Someone – perhaps me – may have had WAY too much fun drinking bubbly with a big, fabulous group of her fierce as fuck friends to take any photos of her Galentine’s Day Extravaganza.

Here’s my top 5 tips and tricks to do the same..

Y’all. I am SO proud to announce that finally, after at least five years of wanting to, I really DID THE DAMN THING and threw the Galentine’s Day party of my dreams. Sadly, like I mentioned, there’s literally almost zero photographic evidence. That’s what happens when you have an ice bucket that could double as a bathtub filled with all kinds of delicious bubbly, and the kind of company that keeps you laughing too much to remember to check your phone. This being said, I come bearing tips so you can have as much fun as we did too!

1. Buy all the crazy festive things you can find. All of ’em.
   It doesn’t have to cost a fortune – most of my decorations came from Target and Dollar Tree – but there’s something about Galentine’s that’s just made better by an excess of pink candy, glitter everything, temporary tattoos, and themed paper straws. I’m not always an advocate for excess – but in this particular case, go hog wild and watch your 20-something friends’ faces absolutely GLOW when they see heart shaped bubbles and MASH cards. Especially after some 🥂!
2. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
   You know how  I just said buy every themed thing you see? Not only is it fun, but it’s multi purpose! The carefully set table that you usually prep? Forget it. Matching silverware set neatly on perfectly pressed napkins? No way. Make your life easy. I turned our dining table into a big, buffet style cornucopia of savory and sweet treats for people to pick on when they were ready, at their own leisure. To make it a little less cafeteria and a lot more fun, I added a few little Galentine’s touches to the table scape in the form of a glittler placemat, some heart confetti, and placed a themed balloon weight on the edge of the table that held a few heart shaped pink and red balloons – and a princess one, naturally.
3. Have enough “real” food.
   Listen, I know Pinterest tells us that everyone can survive on cupcakes and artisinal cheeseboards alone – but I’m here to tell you that they are an absolute crock of shit. Do your friends, and 1AM you, a favor – and make at least one thing that’s simple and hearty enough to soak up the drinks. For me, this took the shape of a super easy batch of Instant Pot mac and cheese, cauliflower mac + cheese for me and my low carb ways, spring rolls for my veggie friends, buffalo chicken meatballs for a little protein kick, and a gigantic rainbow kale salad. While that sounds like an insane amount of food, all that remained after everyone left was 4 meatballs and a mouthful of salad. Pretend you’re Italian like me, if you aren’t by blood, and make an army shit ton of food. Worst case scenario, fantastic leftovers for lunch!
4. Make party prepping a team affair.
   As a strong willed, perhaps even stubborn, Virgo – I can sometimes hate asking for help. “Why bother?” I inevitably ask myself – I’ve got this, and I know exactly how I want everything done. “Why”, self, is simple – you need to. Unless you start prep a week before it’s just too much to do. Bribe your mom, your BFF, or your person to hang out with you the day before and just rip through the to do list. For me I decided I’d handle the food prep to avoid any disasters, and then delegated decorating to my raised-by-Martha-Stewart boyfriend. We stayed up until easily 3AM getting the majority of stuff done because we started at 7pm, but it was worth it not to be rushing to the finish line the next day. In future I’m making a mental note to start at noon the day before – but it’ll probably be another all nighter. It’s good to be honest with yourself, anyway!
5.  Spread the love.
   The whole point of this party is to celebrate and love on one another as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to hand out the hugs and compliments like a brand ambassador with free tshirts! Tell someone how smart you think they are! Compliment their hair! Talk about your goals and dreams! The mantra is “empowered women empower women”, and that starts with you. Go get it, girl!To many future Galentine’s ,