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Singles only
Single this Valentine's Day? Awesome! That's the perfect excuse to put together a shindig for your single friends. We've got a few ideas for you and your crew.
Sure, you can go the anti-Valentine's Day route and throw a "black hearts" party where everyone wears goth clothing and snarks on couples, but we prefer a party that emphasizes the great things about hanging out together sans significant others.
Curate a themed playlist
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If you've got friends, food and libations, you're off to a great start anyway, but for a party like this, try making a playlist with a cute twist on being single and psyched. Here are a few ideas:
- "Single Ladies," Beyonce — Obviously.
- "I Don't Wanna Be a Player No More," Big Pun — You're not a player, you just crush a lot, right?
- "King of Anything," Sara Bareilles — Here's to all the bad dates you wished you could have walked out of.
- "No Scrubs," TLC — A throwback with a message.
- "I Will Survive," Cake — Awesome cover of an awesome song.
- "Ridin' Solo," Jason Derulo — If this song is any indication of how sweet it is to be single, we never want to get into a relationship, ever.
Hold a screening that takes the focus off finding a man
It might be tempting to collect your crew and watch your favorite rom-com for the billionth time, but try to resist. Instead, arrange a screening that puts the focus on intense storytelling and layered characters. Hunker down with your friends on the couch and watch Claire Danes shine as a CIA intelligence officer in the first few episodes of Homeland, or have everyone meet at the movie theater for a showing of Zero Dark Thirty, starring Jessica Chastain as the woman who brought down Osama bin Laden, and then bring everyone back to your place for snacks and an easy-to-make, jauntily named signature cocktail, like...
Dirty thirty martinis
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Ingredients:
- 3 ounces vodka
- 1 ounce dry vermouth
- 1/2 ounce olive brine
Directions:
- Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a fancy celebratory glass.
- Garnish with olives . Done. But sip with caution — these babies are potent.
Do an informal wine tasting for fun
If you're like us, you usually pour glasses of vino for your friends without really thinking a whole lot about what you're drinking beyond a few basics . Try getting a bunch of the same types of wines, covering the labels, and having your friends rate which they like best. Then do the big reveal of everyone's fave at the end. For inspiration, check out our girls' night taste test.
Or, try the cool new product Wine Battles: You'll get two or more bottles of a certain type of wine , and then you pour dueling glasses for each person and rate them based on aroma and bouquet, body, acidity and sweetness. Then the really cool part happens: Go online to see if other people who've tasted it thought the same thing — you can even interact with the wine merchants themselves as well as other wine aficionados.
Stretch weekly battles out over several gatherings if you'd like, depending on the number of people you're entertaining. Drinking wine and learning something at the same time? Sounds like a pretty good night to us.
Organize a clothing swap that benefits charity too
If you and your buddies are short on cash, consider having everyone bring a few articles of clothing so everyone leaves with something new. Tell your guests if there's anything left over, you'll donate it to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a local women's shelter. New clothes, doing good, hanging out with your friends: Recipe for a great night.
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