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Interesting: Will Smith Speaks About His Marriage
People are fascinating, I love that everyone has their own approach to marriage… in particular Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith. This is an old clip, but a good one if you’ve never seen it. They speak about managing their marriage/family as a business plan; at first glance this sound manufactured, cold and boring but as [...]
Burlesque Bar Date Night
If there’s one thing I now know about Burlesque Bar, it’s that you will probably get what you least expect. Burlesque has long been a bourgeoning scene in Melbourne. I love me a bit of glitter and pasties – this was not my first burlesque show. The history and glamour of the genre just enchants me, and the ballsy women that put themselves up on that stage night after night to titillate, shock and tease (in more ways than one) their audience are just amazing.
Why Pick Up Lines Don’t Work
My last few weekends have been spent on many a dancefloor at many a club, burning up the kind of energy usually reserved for singles on the prowl. It’s not often you find a married, with-a-mortgage female out dancing until 4am on a chilly night when DVDs and the couch are putting up a damn [...]
Regrets of Relationships Past
I read a quote once that said: “Regret is insight that comes a day too late.” Love brings us great joy but can also be our biggest source of disappointment and regret. Almost everyone has some sort of regrets of relationships past. There’s the girl you were too scared to ask out in high school, [...]
Merry Christmas, Lovebirds!
To all our date night lovebirds, Den and I are wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have a safe and happy holiday. We’re looking forward to big new things in 2013!
10 Topics to Avoid on a First Date
This is a sponsored post from the dating experts at www.eharmony.com.au If there’s one thing we all fear when preparing for a first date, it’s the dreaded awkward silence. It’s something we have all experienced before, that tense moment when you bring up a topic that’s always best left untouched. However, the good news is [...]
How to Make Your Relationship Last
Space and time for yourself is, ironically, the key to a happy relationship. The news comes off the back of a long-term study undertaken by a group of love-focussed professors. The Early Years of Marriage Project has been following the lives of the same 373 couples for 25 years, the researchers have extracted gems of [...]
Schooled. Schnitzel Night Take Two.
After the Great Parma Disaster Date of 2012, I decided that rather than just bitching and moaning to Denis about exactly how he should show a lady a good time I would instead take it upon myself to execute the same date, done completely differently to prove to him that there are date nights and then there are great date nights.
Like Poison for Relationships…
Contempt. You’ve seen it on people’s faces before: curled lip, chin raised up, a sneer… maybe an eye roll. Think Sophie Mirabella during a medical emergency. It’s an uncomfortable thing to be in the same room with. But what’s really awful is when you see someone look at their partner that way. I talked last [...]
Add Some Sizzle to Your Night with a Backyard Barbecue
Sometimes, the most romantic evenings are the ones you spend at home. In fact, planning a romantic backyard barbecue is a great way to share a special night together that can be even more meaningful than any fancy restaurant escapade. Set The Mood Take a few steps to set the mood. Hunt down a nice [...]
6 Rad Date Ideas Beginning with R
If you’ve made it this far in an ABC Dating Challenge, then congratulations to you! It’s not always easy to complete these things. The important part is, when you fall off the date night horse you just need to pick yourself up and book your next date in, even if weeks have elapsed in between. [...]
2 Quick Date Ideas Beginning with Q
This is one of the dreaded letters that’s hard to find a date for. I couldn’t think of a lot of options for this one… here are my top two (pathetic effort, yes!), let me know if you imaginative people can come up with more! Quoits Quoits is that old fashioned picnic game with a [...]
Lamest Date Yet
So, according to Den, this last date scored me the honour of having taken him on the Worst Date Ever.
I did not think it was all that bad, to be honest. It certainly didnt stack up to expectations, but surely borrowing a kid or cutting Den’s hair makes an afternoon at glow in the dark mini golf seem acceptable?
Missing You
Den and I have been together long time. A long, long time. Longer than any of our previous relationships. In dog years, we’re middle aged. In Kardashian years, we should have been dead and buried ten times over already. A month ago, he went away overseas. He’s not coming back for another whole month. He’s [...]
How You’re Probably Killing Your Libido
Lost, one libido. Answers to the name of Larry. Careful, may be bitey. The daily commute. Long working hours. Low energy. High interest rates… I don’t mean to depress you, but I’m worried. The worrying is also worrying, because it’s only further adding to the problem. What problem, you ask? That would be the missing [...]
Has True Love Officially Carked It?
Forgive me while I fixate for a bit longer on keeping relationships alive. I was ready to let it go after last week’s column, but then Seal and Heidi dropped their bombshell on us all, leaving us with the fallout – true love has been obliterated to smithereens all around us. Everywhere you look, people [...]
Weddings & Princesses
Weddings and princesses. Diehard fans of both these things know they have something in common. Both give us hope. Hope that there’s something magical going on out there. That fairytales really do exist. And that true love is real. Let’s start with princesses. So rare, kids can be forgiven for thinking they’re make-believe. When I [...]
