In My Hostess Era: How To Throw A Girl Dinner Party

Gathering in times of…*gestures broadly to the world*

Girl dinner (n): Self love on a plate in the form of Caesar salad, fries and a cutie drink, such as a martini, white wine, or a crispy Diet Coke. Known to be a cure-all. Absolutely delightful. 

The last time I had a *true* girl dinner was last year, right after I got a birthday facial. I had a giftcard for Woodhouse Spa that I had saved for the occasion, and post-facial, I casually waltzed over to a local restaurant, glowy and relaxed. I sat at the bar, ordered a humongous salad, side of fries and a Diet Coke with lemon. It felt indulgent and fun. A meal with hardly any protein or major nutritional value for dinner every once in a while is essential for your heart and spirit. At least in my opinion. Which is why I wanted to serve this meal at my February gathering, Galentines. (duh!)

My 2025 goal of hosting once a month is still going strong (we’re 2 for 2!) as I celebrated Galentine’s at the end of the month. My Girl Dinner Galentine’s got pushed back a weekend because of some last minute schedule changes, but it ended up working out because more girlies were able to attend at the later date. A dream!

I’ll admit, my planning process was a little out of whack and not as organized as Kristen’s Coffee ™ (hehe) but I was so proud of myself because this time we had a sit-down meal. On actual plates! With name cards and everything! I’m working my way up to an actual real life dinner party, and Girl Dinner was a fantastic stepping stone. My table set for 6 was full, and as a newbie host, this felt like a huge win. Yay!

Even though this was a Galentine’s Day party, I think a Girl Dinner themed gathering is perfect for anytime of year. Truly, any excuse to sit and yap with your friends is welcome, especially since it feels like the world is crumbling around us as of late. Now, more than ever, taking the time to connect with loved ones feels essential. So if you’re feeling an itch to invite the girlies over for Caesar salad and Diet Coke’s, here’s everything you need to make your Girl Dinner gathering just a little bit *extra*

So cutie 😭

The Welcome Drink

I love the idea of a signature drink. It’s so fun coming into a party and being offered a fun drink right as you get settled! The drink for Girl Dinner is an important part of the trifecta, and I knew I wanted to start with a mocktail, and obviously something pink. I had seen Lex Nicolata, the Coastal Grandma herself, share a drink topped with cotton candy, and I immediately knew that this was it. It looks so fun, and it truly couldn’t be simpler. The recipe for our signature drink is as follows:

• Sprite in a champagne flute

• Edible pink glitter

• Pink cotton candy

And that’s it! You can eat the cotton candy by itself, or you can add it to your drink. It instantly dissolves and it turns the light blush color to a hot, vibrant pink, which is extra fun. We also served sparkling rosé! I had a dream of creating a Diet Coke tower and tying it with ribbon—but I didn’t end up having space for it. I’ll have to make one for another gathering because it's so cute. Like are you joking, look at this.

For next time omg!

Pro tip: I’m obsessed with the silver tray—it elevates anything you place on top of it and I got it at an estate sale for $5. If you want cutie silver for your parties, or just your life, buy them secondhand! And get some silver wipes to polish them up! This tray was pretty tarnished when I bought it, but it cleaned up so beautifully 🥰

The Menu

The beauty of Girl Dinner is its simplicity, but I still wanted to make it a little special. I opted to make my own Caesar dressing instead of buying it, and I’m really happy I did. Homemade dressing is pretty simple to throw together, and it felt a little fancy, which I’m obviously obsessed with. The anchovy part of Caesar dressing freaked me out a little, but I found a recipe that uses Worcestershire sauce instead. We had it on hand too, so it worked perfectly! 

Caesar Salad Dressing, from Natasha’s Kitchen

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard (I ended up using Trader Joe’s Garlic Mustard Aioli sauce and it worked perfectly!) 

• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, grated or pressed

• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon (or I used a packet of True Lemon. I’m obsessed with True Lemon and put it in my water and Diet Coke all the time!)

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup extra light olive oil, not extra virgin

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a bowl, combine the mayo, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly drizzle in your olive oil.(my husband drizzled the oil while I whisked!) Once all of the olive oil is in, continue whisking until it’s well incorporated. Add parmesan and whisk together to combine. Transfer to a mason jar, cover with a lid, and refrigerate until ready to use.

