Valentine’s Bucket List 2025

Valentine’s Day has always been a holiday I’ve tried to ignore. I can’t say I’ve ever participated in the social media trends that use the day as a way to show off relationships and heck I haven’t ever celebrated the day of love with a significant other. 

Growing up I had the classic class Valentine’s parties where you bring in your valentine’s mailbox and little gifts for everyone, you get to eat little candies and treats and make little crafts. But since those days have ended, I always thought that celebrating the day was just for people who are in relationships (oh, how close minded I’ve been).  

Self Love

One of my intentions for this year is to fuel my relationships, with my people and with myself. 

I want to intentionally show up for myself in ways that are uncomfortable and new to me. And make time to do the things I’ve always wanted to do, and experience life the way that I want to experience it, and even buy the things that could honestly just make life a little easier. I feel like a lot of times I put myself on the back burner, and most of the time it’s not intentionally, most of the time it just happens. 

To celebrate myself in this season of love, these are some activities that I would LOVE to get out of my comfort zone and do:

Valentine’s Day Photoshoot

I have always loved collecting photos of myself and the people around me, especially for special occasions. I always feel like I’m the first to whip out my phone to grab candids of my friends when we’re all together. And photos are such a great way to capture all of the special moments. One of my favorite pictures from my Galentine’s event earlier this month captured the happiest I’ve been in a long time and it’s so nice to be able to look back at it and remember how I felt that night.

Get a Pedicure

I did just recently get a pedicure AGAIN (yay 2/2 in 2025!). One of my intentions for this year is to try and keep up with pedis throughout the year because my legs and feet go through it being a server and bartender, especially in the summer. I’ve only had a few throughout the years and they’ve always been with friends. This month was my first time going alone AND it was to a place that I’ve never been to before. I pampered myself a little extra with a callus treatment, soak, and mask and it was one of the best experiences ever. I left the building so relaxed and was able to enjoy the rest of my day so much more.

Make a Heart Shaped Cake

I am rediscovering my love for cooking and baking again. I have so many recipes saved on Pinterest and sent to myself on Messenger, and favorited on Tik Tok. All things that I’ve saved for later, with thoughts and intentions of “oh someday I’ll try out that recipe”. Now I’m trying to try out new recipes every week, or make a food that I’m craving. I’ve wanted to make a heart shaped cake, with all the layers and frosting goodness and cute frosting pipings, and I have tons of inspiration saved. So this year, I want to make one. Maybe moving forward I can add this to my little rituals or tradition list.

Make a Cozy Breakfast

Think waffles, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc. I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I had the urge to wake up one morning and just make a big breakfast. My first thought is always coffee. But you know when you have guests overnight, the first thought is “oh I’ll make them breakfast in the morning”. I have made some breakfast in the morning , but nothing big and romanticized because normally it’s just me here or my guests are ready to head out pretty early the next morning so I’ll usually settle with making eggs and toast.

Light a Candle + Drink Tea

I have made drinking tea at night quite a consistent ritual for myself. I love a good lavender chamomile tea with a little bit of my vanilla almond milk creamer and some agave. I think setting the mood with a candle and a nice little rom-com would be the perfect way to romanticize the holiday for myself.

Wear a Themed Outfit for a Gathering

I could technically count my outfit from my Galentine’s at Gather event I went to earlier this month, but I also have another hosted event this weekend to look forward to. Either way, I’ll be sharing details about both events later this month.

Make Valentine’s Themed Cocktails + Mocktails

These past couple of months, I’ve gotten the itch to try out new cocktails and mocktails. At one of my jobs we have monthly flavors of mimosas along with the classic orange juice mimosa. At my other job, we had a list of like six different holiday cocktails that were really fun to try out. My mom stayed over last month and I had just bought myself a little bar mixing set and bought the fruit and herbs to make a blueberry vodka smash cocktail recipe that I found on Pinterest. AND it was so delicious.

Loving on My People

To me, focusing on my people means showing them more of my appreciation for them. Relationships aren’t, in fact, just about significant others but also include family members, friends, and sometimes even coworkers- depending on how close you are to your work crew. I’ve reflected on the past year since my “big” move, (yes we’re almost at ONE YEAR), just how much I’ve missed the quality time with all of my people including some new friendships that I’ve had this past year. I also cherish every single memory this past year a little bit more than I have before. It’s such an honor to be a part of my peoples’ lives. 

To show appreciation for my people a little bit more than I have in the past, these are some things that I have done or will be doing this month to show up for them:

Send Friends Little Valentine’s Gifts

I reallllllly wanted to get around to sending my friends little Christmas gifts, but never actually prioritized it to fit into the full schedule that I had. This year, I handmade some cute little Valentine’s cards that were inspired by themed watercolor prints that I found on Pinterest. Right now, I’m currently finishing up addressing them all so I can get them in the mail- better late than never right? I think this will be a fun tradition to add into my life as the years go by to remind my friends of how much I appreciate them and little things that I love about them and all of our memories together.

Galentine’s at Gather on Broadway

Earlier this year one of my coworkers, someone who I’ve gotten much closer with throughout the past year, invited me to go with her to this Galentine’s Event with her and some of her friends! We made a whole night out of it, having “pre-game” drinks, got dinner together, and carpooled together to the event. More to come next week (;

Galentine’s Weekend With Syd + Kareese!

This upcoming weekend is all about friendship with Syd and Kareese. Normally I only really get to see them once a year at an annual volleyball tournament that we all usually play in. This past year, Kareese had some fun wedding festivities for her big day so I was able to see them a handful more times than normal. I’m extremely looking forward to recapping our weekend together later this month.

Show Your Love to the World

I’m learning that it’s okay to show up, not just for the world, your job, and things that seem to always take our top priority, but the things AND people that MATTER to you- your friends, your coworkers, and most importantly, YOURSELF. You can never be too much and if you stay true to your 100% authentic self, that love will be reciprocated even bigger and more full in return to you. How do you show up for yourself?