February is right around the corner, which means Valentine’s Day is too. I’ve had many enjoyable Valentine’s Days with Tim over the years, but some of my best Valentine’s Day memories are from times I’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day with the girls. I will always remember sophomore year of college when my friend Ashley’s mom hosted a few of the girls for a homemade dinner on Valentine’s Day and put together little goodie bags for us to take back to our dorms. There was another year when us single ladies did a Valentine’s Day bar crawl around Boston. Or the pink themed Valentine’s Day Yankee swap I did with my dance girls back in the day. And of course there have been countless wine and cheese nights throughout the years where we all brought something heart-shaped or Valentine-y for each other.

From my home girls to college girls to gym gals to fellow blogging ladies, I am SO thankful for the different groups of girlfriends I have in my life. Many of us have been through a lot together, and while some of our relationships with significant others have come and gone over the course of our friendships, our bonds have always stayed strong! <3

This year, to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the blog world, I am organizing a fun exchange called Galentine Buddies to encourage sisterhood and community. The point is to focus on women supporting each other and lifting each other up instead of mean girl bullshit. Aint nobody got time for jealousy and bullying. Let’s rise above that, shall we?!

UPDATE 2/2: Sign ups for the 2016 Galentine Buddy Exchange are now closed. Thank you! 

Interested? Here’s how the Galentine Buddy Exchange will work:

1. Sign up via this form by Monday, February 1st at 9:00am EST. Galentine Buddies will only be open to US and Canadian residents. Canadian residents will only be paired with other Canadian residents for ease of shipping.

2. On Tuesday, February 2nd, you will receive an email from me letting you know who your Galentine Buddy is.

3. You will then be responsible for contacting your Galentine Buddy within 48 hours to exchange some information: shipping info, your hobbies and interests, a goal you’ve been working on, a recent accomplishment or something positive that’s happened in your life, your social media handles, and anything else you’d like to share with each other. Please make sure to note any dietary preferences/allergies you have as well as whether or not you are okay with receiving homemade food items.

4. Once you’ve connected with your buddy, it’s time to go shopping! You will put together a box of goodies for your Galentine Buddy that you think will just totally make their Valentine’s Day, support them, and lift them up. Be creative based on the information you shared with each other! Some ideas for what to include in the box include fun foodie items, a cute workout item, something local from your hometown, an inspirational photo, something relevant to the goals they shared, etc. The spending range is between $15 and $20 (not including shipping), and your box must also include something handwritten because there’s just nothing like a handwritten note in the mail these days. Please make sure to respect dietary preferences (ie if someone says they are working on eating nutritiously, don’t send candy!).

5. Get your goodies in the mail by Monday, February 8th to allow enough time for the packages to arrive by Valentine’s Day!

6. Once you receive your box in the mail, share it on your social media channels and tag both your buddy and me @fitnessandfeta. Make sure to use #GalentineBuddyExchange so we can all see the fun packages being sent around, and don’t forget to thank your buddy!

This exchange will only be successful if a decent amount of people sign up, so I hope you will consider it! Please also share with any gals in your life that you think might like to participate. The more, the merrier! I know I always love receiving fun goodies and swag in the mail, and I think you will too. <3