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How To: Survive Valentine’s Day, Single or Not

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Iowa chapter.

Whether you have a date or not, Valentine’s Day can be stressful. If you’re a girl with a boyfriend, you’re worried about finding the right present (what the heck do you get a guy for Valentine’s Day anyways?), if you’re a girl with a “fling” you don’t want to over step your boundaries, and if you’re a girl without a guy at all, you just want to hide under your covers and wait for everyone to put away their chocolate hearts, Teddy bears, and those flowers you just wish would die already. So how are you going to survive Valentine’s Day this year? Sure you could hide under your blankets from all the red and pink OR you could follow these simple steps to ensure you don’t have the Valentine’s Day from hell.

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Ladies with Someone Special 

Stop Worrying about His Present
For starters, stop stressing over a present. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, don’t. A lot of guys aren’t expecting Valentine’s Day presents anyways; they know it’s a “girlie” holiday. If you really feel like you should get him something just get him his favorite movie, or a book he’s been wanting. Something small, but meaningful is always acceptable.
 
Don’t Stress About Going Out
If you only have a “fling” with a guy, Valentine’s Day isn’t a good day to go out anyways, it’s cliché. If he wants to take you out he’ll bring it up, if not pick another day to bring up going on a date. There’s too much pressure to impress on Valentine’s Day and prices practically double at restaurants. You don’t want him to remember your first date as him breaking the bank do you?
 
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FOR THE SINGLE LADIES: Put down your Häagen-Dazs®, and have fun!


Who cares if you don’t have a date, you’re probably still having more fun than half those couples anyways. Here’s a list I’ve compiled for you single ladies out there!

Read a Good Book
You know we collegiettes™ don’t have a lot of time to read for pleasure. Finally go out and get that book you’ve been dying to read. The Hunger Games or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are two great ones that could keep your mind away from the pink and red hype.

Watch a Movie with Your Other Single Friends 
It’s highly unlikely you’re the only single girl in the city. Invite over some friends to watch a movie, or go to the movie theater and see something funny instead of a romance movie, which is where all those lovey-dovey couples will be.

Throw a Party for Other People that are Date-less!
What a great way to spend a “couples” holiday. Invite over all your single friends to drink, eat, and mingle. You never know, maybe you’ll end up with a date after all!

Go to the Gym
If you don’t have a date, go to the gym. Nothing is better for this kind of stress than working out. You should be going to the gym and working out regardless because its healthy for you and it helps keep your mind off of things.

Drink with a Few of your Friends and Talk About How You Don’t Want a Relationship Anyway
 If you have other single friends I’m sure they’d love to have a few drinks and let loose without thinking about the stress of wanting to be in a relationship. Laugh about how silly Valentine’s Day is and enjoy yourself.
 
Pamper Yourself
This is a great day to celebrate your singleness and spoil yourself a little. You could go get a manicure and pedicure during the day and then buy some relaxing bath salts, nice candles, tasty chocolates, and wine and spend the evening pampering yourself. After you’ve had a long relaxing bath, curl up under a blanket and enjoy your chocolates and wine.

Ignore it!
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a special day. It’s just an arbitrary holiday on the calendar anyway. For a lot of single people it isn’t a special day, it’s just any other day of the year. Live your life like you would on a typical Tuesday. This is probably the most common way singles “celebrate”. 

Remember: It’s just one day in a year out of 365  and honestly, no one really cares. Enjoy it or ignore it, you have the choice! But if nothing else, eat some chocolate.

 

Chocolate: A Woman’s Best Friend 

Emily is a junior at the University of Iowa and is studying Journalism and Pre-Law with a minor in Health Communication. She has been a part of the Her Campus University of Iowa team since it was founded in 2010 and is a member of Ed on Campus. She has grown to love magazine writing and editing and if she somehow can't land her dream job (to be Carrie Bradshaw), she wouldn't mind settling for a job in the magazine industry. If nothing else, she hopes to attend law school somewhere in the Bay Area out West, her favorite place to be. Since the age of 15, Emily spent her summers in California, doing internships and falling in love with San Francisco. Some of her other interests include her 4-month-old longhaired wiener dog Henry, blogging, celebrity gossip, sushi, Private Practice, fro-yo, being a journalism nerd, and anything involving good conversation with good people. Although she's not exactly sure of her plans for the future, she knows journalism will somehow be the driving force in her career.