Guide to a Great Galentine’s Day
| 3 min read
Dates are being planned. Flowers are being selected. Cards are being bought. Love is in the air! But before you celebrate the love shared with your significant other, don’t forget about the love between you and your female friends.
First popularized by the television show Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day has transcended the small screen and is now celebrated in real life on February 13.
It’s a day of honoring and spending time with your female friends, without boyfriends or husbands. After all, being able to spend quality time with your girlfriends is just as important as spending time with your significant other. In fact, one study found that women’s friendships have an emotional aspect that men seem to lack. Whereas male friendships are based on helping with tasks, female friendships are built on helping in a nurturing way.
There are even health benefits to having friends that you can count on. Some of the benefits of friendship include:
- Having someone to talk to during times of stress
- Having someone to celebrate your successes with
- Improving your mood and boosting self-esteem
- Reducing stress
- Increasing overall happiness
- Reducing many health problems such as depression, anxiety and high blood pressure
- Strengthening your immune system
When friendships have this great of an impact on your life, they’re worth celebrating! So how can you have the best Galentine’s Day for you and your friends? Here are some of our ideas:
- Have your friends over for a brunch to catch up. Work, school and other activities make it hard to plan a time to just get together. Treat yourself by setting aside this time to be with friends.
- Have a movie night and go see the latest romantic comedy you haven’t had the chance to see yet.
- Have a baking night and cook up some of your favorite desserts (it’s okay to treat yourself once in a while).
- Paint a canvas for your homes that will always remind you how lucky you are to have your friends.
- Have a spa day. Get your nails done and enjoy a day of relaxation with your best friends.
- Take a fitness class together and share the joys of working out, with women only.
- If your friends live out of state, send them a card with an inspirational quote on it and a note about why you appreciate their friendship.
- Get together to give back at a local shelter. Galentine’s Day can be focused on empowering other women, too.
My past Galentine’s Days have included events such as baking far more than we could ever eat, watching at least three movies in a row from our childhood and attempting a DIY spa day. We’ll just say the kitchen needed a lot of cleaning afterward.
Call your girlfriends and start planning your night of friendship appreciation and gratitude because you all deserve it.
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