Another Galentine’s Day in the Books

Galentine’s Day — that glorious, unofficial holiday dedicated to celebrating the women who keep us sane — rolled around again, and this year marked my second annual celebration with the Fab Five… minus one. One of our girls had a family emergency and was sorely missed, but she was with us in spirit (and will absolutely be back next year).

This year’s adventure was a sip‑and‑shop, which sounded perfect in theory. And while the sipping was delightful and the shopping was cute, the venue forgot one crucial detail: tables. My crew? We are sip‑and‑sit women. We are busy, overextended, calendar‑color‑coded women. When we finally manage to get in the same room, we need chairs, snacks, and time to unload the entire contents of our lives. Hopefully next year’s venue will take the hint and provide a little seating for the gals who want to gab — because trust me, we can gab.

After we politely sipped and strategically shopped, we took a moment to rummage through our goodie bags like kids on Halloween, comparing treats and treasures. Then we wandered a block or two down the street, admiring the Valentine‑themed storefronts like the romantics we are. And finally, we did what any self‑respecting group of girlfriends would do: we burrowed into a restaurant like ticks and ordered all the yummies.

As we settled in, the hours ticked by — and we watched entire parties around us come and go while we stayed rooted, talking, laughing, venting, and catching up. It was like we were the immovable center of gravity and the rest of the restaurant simply orbited around us.

It’s wild how much can happen in a single month among busy women — marriages of children, the loss of siblings, training for competitions, the completion of long‑held goals (hello, my book debut see link) https://a.co/d/02YB23Nu, and of course, all the tea that bubbles up between the big moments. We laughed, we vented, we caught up, we held space for each other. It was everything.

I feel so blessed to have a circle of women who show up, who make time, who celebrate the highs and shoulder the lows, who lift each other up without hesitation. These friendships are the real love stories.

And my wish — for every woman reading this — is that you have a group like this too. And if you don’t yet, maybe this is your sign to cultivate one. Through work, church, clubs, volunteering, or any other place where women gather, there are always others longing for connection, for laughter, for belonging. You might be surprised how many would love to be included.

Here’s to another Galentine’s Day in the books — and to having our fifth seat filled again next year.