Hellooooo ladies! (And gentlemen?!) You’re gonna want to check this giveaway out! :)
MyBlogSpark has again sent me a box to sample, and they want one of YOU to win one, too! Included in your box will be a Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken dinner kit and a Macaroni Grille Creamy Basil dinner kit, plus a $30 Visa gift card so you can have a date night at home!
MyBlogSpark wants you to use the dinner kits to “Stay in and go all out!” and recreate your first date experience – and you can use your gift card to provide a little ambiance to your evening. ;)
My first date with Chris was actually “not” a date – we were best friends and he had taken another girl out and I had jokingly told him I was jealous because he'd never taken me out. So the next weekend we went out to see “Elf” and then ate at Boston Market for dinner (we were really poor college kids! lol). He specifically did it in that order because he knew I hate going to eat before a movie because I always feel rushed. I remember having such a great night and laughing so hard. I think we did something else after dinner but I can’t remember now. That was late fall of 2003 – and here we are seven years later, married with a baby, so clearly he did something right! lol!
I couldn’t find any pictures to show you of our first dates because they’re all at my house, still packed in boxes (and most of the early ones aren’t digital – holy cow that makes me feel so old!). I do have this picture from when we went on spring break with friends to Destin, Florida, circa 2005. Isn’t that background magnificent?! God is so amazing.
And here we are last night, eating our dinners! And yup, since we are living with my parents still, this picture was taken by my MOM! What a date night, huh?! hahaha
I have to admit that I goofed up a little when I accepted this “Spark.” I clicked yes, thinking how fun it would be, without fully thinking through the implications of DATE NIGHT AT HOME. Um, hello, we live with my parents and brother right now! But my mom watched Luke while we ate and talked, so that counts, right?! I hope so because that’s about as good as we’re gonna get right now! I am keeping the Visa card to use for date night “in” when we finally have our own place again. :)
As far as the food, the Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken got great reviews from everyone in the family. It tasted great. The Macaroni Grille meal was good but probably not something I’d buy again. However, they both definitely taste as though they’re from a restaurant and not from a box – they are very comparable to restaurant-quality food. Of course, knowing me, you might know what I’m going to say next: I’m definitely not crazy about some of the ingredients in the boxed dinners. I would never eat food like this every night, but I don’t think there’s harm in doing it once in a great while.
Okay, so how do you win?!!
Leave a comment answering the following question: What did you do on your first date? (G-rated, please! :) (If you’re single, what would be a dream date for you?)
For a second chance to win, leave another comment answering this question: What are your best tips for having date night at home?
Winner will be chosen Saturday at noon. Remember that if you don’t have a blog and I don’t know you personally, you will need to provide me with an e-mail address so I can contact you to get your mailing address. Good luck!
Disclosure: the products, prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all given to me from Wanchai Ferry and Macaroni Grill through MyBlogSpark.
My husband is the brother of an acquaintance of mine from college. We went to dinner at a restaurant for our first date and then just drove around and talked. I didn't expect anything and did not dress up or anything. I was actually wearing a pair of jeans that had a hole in the knee. Classy! :) I guess he didn't care since we've been married for 6 years with baby #2 on the way!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I met online. Our first date was the day we met in person. We went to McDonald's and the zoo. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTips for a date night at home:
ReplyDelete1. Surprise your man/lady. Everyone loves surprises, especially coming home to a peaceful ambiance- music, candles, flowers..heck, a clean house.
2. Get dressed up. Fix your hair and makeup and wear something nice, make sure you smell good, too. And if you're a dude, shave (unless your lady is a fan of facial hair). Actually, if you're a lady..shave, haha.. just not your face.. unless that's an issue :/
3. Don't see each other until it's time for your date. Makes it feel more like a date and less like "it's time for dinner."
Well my first date with Josh the first time was the military ball(it was a geek band dance) and then the second "we are getting serious date". I sadly enough can not remember but I remember him walking up to the steps of my mom's house and he had a red shirt on with yellow writing. Most importantly I remember the way he smelled LOL. OH wait now that I am writing this we went to Johnny Rockets and we got burgers and then I think we went to the movies on the MT. :)
ReplyDeleteBest tip for a home date would be....
ReplyDeleteFirst getting a sitter for the kid and then everything else is gravy LOL
Our first date... well there is some grey area for two reasons... We started off as friends and then when we started "dating" we didn't call it that. But the first time we hung out together was with a mutual friend and that was 18 years ago and we saw Wayne's World in theatre. How old does that make you feel now? haha!
ReplyDeleteAdvice for date at home...
ReplyDeleteNO ELECTRONICS!!!! NO TV. No computers. No cells. NOTHING!
Then talk. Who knows where that'll lead...
PS. And hoping for another entry (jk!)... that beach pic is BEAUTIFUL!!!! You're right about God being so amazing... sending seagulls into the shot like that! Wow!
