Freshman year my girlfriends and I decided to go out to dinner at the only restaurant we thought appropriate for a Valentine’s Day night out with the girls. By “girlfriends,” I mean two of my only single friends and by “appropriate restaurant,” I mean the only place you can get decent food and still draw pictures on the table: Macaroni Grill. Unfortunately for us, we weren’t the only people who thought Macaroni Grill was the perfect romantic destination for the special evening. We were surrounded by teenage love. The lovebirds, after being dropped off by their parents, enjoyed canoodling pretty much in our laps while we waited 30-some minutes for our reservations. Feeling a little embarrassed by these 13 year olds’ bold display of PDA, we were finally seated. A little anxious to get home and move on with our plans to get drunk, we prayed our food would come out without interruption. Of course, some dude had to ruin that for us by coming out of nowhere with a guitar singing some song he probably found on Google to his soon-to-be fiancé. Honestly, we’re all still really confused why she said yes…but it has been three years and I still haven’t received my invite to the wedding, so I’m probably just bitter.

Long story short: our elongated evening of pitiful stares and sappy sites scared me into finding the perfect cure for the Valentine’s Day blues. After years of the single-celebration, I’ve perfected the day in a way that doesn’t scream, “I hate everyone in love”. I have a few tips that, if followed, are bulletproof in turning February 14^th into a day focused on the things you love…obviously yourself and your friends.

Start your day off by wearing pink (red is an option for men or if you are a bit more timid of a woman). Last year I wore a pink shirt with a large heart covering the entire front. Although I received a few funny looks and stares, at the end of the day, people thought I was cool (we’re just going to assume here). I’m not saying you have to go as out there as we did back in grade school when we went to Old Navy for those cheesy red shirts to wear on the uniform-excused day…but have some fun, show some spirit, maybe your funny outfit will make someone’s day…or at best assist him or her in a funny snapchat story.

The next step is to eat desserts for every meal. I’ll allow you one real meal for a tiny bit of nutritional value, but it cannot be healthy because that is just fun-sucking, and no one, I repeat, no one, likes a fun sucker. My suggestions include cupcakes with pink frosting for breakfast (pink filling would just add to the wonderfulness) and Chik-Fil-A for lunch, followed by a pit stop outside your local grocery store for some girl scout cookies. A simple cake or batch of heart-shaped cookies will do for dinner.

It should be a given that you are going out on V-day, especially this year, as it falls on a Friday night. My dream would be for bartenders to only serve red/pink drinks, but considering that I don’t have the power to make that happen, the least I can do is convince you to drink ONLY pink, fruity drinks all evening. As for you manly men out there, take this as your chance to enjoy the fun drinks you shy away from ordering two of every other weekend. I promise they taste good…why else would us ladies insist on them all the time?

You have to remember: Valentine's Day doesn’t just have to be for couples. It’s about love. I personally love food, Netflix, Starbucks, friends, and family—I encourage you to make your own list and fill your day doing the things you love, cause let’s be honest, that’s what the birds and the bees are doin’.