If you haven’t been paying attention, this Saturday is Valentine’s Day. Well, duh—we all know this date, but the real holiday happens the day before. Every February 13th, ladies around the world leave their boyfriends and husbands at home to celebrate what’s truly important in life: their best gal pals. We’re talking about Galentine’s Day, and it should be a national holiday. While we wait for Congress to get back to us on that one, let’s explain what Galentine’s Day is, in case you’re a deprived person who’s never seen an episode of Parks and Recreation. We’ll let the day’s founder, Leslie Knope, explain it herself:
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Here are our ten steps to having the best day ever with your gal pals. Spoiler alert: there will be a lot of waffles involved.
1. Pin, Tumble & Netflix Binge
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Let’s get this straight: Galentine’s Day is the best day of the year. That means there are tons of party ideas to be found around blogs, Pinterest and Tumblr. Leslie Knope is the queen of planning, so take a page from her book and get inspired before you start the planning process. Maybe it means re-watching every Parks and Rec episode ever made. We’re not here to judge.
2. Think “What Would Leslie Knope Do?”
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A great Galentine’s Day party is all in the details, so go all-out for your lady friends. Give out Galentine’s that tell your amazing friends what “beautiful, sophisticated, naïve, newborn babies” they are. Make a Lil’ Sebastian piñata. Instead of place settings, make mosaic portraits of each of your friends from the crushed bottles of their favorite diet soda. Shout-out to this girl on Tumblr, who made amazing Galentine’s that read “You beautiful tropical fish.” The good news is, when you’re thinking like Leslie Knope, no idea is too big or too crazy.
3. Get Your Best Gal Pals
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Hoes before bros. Ovaries before brovaries. Uteruses before duderuses. This kind of goes without saying, but Galentine’s Day is a girls-only holiday. We’re sure you have plenty of guys in your life that are major Parks fans too, but there’s a strict no boys allowed rule for Galentines Day. Sorry guys, but we’ll see you again on Valentine’s Day.
4. Grab a Reservation at JJ’s Diner
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Galentine’s Day brunches are typically held in some of the finest establishments Pawnee, Indiana, has to offer. Even if you couldn’t get a reservation at JJ’s, your celebration can still be a success. Get together at your favorite restaurant (all-day breakfast food is a must) or have a smaller gathering at home. There’s really only one rule when it comes to location: it has to be appropriate for lots of girl chat.
5. Bring Out The Glitter
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Decorating for Galentine’s Day is almost as fun as the holiday itself. Play a game with yourself to see how many Parks references you can throw into one party. Make a “Treat Yo Self” banner. You can hang your favorite quotes from P&R around the room— assuming aren’t too many from which to choose. Tara from The Geeky Hostess even put a Ron Swanson corner in her Galentine’s Day party, complete with bacon, whiskey and a heavy set of headphones to drown out unwanted noise. Remember: the creativity of Leslie Knope knows no limits.
6. Turn On The Mouse Rat
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Music seems to be a pretty underrated part of Galentine’s Day, but we don’t think you should overlook it. Good music can take your celebration over the top. Obviously, you’ll want to play the greatest hits of Pawnee’s best band: Mouse Rat. If you can’t get “Bye, Bye Lil’ Sebastian” out of your head for weeks afterwards, you did it right.
7. Get All The Breakfast Food
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As Ron Swanson would say, “There is no sadness that cannot be cured by breakfast food.” Therefore, we suggest a fully stocked waffle bar. You can choose the toppings, but make sure you have enough whipped cream to go around. Seriously, go to your local grocery store and wipe out their whipped cream supply. There could also be an assortment of other breakfast foods, like frittatas, but leave it at that.
8. Get Out The Scrapbook Supplies
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No Leslie Knope holiday would be complete without personalized, well thought-out gifts. We’re talking 5,000 word essays on why each of your friends is so awesome. If that’s too much effort, try a needlepoint pillow with their face on it and a newspaper headline from the day they were born. OK, so we can’t compete with any of those, but even small favors will do. Hand out fun picture frames, or little scrapbooks to showcase photos from the event. Anything scrapbook-related is 100% Leslie-approved.
9. Bring On The Gossip
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When you’re not stuffing your faces with waffles, it’s time to bring on the girl talk. The #1 activity for Galentine’s Day is lots of gossiping. You could also try fun party games, like TableTopics for something a little different. If you’re making a full day out of Galentine’s Day, have each friend pick their favorite episode of Parks and watch it as a group. Or go around and tell your favorite love stories that could make The Notebook look like Saw V.
10. Treat Yo Self
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Parks and Rec has taught us many valuable life lessons, but “Treat Yo Self” has to be one of the best. Remember: it’s a day to celebrate friends, so treat yo self especially well. If you’re serious about going above and beyond, incorporate two Parks and Rec holidays into one: after you get your Galentine’s brunch on, head over to the spa, get your nails done, do a little shopping, or whatever you need to do to give yourself an extra treat.
The post 10 Steps To The Perfect Galentine’s Day appeared first on College Magazine.