He Loves Me? He Loves Me Not? Why Women are Suckers for Mixed Messages
It’s official: Women have a thing for Mr. Mysterious. To be exact, women like a man more if they’re unsure about whether he’s interested in them or not. They thrive on it, in fact. A recent study, titled “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not…” and using only women as the test subjects, had two [...]
The Sad Truth About Online PDAs
We got hot ‘n’ heavy last week talking about the etiquette involved in Public Displays of Affection (PDA). Like everything else, the PDA has adapted with our tech-savvy world and what we now also have is the original PDA’s pixellated cousin – the ODA (Online Display of Affection). Listing status updates like “I love my [...]
Y is for Laughter Yoga (Video)
This is one date I’ve always wanted to do. Laughter Yoga clubs exist all over the world.They are free to attend, usually held in public parks or city squares, and the benefits of practicing are enticing – more endorphins, less cortisol. An antidote for anxiety, stress and inflammation in the body. It may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and more. You burn calories when you laugh. Best of all, you feel good!
Giveaway: Friends with Benefits In-season Passes
Friends with benefits. We’ve made no secret of it – that’s how the Den and Emma story started. Great friends, then, for the better part of a whole year, friends who knocked socks occasionally (okay, it was a bit more than occasionally. More like a couple of times a week. You can see how we [...]
Intimate Moments in the… Kitchen?
New research shows Australians’ passion for food is reigniting relationships across the country with 44% admitting to ‘intimate moments’ in the kitchen and almost one in 10 confessing it happens at least once a week. Kind of makes you want to rethink your next invitation to a dinner party, doesn’t it? In all seriousness, I’ve [...]
An Open Letter to Ms. Julia Gillard
Dear Ms Gillard, I need you to do something for me, please. Well, it’s really not just for me, it’s for all of Australia, and indeed the world. We need you to legalise gay marriage in Australia. I’m not a gay woman. But that doesn’t matter. You’re still cheating me out of something that’s very [...]
The Movie Trailer Marriage Proposal
You guys know I’m a sucker for a great marriage proposal… this one is awesome! It’s all explained in the video…
Win a Date Night with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston
A funny thing happened to Den after we got married. He noticed that when out with friends in bars or clubs, women were more flirty with him. They would be more open, talk for hours rather than fobbing him off and spout cliches like “All the good ones are taken” (cue flirty eyelash-batting) and “Well, [...]
Who Lies About Money?
The very clever team at Deals.com has come up with this cute-as-ten-buttons visual representation of Love & Money based on some recent findings… just in time for Valentine’s Day! Money is one of those Big Things that couples argue most about. You only have to look below to see that no matter if you’re doing [...]
Date Ideas and The Circle
It’s been quite the day! I joined the lovely crew of The Circle on Network Ten here in Australia to chat all things date night, cheap dates and more… unfortunately we were cut off just at the end by a press conference covering the Tropical Cyclone Yasi events overnight – what a news day! Thankfully [...]
Revenge: A Dish Best Served Cold
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… And it does seem to be the women that are particularly good at exacting revenge. It’s easy to fly into a temper when your partner does something wrong by you. Something really wrong, I mean. Like cheating. Lying. Stealing. Any damage to the ego seems to result [...]
Tips for Working Together as a Couple
I have a confession to make. You’d think, being someone that makes it their business to write about relationships, that I’d have my shit together when it comes to my own relationship. Not so much. All the theory and knowledge in the world about a subject doesn’t trump the complexity of emotions. The truth is, [...]
mX Column: The ‘We’ Couple
I wrote just recently about how people lose, on average, two good friends once they fall in love. One of the theories about ditching those friends goes that once you’re in a relationship, you probably don’t have enough time to spend with your friends to maintain close bonds. You know what really gets my proverbial [...]
All Hallows’ Eve
Well we’re fresh off a plane (well, three planes) home from the USA. What’s it like to be back in Australia? For a start, there is a notable lack of pumpkins lying around in people’s doorways here. You see, we don’t really celebrate Halloween. It’s changing slowly as Hallmark and the like try pushing the [...]
What Do You Wear to Your Vegas Wedding?
Good question! Thanks for asking. Well, originally I was all about the Betty Draper mid-century theme to match my Elvis wedding. I thought it would be an awesome twist on a Vegas Wedding… classy, while still keeping in theme. And those fashions are everywhere right now! I was totally coveting the one from the Louis [...]
mX Column: The First Date
The first date. The job interview of the dating world. You have but one chance at this. Don’t. Stuff. It. Up. The pressure is on to make a good first impression. You want the venue to speak volumes about your taste, it also needs to be classy without trying too hard. My dear friend E [...]
Revealed: What Relationships Really Cost You
Well we know nothing comes for free these days. Turns out not even love is free. It comes at a cost. And the going rate is two of your best friends. Ouch! From The Age Newspaper: “Research has shown that when people start a new romantic relationship they are likely to lose two members of [...]
