Happy Valentine’s Week! Here at GirlfriendCelebrations, we love Valentine’s Day, and we encourage celebrating it with your girlfriends. Even if there’s no romance in your life right now, you still have plenty to appreciate and celebrate – you have friends! We know one woman who sends Valentine cards to all her friends instead of Christmas cards. It’s her way of showing appreciation from the heart. In that spirit, here’s a short roundup of ideas to get YOU thinking of ways to brighten your February with Valentine-themed girls nights. Watch for new posts this week with even more creative ideas for February festivities.

“I Enjoy Being a Girl” Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Party – Our girlfriend Jen Luby at Second City Soiree has done it again! This time she’s got some great entertaining tips centered around Chinese New Year, which falls on February 14 this year, and usually occurs somewhere around Valentine’s Day. Here’s how she came up with the theme:

“I Enjoy Being a Girl” is a song from Flower Drum Song, a Rogers & Hammerstein musical which relates the tale of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco during the 1950s.  The are various opinions on the musical, and it’s not among R&H’s better-known works.  It did enjoy a brief spike of renewed interest when Sarah Jessica Parker performed “I Enjoy Being a Girl” in a 2004 Gap commercial.

See the rest of her post HERE.

Chocolate Themed Get-Togethers Are So Obvious, But Yummy! You can easily throw together a chocolate-themed party for your girlfriends on Valentine’s Day. Offer a “hot chocolate bar” by brewing up some good drinking chocolate. You provide the cocoa, whipped cream, some liqueurs to try, and perhaps some chocolate shavings, and let your girlfriends create their own drinks. Chocolate fondue is another simple idea to try–simply spear some fruits, pound cake, or whatever your heart desires. Anything tastes better covered in chocolate!  Rent the movie Chocolat to treat your visual senses (Johnny Depp–mmmm). See more on this idea, plus a past roundup of Valentine’s Day party ideas for women, HERE.

Start a Quirky Tradition. Remember this post about Carmen and the Lucky Reds? Well, you’ll just have to click on over to read it in its entirety but here’s a hint: It involves undergarments. Starting a quirky, funny, or heartfelt tradition among your girlfriends can help you not only survive Valentine’s Day, but look forward to it!

Just do Something! Why not send a Valentine e-card to all your girlfriends? It’s free and it might just make someone’s day. We like My Punchbowl’s assortment of Valentine and friendship-themed e-cards, which you can customize with your own photos and sentiments.