What to gift your girlfriends for Galentine’s Day
Galentine’s Day, brainchild of the venerable Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec, is celebrated each year on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day. Typically, lady loves get together to celebrate their friendship with mimosas and manicures.
But, in 2021? Galentine’s Day ain’t gonna look like it has in the past. With brunch off the table, we’ve got to get creative in how we show our female friends that they matter to us (and if 2020 was good for anything, it weeded out what and who matters). Although we need to keep our distance to protect our health, we can still keep our besties close to our hearts after one of the most difficult years on the books (👀 2020).
For most of us, 2020 was mostly about surviving. This Galentine’s Day, let’s help each other move out of the dysregulated vigilance of 2020 and into the here-and-now of 2021. These gifts cut the bullshit, and get right down to it: “Take care of yourself, sister. I want you around for a long time.”
The Wedding Date, $8
Give your girlfriend a nudge to relax with the first book in Jasmine Guillory’s women’s lit The Wedding Date series. Though the later books are steamier, this opening book is where you fall in love with the characters who make up the rest of the series. Buy it for your friend who needs a break from all the nonfiction she reads.
Vital “V” Wild Yam Salve, $29
Every woman needs yoni salve. There, I said it. This salve makes you feel rich in an ancient kind of way, like Cleopatra being rubbed down with olive oil. Buy it for the girlfriend who needs some encouragement to put down the Full Focus Planner® and chill out in bed for a bit. Heartily recommended by my Pelvic Floor Yoga™ instructor.
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My Body, My Home by Victoria Emanuela and Caitlin Metz, $15
“This book is for those of us who have left our bodies—those who needed to escape from our physical form in one way or another.” It me! As a trauma survivor, I have spent the last 10 years of therapy learning various techniques for coming back to my body when I’ve dissociated. 2020 was a trying year for staying in my body. Buy this for your friend who’s felt a little spacey lately. Perhaps this book can be the invitation she needs back to herself.
Fat and the Moon All Cream, $18
This is the duct tape of body creams. Feel a little itchy? Grab the All Cream. Want that glistening, dewy look for the afternoon? Slather on the All Cream. Fat and the Moon is an herbalist-formulated, women-owned, small-batch body care company. Need more convincing? You can get it shipped in zero-waste packaging from Package Free Shop. Buy it for your friend who never wears makeup.
Pelvic Liberation by Leslie Howard, $19
If you’ve been working remotely since COVID-19 sent us all home, odds are you’ve been sitting. Like, way more than in past years. For all those unexplained low back and hip flexor issues that have popped up, Pelvic Floor Yoga™ may bring some relief. Buy it for your friend who might have mentioned offhand that sex has been painful lately. This is a great place to start.
Whiskey and Tobacco Candle by Northern Lights, $14
My fiancé got this candle for Christmas and it smells like putting on a big flannel robe before curling up in a leather chair next to a fire with your Bulleit Rye, neat. Buy this for your earthy friend who keeps a compost bucket on her kitchen counter.
Hannah Shadrick Hummel was 12 years old when she saved up her allowance to buy The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. She’s fancied herself a writer ever since. These days, she mostly writes for the internet: content designer for a grocery retailer by day, and managing editor at Jumble & Flow by night.
If she’s not writing, she’s reading. Probably romance. Or, a cookbook. Hannah spends most weeknights in the kitchen making gluten free ginger scones — because Hashimoto’s — while watching the Great British Baking Show. She never misses her two daily walks in Austin, Texas, with her husband and two rescue dogs, Basil and Samantha.
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