One of my all-time favorite days of the year is almost here: Galentine’s Day!
I’m sure some of you are reading this squealing in your seats because you also know and love this sacred day, and I’m also sure that some of you are thinking to yourself, “Um, does she know she misspelled Valentine’s Day?” For those who may fall into the latter category, let me help you out. Galentine’s Day is, according to Leslie Knope from NBC’s Parks and Recreation, “only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas.”
Basically, Galentine’s Day is like Valentine’s Day except instead of celebrating romantic love and partnership, it’s an excuse for us ladies to celebrate our friendships with our best girlfriends… who, let’s be real, are our true soulmates anyway. I’ve celebrated this holiday for many years (often with one of my best friends, Arielle, as the hostess), and as someone who has celebrated this holiday for about 10 years now, I’m here to share some tips on how you can enjoy the best day of the year.
Eat breakfast food
Ron Swanson famously said, also on Parks and Rec, that “There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.” For Galentine’s, think waffles, fruit, chocolate dip for said fruit, breakfast casseroles, cinnamon rolls, and of course… mimosas! Pro tips:
- Make it a potluck. One where everyone brings their favorite breakfast item! This lessens the cost and burden on the hostess while also giving us a chance to connect on what our favorites are.
- Have a mimosa bar. Include different juice types and non-alcoholic bubbles for those who don’t partake in alcohol.
Have a themed get-together
Who doesn’t love a good theme? It doesn’t have to be fancy or require guests to wear certain outfits (or it can — up to the hostess) but a theme can give fun direction to decor, activities, food, etc. While I can’t take credit for all of these themes, here are two ideas for inspiration.
- The theme: Sweet dreams. Host a sleepover-themed night with your girls. I owe credit on this one to my dear friend, Arielle, who hosted a dream-themed Galentine’s Day party a few years back. There were sheets draped on the ceiling and lots of cozy blankets and pillows. We all wore our jammies, and brought food. While we didn’t have REM-induced dreams, we did take Polaroid pictures and write our dreams on our pics. I still have mine!
- The theme: Favorite things. Have each guest bring a favorite thing of theirs (wrapped or unwrapped — you decide) to be exchanged with the favorites of fellow guests. If your guest count is low, you can have your guests bring enough gifts for everyone. If the guest count is higher, you can have everyone bring 3–4 of their item and draw names/numbers for which items guests get. You can set a budget for the cost of each favorite item to make it easy and lower pressure, or even have a theme for the favorite things that align with activities you’re doing at the party — self-care, desserts, books, etc.
Make it a simple celebration
Parties are delightful, but let’s be real, sometimes they can also be stressful. If life is too busy to allow for a party, keep it simple. Make a reservation at a tasty restaurant and meet up with your favorite girls for brunch or dinner. Invite your girlfriends over for a movie night or go see a movie in the theatre together. These options create minimal expectations while still offering maximal fun and connection.
More than anything, remember that Galentine’s is truly about ladies celebratin’ ladies. It’s absolutely not necessary to host a party or any type of gathering in order to celebrate each other. There are ways to celebrate and uplift our best gal pals without an event. The spirit of the day is achievable without sharing physical space with anyone. For us mamas, our calendars are insane and revolve around children’s extracurricular activities. Below are some fun ways to celebrate your besties without being together.
- Write handwritten cards and mail them to your friends! Who doesn’t love getting surprise fun snail mail?! Level up your cards by using fun-colored pens, printing some photos of you and your friends to put into the card, and/or throwing a cute vinyl sticker in the card.
- Schedule time for a Facetime date with a friend who lives far away. You can cook the same meal simultaneously while on Facetime or Zoom and share time together.
- Send some digital love. Create a cute graphic to text your besties to just pop into their inbox and tell them you love them, put together a video of yourself and/or photos of friends and send it to the group chat, or just send a simple text/voice memo telling your girly pops that you’re thinking of them and celebrating your friendship.
For more Galentine’s Ideas, check out Pinterest — there are literally tons of them and they’re great! Cheers to celebrating ourselves and gal pals — we most certainly deserve it!
XOXO, Liv
