It is currently winter here in Australia and as I write this I am battling a bout of COVID (not very fun). In a previous story I talked about my goal to host one event a month for 2026 so I thought I would share with you the events I have hosted so far, hoping these may inspire you to start hosting your own events.
You don’t need anything fancy for these or a massive space. I have mentioned my shitty little unit in probably every post I’ve made so if I can host my friends in my tiny space, so can you!
I have a notebook where I write down all my ideas for hosting and what is required for the evening. There are only three things you absolutely need for every gathering, in my opinion. The rest is optional.
Vibes
It is very important that you plan the vibes beforehand. This helps you decide everything else for your event. Are the vibes “cosy”? Then you’ll probably want candles and everyone to show up in comfy clothes and have a cosy playlist on. Are the vibes “2000s slumber party”? Then you probably want a playlist with all the 2000s bops, 90s/00s romcoms to watch, and so much junk food. Knowing the vibes helps you plan what you want your space to look like. what food you want, and what activity you want to do.
Food and Drink
What will you be serving? Nibbles? Cocktails? A 5-course meal? Are you making the food/drink yourself or are you ordering out? This category is the perfect one to also delegate. Ask your guests to each bring something. Most of them will feel glad to not come empty-handed and it will ease some of the pressure on you so you can focus on the other elements. The first event I hosted this year, I wanted to do it all by myself as a way to prove something to myself. But it’s actually so much easier if you let others help.
Music
I believe every event needs a matching playlist. Music does so much to set the scene for an event. Depending on your event, the music doesn’t need to be playing the whole time (e.g., if you’re having a movie night you probably don’t want music playing over the top). But even playing something for a little bit as your guests arrive can completely change the atmosphere of your event. You may wish to create a playlist specific to the event, use one you already have, or see if someone on Spotify has a playlist that you can use. Be sure to have your wireless speaker charged beforehand!
January: Margarita Night
As my first event for 2026, I decided to invite two friends whom I hadn’t seen in almost a year. These friends are 10 years older than me and took me under their wing when I first moved to Australia as a baby 18 year old. I wanted this night to be a ‘thank you’ to them now that I knew how to cook. So naturally, I rebuked their offer to bring anything, and naturally they brought stuff anyway. One friend brought whipped ricotta with hazelnuts and the most delicious bread I’ve ever tasted in my life. The other friend brought ice cream from a local dessert shop.
Vibes
Getting drunk off of too many margaritas. Peak summer energy. Absolutely no worries.
Food and Drink
My original plan was to have my partner, an ex-bartender, make us margaritas, but his plans changed and instead he taught me how to make them the night before. It was actually so much fun to learn from him and I felt like superwoman shaking those margaritas for my friends.
For dinner, I thought it would be fun to make our own pizzas. I grabbed dough from the shops, along with various classic pizza toppings (cheese, pizza sauce, pineapple, ham, pepperoni, basil, chilli, red onion). And of course, garlic bread.
Music
A playlist of ABBA’s greatest hits of course.
Activity
Now, not every gathering needs an activity, Sometimes the activity is the simple act of getting together, sharing a meal, and gossiping. But in the case of Margarita Night, we watched The Devil Wears Prada. I originally wanted to watch Mamma Mia (hence the ABBA) but was saddened to discover it was not available on any of the streaming services I have. So we swapped our summer in Greece for a winter in New York. And we discovered that growing up means realising Nate was a pretty bad boyfriend and Andy deserved better.
February: Winter Olympics Watch Party
I am absolutely obsessed with figure skating. And when I say obsessed, I mean I watch it year-round, not just at the Olympics. I’m watching the Grand Prix events and the World Championships. Figure skating is the one sport I actually enjoy watching and can get into. So when the Winter Olympics rolled around this year, I thought I would host a watch party for my friends so I could share my interest with them.
Vibes
Sports. Italy. TED talk. Competition.
Food and Drink
With the Olympics being hosted in Milano Cortina, we ordered takeaway from the Italian restaurant near my place and I ordered a cannoli box from a local small business.
Music
Honestly, I did not feel this event needed music. It was a weeknight with everyone turning up after work and needing to wake up early the next day so I didn't bother with any playlists so we could dive straight into the action
Activity
The week prior, I recorded an explainer of figure skating so my friends would know what they were walking into. We were going to be watching the Pairs Free Skate so I focused on the rules of pair skating. On the actual evening, I went through a Powerpoint presentation of the medal contenders for this event and asked each of my friends to pick a pairs team for the gold medal. We then watched the event and I gave out prizes in the end for the people that ended on the podium - a single serve chocolate bar for 3rd place, a full size Cadbury milk chocolate block for 2nd place, and a 30-pack of Ferrero Rocher for 1st place.
