Can you believe Christmas is already next week? I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely not a fan of this whole short time in between Christmas and Thanksgiving thing. The holidays are already busy enough and then you cut out extra days and it’s just mayhem trying to fit everything in. There’s Christmas cookies to be baked (of course!), gifts to be wrapped, many ugly sweater parties to be attended and so much more. But even when it feels extra busy and crazy, we all survive. Sometimes thanks to a little help from friends and other times thanks to an extra cocktail or two… I mean help from our family.

Every year I try to throw a little holiday night in Chicago since I leave town for the actual holiday and love any excuse to celebrate in my own home. I mean, I do go cut down a tree. Might as well make the most of it.

This year though since there was such a short period in between and everyone was feeling the busyness of the holidays, I decided to keep it low key with a few girlfriends. A night were we could all relax and enjoy each other’s company before heading out of town or to other celebrations. So this year’s theme was Cocktails & Cookies because no matter how busy everyone is, nobody can pass up a night in Christmas pjs with coffee themed cocktails and Christmas cookies.

And you can even cheat (I admit I did for some) and buy store bought cookies. Nobody will complain (trust me) and it will save you from an all nighter of baking dozens of cookies. So I guess you could say, just like the prep work this party tutorial will be short and sweet.

The Decor

It’s no secret that I’m the world’s biggest Martha Stewart product fan and this party was no exception. I kept things simple. No full table setting or big floral arrangment needed. Here you can use a buffet table, 4′ fold up table with linen or like I did, use a bar cart for your setup. I started off with adding a few low-key holiday decor pieces like mine from Martha Stewart at Macy’s, a faux garland across the back to help bring the display together and I grabbed some fresh Holly berries from my local Trader Joe’s. I then used my matching holiday tea set and serving tier to add another holiday touch as well as my “santa mail” cookie jar. Simple, festive and easy clean up after!

The Cocktails

Let’s talk booze. There’s been quite the espresso martini trend going around this year and when I came across the recipe below for one, I thought I had to get in on the action and try it out. Result…I’m now an espresso martini drinker. They’re amazing! Plus with the BRIM 19 BAR ESPRESSO MAKER, you can quickly whip up espresso shots in no time. Not to mention the system looks great on display so I used my machine as part of the setup alongside these adorable martini and couple glasses by Twist & Tumbler.

So for this party, my two recommended options to serve are: 1. Espresso Martinis and 2.Coffee with Baileys. Another option is if you have a guest who is not drinking alcohol, you can use the BRIM 19 BAR ESPRESSO MAKER to create cappuccinos, lattes, steam milk for hot chocolate, and so much more. It’s as if you have a mini starbucks now in your home!

The Food

This is the best part, the only food are cookies! Since this is a low key gathering you don’t want guests to feel as if they have to bring a dish or have you waste time waiting for food to be heated when you could be enjoying the time with your guests. So for this one, I recommend keeping it simple with a variety of cookies. Here I did a biscotti as those are always a great option with coffee beverages, sugar cookie – a classic, chocolate chip and gingerbread. A little something for every sweet palette.

And for those who are traveling for the holidays and celebrating with friends from afar, I have the perfect solution to still creating this Cookies & Cocktails celebration. Something Steve and I used to do when we dated long distance was have Skye dinner dates where we would come up with a dish, go get the ingredients and cook the same thing while skyping. We would then sit down to eat so we felt as if we were enjoying the meal together. No need to download Skype though, thanks to facetime and no need to create a grocery list and run to the store thanks to Martha Stewart who has the perfect gift basket you can use or gift to your friends for a fun virtual Cookies & Cocktails night in! iGourmet Gift baskets curated by Martha Stewart are available here, including a cookie decorating tin and many more fun themed gift boxes that would make for a fun virtual holiday celebration with friends! Or is a great option for you last minute Christmas gift shoppers still needing a gift;)

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Cheers to the holiday season and the last party tutorial of the year! Excited to keep celebrating together in the new year. Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday!

This post was in partnership with Martha Stewart, Macy’s and Brim, some items in this post were c/o and some links are affiliated to help create (and give a budget) to my party throwing ideas!