Datevitation: My Experience and a giveaway!

Have any of you ever made those handmade coupon books for your family or friends?  You know, the ones where you write out coupons for 'a night off of cooking' or 'I'll do your laundry for a week!'  I definitely did and I always loved the idea because you're taking the time to really think about what will make your loved one feel blessed.  It's truly a gift that comes from the heart.

When I was contacted by the folks at datevitation, a family business run by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman, about making a date coupon book as a christmas present for a special someone in my life, I was all in.  If you don't already know, Datevitation.com is the web's first online platform to create a custom love coupon book. Unlike the pre-packaged love coupon books on the market, you pick the dates and can customize the text to your liking. Once you are done customizing the text in your book, Datevitation will print it out and ship it to you.  Neat, right?!

They graciously allowed me to test out their process and create a book so that I could report back to all of you!  Naturally, I made a book for N, and even added our faces!  I was very impressed with how simple it was to maneuver through over 500 date ideas while still letting me create something that felt unique and genuine to us.  If you'd like to get to know datevitation a little better, be sure to check out their blog!

I just got it in the mail a few days ago, less than a week after I places my order, and I love it!  It looks so professional (a mighty step up from my construction paper and glue sticks, ya know) and seeing our faces on the pages is pretty darn cute, if you ask me.  Funny side note, I had to make N promise not to read my blog until after christmas.  I don't want any ruined surprises!

I really enjoyed making the book because as I was looking through all the date ideas it really got me thinking about N and what he really loves and what would make him feel special.  And it brought back the fun memories of dates that we had been on in the past (and I logged some fun ideas away for the future!)  And while I enjoyed making the book, I am really giddy about giving it to him because it's something that he can take into the new year.  And I am a firm believer that experiences make really stellar gifts :)

If you'd like to get in on the fun, as a special treat to all you guys, you can use the code AGIRLSMITTEN for $10 off your purchase plus free shipping. The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Christmas is December 13, so make sure to get your order in before then!

The lovely team over at Datevitation has been generous enough to provide a free coupon book to one lucky reader!  Check out the rafflecopter below for details on how to enter. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Top Notch Date Night with Healthy, Frozen Meals

For a quick surprise date night as part of a sponsored post for Collective Bias®  I put together a restaurant themed meal in less than an hour.

Hey guys! If any of you follow me on twitter then you'll know that last night I planned a quick, fun date night for N and I! What I didn't mention is that I used frozen meals, so I didn't even have to cook! Things have been a little hectic here lately and I thought that we could both use a night to unwind, relax, and generally just be together.  

N works 9 or 10 hour days during the week so I knew he would especially appreciate a date night that didn't involve leaving the house. I have been working like crazy trying to get everything running smoothly with school, our house, and all that entails. It's just a busy, busy time for both of us.

So while date night is important (and literally one of my favorite nights of the week) sometimes I am just tired and don't have the energy to get all dolled up to go out or put in hours in the kitchen making a special meal. But like I said, date nights are a priority around here. So, we got creative. The result? A fun, romantic, restaurant themed date night in less than an hour.

While perusing through Walmart, as I do, I stumbled across something that caught my eye. Lean Cuisine Honestly Good frozen meals. The two thing that really got me were these: they were very fancy sounding, ya know, like something that you would be proud to tell someone you made for dinner, and they are made with all natural ingredients which I loved because we have been making an effort to eat healthy meals around here.

This sounded like solid date night food, of course! So my gears started turning and the idea was born, and I ran with it. I picked up one for each of us and proceeded to rush around and snag a few other goodies that would be a part of this here date night.

Once I got it all home, I got to work setting everything up. I grabbed a basket for bread, a carafe for ice water, a random tin bucket that I had never had a use for until now (for fancy wine chilling!), some cloth napkins and my chalkboard, because there needs to be a menu!

Preparing the frozen meals was a breeze! I took them out of the package, thawed out the little packets of sauce and popped the meals in the microwave. Literally, it couldn't have been easier. I arranged them on the plate in a "restaurant-y way by laying down the veggies and noodles, putting the meat on top and then drizzling the sauce over the whole thing.

I heated up some bread, set the table and lit some candles, and voila.

When I told N that dinner was ready, he walked into the kitchen to find a candlelit table already set with dinner and drinks.

This resulted in an "Aww, baby" and a little kiss. And let me tell you, we absolutely loved it!  It was so nice to just sit and talk, relaxing and laughing. And the food! I was impressed. The Lean Cuisine frozen meals were a hit.  I am a long time lover of Lean Cuisine meals and these did not disappoint.  The flavors were wonderful and everything mixed so nicely together.  Nick mentioned how great his tasted and couldn't believe that I had actually cooked it in the microwave. That's the mark of the best frozen meal. I feel like that is the final seal of approval, right?  A man approved meal is a home run success in my book.

So all in all, a very successful, easy date night!  We will definitely be keeping this in mind for future nights :)

If you're looking to try the Lean Cuisine Honestly Good frozen meals then pop over to their website for  a coupon and visit them on facebook.

To see all the photos, check out the Google+ story.