Maybe it’s a mom thing, maybe it’s because I’m not in university anymore (true story I still refer to myself as a “recent grad” LOL), but I get genuinely excited about a solid night in. There’s not much I look forward to more than a quality night on my couch, eating my favourite food, watching a great show, and maybe dabbling in a glass of bubbly.  The only thing that makes that better is doing it with my girlfriends.

We know moms need a break, and sometimes that translates into a rowdy night out, but most of the time even the thought of putting on real clothes or making an effort to leave the house after 8 pm is more exhausting than anything. So for me, it means bringing the party to someone’s living room. It means Girls Night In.

Even though all you really need for an epic night in is your girlfriends — and a few kid-free hours — my good friends (Amy from Milk and Coco and Sarah from Sleeping is for Losers) and I have put together a stress-free guide to throwing the ultimate Girls Night In.

A Mother Hustlers Guide to Girls Night In

Party Prep //

No need dirty up your own dishes or search Pinterest for deco options when you can cover both things with Perfect Party in a Box. This gorgeously curated party box comes complete with gold embossed paper dishes, paint-dipped tableware, pastel napkins, paper straws, cute stemless plastic wine glasses, and Instagram-worthy decorative pieces.  Get your cameras ready, girls.  It all takes just minutes to set up and you can throw it all away when you’re done, or, reuse what you can. They also have a unicorn themed party… just sayin’.

Delicious Eats//

Let’s not kid ourselves; social gatherings always gravitate around wherever the food is. In the case of a Girls Night In, that’s likely the kitchen. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend time and energy prepping a menu for your guests, uh-uh. To us, a Girls Night means doing the least amount of work possible so that you get the greatest enjoyment possible. Forget cooking.

Order in with a food delivery app like Foodora and treat yourself and your girls to restaurant quality food, that is actually from one of your fave local spots. Foodora has hundreds of choices, all with different price points. You also have the option to pick up if that suits your timing and location. For our main course, we opted for Napoleon style pizza from Toronto favourite Pizza Libretto.

Sweet Treats //

Dessert is ALWAYS on my mind, and you can’t go wrong with shareable favourites like a box of gourmet cookies from Felix and Norton. I grew up on these cookies (seriously, it was right across from my high school and my friends and I would always go there on our lunch break to buy our weight in day-old cookies).  If you don’t happen to live near a store, don’t stress. Ready-to-bake packs will be available across Canada in Loblaws starting this fall. Crowd pleasures include the Menage a Trois and Ebony & Ivory cookies. Drool.

Other tabletop must-haves include the bingeable Vegan Prosecco Gummy Bears from Squish candies. If I added up the number of Squish gummies that I’ve consumed over the past 2 years, the amount might alarm you LOL. Not only are they delicious, but they’re also adorable. (I even found twin gummy bears for my baby shower. I mean, come on, how much more perfect can you get?)

Get Comfy //

These mamas wanted no business up getting dressed up or putting on heels. No, ma’am. Girls Night In is all about dressing down and being as comfortable and low-key as you want to be. Sweatpants parties are my favourite, and what better sweats to lounge in while sipping bubbles on the couch with your girls than these cozy classics from Sportchek. I’m not lying when I say that the three of us put on our respective sweatsuits and did not take them off for at least three days.

I’m also a HUGE fan of a good slogan shirt, and what better brand to rep than Canadian cult fave Brunette the Label. We are, after all, just a bunch of babes supporting other babes.

Simplified Beauty //

Finding time to pamper yourself at home is tough, especially when you can’t even use the bathroom without a tiny human popping in to check on you every 2.5 seconds. But, you also don’t want to use up solid girl time with extensive beauty routines, which is why we love these two brands for helping us refresh our look in minutes.  Maskeraide masks are fun and we were able to use them without taking a break from our pizza eating contest. We all tried the sweet retreat mini masks which are shaped like (and smell like) desserts.

Later in the evening (after food that involves hands, lol) we treated ourselves to mini manicures from Kiss Nails. I LOVE this brand so much — have used them for years — because they are essentially a pre-glued press-on nail that doesn’t damage your nails like acrylic glue. They come in the coolest patterns and shapes; I am worshipping the oval matte beige with sparkle accents HARD.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun //

Amazon Prime Video and a game about hashtags?  Yes, please! Pretty much made for moms like us, we spent our in-between-eating-and-drinking-and-laughing time with the new Jack Ryan series on in the background (we all had to rewatch the first episode on our own haha) and keeping the laughter going with Hashtag It from Endless Games. Not that we needed a reason to have a good time 😉

Product List //

Top Row L-R: Hashtag It, Felix and Norton, ImPress Manicures, Perfect Party in a Box

Middle Row: Perfect Party in a Box

Bottom Row L-R: SportChek, Henkell Trocken, Squish Candies, Kiss Nails, Maskeraide

Food (Not Pictured): Pizza Libretto via Foodora

What’s on your must-have list for a Girls Night In? Share with me in the comments!

Be sure to check out Amy and Sarah’s posts to get their take on our night 🙂

*Disclaimer: Some of the items listed here were generously gifted to me. As always, opinions are my own.*