Campus Life | Guide for Galentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, get ready to embrace the spirit of Galentine’s Day too! Galentine’s Day is a concept popularized from the show “Parks and Recreation”. Galentine’s Day is meant to celebrate the friendships you have in your life. My roommate and I always love to do something fun to celebrate, and this year we’re inviting more people to join us. If you are a little lost as to what to do, especially on campus, hopefully this guide will help!

The first thing we love to do is cook a fun dinner that is Valentine’s Day-themed. Our go-to has always involved making a heart-shaped pizza from scratch, but I think this year we are going to switch it up and do something pasta-related. We thought about making beetroot pasta because it is bright pink and still pretty good. Trader Joe’s has themed food such as heart-shaped pasta and pizzas. It even has a variety of desserts that you and your friends can all enjoy. 

To make the evening even more special and festive, my friends and I want to decorate our dining table and apartment a little. We bought new candles and themed centerpieces. I even started a new playlist of our favorite songs so we can play them while we make dinner and enjoy our night. 

We also always like to have a fun activity to do besides cooking dinner. One of our favorite things to do together is watch movies. Last year we watched “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and it was the perfect film for the occasion. We haven’t decided on what we are going to watch this year yet, but I know that it will be just as good. My roommate also has an air mattress lying around, so we thought it would be so cozy if we put it in front of our couch to create a bed in our living room. 

My roommate and I also love to play board games, card games and sometimes even poker. We always love to turn these gaming sessions into mini tournaments, complete with homemade snacks and a fun wager system, such as doing the dishes or making breakfast for the person who lost. It’s never anything too crazy and it just adds another layer of excitement to our night. We always make sure to switch it up so that we still get to play our favorite game and keep it fair as well. Our favorite games are Sequence, Uno, Texas Hold ‘Em and so many more. 

If you and your friends cannot do dinner together, you can always go for a Galentine’s Day brunch — which is a great way to bond and still enjoy some good food. Luckily, Pittsburgh has a lot of brunch places like The Speckled Egg, The Yard, The Urban Tap and more. I have gone to these places and the food is very worth it, and going with your friends makes it so much more special. Another option is hosting a brunch. You could get your friends to bring a couple of breakfast or lunch items and decorate your place so you still get to experience a home-cooked meal. 

Doing something with your friends on Valentine’s Day makes the day so much more special. Obviously, if you have a significant other you can still do all of these things and have the best time, but these are great things to do with friends. Hopefully, now you have some ideas to make your week more special, and don’t forget to treat yourself on Valentine’s Day as well!

Shriya writes primarily about her everyday experiences on Pitt’s campus. Talk to them at shy76@pitt.edu.