Love

~ At Home Date Night Ideas!!

/ raindropstosunshine / Leave a comment

This post is a Valentine’s Special post especially dedicated to parents!!

Life with a baby is drastically different they said… It’s totally true, I say!!

After having a baby almost 6 months back, I would definitely agree that life with a baby is a complete 180 degree turn from life before kids.

Today’s post isn’t about comparing life before and after baby, even though that would make for a fun post (takes mental note, then writes it down also, coz who am I kidding, a new mother has a billion mental notes and she’s likely to forget them all. LOL!) anyways, I digress again… Gosh! Ok ok. Let’s continue. So today’s post is about date nights and how you can have a date night at home and keep the spark alive with your partner, even after having kids and being super busy!!

So without further ado, let’s jump in:

– Dinner and a Movie

This is a fool proof date night idea – a classic combo you really can’t go wrong with! For a couple who loves to cook, trying your hand at a new recipe is a great way to spend time together, else just order in. Pick a movie you both have been wanting to see but haven’t been able to, or choose a classic you both enjoy and grab some popcorn, cuddle and enjoy!

– Candle-Light Dinner

Turn that dinner into a candle light dinner and skip the movie for a more intimate one on one time together. For those couples who loves the outdoors and star gazing, take your candle light dinner outside to the backyard or the patio!

– Wine or Beer Tasting at Home

This one can be fun if you both are into alcohol. Pick up a variety of wines or beers from your local grocery store and have a tasting night. Pair it with your favorite food for an even better experience!

– Plan Your Next Trip

This one is a kind of a tease but useful too. Turning the night into trip planning session can get you both excited and organized for an upcoming trip, all while spending time together and my friends this is a win-win situation you ask me!!

– Go Down The Memory Lane

Dig out your old favorite photos and take a trip down memory lane, you could also relive your wedding day/festivities by watching the wedding DVDs. We do this not as often as I would like to, thanks to the fact that indian weddings have a billion functions and each are a million hours long! I know there is a pause or a fast forward button, but what’s the fun in that! When we do sit down to watch these though, it surely is be fun to look back at all of the wedding photos and videos from our big day!

– Games Night

This is one of my favorites!! We often play games over the week, once Little Miss K has been settled for the night, so in my household this isn’t a typical one time affair, rather it’s on repeat whenever we get time. Believe it or not, we always have Catan laid our on dining table because we were play a game almost everyday!! #theaddictionisreal

– Have a Fondue Dessert

For this, you can call me fancy, but I do own a fondue set and use it quite often. Not always do we have time to go to our favorite Melting Pot, so a little dessert fondue at home is just the thing to do! If you’re a chocolate loving couple, like we are (no surprise there), you can’t go wrong with fondue!

These are some of the ideas that came to my mind for this post, but trust me there are endless opportunities when it comes to spending time / making time for your partner.

After writing this post, I am soooooooo looking forward to planning our next at-home date night and I hope you are too!! So go ahead and chill, relax and enjoy each other’s company and I shall see you in my next post. Ciao!

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~ The 5 Languages of Love…

/ raindropstosunshine / 2 Comments

There are 5 languages of love which one you choose depends on who you are and also who you are showing that love to. In lieu of Valentine’s Day, today I am taking about these languages of love.

So what are the 5 languages of love?

Words of Affirmation:

Everyone loves being appreciated!! And if you cannot readily think of anything positively noteworthy to say about your partner, parents or kids – you are most likely taking them for granted. It’s worth taking the time out to stop, reflect, and comment on how they enrich the lives of others, be it their partner, children, extended family, friends, colleagues, and/or community. 

It’s always good to notice and acknowledge the little things as well as the more obvious things, and give thanks for those everyday routine things that are mostly taken for granted. Aim for at least a couple of genuine heartfelt compliments, words of appreciation, and encouragement daily. It’s good for the soul.

Acts of service (devotion):

I think of this one is more like loyalty. If your love is true, no matter to whom (be it your parents, partner, kids or God) you will also be loyal and show devotion by making time.

Also people with this love language are always there to help others out and love to have others help them out! These are also the friends that feel so loved and cared for when you do something special for them in some way.

Gifts:

When in doubt – give gifts!!

Don’t mistake this love language for materialism – it’s actually far from that! The receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. The perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. 

Gifts are visual representations of love and are treasured greatly!!

Quality time:

Quality time is giving someone your undivided attention. I don’t mean sitting on the couch watching television, instead what I mean is sitting on the couch with the TV off, looking at each other and talking, and giving each other your undivided attention. 

Sometimes you need to spend quality time together to make the love felt. It doesn’t have to always be in person, chatting over the phone with a friend is also spending time together, or even better Facetime with them so they know all your attention is theirs. 

A central aspect of quality time is togetherness, but by that I do not mean proximity.

Physical touch:

Physical touch doesn’t always mean sex. Hugging, kissing (even on the cheeks or forehead, on the hand), a pat on the back, a stress relieving head massage, massaging someone’s feet when they are hurting, patting their head – are all examples of physical touch. 

When you reach out with tender touch, you create emotional closeness. They can be implicit and require only a moment.

So what does all this mean??

They say we all have a primary love language but I believe, in reality, we often do need more than one with each relationship we have in our life. 

For example: As lovers/parents/friends – you share all 5 languages of love. For your God, you have the devotion form of love and also gifts in terms of the offerings we make. A teacher’s words of affirmation are their form of showing love for their favorite student.

Final thoughts:

If you want to understand these languages of love in greater depth, I would recommend reading Gary Chapman’s book “The Five Love Languages”. 

Disclaimer: This post is in no way an advertisement, infact I myself have to still read this book!!

It would fun to also take an online quiz to see what is your preferred language of love when it comes to the receiving end of the spectrum! Here’s a link to where you can do that:

5 Love Languages Online Quiz

Hope you enjoyed my post and wishing you all a Very Happy Valentine’s Day in advance!! 

Ps: My online quiz revealed that I am a Quality Time (#1) and Physical Touch (close #2) kinda girl and I would say I couldn’t agree more. I definitely have changed over time, as I have matured. Earlier gifts would excite me a lot, don’t get me wrong, they still do, but just not as much as spending some meaningful time together. Oh and yes I am totally touchy feely and the physical touch being a close second doesn’t surprise me at all. If you wondering what the others rated as: #3 was tied between Act of Service, Gifts and Words of Affirmation.