One of my favorite traditions my husband and I have started over the past year is “Friday Happy Hour at Home.” Every Friday after we wrap the work day, we celebrate with a fun snack or drink (not always booze!) and listen to a fun playlist while our son eats dinner. This past Friday, it was our son’s first birthday, and since I was crying about my big, grown up toddler, I decided to make happy hour at home extra fun with an Up theme! I created a grazing board inspired by Making Main Street and whipped up a cocktail inspired by Ellie’s Grape Soda pin, which we are calling the Ellie 75! (Fun fact: Making Main Street designed the Small World nursery I saw on Pinterest years ago that inspired Jackson’s Small World nursery! Definitely check out their page for amazing Disney inspo!)

Up House Grazing Board

Let’s start with the grazing board – in crafting snacks to look like Carl and Ellie’s house, I got a little creative. Here is what I used:

House
- Multicolor carrots
- Mozzarella cheese sticks
- Cheddar and gouda bites
- Prosciutto
- Salami
- Celery
Balloons
- Zucchini
- Yellow squash
- Cherry tomatoes
Fresh thyme (for garnish and balloon strings)

See our video for how I put the board together! I served with dill dip for the veggies! I also thought about doing fruit for the balloons: dried apricots, grapefruit slices, kiwi slices, grapes, etc. so that is a fun option as well.

Ellie 75 Cocktail

If you’ve been around here for a minute, you know the official cocktail of choice of The Pixie Dust Pals is a French 75. I wanted to take those main ingredients but give it a purple spin to represent the Ellie Badge without making a grape-flavored cocktail, per se. The end result is delicious and Pixie Dust Pal approved!

Ingredients

1 oz Empress Gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
Favorite sparkling wine
Lemon slice for garnish

Add all measured ingredients to a champagne flute and stir gently. Top with sparkling wine. Add lemon slice to the edge of the glass. You and me, we’re in a club now!

What fun traditions have you started while in quarantine?