Galentine’s Day

Valentine’s day, a day filled with chocolates, flowers, candlelit dinners and obnoxiously big stuffed animals. Oh, and love, of course. But do you ever find yourself wanting to celebrate your love for not only your significant other but also for all those other beautiful people you love dearly? If you answered yes, and even if you didn’t, I will still give you this underrated secret: Galentine’s Day.

“What is Galentine’s Day?” you may ask. Well, as Leslie Knope, once said; “It’s only the best day of the year! Ladies celebrating ladies.”

It is a day to celebrate your gals by hanging out and appreciating each other’s company. Now that you’re in the know, let me just leave you with a little boost on how to get your Galentine’s Day started:

1. Text or call your friends and make sure they have absolutely no plans for February 13th, and if they do, have them cancel, because it will be the beginning of a new tradition that you and your girlies will look forward to every year.

2. As you have now got your friends to agree to embark on this new journey of Galentine’s Day with you, you now must be ready to plan a day that you all will enjoy. Make sure wherever you decide to go, be sure there will be food and beverages.

3. If you have a house that you and your girls can meet up at, this would be top pick, as you can all enjoy hanging out somewhere that is familiar and comfortable.

“We rotate house to house every year, and sometimes we even start adding new friends to the group,” said Yasmeen Espinal, a student at PLNU. “But we always will have typical romance movies that we watch, usually pizza or some sort of pasta, and desert.”

4. If all your friends live on campus, have no fear! You can always plan this wonderful day in the study rooms, just make sure you speak to your RA’s to ensure it can be used privately or publically, if you want to share this day with all the gals in your dorm. You can even get Ubereats or make food and take it out to the cliffs for a nice meal by the sea and watch the sunset.

5. Another option is to take Galentine’s Day off campus and out to a restaurant. We have some great places at Liberty Station as well as in Ocean Beach. Just hop in an Uber, Lyft, or carpool together. Some key places I’d recommend are Pizza Port (their pizza is unique and oh so fresh), OB Noodle House (you can never go wrong with Pho, and their wings are a mix of garlic and spice and everything nice), Slaters 50/50 (one word: burgers), and good old Corvette Diner.

Whether you were planning to go out or stay in on February 13, now you have a fun new tradition that you can start with your friends that doesn’t involve the stress of your typical Valentine’s Day. Just get your friends together and go somewhere with good food and celebrate all the things that make each one of you amazing. What are you waiting for? Start that group chat!