Happy GALentine’s Day!!

By Leah Smith 

It’s no surprise that having a GALentines party is one of the most popular ways to celebrate the love you have for your friends, with around 50% of women in America saying Valentine’s Day is a holiday they love, compared to the 30% of men who said they enjoy the day. (Statistics from research done by Businesswire )

A picture from a Galentines party hosted by junior Katelyn Gillen

Valentine’s Day might be a favorite holiday for some, but 21%, or 72,779,392 Americans reported to a poll by Yougov that it is their least favorite holiday. Although the holiday is marketed towards couples and romantic relationships, Valentine’s Day is for celebrating all people you love, whether that may be your parents, siblings, friends, classmates, coworkers, or even yourself. 

There are many ways you can show the people in your life (whoever that may be) how much you love and care for them. Popular ideas that DON’T require thousands of dollars for a diamond ring are baking homemade treats (ie. cookies, brownies, cakes), cooking someone dinner, doing their chores, or cleaning their area if you live together. 

A few more ideas are watching their favorite movie with them, writing them a sweet handwritten note, or, if you’re feeling especially creative that day, a short poem! These ideas can work for anyone you want to express your feelings for, but if you want a way to celebrate a group of your close friends at the same time, a Galentines party is the perfect way! Some girls celebrate by having breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a newly popular option: brunch, where they dress up in red, pink, and white and enjoy eachothers company over good food, and even better conversations. An alternative to that is having a Galentines slumber party, with cute matching pjs, the best Rom-coms or Hallmark movies, and eating sweet treats, freshly prepared or bought.

Don’t worry guys! There are options equivalent to Galentines, especially for men. Those are either referred to as Malentines Day, or Guylentines. These options can be just as fun as Galentine's Day, (minus the pink pjs and cheesy movies). A couple ways to celebrate with the guys are sharing your favorite Lebron and Tavon Austin highlights, arguing about who’d win in a race, making fun of each other, comparing music tastes, playing video games, and going to the gym.

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples, remember to spread love to friends, family, and anyone else in your life that you feel deserves it.