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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USF chapter.

I’m one of the people who likes to put on Christmas music and begin the festivities as soon as it turns Nov. 1. But before you put up your Christmas decorations and play your Christmas music, plan a Friendsgiving to have cute fall memories that you can be thankful for, whether it’s your childhood friends or your newfound ones! Friendsgiving is a cute little twist on Thanksgiving, where you get together with your friends to have a small casual meal and celebrate gratitude. There are so many ways to make Friendsgiving adorable and fun!

Thanksgiving is all about food, so it should be your number-one priority! Friendsgiving for my friends and I includes foods such as pies, cupcakes, rolls, etc. Basically, all the foods you would have on a normal Thanksgiving. Friendsgiving would not be much of a Friendsgiving if it didn’t have any of the iconic Thanksgiving food. You can even go for a potluck-style event, where everyone brings a dish, but make sure to avoid repeats!

Now, how can you have a cute Friendsgiving if the ambiance isn’t cute? The ambiance is the second biggest thing in my opinion! You can have adorable pumpkin decor, candles, autumn leaves, etc. to create a cozy, yet amazing ambiance for your friends. For me, Pinterest is the place to go! There is so much inspiration that you can easily make a beautiful and cozy atmosphere! If you want to create something cute, but for less, thrifting items like dishware or candle holders is an easy way to be cute on a budget.

The best way to bring energy to your Friendsgiving is games! My friends and I usually play UNO, Scrabble, or Monopoly when we get together, so board games are always a part of our hangouts, especially during Friendsgiving. I can’t lie, it gets a little heated when we play games together, but that’s always the fun of it when we play together. It brings us closer in the end. Adding games to your Friendsgiving can not only bring energy but break the ice between a couple of friends who don’t know each other very well. 

Friendsgiving can be personal for some, so create Friendsgiving traditions! For my friends and I, we always do a fall activity before our actual Friendsgiving. Every year, we painted pumpkins during our Friendsgiving. This can be like games and bring your friends closer because when me and my friends paint pumpkins, we all pitch in different ways. This is my first year without having a Friendsgiving with my hometown best friends, but I know that I can plan a Friendsgiving with my newfound friends in college and create new traditions. Change is never easy, but create new traditions and be thankful for meeting new friends along your journey!

Friendsgiving brings so many opportunities to have Thanksgiving with your friends, express gratitude, and simply have fun before real Thanksgiving with your family. It may be harder in college if your friends are long-distance, but you can do a Friendsgiving with the people you meet throughout college to build a strong and loving friendship with them.

I’m Tamiyah and I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. I have the pleasure of being a freshman at the University of South Florida majoring in journalism! I’ve written for a couple of things such as Diamond Gazette Magazine and Revision Dojo. One of my favorite hobbies is writing, mainly short stories! Any genre too! I want to explore more than romance or fantasy and dive into psychological. Besides writing, I love taking pictures of beautiful scenery, traveling and exploring places that I’ve never been to!