By Inés Francom
News Editor
Once again, another year with no secret love notes passed in class, no chats by the lockers, nobody standing outside the window boombox in hand confessing their love, and no one to spend Valentine’s Day with. But don’t despair! We’ve compiled a list of the top ten things to do when spending your Valentine’s Day alone this year.
- Shop the discounted items.
- There are hundreds of stores online or in person selling Valentine-themed, from pink pants and cuddly bears to rose-scented candles. What’s a better ‘pick me up’ than using those coupon codes to save a couple of bucks?
- Try your best to stay off of social media.
- Today can be a trying day! Do your best to “protect your peace,” and if that means staying away from the overwhelming splurge of couple photos, love songs, and Valentine’s posts, then take the time to (temporarily) delete your social media apps or hide them from your main phone screen.
- Order fast food couple deals for just yourself.
- Comfort food is appropriately named. Home-cooked mac & cheese, a warm soup, or some baked pastries truly have the unique ability to heal you. So, while you’re being bombarded with advertisements from restaurants, all about their new couple deals (two pizzas for the price of one) if you’ve got the fridge space, try ordering in some of those deals.
- Remember your worth!!
- There’s going to be a lot of focus on relationships and love today, but remind yourself that your relationship status does not determine your worth. There’s nothing that a relationship will bring you that you can’t manifest yourself. Even single, you can be confident, feel loved, build strong relationships with the people around you, and radiate positivity yourself.
- Still feel lonely? Take the opportunity to take yourself on a date.
- Eating at a nice restaurant? Going to a bookstore? Thrifting or seeing a new movie? There’s no reason to have to do it with someone. Taking yourself out to fun places can be a good opportunity to spend some quality time with yourself and your thoughts! Who needs to hear someone’s endless chatter in your ear when you could have the beat of some good music instead?
- Call someone you love for a pep talk.
- If all that retail therapy still hasn’t made you feel better, give your loved one a call. Two or three rings away, someone is always there to pick up a random FaceTime. Instead of screaming into a pillow, you can use this call to calmly rant over your loveless life.
- Eat your body weight in chocolates and a bucket of ice cream.
- It’s time to put those clearance sales to work; go to your local convenience store (there’s a 24-hour Walgreens two miles away from RJR) and buy all the chocolates you can carry. Nothing tastes better with salty tears than a batch of heart-shaped candies.
- Cry to Pride and Prejudice.
- Nothing helps a broken heart like a good romance movie. Open up that Netflix account and press play on Pride and Prejudice. Being single doesn’t mean you can’t love a good romance movie. Just make sure you have a box of tissues nearby for when you inevitably start sobbing at the beautiful love of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
- Instagram Stalk your ex (while trying to hold it together).
- Re-download those social media apps and log in to your fake Instagram account. Click and investigate every post and the hidden meaning behind every chosen love song. Clearly, it doesn’t count as stalking or being obsessive if @user61411013131857 is looking at their posts and not you, right???
- Create another five-step plan to being wonderfully in love next Valentine’s Day.
- Push aside your piles of tissues and chocolate wrappers and wipe that snot off your face; it’s time to make your vision board. So grab your glitter glue, magazines, and notebook to start brainstorming. There are 365 days until the next Valentine’s Day, and with your top-tier plan, next year is sure to be different.