It’s the season of looooooving and the season to be sad if you’re single! All the couples are posting on Instagram, tagging each other in sappy captions, and waltzing around campus with their hands intertwined. Ok, most people have the common decency not to hold hands on campus nowadays. But still, for those of us that are single, it tends to be a time full of sighing and watching Romantic Comedies wistfully. As for me, it’s the first year since 2015 that I haven’t had a date for Valentine’s! Even more reasons to be Big Sad. There’s nothing wrong with being single, of course, but Valentine’s can be sort of an unwelcome reminder of your relationship status, especially if you weren’t the one who chose it in the first place. My challenge to myself this year was to make February 13th and 14th (we celebrate Galentine’s AND Valentine’s in these parts) all about ME. Yes, I am my own Valentine this year, and I couldn’t be happier! Here are a few of the things I did for myself these past few days to show Me how much I love Me.
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The first thing I did this week was up my skincare routine. There’s no better feeling than taking your sweet time to take care of your skin! The last few weeks, I’ve been working on homework right up until my self-imposed bedtime of midnight. The last thing you want to do after hours of class, meetings, and writing papers is take a few minutes to love on your skin. I just want to get in bed. This week, I made a point of stopping my homework at a reasonable time, planning when to get it done later, and getting a head start on my skincare. For me, this involves wiping off my layers and layers of makeup, washing my face, using a toner, and applying oil/moisturizer. I even threw in a good face mask once or twice. My skin is LOVING it and it’s making me happy. So overall, I’d call that a win.
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Lately, I’ve been leaving time to just NOT. This sounds pretty basic, but I’m a busy gal, as I’m sure most of you understand. My course load has been killing me lately, and I never feel like I have a moment to breathe. I’m sure there are many people who are much busier than I am, but sometimes I get tired, too. I’m not a person known to skip class unless I have a valid reason. But sometimes you just need to NOT do anything. As I write this, I’ve chosen to miss a class that I didn’t feel like attending today. And that’s okay sometimes. It’s not a habit. I won’t do it often. But I’m making an effort not to overwhelm myself all the time. And I specifically chose today because I knew I wasn’t missing anything huge. So I don’t feel bad. Instead, I’m writing something cool for an organization that I love, and listening to some music that my roommate picked out for me. Another win for me.
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I have no beau to buy me dinner or treat me to Starbucks this time of year, so what do I do? I do it for myself! I bought myself a nice lunch at Starbucks this afternoon, and I’m gifting myself dinner at Chick-fil-a after work tomorrow. Why not? I deserve it. You deserve it. We deserve all of the waffle fries.
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No Valentine’s Day would be complete without a gal-pal group viewing of a RomCom. Just last night I watched my favorite sappy movie (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, if you were wondering) with one of my best friends. We wrapped ourselves in blankets, made some tea, painted our nails, and chowed down on some Lucky Charms while we swooned over a cute couple and some pretty cinematography. I felt the most basic ever, but it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. And that’s all that matters, right?
So, there you have it. Make time for yourself this week, maybe even every week if you can. Your responsibilities can take a backseat for a few hours, and you might be more productive after a little break now and then. Happy Valentine’s Day to you all!