Danielle Tate

Spending Valentine’s Day Together

Looking forward to spending Valentine’s Day together? It’s easy to spend the whole day together when Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, which unfortunately; is not the case this year. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t celebrate it on the weekend or take a PTO day to spend it together (if you have time-off available).

We’ve searched around and put together some ideas for meals to help you celebrate the love between you and your sweetie this Valentine’s Day without having to leave the comfort of your home. This will take some prep as far as making sure you have all the right ingredients, so be sure to make a list and pick up the items you need along with a movie or two…and then you’re all set!

Breakfast
Make heart-shaped pancakes and add your favorite mix-ins (i.e. chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas, etc.) for some extra flavor. Or use food coloring to dye your pancakes red! If pancakes aren’t your thing, you could make your favorite breakfast foods and enjoy them together. Need heart-shaped Pancake Egg Rings? You can purchase them through Amazon.

Lunch
What could be cuter than the two of you making a homemade heart-shaped pizza? You could practice your dough tossing skills and see who can throw their dough the highest! Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a friendly competition… even if you end up throwing a little flour at each other.

Dinner
Do a web search for valentine’s dinner for two recipes. We particularly like this one for a seafood bake for two. Don’t forget to pair it up with your favorite wine or cocktail…you’re not leaving the house so celebrate however you want to!

Dessert
They say Valentine’s Day is for lovers and they are right, it’s for chocolate lovers! The possibilities are endless when it comes to dessert: chocolate covered strawberries, cake, cookies, brownies…pick your pleasure and enjoy!

What’s your plan for spending Valentine’s Day together? Tell us about it by leaving a comment below.

Eliminate Stress & Plan Your Wedding Marrily!

Planning your wedding can be fun, but it can also be frustrating (even if you’ve been married for years you can remember that). Quickly you’ll find yourself buried in all kind of details, from appointments, to-dos, expenses, tracking guests and RSVPs, etc. The list seems endless and some doesn’t even want to remember about the pain they went through for the wedding. But there is a better way to stay organized and prepared for your big day. Marrily.com is a premiere online wedding planner that can help relieve your pre-wedding stress disorder or that of one of your best buds.

The main differentiation between Marrily and the rest of the other tools out there is that Marrily is built for the couples, not for the advertisers or wedding vendors. Alex Le, the founder behind the site, had put a lot of effort into making an easy to use wedding planner to really save the couples’ time. Moreover, Marrily users enjoys great customer support via live chat, email, twitter, and phone. If you have any issue using the site, you can pick up the phone and actually talk to a real person. With an average cost of $25,000 per wedding, Marrily is a great and cost-effective way to stay stress-free when planning your big day!
Notable features of Marrily are:

Invite your significant other, friends, family members, or event your wedding planner to share Marrily with you. You can limit them to see just the right sections.
Simple guests list management to track RSVPs and Gifts.
Seating arrangement tools with drag-and-drop and printer friendly functions.
Ceremony and Reception Checklists to get new couples started
Plan unlimited number of events and guests so you can use Marrily to not only plan your wedding and reception but also your Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party!
An iPhone app is in the works so that couples can access their Marrily account on the go.

MissNowMrs.com is giving away 5 lifetime accounts with Marrily (a $100+ each), so please leave a comment to enter in our 2 week contest. You can also use the coupon “missnowmrs2011” to recieve a 15% discount to any subscription plan (coupon valid till end of 2011).
What are you waiting for?! Enter yourself or a bride-to-be in your life in this great giveaway today!
Follow Marrily on twitter at @marrilyhappily, facebook at http://facebook.com/marrilyhappily, and check out their blog at marrily.com/blog

Youth Corridor, Antioxidant Boost Skin Serum Mini-Giveaway

We are all obsessed with wanting to look our absolute best; which is no surprise to anyone (in our youth crazed society); however, did you know that there is a way to keep looking your youthful best for decades?! Dr. Gerald Imber, a renowned Plastic Surgeon (and Author) has put together a skin care program that focuses on prevention, maintenance and correction…ensuring that you look AH-MAY-ZING for years to come! His Boost Skin Serum (featured on Good Morning America and in SHAPE and Harper’s Bazaar Magazines) is specifically designed to increase delivery of free radical-fighting antioxidants into the deep layers of the skin where collagen is produced. The unique combination of vitamins C and E, and melatonin, helps reverse prior sun damage and inflammation. Do you have sensitive skin? No worries, Dr. Imber’s Boost Skin Serum is ideal for all skin types and provides all the benefits without irritation.

