Galentine’s Day..the new, improved, less depressing (at least in my eyes) version of Valentine’s Day.

As you’ve probably never heard of it (I hadn’t either), I feel like I should start by explaining exactly what Galentine’s Day is.

The term was first used in 2010 by US comedian Amy Poehler, in her sitcom Parks and Recreation (I had no clue either). I’ve never heard of this either but apparently it’s hilariously funny.

Poehler’s character describes the day like this:

“It’s the best day of the year. Every February 13th, my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies.”

This is Galentine’s Day in a nutshell. It’s basically Valentine’s Day except that instead of focussing on your boyfriend/partner/husband/significant other, it’s a day for women to celebrate other women. If you know me, then you’ll know already that this whole idea is massively up my street. I can’t believe that I’ve only just discovered that it exists!

My new favourite day of the year is celebrated on 13th February (this Monday!), so even women who DO want to celebrate the ‘conventional’ Valentine’s Day can still take part in the fun. I say fun, because that is exactly what this day is. It’s a day for all us females to really appreciate our girlfriends- because, let’s face it, even if you’re not single, no male will ever be able to fill the space that best friends do.

And, if you ARE single, the excessive romance that comes with Valentine’s Day can be enough to make the most independent of women feel a teeny tin
y bit lonely- or at least want to kill someone (for me it’s the latter). Galentine’s Day makes up for this: it’s a way to make singletons feel appreciated, and to remind us that this appreciation does not need to come from a man.

Owing to the fact that I’d never heard of it before, I genuinely thought that Galentine’s Day was a pretty small, unknown thing. Turns out I was wrong. In the last few years, with

the rise of the ‘girl squad’ mentality thanks to the likes of Taylor Swift and Kendall Jenner, Galentine’s Day has actually become pretty popular. So much so that big businesses have started jumping on the bandwagon: Moonpig are selling ‘Galentine’s Day’  car
ds this year, and Etsy have a whole page dedicated to ‘Galentine’s Day gifts’.

BUT whilst I think this is great, gifts aren’t really what this day is about. It’s a chance for us to be thankful for our female friendships, and everything that
comes with them. For me, that’s advice, support, a pair of ears, open arms…I would be here all day if I listed everything that my girlfriends bring to my life.

So, this 13th February I think all girls should take the time to show some appreciation for our girlfriends. I know I’m going to, because I literally could not live without them. You know who you are, and I love you all infinitely.

Happy Galentine’s Day!!

Megan x