Written by Hannah Redmond, Co-Founder

If you're like me, you wish you stayed in touch with high school, college, and old work friends more. But mom life - and entrepreneur life - is BUSY.

But, regardless of how hard, staying in touch with friends is one of my New Year's resolutions this year is to stay in touch with them more. 

As the owner of a gift company, I am pretty good about gifting for birthdays (it's in my DNA and gifting is definitely my love language), but I wanted to think about other things I could do. As I was jotting down all the ways I could try to do this on my personal notepad, I figured I may as well share my little brainstorm here, with you!

Calendar-Scheduled Phone Dates
As a professional, my calendar is my life-guide. So, if it's not on my calendar, it simply doesn't happen. The back and forth texting to try to find a day to meet up/hang out inevitably fizzle as one of us gets bogged down with life stuff. So, my goal is to book phone dates with friends and put them on both of our calendars to hold us to them. No more "we need to catch up" texts - it'll be "Does Monday the 6th work? Great, just added you to the 30-minute invite." 

Productivity bonus: Make the date during something you have to do like a chore (cooking, laundry, putting away the kids toys) so you feel productive AND you get to connect with a friend. My friend Tara and I used to do this like monthly while we cleaned our rooms, and my friend Chelsie has called me on long boring car rides to kill time. I can't wait to do more of this in 2026.

(Virtual) Book Club
One of my new year's resolutions is to read more. I'm going to pick 1 book a quarter (more if I can!) and invite a friend or coworkers to read along with me. No pressure, maybe monthly text check ins on how we're liking the book, what we're learning, etc. If we get to it - maybe even a coffee date meetup to chat about it! I'm a non-fiction girlie so I'll be picking non-fiction likely). 

Send Letters/Cards
There is something so sentimental about receiving a letter in the mail. Hand written notes are significantly more special rather than sending an email or quick text. Buy some cute stationary and keep your friends up to date or just checking in with a more authentic and personalized touch. I'm planning to do this for when I know my friends are stressed out, sick or going through something. Something to just brighten their day. For my older family members, I plan on including some printed out photos of my kids who they don't get to see very often.

Download Collaborative Mobile Games 
If you don’t have a lot of time to chat, or there’s just no new updates in your life but still want to feel connected, download a collaborative game on your phone. I used to do this with an ex-long distance boyfriend with Chess in college. it was actually really fun and I feel like chess is a great game too do this with because it's strategic and makes you think - better than mindlessly doom scrolling on your phone at night.

I'm excited to try all of these out this year and hope you join me - let's stay better connected in 2026. Happy New year!