We’re excited to offer 2 of our lucky newlywed blog readers Antioxidant Boost Skin Serum ($145 value each)! Leave a comment on this post and you’ll be automatically entered to win. Tell us why you HAVE TO HAVE this “fountain of youth” serum today, as this mini-giveaway lasts only 1 week! The randomly selected contest winners will be announced on Tuesday February 15, 2011. If we don’t hear back from the winners within 2 weeks, we will randomly select new winners to make sure someone ends up with this beauty must-have!

Visit the Youth Corridor website for skin care tips to learn more about their cutting edge products and where to purchase them!
**If you tweet this giveaway by clicking the green retweet button below and then post a comment that you tweeted with your twitter handle, you’ll receive an additional contest entry!

5 Surprising Ways To Show That You Heart Him

As thoughts of Valentine’s Day begin to surface, you might be stumped about what to get your husband this year. As a newlywed, you may really want to do something special but you don’t want to be lame either (most guys just don’t love flowers or balloons sent to the office). Think outside the box with one of these 5 Valentine ideas.

Floor your tough guy with a custom (temporary) tattoo on your tush or anywhere else he might find interesting!
Is your man a serious meat eater? Go straight to his heart (via his stomach) with a sweetheart steak. It really is a steak in the shape of a heart! If custom cut steaks are out of the budget, you can always use cookie cutters to make gourmet heart-shaped hamburgers for your sweetie.
Get creative with your spouse’s morning coffee by adding a cinnamon or cocoa heart right on top using one of these cute stencils (also great for dessert decorations).
Appealing to your Italian other half or just married to a guy who seriously loves pasta? Try whipping up this amazing heart-shaped lobster ravioli for dinner.
Heart shaped soap might not be a man’s ideal Valentine’s Day gift until you offer to hop in the shower with him! We promise he’ll love the concept by the time you’re both drying off.

The great news is that whatever you do, your other half will know how much you love them and frankly, that’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. Do you have any alternative V-day surprises for your spouse this year? We’d love to hear about them.
*Image from Lobels.com

Tips for Effective Newlywed Communication

Remember those nights that you used to spend hours on the phone talking with one another when you first started dating? Then, as time passed, you got more comfortable being quiet when you were in each other’s company. That’s actually a good thing. What’s not so good is when you start to have a hard time communicating with each other. Many newlyweds actually find themselves in this type of a predicament right after they’re married. Even if they’ve been living together before their wedding, and they had no problem communicating before, there’s something about that marriage certificate that changes everything, and you may need to learn how to communicate effectively with each other all over again!

How much time do you spend talking with your spouse on an everyday basis? Most couples say that they only spend a few minutes talking with their newlywed husband or wife, even if they have similar work schedules. They get home, make dinner, and then go to their respective ends of the house. She may be working out or chatting online, while he may be watching sports or tinkering in the garage. This is not effective communication, in fact it’s a total lack of communication. If you find that your life is like this, try meshing together what you love. For instance if she loves to get online after work, and he’d rather watch sports, why not get a laptop? Then she can bring it into the living room and can sit right next to her husband while he’s watching sports. Yes you’re both doing two different things, but the simple act of being together in the room will spark conversation, even if it’s only to debate about the benefits of having a high def television.

When you get into arguments having good communication established is the most effective way to end the argument. If you find that you’re having a difficult time talking about the subject with your spouse face-to-face, try doing it another way. Some couples have a very hard time with verbal disagreements because they turn into heated fights very quickly. If this is your situation, try sending emails to each other. When you write an email you are able to compose things to say exactly what you want to say to your spouse, without rehashing things that should be left in the past. Remember to always re-read the things that you have written a few times before hitting the send button. This can open up the lines of communication and can give you both time to cool down before you meet for that face-to-face discussion, and for the best part of any argument: the makeup portion.
What newlywed communication tips do you have for our readers? Please share them with us in a comment!