30 days of...Great Dates Week 2 - Use Forethought

Ideally, we should celebrate Valentine's Day everyday - but Valentine's Day. February 14th was named after the person, St. Valentine. It made me wonder, what was so romantic about St. Valentine? Did he plan the perfect dates for his love? Who was this person that causes the men in this country to wait in a 30 minute line for a box of chocolate, stuffed bear and a balloon?

One theory about the man St. Valentine is, he was a Roman who was matyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14th , 269 A.D. He left a note and signed it "from your Valentine." The 2nd theory states that St. Valentine served as a priest at a temple when Emperor Claudius jailed him. The following emperor freed him and set February 14th as the date to honour the wrongly accused saint. This was in 496.

To summarize, because of one Roman Christian Priest who lived 2000 years ago, and literally, just signed his name on a piece of paper, men and women are destined to give and receive mandatory "messages" of affection on this day. I think not.

Below are romantic date ideas that will go down in "your" history books.

Dates 8-15 all include forethought.

8. Music Arrangement - When you take your date out to a place with music ie: piano bar, club, restaurant, provide the musician with your favorite song and a dedication to your date. When the song gets played, grab their hand and start dancing - or don't. The thought alone is enough.

9. The old with the new - If you want to give a piece of jewelry, place it in their childhood jewelry box. Better yet, ask the parents if they have a special heirloom to pass down and place the gift inside.

10. Don't peak - Blindfold your date and take them somewhere special. Warn others with a friendly sign which reads, "SSHHH, this is a surprise." When you are at your destination, remove the blindfold to reveal surprised eyes and a big smile.

11. Use your words - Write a poem or find a meaningful poem and read it to your date.

12. Romancing the food - Remember 9 1/2 weeks? The food? The blindfold? Need I say more?

So romantic, sexy and fun.

13. Be a Game Player - Set up the game of Twister, along with a gift of lingerie for each other. Or be really creative and make your own board game. Use your personal facts about each other as the trivia questions.

14. Pampered Spouse - Set up a massage table, foot sauna, or spa for the other. Have the music and the candles set.

15. Engrave it - St. Valentine wrote a message to his love 2000 years ago. He did it on paper before he died. Engrave your feelings onto a watch. A watch is guaranteed to last longer than the piece of paper he must have used.

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Fear Factor Party

PARTY!

The show Fear Factor intrigues me.  The fact that mind over matter always prevails led me to throw a Fear Factor Party of my own.   The guest list consisted of 12 couples who were each given the same rules.  No other details of the event were shared to prevent any pre-practicing.  Once the guests arrived, they provided their team name, picked their color of bandana, and decorated each others faces with war paint. 

The entry fee was a pitcher of their favorite mixed drink in which they received 10 points, but lost 25 points if they came empty handed.  They also lost 1 point for every minute they were late. We created 4 main events: You're such a baby, It's Hammertime, Eat it!, and Rock On! 

To See Pictures of the Event - click here.

"You're such a baby" details - Get 12 baby bottles and fill with a drink.  We chose beer.  Make sure to get the nipples with heavy flow. All participants must wear a bib. Once the person is finished with the bottle, their partner must eat a whole jar of baby food.  If the couple finishes each task, they each get 12 pts.  Team who finishes first, receives a bonus of 10 pts.

"It's Hammertime" details - Set up two "sawhorse" stations so guests can hit nails into wood. We stacked bricks and laid one heavy piece of wood across.  First the woman hit the three nails in.  Her partner could not start until she finished.  The fastest time received 12 points, 2nd place received 11 points, and so on.

"Eat it" details - We set up 5 platters ranging from gross (10 pts) to really gross (50 pts).  The items were fish eggs, sardines, escargot, chicken eggs (which was really guava), and baby octopus.  To enhance the experience, we put a raw octopus on the table, a raw pigs foot, as well as real "life" images of the items displayed on the table.   No order necessary, but full completion and digestion was mandatory in order to get points for the item.

                                          

"Rock On: details - Couples performed a song with RockBand.  One person sang, the other played one instrument, the guitar or drums. Players got to choose their song from the list provided. (I recommend printing out a list of the songs beforehand so the guests have an idea of what to sing.)  At the end of the performance a score is given, such as 43,000.  Use a chart to determine relative points.  0-10,000 = 10 points, 10,001 - 20,000 = 20 points, and so on.

"Bartendars Award" details - all the guests judged the mixed drinks and rated their top three, 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  The 1st place winner had 20 points added to their score as well as received a cash prize.  2nd and 3rd place finishers, had 10 and 5 points added to their scores respectively.

All in all the party was a success with a lot of surprises.  My best friend who did all the shopping and swore she wouldn't eat this stuff, threw back the jar of baby food, as well as swallowed every last bit of the fish eggs, sardines, snails and octopus.  Originally, her decorating skills impressed me but now I am completely impressed.  She is that amazing friend every person dreams of having.

Speaking of decorating, we have the good fortune of being friends with a Halloween lover.  She lent us her alien baby in a jar, giant spiders, bugs, fake fingers, and fake finger food.  Other items we decorated with were scary movie posters, skull heads, ARACHNIPHOBIA in the DVD player, and a skeleton with the head cavity opened and we filled it with dyed spaghetti strands to reflect a brain.

ALL in all, my friends did come very afraid of what to expect. (Don't they trust me?)  Some of them left proud at their bravery and skills, while others left grateful they wouldn't be getting salmonella. But as the hostess of the party whose greatest fear is to have a dud of a party, the fear factor party is my all-time favorite.

If you plan to host your own fear factor party, please share the details here.  

Party On!

  

 

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