March: 90s Birthday Party
I am a March baby so the obvious event for March was a birthday party. I talk a lot about this party in this post so I won’t spend too much time discussing it here but I’ll give you the Sparknotes.
Vibes
Party like it’s 1998 because I’m turning 28. Costume party. All things 90s.
Food and Drink
BYO alcohol. I provided soft drinks. The kitchen served as a build your own tacos station (soft and hard taco shells, shredded lettuce, beans, corn, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese, taco meat). Dessert was red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting ordered from a local small business.
Music
90s bangers. I literally checked to see that every song was released between 1990 and 1999.
April: Greek Easter
My family is Greek Orthodox so we celebrate Orthodox Easter. I am not a religious person by any means but I very much enjoy the tradition of gathering family for a shared meal. I have no family living near me so I usually celebrate Greek Easter with friends and my partner’s family, meaning I am the only Greek person in attendance. I love being able to share my culture and family traditions with others. It helps me feel more connected to my roots. This year I had the biggest guest list to date which meant moving around our furniture and bringing in the foldout tables and chairs to accommodate everyone.
Vibes
Traditions. Family. All things Greek.
Food and Drink
A family holiday is the perfect time to ask people to bring things. My natural instinct was to once again try and do it all by myself but I quickly realised that would be a one-way ticket to burnout and exhaustion so I switched gears and gave everyone a job.
Partner: emotional support and clean up duty at the end of the night. He was originally also on lamb duty but had to go to work unexpectedly which was a shame because he is very good at dealing with the lamb.
Sister-in-law: Greek board. We went to the Greek food store the day before and got pita bread, dips, and cheeses for the board. She also added olives and meatballs for good measure.
Friend #1: Greek salad and soft drinks.
Friend #2: Lemon potatoes.
Partner’s grandparents: We borrowed their slow-cooker and I asked them not to bring anything but they brought some kourabiedes (a traditional Greek Christmas cookie) and bought me a slow-cooker of my own as a graduation present (I graduated the Friday after this event).
Me: Lamb, mantra (a Greek pasta dish, not really an Easter thing but it’s my fave so I get to make the rules), spanakopita (cooked from frozen), and dessert (I made a walnut and oat slab pie from Claire Saffitz’s What’s For Dessert?)
Music
I found a Spotify playlist of Greek taverna music a few years ago that I now play every Greek Easter to set the tone for the evening.
Activity
No Easter event would be complete without the appearance of some eggs. But rather than an Easter egg hunt and chocolate eggs as are tradition in Catholic Easter, Orthodox Easter foes something a bit different. Each country does things in their own way and for the Greeks we go full religion with it. Again, I am not a religious person but this one is fun. You boil eggs and dye them red to symbolise the blood of Christ (very morbid). Most people buy red food dye which you can get at a Greek shop but there’s a more natural way to do it which I find super satisfying. You boil the eggs in water with the skin from brown onions - one onion skin per egg. Once the eggs are boiled you leave them and the onion skins in the pot to soak and dye until you get your desired colour. Then on the day, everyone gets an egg and you take turns trying to crack everyone’s egg. The last egg standing has good luck for the rest of the year. I have never won the egg game in my life but next year is definitely gonna be my year!
May: Cosy Autumn Dinner
This event was one I was most excited for. I love the cosiness of autumn and the meals at this time of year. I love the Gilmore Girls energy that autumn brings. I wanted to bring that into this event.
Vibes
Cosy autumn. Need I say more?
Food and Drink
I made a pomegranate G+T with rosemary sprigs and lemon slices as a fun cocktail for the evening. For food, I made slow cooker chicken chilli, cornbread, potato bake, and honeyed carrots. One friend made a cheese board, one made an autumn salad with roasted pumpkin and a maple tahini glaze, and one friend made a chocolate ricotta pear tart for dessert. The evening was everything I wanted it to be and more.
Music
With the vibes being cosy, I of course had to break out my dinner party playlist, featured in my post on how to romanticise winter.
I will do a separate post for my June event because it has been rescheduled to July, but if you saw my post on romanticising winter you’ll know that the event for June is a reading marathon! I absolutely love to read, as do many of my friends, so it sounded like something fun we could do together.
Which event do you like most? Do you have any suggestions for future events?
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