Advertisement feature in association with Competition Finder
In my opinion, Valentine’s Day is one of the most overrated occasions ever invented.
Regardless of whether you’re single or in a couple, Valentine’s Day has something to make you feel like a chump. Couples get to go out for dinner and spend twice as much as they normally would on a mediocre meal, just because there’s a single rose in a glass jar on the table, and they have the cringe-fest that is Valentine’s Day gift giving.
Love log anyone??
(I will never be able to forget the love log.)
Singletons on the other hand get to wallow in the self-pity bath that is The Media, (she says, in a scary voice, as though the media is a devilish beast that lives in a cave), surrounded by Instagram images of happy people crafting ‘I love you’ signs for their partners out of pine cones and generally looking like they might just die with the joy of having found The One.
STOP THE TAPE.
This is not reality. Just as there are millions of people all over the world in relationships they could probably do without, so too are there equal numbers of single people absolutely living their best single lives, relishing the fact that they will never have to fake looking pleased to have been given a love log.
Today I am celebrating ALL THE SINGLE LADIES with some ideas for alternative ways to enjoy Valentine’s Day and I am teaming up with Competition Finder to give one lucky person a £50 One4all gift card that you can spend in loads of different shops and restaurants.
It’s time to TREAT YOSELF.
First though, here are some alternative Valentine’s Day ideas for singletons to help get you in the mood for self love…
Take yourself out for brunch
Dinner is the classic option for Valentine’s Day, but with dinner you have to surround yourself by couples pretending to be deeply in love and definitely not looking at who’s on the other tables. Plus if you’re new to eating alone then dinner can feel a bit high pressure – brunch is much more low key, and also much better value.
If you’re local to me then I have recommendations in my brunch club, otherwise do some research, pick your spot and go and indulge in a meal alone. Revel in being able to take as many pictures of your brunch as you like without anyone rolling their eyes at you. Try not to cry if you can’t find a good eggs florentine.
*coughs*
Binge watch ‘And Just Like That…’
I often tell a story about how I started my blog…
‘I was working in fundraising, but I’d decided I wanted to be a freelance journalist – I’d been watching a lot of Sex And The City and fancied myself spending days in cocktail bars and sat outside cafes writing my sex advice column…’
It’s true, I did go through a massive Sex And The City phase, (later than everyone else, in about 2008, when I broke up with Belle’s dad after nearly ten years), but as much as I enjoyed it, I never really RELATED to it as a single mum of two, living in mild poverty. In the new series though they are just about caught up with me in terms of life stages. They are feeling trapped, on the brink of alcoholism, getting hip replacements – it hits HARD guys. You have to watch it.* Even though there are happy relationships in it, it still makes me glad to be single and gives me hope that I may yet become stylish. (Unlikely.)
Ideally watch while in your pyjamas, drinking martinis and making lists of 1) all the reasons you’re glad you’re single and 2) terrible habits of ex-boyfriends.
Do whatever the hell you want
You could say I’m passing the buck here because I can’t be bothered to think of another alternative Valentine’s Day activity, but what I’m actually doing is empowering you to realise that the beauty of being a single person on Valentine’s Day is the freedom to choose to do whatever you choose to do.
You don’t need blog posts like this telling you what to eat or what TV to watch, you get to pick. What would you actually really love to do? A solo holiday maybe? (I like those.) Maybe you could set yourself some adventurous goals? Maybe get four pets? (Just saying.)
Before you run off to join the circus though, you might want to enter my competition with Competition Finder to win a £50 One4all voucher. Competition Finder is a website dedicated to bringing you a round up of all the coolest current giveaways, so you don’t have to waste those valuable singleton leisure hours scanning the internet for competitions.
Win £50 of One4all vouchers
Okay, not for the fun bit – your chance to win £50 of One4all vouchers that you can spend in lots of different shops and restaurants, so you can take yourself out for lunch, get yourself some treats – whatever you fancy!
To enter, just do as many of the options in the competition widget as the can. The competition will close at 11.59pm on February 8th 2022 and is open to UK residents only. Full T&Cs apply.
Good luck and happy Valentine’s!
*If you don’t have Sky you can get a Now TV subscription – pay as you go, it’s worth it.
