All the single ladies!

In 2002, two weeks before Valentine’s Day, I broke up with my boyfriend of two years. When Feb. 14 rolled around I was determined not to feel lonely. I was a junior in college then and a few of my other brokenhearted buddies and I decided to have a fun girls’ night out. But instead we just ended up cruising around in my girl’s Mazda, blasting the saddest of love songs and singing them off-key, as loudly as possible out of the car windows. And of course we were checking our phones every 10 minutes to see if the man on our mind had called.

That night I went back to my dorm room and cried myself to sleep, and I was so depressed the next morning I skipped all my classes.

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day 2003. I was still single. But instead of feeling sorry for myself and replaying the year before, a friend and I decided to spend the night noshing on homemade pizza and watching scary movies. We had a blast because we put boys on the backburner and simply celebrated our friendship. To this day it’s one of my greatest Valentine’s Day memories ever.

For all my single ladies out there here are a few tips on how to have a fun and fabulous Valentine’s Day.

Girls Night In. Have a movie marathon like my pal and I did or have a potluck dinner with your friends. Have a clothes swap party or a night of redesigning old T-shirts.

Girls Night Out. V’day is on a Saturday this year so there will be no shortage of dance parties for you and your girls to hit up. Get all dressed up and go out for a night on the town with your best gal pals.

Make a day of it. If you all can afford to do so, get a group of friends together and have brunch, get a massage or manicure and then hit the mall and treat yourself to one thing you’ve always wanted but never bought for yourself.

Have a play date. Go bowling, play pool or head to your favorite arcade. Better yet, have a Wii party at home complete with cupcakes.

Remember that Valentine’s Day is just a Hallmark holiday that you can easily repurpose into a celebration of being single and free.

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?