J is for Jigsaw Puzzle
I loved our J date idea. It was a horrible, cold, rainy Melbourne afternoon – no one would want to be outside in that. Luckily, we were prepared and snuggled in our warm apartment with a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle that I picked up from the supermarket for $3.99…
5 Great Date Ideas Beginning with J
Jigsaw Puzzle On a rainy afternoon, settle in with one of those huge 500-piece jigsaw puzzles and some hot chocolate and yummy snacks. It’s a great way to spend a miserable day together. Jump Yourself Silly Ever seen one of those trampoline parks? They have indoor and outdoor ones, it’s basically Olympic-sized trampolines all set [...]
5 Hot Date Ideas Beginning with H
Oooh… H is one of those tricky ones we keep coming across! These five Happy Date Ideas were the only ones I could come up with, but I know you clever little things will be able to offer some more great ideas to me as well. Hedge Maze Get lost in a hedge maze together. [...]
Why We Love, Why We Cheat
In the midst of researching for my new ebook, I came across this great presentation given by Dr. Helen Fisher at the 2006 Ted Conference. We love Dr. Fisher’s research and I don’t know how this particular clip has eluded me for four years now. In it, she explains the brain chemistry of the stages [...]
LoveStars Astrology Date Night Review
I’ll let you in on a little secret: I really, truly believe in astrology. I’ve been scoffed at before for it, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’m still a believer. I could not be more of a Pisces if I tried. I’m your typical dreamy (read: flaky), emotional (erratic) romantic (unrealistic) type with an [...]
Using the Mere Exposure Effect to Your Dating Advantage
I wrote in my column a few weeks back about the theory behind Office Romances and why they are so prevalent these days. The idea is that the Mere Exposure Effect dictates your hormones here… the more time you spend around someone, the more attracted you will become to them. And – obviously – vice [...]
9 Creative Date Ideas Beginning with C
C is for Casino Ever played roulette? No? Perfect. Set a budget for your date night (it’s no secret we like ye olde faithful $30 limit) and head to a low-betting table at a casino to learn the ways of roulette and (hopefully!) win some money. If you pick a table where there are no [...]
Alphabet Dating: 9 Date Ideas Beginning with A
So to support you (and us) through an Alphabet Dating adventure, we are going to publish a list of date ideas each week that start with our Letter of the Week (Sesame Street, we’re coming after you!) If you’re thinking of Alphabet Dating, now’s a great time to start. You can check back in every [...]
How Much Does Your Man Pay Attention?
I wrote late last year about creating Love Maps in your mind, to track the small details about your partner that are important. The Daily Mail has reported how millions of men don’t know the most basic of details about their partner – including dress size and even eye colour. 2,000 men in the UK [...]
We Went Plane Spotting
AN IMPORTANT NOTE FOR EMMA: darling, please do not read this post – I fear for my life! I know you read all my posts, but you can skip this one – it’s boring. As much as Emma is going to hate me saying this, I’m going to say it anyways… Emma has some expectations [...]
In Sickness and in Health?
I was fairly taken aback to read recently that a US doctor has just discovered that women with terminal illnesses are seven times – that’s seven – more likely to go through a divorce than men with the same illnesses. Says the article: “When Dr. Marc Chamberlain, a Seattle oncologist, was treating his brain cancer [...]
The Secret to Hugh Jackman’s Happy Marriage
Well, we were thrilled to see this headline in The Age newspaper today: “The Secret to Hugh Jackman’s Happy Marriage” The Age reports: “Hugh Jackman has a happy marriage because he has date nights. The X-Men Origins: Wolverine star – who has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness since 1996 – has revealed he and his [...]
The Stupidest Idea We’ve Had Yet
Well, this is exciting. Denis and I have been challenging our users to a 4-week Date Night Challenge for awhile now. The idea is that you create an account over on $30 Date Night and save your four favorite date ideas from our list of amazing ideas and print them off. Then you and your [...]
Government Gives Second Honeymoon for Troubled Couples
A Malaysian state government is taking it upon themselves to give assistance to troubled couples, encouraging them to work on their relationship rather than divorcing – by sending them on a second honeymoon and providing counseling. (Source: AP) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Malaysian state government says it plans to offer free honeymoons to save [...]
How to Make a Love Map
In our spring clean-up this week (more on that later), I unearthed a file of papers from when Den and I did our pre-marriage education weekend earlier this year. In Australia, these weekends are generally a prerequisite for marrying in any given church – though after being pleasantly surprised by the genuinely great information we [...]
5 Fresh Date Ideas for the Mornings
Sometimes (like last week!) the only time you can find for a date night with each other during a hectic week is a sliver of time of a morning… whether it’s a few hours on a weekend or stealing time before you go to work, here are a few morning date ideas that may appeal [...]
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