10 Ideas For Your Next Girls' Night Out (Or In) That Aren't Just Going To A Restaurant
Maintaining adult friendships can be hard. So if there's one day out of the year when we can celebrate our friends, we're going to take it. This day is February 13th and it's called Galentine's Day aka the made-up holiday that was originally created by Parks and Recreation's character Leslie Knope to celebrate all of the amazing women in her life.
Universal Pictures / Via giphy.com
So to help celebrate Galentine's Day this year, we're bringing you a list of non-sappy but genuinely fun ways to celebrate friendship with the people you care about the most.
1.Create mocktails or cocktails based on your friends' personalities.
While you've probably seen some variation of this on TikTok, why not get your friends together and have each person create a whole drink (with or without alcohol) based on another friend's personality?
All you have to do is write every friend's name on a small piece of paper and put the folded pieces of paper in a bowl. Then everyone will blindly pick a name to see who they will have to make a drink for based on this friend's personality.
For example, maybe the friend you have to make a drink for loves wintertime and her favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip. So maybe you can make a drink that involves a winter take on a mint julep. Just remember: the more drinks you have at the party, the more drinks you'll have to drink.
2.Host a themed sleepover for the year (or decade) you and your best friends met.
Listen, you don't need to spend a lot of money on this idea (however, go all out if you want!), but why not get a few decorations, some snacks, and watch a few movies that all revolve around the year you and your friends met?
Met in high school around the '90s? Have your friends bring their best overalls and their favorite childhood snacks to munch on while you all decorate each of your overalls together.
Or did you meet at work in the '70s or '80s? Watch movies you remember watching together and have your friends do their hair and makeup like they did way back when.
3.Play online video games with your long-distance friends.
It sucks when our best friends live across the country or a few hours away, and we're not able to see them as much as we like; however, just because there's distance doesn't mean you still can't celebrate this day together.
If you and your friends have the same video game system with an online component (i.e. Nintendo, Xbox, Playstation, or a phone game, etc.), then have everyone get together to play against one another for a fun night in.
Bonus tip: make it even more interactive by setting up a Zoom or Facetime call so you can interact more effortlessly. Plus, it doesn't hurt to see their faces when they lose at Mario Kart or Call of Duty.
4.Surprise your favorite person with flowers at work.
Who says people in relationships are the only people who can receive flowers at work? Not us! Why not wine and dine your friend by ordering a bouquet of flowers and having it delivered to her job on Monday?
If you're curious what the color of friendship is, it's yellow; however, feel free to buy roses or their favorite flowers instead. Just make sure to write something cute, funny, or thoughtful on the card so they can save it as a memory.
5.Have a planning party for your next girls' trip.
Let's say you can't get together for a whole night with your friends (either because you live in different states or everyone has incredibly busy schedules), but all of you plan on getting together for a girls' trip sometime this year. If that's the case, why not schedule an hour of everyone's time to start planning the next girls' trip?
Everyone can jump on a virtual call, open a bottle of wine or non-alcoholic beverage, and brainstorm ideas about places to go, places to eat, and so on. It's simple, won't cost a penny (yet), and you don't even have to get out of your pajamas. Honestly, a win-win.
6.Do the New York Times' "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love"
While this is meant for romantic relationships, it doesn't hurt to ask your friends these questions to get to know them better! You can start from the beginning like it's designed or pick questions at random to make things different.
7.Make friendship bracelets.
If you want a more permanent memory with your favorite people, opt for a craft night by creating original friendship bracelets together. All you have to do is go to a craft store to get the supplies and spend the night putting together your favorite beads or phrases that show support to your best friends.
8.Make a homemade meal from scratch together.
Is there a meal you and/or your friends have been dying to make but the instructions seemed way too complicated to do by oneself? This is a great time to get everyone together to power through this tasty yet tedious recipe.
Maybe it's a homemade pasta dish where you have to make the pasta by hand for the absolute best results. Or perhaps it's a recipe that involves 36 steps and it will require an army to conquer it. Either way, with a group of favorite people (and a bottle or two of wine), any recipe is possible to make from start to finish. And if not, at least you now have another fun memory together.
9.Take a class together.
Even though you might not be in school together anymore, you can still learn a thing or two with your best friends again. Luckily, there are plenty of fun classes you can take nowadays that don't involve calculus or writing a thesis, like a pottery class, a paint and wine night out, or even a class on how to make your favorite dumplings or mocktails, or cocktails.
Just search the web to see what's happening in your local area for an educational night out.
10.Have an '80s-style photoshoot party.
Look, I'll be honest: I'm not sure what this has to do with friendship, but the idea of all your friends getting together to have an '80s-style photoshoot just sounds like a good time.
Have them bring their pets, ask them to wear the most ridiculous outfits they could find, and make sure to get creative with the backdrops, too. I promise you won't need a fancy camera or be skilled at Photoshop to do this.
But if you want true professional images, schedule a day to go to JcPennys or a glamor photo studio to get the images taken — because think about it, when have you ever gotten professional photos taken of you and your friends? Someone's wedding? So get to it!
