February means hearts, chocolate, love, and, best of all: Galentine’s Day! Galentine’s Day rose to fame through the show Parks and Recreation. Leslie Knope, a strong advocate for women, proposed the annual holiday (typically celebrated on February 13) as a way for women to celebrate their friendships (and have brunch).
My Spin
This year I put a twist on Galentine’s Day by reimaging one of my favorite childhood memories: the slumber party. During my late elementary and middle school years, my friends and I had a sleepover nearly every weekend. Our parents would, indulgently, let us pile into the basement, scarf down pizza, and giggle over TGIF until late into the night. For some time I’ve been interested in recreating the slumber parties of my youth, and this year’s Galentine’s presented the perfect opportunity.
Sleepover Essentials
Movies
Certain movies were played on repeat at my childhood sleepovers. The movies we watched most were: Clueless, Grease, and Now and Then. For your party, select movies from your childhood or current popular titles. I recommend fun films about women (even better if they were created by women). At my Galentine’s sleepover we did watch Clueless, but also watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Sex and the City.
Games
Sleepovers are not complete without games. In elementary school we loved playing board games like LIFE and Dream Phone. In middle school we loved scaring ourselves with seances and the ouija board.
At my Galentine’s party, we played MASH (thanks to Hilary for reminding me how to play), and I ended up living in a mansion with my husband Tom Hanks. If you know me, you know that’s pretty much my perfect life, so I was pleased with my fate.
We also played UNO, Cards Against Humanity, and Never Have I Ever. Games are a fun way to bond with friends or break the ice if you are merging different groups of friends.
Beauty Treatments
Bath and Body Works body splash, wet n’ wild glitter nail polish, and lip smackers (pink lemonade flavor, please) were the beauty products of my childhood. I loved makeup when I was growing up, and spent hours in my room in front of a lighted makeup mirror. This was before YouTube, so I used books by Bobbi Brown and Kevin Aucoin to guide my application. (I wasn’t a great student, though. My mom thought I was sick for a year in middle school because I insisted on using the lightest shade of Covergirl powder. I also thought it was cool to continually pull out the green compact and apply it at school, giving my skin a geisha-like quality most of the time.) Playing with makeup was a big part of any sleepover, and was a tradition I incorporated into my Galentine’s Day party.
I gave my guests a party favor, including a face mask and a lip smacker.
We did use the facemasks, but the pictures are frankly too scary to post online. I have never used a facemask before, however, and I was happy with the results. We elevated the childhood sleepover by putting on lashes (thanks to Tracna for taking the lead on that) and using Tasha and Xuan’s extensive makeup knowledge to make our eyes pop.
Food and Drink
It wouldn’t be a sleepover without junk food. I served:
- Pepperoni pizza sliders from Damn Delicious
- Salad (I rationalized this by saying someone’s mom would probably want us to eat green)
- Hot and spicy wings (I just ordered those from Publix)
- Seriously fudgy homemade brownies from Sally’s Baking Addiction
- Popcorn
- Mini cartons of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream
To drink, I served MANY different kinds of rosé. I was inspired to serve rosé because the pink color is reflective of the season, and because it matched my pajamas.
I bought my rosé all day pajamas from Emily McCarthy (one of my favorite local shops), specifically for this occasion.
The shop also sells the most perfect rosé cups. They are sturdier than traditional plastic cups, dishwasher safe, and reusable.
I selected many of my favorite wines for the night, including:
- Le Grand Courtâge Brut Rosé
- La Vielle Ferme Rosé
- Bieler Pere & Fils Rosé
- Le Grand Noir Rosé
- Santa Margherita Sparkling Rosé
- Liquid Geography Rosé
- Whispering Angel Rosé
While I certainly wasn’t drinking rosé in elementary school, it was the perfect drink for the Galentine’s slumber party.
Celebrate Galentine’s Your Way
Slumber parties were an important part of my childhood. I love modernizing or updating traditions, and my elementary school sleepovers were the perfect foundation for my 2019 Galentine’s celebration. Hosting your own Galentine’s Day pajama party is a unique way to relive past memories and to celebrate female friendships.
A special thank you to my friends (Christina, Hilary, Marla, Shannon, Tasha, Tracna, and Xuan) for celebrating Galentine’s a little early with me (#bloglife).