February can bring a rollercoaster of emotions. You start the month relieved that January is finally over (I mean seriously, could the new year just give me a break?!) not long before returning to a pit of despair at the impending flux of unimaginable Valentine proposals/cringeworthy social media posts – pretty sure you could’ve told bae you loved them when you saw them leaving for work this morning. It’s reasonable to assume it’s one of the worst months of the year, before it redeems itself by telling us to eat up all those bad feels with pancakes, ALL THE PANCAKES.

We are exposed to Valentines Day at an early age due to the encouragement and our enjoyment of making cards for people. Colouring is the best form of educational activity but this soon wears off when you are told that treating them mean to keep them keen is the thing to do. As an insecure and slightly sensitive female – not hard to believe when you consider my very uneven blonde bob and glasses which took up half my face – Valentines Day looked a little like this growing up:

If I could go back in time, I’d not only tell my younger self that I eventually peak at 25 but that Valentines Day is just over commercialised bollocks and you won’t ever end up marrying your primary school crush. Sure, it’s nice to be told you’re fanciful and all that but why should it be from the sex you’re attracted to? Some of my best Valentines Day dates were scoffing oven trays of Nachos with the girls whilst swooning over Ryan Gosling because let’s face it, no one was ever going to compare. Even whilst settled in a happy relationship, I still look forward to gal time and bitterly reciting the script of ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ because without trying to sound corny, I’m very lucky to have a secure and empowering bunch of gals.

I tell my other half each night that I love him (in the most sarcastic, Kevin the teenage way possible I might add) but I often forget to tell the girls just what utter mega babes they really are. Some are facing this Valentines Day without their former halves so this year I’ll be showering them in affection and thanking them for all the post break-up Ben & Jerrys, Gin fuelled pep talks and Notebook re-runs because if Colin the freakin Caterpillar can get a wifey, there’s hope for everyone.

So instead of bringing you a standard Valentines Day gift guide for bae (don’t worry, I’m not completely forgetting my other half) this year I thought I’d bring some suggestions on how to show the squad how much you love them. A word of warning, a lot of these are food based because any inevitable sad feelings can always be eaten.

Biscuits fix everything:

That’s a fact. A bad cup of tea, hump day, a dull meeting, biscuits save the day. Go a step better and send your bestie this Galentines Day card from my favourites The Biscuiteers. Their V Day range is amazing this year but this set complete with some prosecco and a tub of ice cream (a girls essential V Day kit) was my favourite. If you’re based in London you should head to one of their cafes in Notting Hill or Battersea Rise to take part in one of their Icing Lates workshops, it’s a lovely, fun atmosphere and comes with prosecco and an abundance of biscuits.

Doughnut worry, be happy:

Okay, this is my favourite food pun and I use it far too much but seriously…LOOK AT THESE. So when you’re en route to your mates and stop off at Tesco for that emergency bottle of vino and pizza, pick up a box of these Krispy Kreme treats and count your blessings – especially if you scoff them the morning after the night before’s wine session.

They call me Mr Bombastic:

When I was in my teens, sleepovers were a BIG thing and occasions like Valentines Day gave us an excuse to pamper ourselves (we were an all girls school…go figures). When I say pampering, I’m talking strawberry face masks from Boots’ Natural Collection and testing a wax strip on someone for lols because it was 2006 and we were not vain contouring Kim K’s. To honour this tradition I’m sending some of my friends a pamper package and Lush have the aptly named ‘Ex Factor’ bath bomb on the website. It does however have limited stock so if you can’t get in there early, let them release their inner unicorn with the Unicorn Horn bubble bar – so god damn pretty!

Treat yo self:

Me and the girls visited Colombia Road Flower Market at the weekend and it was blooming (ha) beautiful and perfectly acceptable to buy yourself a pretty bunch – we all did. Finish off with a boozy brunch at Bourne and Hollingsworth and you’ve proved yourself date worthy. Side note: the market only runs on a Sunday.

Bake the blues away:

I couldn’t write a post and obviously not mention something to do with baking. Last year, I made these delicious dreamboat cupcakes, they were like a miniature Victoria sponge made irresistible by the added touch of edible Gosling – what a sentence. The recipe for the cupcakes can be found here but I won’t tell anyone if you’re not domesticated and head to Hummingbird.

We’re all in this together guys (without sounding like something from High School Musical) so love eachother, support eachother and if all else fails…drink. Best to do the latter with company though because you’ll want someone to stop you from drunk dialing your ex as you scream Adele lyrics.

Enjoy lovelies, Nic x