{"id":35532,"date":"2017-02-14T18:26:15","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T23:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=35532"},"modified":"2017-02-14T22:35:25","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T03:35:25","slug":"happy-galentines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/happy-galentines-day\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Watch for a Happy Galentine&#8217;s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In honor of February 14, I&#8217;m going to dole out some tough love, because I&#8217;m tired of people who moan that occasions like Valentine&#8217;s Day are overrated, too stressful, or no fun.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/ILmqMop0Q0xsQ\" width=\"480\" height=\"267\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/aint-nobody-got-time-for-that-gif-ILmqMop0Q0xsQ\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Stop waiting around for someone else to make your (holi)day! You&#8217;ve got to squeeze all the celebratory moments you can out of life yourself. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/fWlesbav1qMk8\" width=\"480\" height=\"369\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/food-dairy-queen-dq-fWlesbav1qMk8\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>So do what I do: Throw your own New Year&#8217;s party! Host your own birthday party! And if you&#8217;re a single woman looking for Mr. (or Ms.) Right, celebrate Galentine&#8217;s Day with your gal pals or simply &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/gVv0K9mssfJao\" width=\"480\" height=\"294\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/night-stop-her-gVv0K9mssfJao\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not too late to make the most of tonight, so text your friends right now and tell them to come over with bottles of bubbly, stat. Watch or re-watch a TV series or a movie that makes you laugh your ass off. Fuck the rom-coms and avoid that <em>Sex and the City<\/em>, relationship-oriented stuff. Get television inspiration <a href=\"http:\/\/www.listchallenges.com\/100-highest-rated-comedy-tv-serieshttp:\/\/www.listchallenges.com\/100-highest-rated-comedy-tv-series\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. I recommend <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Curb_Your_Enthusiasm\" target=\"_blank\">Curb Your Enthusiasm<\/a><\/em> if you want to be glad not to be in a relationship. If you like old movies, watch <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032599\/\" target=\"_blank\">His Girl Friday<\/a><\/em>. I&#8217;ve seen it a dozen times and it still makes me laugh out loud. (Plus the career-focused woman is the capable hero of the story.) Be gross and watch <em>Jackass<\/em>. You don&#8217;t even have to pick a comedy for hilarity to ensue! My designing friend Stacy Lomman and I cried literal tears of laughter when we finally watched <em><a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/my-best-dressed-at-the-2016-emmy-awards-is\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Revenant<\/a><\/em> last year. If I&#8217;d known that movie was so ridiculous, I would have watched it much sooner. (When you&#8217;re watching something so bad it&#8217;s funny, it is mandatory that everyone comments loudly on every stupid thing that happens, like when Leo rides off that cliff and survives while his horse does not.)<\/p>\n<p>For a wildly entertaining combination of gross things, physically impossible feats, AND totally gratuitous, full-frontal male and female nudity, I urge you to try out one of my all-time favorite shows, <a href=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/spartacus-madonna-aging-disgracefully-and-yolo-rings\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Spartacus<\/em><\/a>, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.starz.com\/series\/spartacus\" target=\"_blank\">aired on Starz<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/1301oW1CwgnxxS\" width=\"480\" height=\"397\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/spartacus-1301oW1CwgnxxS\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Once you get through the laugh-inducing pilot episode, the series is stuffed with the most outrageous villains (like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gladiator_(2000_film)\" target=\"_blank\">Emperor Commodus from <em>Gladiator<\/em><\/a>, but campier) and one of them is Lucy Lawless of <em>Xena<\/em> fame. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/vihtbyximu3Hq\" width=\"480\" height=\"552\" frameBorder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowFullScreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/spartacus-vihtbyximu3Hq\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s also got people having explicit sex with in every type of way with every type of person and possibly some inanimate objects, plus violence so over-the-top that CGI blood is regularly &#8220;splashed&#8221; on the camera lens as a way to segue between scenes. Mixed in are suspense, heartfelt moments, and a stilted &#8220;Roman&#8221;-style English to imitate endlessly. I do love a show that makes me scream, laugh, cover my eyes, cry, salivate, and shout, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/spartacus.wikia.com\/wiki\/Crixus\" target=\"_blank\">Speak up, Crixus<\/a>!&#8221; &#8212; all within five minutes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_35536\" style=\"width: 299px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/spartacus.wikia.com\/wiki\/Crixus\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-35536\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Crixus-gota.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"433\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Crixus-gota.jpg 289w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Crixus-gota-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-35536\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We never knew what Crixus was whispering about, but did it really matter? No.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Wanna hit YouTube instead? Check out short classics like &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/HenriLeChatNoir\" target=\"_blank\">Henri le Chat Noir<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VF9-sEbqDvU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>And if you have a friend who can laugh along with you at <em>all<\/em> of these things, she&#8217;s more than a BFF &#8212; she&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/elitedaily.com\/life\/culture\/signs-best-friend-power-couple\/714053\/\" target=\"_blank\">bae<\/a>. Buy her a post-Valentine&#8217;s Day treat, and I don&#8217;t mean 50%-off Russell Stover candy. Get her fine jewelry instead &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BAE_S_60__51630_std.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"360\" height=\"360\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-35538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BAE_S_60__51630_std.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BAE_S_60__51630_std-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BAE_S_60__51630_std-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/BAE_S_60__51630_std-320x320.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and send <em>me<\/em> the half-off Russell Stover heart-shaped box. I ain&#8217;t proud!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In honor of February 14, I&#8217;m going to dole out some tough love, because I&#8217;m tired of people who moan that occasions like Valentine&#8217;s Day are overrated, too stressful, or no fun. via GIPHY Stop waiting around for someone else to make your (holi)day! You&#8217;ve got to squeeze all the celebratory moments you can out&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/happy-galentines-day\/\">Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[101,723,586],"tags":[1156,362],"class_list":["post-35532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-holidays","category-special-occasions","category-valentines-day-2","tag-galentines-day","tag-valentines-day","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35532"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35545,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35532\/revisions\/35545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}