He loves me, he loves me not…

If you’re reading this, I hope you don’t plan on spending your Valentine’s Day peeling back fragrant petals solo, while reciting this phrase. I also hope you’re not sitting by the phone waiting for the guy you’re crushing on to ask you to be his Valentine. Let’s not forget that the overarching theme of Valentine’s Day is: love.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend it with a love interest. You may not be celebrating Valentine’s Day with your crush, but that doesn’t mean you should forego the holiday altogether.

This Valentine’s Day I plan to celebrate with my girls. After all, we’re all single with great careers and have plenty to offer. There’s so much beauty in being independent, yet it isn’t always clear to some women. Only when you can stand on your own two feet and love yourself, can you truly be ready to celebrate love with a significant other. Finally, I encourage you to feel free to celebrate with family members, even your mom or dad. I have girlfriends who have had dinner with their dads on Valentine’s Day and still talk about what a great time they had til’ this day.

Another common misconception is that people often think that you have to go to dinner on Valentine’s Day in order to celebrate. You don’t! Below I have listed four alternatives to making this Valentine’s Day a memorable day. Check it out below:

1. Host a slumber party with you and your girls
2. Partake in a Valentine’s kringle
3. Take an all-girls trip with your girlfriends or loved ones
4. Go to the movies with your loved ones

Time is of the essence, and its one thing you can’t get back. That said, I’ll be celebrating this Valentine’s Day with my manager, Michelle, over a nice dinner and some Viniq Ruby Romance cocktails. I chose to celebrate with her because we rarely get the opportunity to hang out after work. Those of you who follow me on Snapchat know that she plays a vital role in my career.

Ruby Romance

Glassware: Flute
Ingredients:
1 oz. Viniq Ruby
Fill to the top with Strawberry Moscato

Method:
Chill all ingredients 2 hours prior to serving
Mix sparkly sugar crystals together in a bowl
Dip rim of glass in a simple syrup on a plate and then dip glass lightly in the sugar mix
Begin to build cocktail in 8 oz. flute glass
Melt chocolate chips
Dip clean strawberry halfway in chocolate

Garnish:
Strawberries covered in milk chocolate

Viola!

There’s a lot of love to go around, so I hope you celebrate Valentine’s Day with the ones you truly love!

[This post was sponsored by Viniq, but all opinions are my own.]