Before you spend Valentine’s Day gushing over your SO, remember the people who had your back first: your girlfriends. Sure, you’ll spend February 14 prepping for your night out with your significant other (or spending the day treating your wonderful, single self!), but February 13 is all about cherishing the girls who have seen you cry, watched you stuff your face with pounds of chocolate and helped you pick out the perfect crop top to wear to your first college party. In true Parks and Recreation fashion, Her Campus’s guide to the ultimate Galentine’s Day will guarantee a friendship-filled February 13.
1. Say “bye-bye, boys”
Remember, this day is for your gal pals, which means no guys allowed. Yes, some of your best friends may be guys, but while we love them for the pals that they are, no guy could ever replace your girlfriends. Ask yourself: Would my guy friend want to tag along and get a mani-pedi with Amanda and Laura? If the answer is no, he’s gotta go for the day.
2. Get pampered
What better way to get girly with your gals than to have a stay-at-home spa day? From face masks to feet scrubs, there are tons of innovative ways to get the spa experience without leaving your living room! Get some ideas from our list and look at your Pinterest boards to plan your perfect pampering day.
“You don’t have to spend a ton of money on an overcrowded, overrated spa, and it’s more casual, so it’ll be more relaxing,” says Sarah, a first-year graduate student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. “Whenever I have an at-home spa night for either myself or with my friends, it usually entails painting each other’s nails, mani and pedi and putting facial masks on using a premade pack or by splurging on a store-bought tube of cucumber facial mask from a drugstore.”
3. Treat yo’selves
If you’ve been cutting back on the carbs, today is the day to go all out. Have dessert, eat an extra slice of pizza and enjoy yourself. (You can always walk it off while shopping at the mall afterwards!)
“When I want to give my friend a super-nice day, we’ll usually go to her favorite restaurant for breakfast or brunch,” says Aja, a junior at California Polytechnic State University. “Then we’ll usually go shopping or on a hike or to the beach – anything that’s relaxing and fun!”
Whether you spend the day buying workout clothes or actually working out, enjoy spending the day out and about with your girlfriends.
4. Rent a chick flick
What better way to bond than by gushing over cute protagonists, eating popcorn and getting way too emotionally invested in a movie?
If you’re interested in some older chick flicks, check out Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Titanic. If you’re looking for something relatively new, rent The Other Woman, The Fault in Our Stars or Sex and the City! There’s never a shortage of chick flicks for you and your friends to choose from. Don’t forget the tissues!
5. Go back to the basics
What about your long-distance BFFs? Nothing says, “I appreciate you” like a handwritten valentine or letter. Sure, a well-written text or a playful e-card could cheer your friend up, but taking the time to write out a letter will make her day.
“It doesn’t have to be fancy,” Sarah says. “You can buy blank cards and 3D stickers from an arts and crafts store like Michaels and decorate it, then write in it!”
This card is something she can hang up in her room, tape to her binder or use as a bookmark as an everyday reminder that you’re always on her side.
As important as Valentine’s Day is to you and your SO, it’s just as important to take the time to cherish your gal-entines. Happy Galentine’s Day, collegiettes!