I made the dressing the night before and prepped the salad about a half hour before guests arrived. Simply chop up some romaine (I used three heads of romaine for 6 people) and top with parm and croutons. When it was time to eat, I added the dressing and tossed it all together!

The fries are the last part of the girl dinner trifecta, and I honestly debated on what fries to serve. I thought about running to McDonalds and buying some, but the thought of leaving to get them stressed me out. I also feel like I’ve been gatekeeping a brand of frozen French fry that honestly blows my mind—like I can’t believe I can make these in the air fryer and they taste as good as they do. If you want to have delicious fries at home that are ACTUALLY good, please buy Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries. Like, please try them and tell me how you like them, because I’m obsessed. Serving McDonalds fries would have, of course, been a slay, but these worked just as well with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. 

And finally, I wanted a fun protein to go with our salad and fries, so I opted for these Perdue chicken nuggets, which were delicious and a big hit. I made the whole bag and everyone loved them. And again, to elevate your fries and nuggets, just put them on silver. Look how cute these nuggets are in the picture above! Secondhand silver forever!

The Dress Code

Ok, so I’m a firm believer in wearing whatever makes you feel your best, but having a theme and a dress code for the party felt fun! And again, this is the year of being extra, so why not? The dress code was pjs and comfies. Perfection. My friends arrived in sweats and cozies, and I opted to wear a pink striped pajama set with a pink ribbon in my hair. So cute and perfect for Galentines! And who doesn’t love a party where you know you can be comfy?

The Vibe

I planned this gathering with my friend Sadie, and we chatted about having an activity to do. We went to the Eras tour together and we both have tons of extra beads, so we thought it would be fun to make friendship bracelets. I also had these adorable Dinner Party cards with conversation starters on hand too. We didn’t end up needing any of it though, as the conversation naturally flowed at the dinner table over nuggets and glittery mocktails. 

In the midst of general catch-up and how are you’s, so much of what we ended up chatting about was the state of our country, how it was affecting all of our jobs, and our mental health as well. It’s easy to see a gathering like this, full of pink and red and cotton candy and glitter, as silly and surface-level, but I think now more than ever, it’s so important to stay connected to our friends and loved ones. I’ve been seeing a clip of RuPaul’s Masterclass floating around, where he says, 

With all the darkness that’s going on in the world, you can look at the darkness, but don’t stare. It’ll make you crazy. It’ll make you cross-eyed. It’ll make you what it is. The solution is to create magic. Dance, sing, love. Create environments where you can find joy, because you can create joy.

That’s what I hope to create at my gatherings this year. I’m not sure that was initially my goal as I set this 2025 intention in January, but I think that’s what it’s morphed into. An opportunity for joy, for beauty and a little bit of sparkle with friends in a world filled with darkness.

 I think we all needed a glittery drink and Girl Dinner that day. And I’m so glad we had the chance to indulge. 💘

And that’s a wrap on my February party! If you’re inspired to throw your own Girl Dinner gathering, I highly highly recommend it, especially if you’re a newbie host like I am. My air fryer was working overtime, but that just meant I had time to chit chat and be with my friends instead of staying cooped up in the kitchen. And that’s the point of these parties anyway—Ina Garten taught me you want to keep things simple. Store bought is fine. Your party is about the people, not about the food! But now that I have a sit down meal under my belt, I feel like I’m getting closer to my dinner party. Yay! 

I’m already planning and dreaming up what I want to do for March, and I’m feeling like I wanna go back to a more casual food set-up. Having a theme and a reason to celebrate makes these gatherings extra special—so I’m putting a few ideas I have here. Weigh in on what you think would be so cutie!

Happy March, and thank you for your patience as I missed last week’s newsletter, due to Sunday Galentine’s! March signals spring, more sunlight, and a fresh start. I’m so so ready. See you next week!

xx, Kristen

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And if you want to hang on the daily, be sure to follow me on Instagram! This week I shared a little pep talk for the beginning of March, a non-materialistic thing that makes me feel rich and my March moodboard 🥰

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