Candy! Cards! Romance! Sigh, it’s hard not to feel mopey and left out when the drugstores are bursting at the seams with love and rainbows, and it seems like everyone around you is anxiously anticipating the valentines and thoughtful gestures from their crushes. For the single gals, it can feel like you’re trapped on a deserted love-less island, but there’s a freedom to being a singleton and it’s time we embrace it!
So, consider this your unofficial guide to surviving (and celebrating!) Valentine’s Day sans boys, relationships or labels.
By: Allison Chesky
First, find the silver lining: your girls.
Some of the best parts of Valentine’s Day truly have nothing to do with dates or school dances – baking, crafting valentines, vegging for a movie night with friends, shopping for cute outfits – are all major highlights of this warm and fuzzy holiday! Before your school’s dance, gather a big group of girls and make a night of makeovers (inspired by your favorite vloggers) and at-home manicures. In the end, you may not remember that school dance, but you will remember the quality time with your besties.
Take time to do something for yourself.
Between schoolwork, after-school activities and babysitting, it’s hard to find time for plain old downtime, which can really wreak havoc on your usually upbeat personality (so not cute!) Forget the FOMO and take the opportunity to be curious and have fun: spend time visiting family, take a hip hop class, work on a passion project, or discover a new book series or magazine. Without the pressure of social media feeds, it’s amazing how content you can be spending a lazy Saturday bonding with your cool big sis. And, in the end, sometimes it’s best to keep the kids at school guessing – once they’ve kept tabs on everyone else, they may even be curious about what you’ve been up to all weekend.
Take a cue from T.Swift and band together.
You know what’s even more fun than a lame movie date, with a boy you’re not even that excited about? An epic movie date with your squad! As the saying goes, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Find a silly activity, make T-shirts, grab your crew, and do.it.up!