Welcome back, lonely hearts. I’ve got some pretty sweet prospects in my inbox. Fluffy_dolphin wants to know when I can meet up and Brooklyn3254EvR wrote me a little poem that started with “whats up” and ended with “I’m new to this online dating thing lol.” Still, regardless of all this gold, I may still be single through February 14th.
Guess I’ll drink this ridiculous beverage all by myself instead of sharing it with a handsome dude like that lady back there.
“Jessica,” you cry, “you already helped us with surviving the holidays. Isn’t that advice applicable to New Years and Valentine’s Day?”
Oh, my poor darlings. The universe is cruel and those holidays are crueler. Let’s get started.
1. Get The Hell Out Of Dodge
Friends of mine know that my father died recently. This trauma incited the rapid and spontaneous booking of a New Years trip to my dad’s beloved Costa Rica, preceded by a frantic Facebook discussion with a (similarly single) travel buddy consisting of phrases like “FLIGHTS ARE GOING UP WE HAVE TO BOOK NOW” and “NO WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO GO OVER THE DETAILS PAY ME BACK LATER.”
I AM BITING THIS TABLET! TRAVEL DEALS!!!
I never intended to book a week-long trip out of the g-d country, but there was always going to be some kind of escape. My friend and I had discussed Colonial Williamsburg, Nashville, and some spa destination in Ohio as possible long weekend trips.
Both New Years and Valentine’s Day fall around a weekend this year (Thursday and Friday, respectively.) What better way to avoid any expectations or bad feelings than to hop on a bus (or Amtrak, or a plane) and spend the weekend doing something special, whether alone or with a good friend?
2. Take it Easy on the Booze
UGH. Judgmental Jessica. No, not at all. Drink if you want to. Don’t if you don’t want to. Personally, I cut out alcohol for this month (except for a glass of wine after my dad’s memorial service, cuz c’mon) because holiday drinking can get really stupid really fast. I understand that this is an extreme measure, but there is value
2. Eat Black Noodles with some Buds
I lived in Korea for 4 1/2 years. Korea is a strange, wonderful place where things like “Black Day” exist. This is a day when single people, who have presumably been ignored during the hullabaloo of Korean Valentine’s Day, can finally have their moment.
Ugh… can you believe we missed out on this, single friends?
The only thing you have to do on Black Day is eat jajangmyun, the black noodles the Koreans borrowed from the Chinese in the Joseon Dynasty and made 9,000 times more delicious (this is an objective fact.) Grab some single friends, head over to a Korean restaurant, and order some jajangmyun. That’s it. Gossip about how shitty dating can be and scarf down some noodles. Frankly speaking, that sounds like a more fun evening out than most of the holidays I’ve spent with a significant other.
Black Day is supposed to be celebrated on April 14th, but I say we grab it and use it when we want it. Any day can be Black Day if you mean it!
I mean it.
