Thank you, Linda...

Sometimes, we get so busy, we forget how important friendships with other women are. If you are a busy student, employee, business owner, mom, wife, homeowner, bill-payer, house cleaner---or any of the other million roles that women take on---you are likely to sometimes scoot your friendships to the backburner. It happens, unfortunately, because we convince ourselves that all the other stuff in our schedule is so important. It is, but so is having great women in your life to support you, encourage you, laugh with you, hold you accountable, and offer you a much needed respite from doing dishes, paying bills, and making deadlines.

Kari's friend, Linda, came up with a lovely idea: A Dinner Club for women. Linda found a group of ladies and these women take turns every month hosting a dinner in their home. The Dinner Club is a beautiful idea and Kari is very grateful to Linda for following through on the idea. Fellowship with other women is important and Linda knows that. What makes Linda even more special is that she is relatively new to the area where she lives, yet that did not stop her from inviting women she had made acquaintance with into the Dinner Club, in the hope that solid friendships might be formed.

January can be a lonely month for a lot of people. Holidays are over, the weather can be dreary, and many people experience "down in the dumps feelings" as they clean up the pine needles from the abandoned Christmas tree and wonder what to look forward to. That is why January is the perfect reason for all of you to think about establishing a Dinner Club! Or, at the very least, having one dinner where you invite some special ladies you've met to share a bite and cultivate a friendship. Consider sending out a fun invitation, so that the members on your guest list have something fun to look forward to in this very dreary month. If the idea of hosting a full-on dinner scares you, just put out a hearty appetizer spread. Or invite the gals over for dessert and giggles. Or fun cocktails. The point is, get the girls together. And try inviting someone new---someone who might be new to the area or who might need to meet a new group of friends. If you always try to include a new person on your invite list, your gatherings will never be stale and your friendships will become richer as a result. By holding your own Dinner Club this January, you'll be bringing smiles to a group of ladies who otherwise might not be having a very cheery month.

Now get started on that guest list! And don't forget to email us here at The Babs Blog to tell us how your Dinner Clubs went. If you sent us a photo of your get-together, we'll be sure to post it on the blog and let people know how you went about celebrating friendship with other women. :)