Despite what Cadbury Dairy Milk and other popular brands would have you believe, February is not just about romance. Platonic love deserves just as much attention.
No one can deny the importance of a work BFF. Your friends are there for you in so many ways that your partner (even your boss) cannot be. Who else can you call in the middle of the day to whine about your toxic coworker? Who else can you rely on to entertain you with texts during the most boring and unnecessary team meetings?
Since Galentine’s Day is just around the corner, we think it’s best to be prepared to make the most out of it. But wait – what’s Galentine’s Day? Well, it’s only the best day of the year! And it’s one of the best things Leslie Knope, the passionate albeit fictional Deputy Director in Parks and Recreation brought to the world in 2010, to celebrate the love you have for your girl friends.
As our effervescent queen Leslie herself calls it, get ready to “just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas.” And waffles, for sure! Yes, it is fun to get dressed, get flowers, and go on a date with your significant other. But so is dolling up, grabbing a glass of wine, and showering your work besties with all the love and support they deserve.
Regardless of your relationship status, the gang and you need to get together and we have the perfect plan for you! Here are 8 ways to celebrate only the best day of the year with your work besties at home —
1. Have a watch party
Pick a group-favourite flick and watch it together with some snacks and a drink in hand. And if you’re close enough to not care, who says you can’t go in your PJs? Be as lazy as you’d like!
Park yourself in front of the couch or your bed and binge-watch together a new show or movie, or even revisit an old one. And if you’re watching a rom-com, you can all take a swig of your drink every time someone says the ‘L’ word. As long as you’re hanging out with each other and having fun, there are no rules.
2. Treat yo’selves
Donna and Tom (seriously, go watch Parks and Recreation NOW) would be particularly happy if you could focus on each other and yourselves and go all out with sharing love. You can each get yourselves something, or gift each other a cute surprise. Who says a gift-exchange at work only needs to stick to Secret Santa?
Give each other beauty hampers, a cute care package, a tub of ice-cream, cute lipsticks, cookies, chocolate boxes, matching jumpers, or even an alcoholic drink and treat yo’selves!
3. Virtual bar crawl
Maybe it’s not the best time to hit the closest bar together, but you can still have the experience of a bar crawl from the comfort of your living room. You and your buds can get a similar assortment of alcoholic drinks, or make your own at home. Just don’t forget to dim the lights to get that shady ambience of a bar.
And hey, at the end of your drunken day, you can crawl into your bed easily too! Include a few drinking games and you’re solid.
4. Turn your bedroom into your dance floor
You don’t need a club to partayyy. Dim your lights and get a multicoloured LED light (if not a disco-ball), put on your curated playlist of empowering party songs and dance away in each of your own bedrooms.
This in-house club has no closing time, so you get to decide when you want to go home, aka your bed.
5. Make silly presentations
We might not all be good at crafts like Leslie, but hilarious presentations with embarrassing pictures and some good ol’ memories aren’t so far off. What about this doesn’t make you warm and fuzzy inside? That may even be because of the drinks inside you, but hey, who’s asking?
Celebrate the women in your life by sharing with each one why you treasure their friendship. You can also write a 5000-word personalised essay for everyone, Knope-style if you want to stick to traditions. Or go all our business-style and whip out a full fledged PPT — 10 reasons why we’re meant to be soul buddies, 13 reasons why I love you, or even comparing each of your friends to a Tay-Tay album!
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6. Brunch it
Stick to traditions and go by the rules that our foremother Leslie Knope has created. You can have a breakfast meal with the gang any time of the day. We’d recommend a brunch, but you can brunch it even at night because we are adults and mummy-papa can no longer tell us what not to eat when. Extra points if there are waffles!
But if you don’t want to stick with breakfast (what is wrong with you?!), a wine-and-cheese happy hour works well enough.
7. Have a costume party
Set a theme — either go full-on Parks and Recreation or any other classic film or show that everyone loves, like Gilmore Girls. Or you can just stick to red-and-pink and hearts everywhere and still have a good time. Dress up and talk like your favourite characters.
As long as everyone is comfortable with the theme (and has watched the selected movie or show, of course), you’re all good to go.
8. Karaoke night
You don’t need a karaoke lounge or a club to sing your hearts out. Pick a crowd-favourite and play the karaoke version on YouTube, and take turns singing. Sing a duet, choose the next song for the next victim (JK!), or even try to impersonate an artist. There are no rules to this, so you can all go wild and have the time of your life.
There’s nothing better than getting all your work besties together, laughing, spilling some ‘tea’, and of course, gorging on food! Show how much you care about your work BFF no matter how cringey or corny it might seem. Here’s to celebrating the women at work who stick by you even as romantic partners, toxic coworkers, and bosses come and go.
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