Single Vs. Taken on Valentine's Day

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The Single Side - Nicole

February 14. Valentine’s Day. The day to stay off of all social media. If you want to see all the sappy paragraphs about how much they love their S/O and people just genuinely and completely in love, go look at Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook. Twitter is for the single people. On Twitter, you will see people making jokes about being single. Things such as getting wine-drunk and buying a $30 giant stuffed monkey for themselves because they want “snugs.” They may even post about the love of their lives, AKA their dog. Ah yes.

Who doesn't love Valentine’s Day? It’s the day that people who have an S/O feel the need to broadcast their feelings for their person, because telling their person how much they love them in person, through a phone call, email, letter or text message is just too hard. They need to rub it in the face of all of their followers that they have a person and their followers don't.

You’re a loser for being single. I’m just kidding. For most of my Valentine’s Days, I have been in the same boat as you, single, alone and most of all, bitter. This year will be different, I have actually convinced someone to put up with my attitude and guess what? He’s OK with it, he likes me back. But that is beside the point. What do you single people do on Valentine’s Day, you may ask? Great question. Let me tell you all about the excitings things I have done on February 14 in the past.

1. May or may not have been that person who bought herself the giant stuffed monkey. You have to do what you have to do sometimes, okay?

2. Celebrated GAL-entine’s Day instead. Gather up all your single gal pals and get each other chocolate and flowers as opposed to relying on a guy. This is actually a very healthy and fun way of going about this holiday. It hypes your gals up and makes you happy to be with others instead of being bitter, annoyed and alone.

3. Avoided all social media. No seriously: delete the apps for the day. RIP to your Snapchat streaks. Nobody wants to see everyone else being spoiled and so happy that you want to throw up because that is all what the posts are on V-Day. Yuck.

4. Waited until February 15 and ran down to Walmart to stock up on the heart shaped Reeses at a discounted price. They still taste the same and who doesn't love Reeses?

5. Spent the evening posted up on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, watching chick flicks. I’m talkin, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Dear John, A Lucky One, oh yeah. All of those. Bring the tissues and get your hopes up for a love like the movies. Odds are, that’s never going to happen for you.

6. Treat it like any other day. Just because you’re single doesn’t mean that you have to hate everyone and hate love. Just accept that it didn’t happen for you this year. Be happy for those who are in love and have someone. Your time is coming and your person is coming. Maybe not next year, or the year after that, or the next five years, but maybe in the future, you will find someone to put up with you. I mean, I somehow did (Y’all need to pray for him by the way, I am a lot).

February 14 is a day for love. If you don’t have a significant other, it’s not the end of the world. You still have your family and friends. Show them love! It can be annoying to see your social media blown up with hearts and sappy paragraphs, but how you choose to handle that, is up to you. Be bitter or be happy. It’s only 24 hours long and after that, we all go back to being our normal selves. Happy Valentine’s Day or Happy Thursday. Even though I’m “boo’d up,” I am still going to Walmart to get those half priced hearts; it’s tradition.

The Taken Truth - Kylee

Valentine’s Day for those who have an S/O is an exciting day full of surprises and cute messages to each other. Personally, I’m in a two-and-a-half-year relationship and happier than ever. Valentine’s is a day of love between my boyfriend and me. However, gifts for one another become difficult over the years. We try to find something cute, unique and useful that we haven't gotten each other already.

For many couples, this can be an exciting day for girls or an overwhelming day for guys. The girls usually come up with the cute and unique gifts off the bat. This comes naturally to us. We think about what we would want to get and turn it into what a guy wants. For guys, on the other hand, it is a little more difficult. For the past two-and-a-half-years with my boyfriend, it has been a struggle for him to find a cute gift that I would enjoy. Not saying that I won't appreciate whatever he gets me, he just always tries to go over the top. While being in a relationship with a guy who has no clue what his girlfriend wants, you can keep it simple and create a  unique and cute “night to remember.”

Here is a list of ideal Valentine’s dates you can do for your significant other :

1. Text your significant other a time to be ready and pick them up, blindfold him/her and drive to their favorite restaurant. This can be extremely cute and sentimental for both of you.

2. Recreate your first date, but maybe this time, have it be a little less awkward. This will bring back memories of the relationship you had when it started.

3. Have a stay home date: order in your favorite food, have all of his/her favorite movies gathered up. This will be an easy and cheap night for you to create. All you need is a couch/bed, some comfortable clothes and fuzzy blankets.

4. Recreate your favorite memory with each other by going to the same destination and surprise them. Love will be in the air when you surprise them.

After talking about cute dates you can do with your S/O, here are a few gift ideas that girls and guys would love to receive on Valentine's Day. Guys, girls are very simple. We enjoy chocolate, flowers, jewelry or stuffed animals. If you want to make it easy on yourself, look on Google or Pinterest for “cute Valentine’s gifts for girlfriend.” Here is a list of cute gifts you can get your S/O:

1. Jewelry is an easy way into a girl’s heart. A simple necklace will mean the world to her. Receiving jewelry as a gift makes us feel like a princess and allows us to feel spoiled. We are not asking you to go spend $200 or more on a necklace that we may or may not wear everyday. Keep it simple, keep it pretty, keep it special to you.

2. Chocolate and flowers are an easy way to get a girl to melt into your arms. Receiving flowers is a simple act of showing you care about the girl. Attempt to find a beautiful bouquet. Many places sell preset bouquets for under $20. Chocolate is a simple gift that helps us on bad nights. Giving a girl chocolate will make her happy and this too can be inexpensive.

3. A sentimental gift of the memories you share together. This can be anywhere between a framed picture of you two, a memory jar or a scrapbook of your relationship together. These ideas are very simple and cheap to do. Your significant other will fall in love with you all over again while unwrapping this sentimental gift.

4. Something useful is always something good to recieve. Giving a gift to someone they actually use is always amazing. This could range anywhere from a sweatshirt, to perfume/cologne, shoes or even something for their favorite hobby.

Whether you receive a gift that you can unwrap or you go on your dream date, both of these should come from the heart. That is what Valentine's Day is all about: showing your S/O how much you care from them. Being with your S/O on Valentine's Day should be romantic. So guys, make sure you make it special for your S/O. Girls, make it incredible for them and love whatever they get you. If you are in a relationship, single or in the “it’s complicated stage,” remember: It’s just one day out of the year. You have 364 days until you have to worry about Valentine’s Day again. What will you do on your Valentine’s Day this year?