy YOU Day" on it, and set it up for your girlfriends. It's a great reminder of the occasion and why you're celebrating.

5. Give a simple gift. I don't usually give out gifts or favors just for having friends over, but they're a nice extra "something" when you're doing a You Day get-together. Grab small succulents from a local nursery and give each girlfriend one on the way out. If you have time, bake some cookies and place them in small favor bags tied with pretty ribbon. Or if you want to send your besties home with gifts they'll really love, give them each their favorite varietal of Middle Sisters wines. Even a single flower for each friend as they leave is a wonderful way to show them how much you appreciate them.

6. Relax. You Day is about celebrating your girls, but it's about YOU too! I actually love planning big parties and going crazy with over the top decor and themes, but for You Day gatherings, I keep things small, simple, and easy, so I can enjoy the downtime and relax with my ladies.

I hope these tips prove useful and inspire you to throw a YOU Day get-together with your own wine sisters this summer. Oh! And in celebration of Middle Sister wines turning 10 this year, they are hosting a monthly Kate Spade purse sweepstakes. (Woohoo!) Be sure to enter to win this month's Middle Sister giveaway right here. You can also grab a bottle of your favorite Middle Sister character (or the Super Six like I do) at stores across the U.S. and online. Happy You Day!

Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Bubby and Bean possible. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

ALSO FIND US HERE: INSTAGRAM // FACEBOOK // TWITTER // PINTEREST