Valentine’s Day is a historic day for romance and courtship, but many people celebrate the holiday in other ways. This Valentine’s Day, in addition to giving flowers to your sweetheart, give an extra one to your closest friends.
One way to participate in all-encompassing love is Galentine’s Day. Galentine’s Day is a Valentine’s Day alternative that gained popularity after the second season of “Parks and Recreation” aired on NBC in 2010. Now, 15 years later, friends still recognize Feb. 13 as a day to set aside time to celebrate the platonic love in your life, especially among female friendship groups.
Galentine’s Day is all about celebrating love in all forms, and it’s meant to be an addition to the beloved holiday, not a replacement.
Plans for either day don’t have to be grandiose and expensive to be impactful. Sydney Mayhew, senior psychology major, has plans to invite a group of close friends to her apartment. There, she said that she has plans to play pop culture Jeopardy over a round of drinks. Even the drinks must be on theme: strawberry lemonade in sparkly pink wine glasses, topped off with sugar lining the rim.
Since Mayhew and her friends are 21 or over, they also plan to take a walk to Bombay Bicycle Club to enjoy more games at the bar. She said that these plans were a good excuse to not only decorate her apartment in appropriately pink and red decorations, but also to feed her friends with leftover Super Bowl snacks.
“I just like spending time with my friends,” Mayhew said. “I used to be a Valentine’s Day hater. I’m not going to lie. Now I just think it’s so fun, and it’s so colorful.”
However, Valentine’s Day plans are in no way restricted to consuming alcohol. Risa Flores, sophomore human resources major and member of Alpha Chi Lambda, has plans to meet friends for a crafting session. She said that they plan to make patchwork hoodies and clay sculptures with each other before assembling a “hear me out” cake. Flores said that she gets to spend Valentine’s Day both with her friends and making her own unique Alpha Chi Lambda merchandise.
“I’ve always been single for Valentine’s Day, but I honestly think it’s so fun to have a self-care day for me,” Flores said. “I still have no Valentine, but that’s okay. I get to just enjoy that time and really be present and grateful for what I have.”
Celebrating Valentine’s Day in an untraditional way shows how much love can go around. Flores said that she believes in the value of a well-placed self-care day, especially one where there are no expectations, to show love in a different kind of way.
“You can make your own night the way that you want to. It doesn’t have to be, ‘I need to get flowers and chocolates.’ I can just hang out with my friends, sit on the couch, and watch a movie,” Flores said.
There’s not only room for self-love on Valentine’s Day. There’s enough time to spend with friends, as well as family and loved ones.
“I think, for me, it’s a reminder to check in with the people that I love. I’m a very firm believer that you should always let the people in your life know that you love them,” Mayhew said. “I think it’s a really special time to celebrate all the people you love and be really obnoxious about it, and no one can get mad at me because it’s Valentine’s Day.”