ReplyDeleteOur first date was a BLIND date! We were set up by a mutual friend. I was a divorced mom raising two kids alone and hadn't dated in YEARS. I wouldn't even let him come pick me up for the date, and insisted that we meet at the mall. In public. Where there were LOTS of people! LOL! He had tickets for a Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert and we met for dinner first. That was 14 years and 2 kids ago. :)
ReplyDeleteTake turns doing things that EACH of you enjoy. If he prefers action movies to your chick flicks, take turns choosing! If he has a hobby he enjoys but you know nothing about, give it a try with him! And vice versa. It's always good to try to understand what makes each other tick. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun giveaway! Our date nights are going to be at home for a while until I fully recover so this is a timely post for me :) Let's see...our first date was to see Hope Floats! What a keeper I knew I had at that point...that he was willing to go see a chick flick with me! Ahhh, I love him so much - he will still appease me and watch chick flicks with me if I ask, ha! Actually, I think that may have been our second date the more I think about it. I think our first official date may have been to dinner at TGI Fridays...I'll have to see if he remembers when he comes home!
ReplyDeleteMy only advice for date night at home is to send the kids to grandma's :) Hehe! That's what we do at least!
ReplyDeleteWe went to church together! :-)
ReplyDelete~eunice b
tigergal01 @gmail .com
A cup of coffee, clear schedule, phone turned off, time to talk & dream together!
ReplyDelete~eunice b
tigergal01 @gmail .com
My husband and I were friends before we started dating so we had been out before in groups before our actual first date. Our first date ended up being the night after my 21st birthday where we went to a local bar/restaurant and had wings. It was fun!
ReplyDeleteDate night at home? What's that? :) With four kids and busy schedules I'm just happy to have a chance to sit on the couch after the kids are asleep to talk about our day and watch some tv!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were secretly seeing each other for the first few months, and as such didn't really have a real 'date' until 3 or 4 months into our relationship... I remember that it was fall and crisp (much like today) and we went for a drive in his clunker of a truck, and then went back to my house and played a bunch of board games for hours! Before that 'date' we'd only been having phone conversations and stolen moments here and there.
ReplyDeleteSince we just moved somewhere where we knew/know very few people; the only date nights we've managed to have are at home ones after 8:00 (AJ's bedtime) We usually either watch a favorite show together, or work on either a puzzle or board games, just something where we're together. And I know watching tv doesn't work for a lot of people but we have a tendancy to talk about and to the characters on the show so it's not like we sit in silence!
ReplyDeleteOur first date...ice cream at our university's ice cream shop. Nothing fancy, but I had fun! :)
ReplyDeleteI think we've only had one date night in because we usually have a babysitter come to our house. I remember we ate in my husband's office (just to be different) and talked. I don't have many tips. Our only "in" dates are after Baby is in bed. :)
ReplyDeleteOur first dates were going to Perkins for coffee with lots of other friends - we too were very poor college kids! haha! Other than that, we would go for long drives in the country. Like I said, we were very poor and had to find time together on the cheap! =)
ReplyDeleteBest tips for date night at home ...
ReplyDeletefeed kids early then send them to bed or to watch a movie in another room.
Have dinner together with candles and no interuptions.
play a game together which gives you time to have fun and have conversation.
give each other massages ...
and you know how the rest goes ... ;)
1st date: My hubby asked me via email (which was great b/c I was so nervous I would've said no in person) to go to a concert and dinner over a long weekend I was visiting home from college. He knew I loved the Coast Guard band and wasn't ashamed to be the only two people under 65 after a lovely (if not extremely awkward) dinner at Panera. Then we went for ice cream and the Niantic boardwalk where he asked me to give him a moonlit dance lesson. Swoon!
ReplyDeleteBest Date Night In: Anything that makes us laugh and focus on each other - chatting, playing games, cooking together, going for walks, or discovering a new fun place to go!
ReplyDeleteOur first date was at a country-themed party at a friend's house. We wore plaid shirts, did some country-dancing, and then sat on the counter and talked.
ReplyDeleteDate night at home for us involves cooking a fancy dinner together and then relaxing with wine and maybe a movie or a few rounds of Halo.
ReplyDeleteHe came to Thanksgiving Dinner with my family - Nov. 2000
ReplyDelete~Serina T.
rockndove2@yahoo.com
Our first date: I met him online and invited him to a youth event at my church when I was 18. Afterwards we went to Taco Bell with a big group of people.
ReplyDeleteTip for a date night in: Don't have kids. (hehehe)
Our first date, we went to taco bell!! Charming right!?
ReplyDeleteOh no way, I just saw that Erin from above went to TB too. lol It's a Sunday tradition now!
ReplyDeleteDate night in: aside from movie by candle light, dinner by candlelight, playing a game together and things like that, we're also doing a marriage study together on date nights. Right now we are going through the book Crack the Communication Code by Emmerson Eggrich. We usually do a chapter a month (sometimes two) and sit and answer the study questions together over a glass of wine. It allows for some great conversation and some real special moments.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of the two of you is adorable. And I love that your mom took it. Adorable.
ReplyDeleteOur first date was to Wendy's. Romantic, huh? We had hung out at a local pizza joint with friends before, but that was our first time just the two of us. We worked together and only had a half hour. Ten years later, still together. So, I guess it worked out. And, we still like Wendy's. ;)