Love

~ Gift Guide: Couply gifts: Valentine’s Special!!

/ raindropstosunshine / Leave a comment

This list is for when you find a baby sitter! LOL!! Some of it is doable with the kiddo in tow, and if you are like us, that’s what you’ll end up doing 🙂 Haha!!

For my friends who live with their families or close to their families, its easier to leave the kid at home with grandparents and have a little date night with the hubby – this entire list is your ocean and you are free to swim my friend… Hahah!!

But we enjoy celebrating as a family of 3 and while a cooking class or hot air ballooning may be out of the question, there surely are enough experiences for us to choose from and enjoy together! So for my ideas, read on:

– Brunch/Dinner Cruise

A cruise is always a good idea!!

For my local readers, there are many options from Keemah Boardwalk and Galveston, some fancier than others, but all of them are great.

Most if not all, allow kids, so make sure to do an extensive research. Often, they are also willing to cater to vegetarians or limited meat eaters, so don’t shy away from mentioning your dietary restrictions.

– Couple’s Cooking Class

This ofcourse isn’t child friendly, but if you have someone to watch your kiddo, it’s always fun to learn a new dish to cook while sharing some cozy time with your partner. We did one a couple of years back (read about it here:) and loved the recipes we learned as well as the entire experience.

In fact I cooked up a Greek Affair just last week!

Oh yeah and one thing: Make sure you wear comfortable shoes, coz you do stand ALL THE TIME!

– Go see a movie or theatre performance

This one is a special treat for us parents! I mean, when do you get to go the movies and actually sit and watch the whole movie, when you have a toddler in tow? Never? Yeah, that’s right – NEVER! Haha!!

Don’t blame those poor munchkins, they don’t want to be sitting in one place, they want to be all over the place… and sometimes scream… and shout… and giggle for no reason… and decide to play peekaboo suddenly in the middle of the movie… and maybe after all the running around they will sleep…

Anyways, I digress… Bascially if you can go catch a movie or a theatre performance sans the kiddo, do that. If not, choose an afternoon show over the weekend, where there will be less audience to disturb, and go a week after the movie has already been out.

The last time and the only time, hubby and I went for a movie, just the 2 of us, was on New Year’s Eve. Our workday was light and LilMissK was at daycare, so we sneaked to Alamo Draft House in LaCentera and had lunch while watching Bumblebee and then we picked her up from Daycare 🙂 It was surely a treat, because before that, the last we both saw a movie together was when we took Kritu to see Incredibles 2 at 11 months old in July 2018.

Usually one of us goes alone (yeah, you read that right) and the other one stays home with the kiddo, but when you want to make it a date, going alone isn’t an option 😉

– Weekend Getaway / Staycation

I am all for little getaways! Don’t much understand the concept of staying at a hotel if you are in your own town, instead we staycay at home!! I get that fact that staying at a hotel means no cooking or cleaning, but if you make that your motto for that staycay weekend then at home also won’t really be an issue! But sometimes unplugging is good.

We like to go someplace close – for example Texas Hill Country is gorgeous all year round and sometimes you can snag awesome deals at the luxury resorts like Hyatt or JW Marriott, so just keep looking!

– Couple’s Massage

I am all for massages, all day and everyday! The hubby is ok into it, but I am like I will take his hour too, thank you! LOL!!

On a more serious note, if you can get some baby free time together or even individually, a massage would be a good way to spend that time. It will leave you not only relaxed, rejuvenated and refreshed but also feeling so good about yourself than when you get back to the routine, you’d be glad you did take that time to get a massage.

– Hot Air Ballooning

I have done this ~ Viva Las Vegas!! as a part of my sister’s bachelorrete party, but never done with the hubby and it would be a great thing to experience it again with him!

These are expensive so in my honest opinion, be sure of where you doing it would give you good views – for example: NAPA, Vegas, Cappadocia being some of the world’s best views from up there!! Ofcourse this isn’t baby friendly, so make sure to check the allowed age of kids for hot air balloon rides.

– Extreme Sports

I am not much into this, but the not so scary ones like Paragliding, I do not mind doing. The hubby has done sky diving and wants to do bungee jumping, he cray cray y’all, I tell you!

When we were in San Diego in December for Christmas break, visiting Ash, Chris and their fur baby Mojo, we wanted to go paragliding so bad, that we tried almost everyday, but the wind wasn’t in our favor. So now I am on a look out for paragliding around us here in Houston, and we can’t wait to go try it out!

So what’s on your gifting agenda this V-day?! I’d love to hear…

Until next time… Enjoy the love in the air!!

Comment below on how you plan to celebrate the day of love!

** Image courtesy Google **

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~ 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!