Snuggle Up on a Winter Night: What do you Need?

There’s nothing better than chilling out with your other half after a hard day’s work, (or in the case of today, after a lazy day, which with a 3 year old, take the word "lazy" with a HUGE pinch of salt thrown over my shoulder for good measure) especially when it’s cold (for tonight, make that freezing - it literally is minus one right now) and dreary outside. 

Grabbing a blanket, a glass of wine and a good film to while away the evening can be a great way to spend some quality time together without having to spend money on a night out. So, choose a good movie on the box, (tonight we are choosing a DVD: "Date Night" (how apt) which we were meant to watch back in the Summer), get out a bottle of wine (I think I will make us a hot toddy actually) and look forward to a pleasant evening, just the two of you. Our craze at the moment is those tinned steamed puddings with a huge serving of custard which is what the 3 of us just had before the 3 year old Aaron's bedtime.  We actually CAN have a child-free evening to ourselves, as the midnight plus 30 bedtimes of Christmas are well and truly over and Aaron was asleep by 8 p.m. last night and 8:15 p.m. tonight *smug face*!

Of course, for the evening to be truly relaxed and laid back, the last thing you want to be wearing is the gear that you went to work in or wore all day! Instead, take the chance to get changed into something a little more snuggly, so that you can be as toasty as possible. Combine the loungewear with some little additions to your evening and you have a recipe for a perfect at-home Winter date night.

Onesies  

Onesies have become increasingly popular over the past year or so, with men, women and kids choosing to add them to their loungewear collection. Where for women, onesies are super cute and comfortable; for men, the more loud, fun and fabulous, the better!

Take a look at the George onesies for women for some great ideas if you think you’re missing out on the onesie craze!  If you are getting married soon, snap up the bridal party one! Love it! My cousin who got married September 2013 would have gone mad for those.  The fairisle onesie has a draw string which makes it look like a two piece and there's even a maternity onesie.  I am so so getting me one, as it is my dream to have another baby as regular readers will know.

Hoodies & Slacks  

Both men and women will feel completely comfortable in a pair of slacks or joggers, combined with a suitably baggy and snug hoody. You don’t have to change into sleepwear to curl up in front of a film – just something loose and cosy is all you need!

A Blanket  

Perfect for a cold winter’s night, grabbing a fleecy blanket (or better still, bringing the duvet downstairs!) can ensure that both you and your other half stay snug until the end of the movie. Wrap it around you both so that even your feet are covered and you won’t even need the heating on, either!  With today's age of "heat or eat" this is a very good tip.  Actually despite having the heating on every morning Aaron has his bottle on my knee under a blanket on the sofa.

No Distractions 

If you’re going to dedicate an evening to each other, wrapped up on the sofa, the last thing you need is the distraction of Facebook or emails. Keep the phones off and put the tablets away – notifications can wait! (On that note I need to make this post the last thing I do before shutting down this computer)!

A Takeaway 

The last thing you’re going to want to do is cook when all you plan on doing is relaxing together. Instead, treat yourself to a takeaway. Order it before you get settled, so that you don’t have to get up and ruin the mood to answer the door to your delivery guy.

A Good Film  

Rather than just choosing to curl up in front of the TV to watch whatever mind-numbing drivel that you land on when flicking through the TV channels, pick a film that you have both wanted to watch for a while, treat yourself to a new Blu-Ray or stream the latest episodes of your must-watch TV series’ to catch up on together.

It's the Peace and Quiet Quality Time That Counts

You don’t have to spend loads of money on an evening out at the cinema, or enjoying a fine meal, to enjoy some quality time with your other half. All you do need is some quiet time where you can shut off from everything, curled up snugly on the sofa.

On that night, we're going to enjoy our Saturday night.

This post was a collaboration, but as you can see I tweaked it to reflect that we are actually going to have a stay-in snuggly date night ourselves tonight.  Just us, a sleeping 3 year old and "the box"!  As I wrote the last sentence he stirred but I sent Daddy to settle him... Date night is meant to start at 2100 hrs.  We synchronized our watches and everything! There has to be room for manoeuver with a 3 year old in the house though right?  Here's hoping we get our cuddly evening...

I do own a onesie, that I bought in 2009 (see I was ahead of a craze for once in my life)!  Me and two of my cousins bought them on the same day.  Here is one of my cousins wearing hers.  Writing this post has made me want to dig out mine... It'd probably be easier to get a new one from George at Asda though as I have no clue where it is:

 

Actually looking at that photo reminds me of the fact that it had feet; that used to annoy me as they only get dirty!  Glad to see the Asda ones don't have feet (what are slippers for eh?!?!) and I have decided, my favourite is the Neon Hooded One.  That'd make me feel wrapped up like a teddy! Perfect for when and if the snow comes!  The weather was SO mild when Aaron and I went shopping on foot this afternoon.  He had only a fleece hoody and no jacket, no gloves.  Yet tonight at 1900 when I popped out for cake (yeah so sue me) to go with the custard ;-) it was minus one.  Hubby said it was because it was blue skies and sun all day - apparently that gives no cloud cover, which can mean a cold night BBbbbbbrrrrr.  Oh and I am still writing as he did not come back from settling Aaron and I can't stop yawning myself.  So maybe the best place for the 3 of us on a cold night is bed!  Night night! xxx

The Date Night Didn't Quite Go to Plan after our eventful fruitful Search for Saturday Night Chocolate #CBias

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Aaron is going to be 3 years old on Saturday and we haven't had a date night since he was born.  So this Saturday I was determined to get a movie, some chocolate (dairy milk preferably - hate dark) and get Aaron to bed at a reasonable time for once (believing it to be possible having got him down early Friday night for the first time in months). 

I know my readers will fall into two camps.  Those who say 

"WHAT? We have a date night once a week/month! Just do it!"

or 

Those who say 

"WHAT? Our children are 3, 5, 7 and 9 and we've NEVER had one! Lucky you!"

Either way, we NEED ONE!

So on Saturday, after Aaron and I had a superb day in the park, we went shopping on the way home.

As you can see, I popped the folded up buggy into the trolley. Not something I have ever done before, but I had to have it with me at the park in case he slept on the way home or got tired and I wasn't going to be able to push a buggy and trolley, so on the spot, decided to be creative. Yes I got some odd looks but what the hell :-)
   
Tesco is near the park, so it should not have been that big a deal, but I did not bargain on them not stocking Aaron's milk: Cow and Gate Infasoy.  We've always bought it in Tesco and Boots for 3 years, but apparently this branch was not big enough to stock it.  What didn't help, is for the first time since he was born, I'd let it run out, so getting it another day was not an option.

Luckily, before we decided which shop to try next, we had fun in Tesco, choosing chocolate:

As you can see we had a lot to choose from - Aaron's wondering why Mummy's trying to get just the right photo :-)  The Cadbury's Bite Size range is quite prominent and there are quite a few withing that range itself to be spoilt for choice.  They really are bite size too and as such quite moreish!

I don't allow Aaron to eat a lot of chocolate, but I don't 100% ban it either, so it was mainly for Mummy and Daddy but just for fun I asked him which one he would pick.  I wasn't surprised with his choice of Twirl given that he's had quite a few ice cream cones lately and the Twirl so closely resembles a FLAKE; well it does to me anyway.

Taking a bite in the only way he can considering we are yet to pay! LOL!

Next is the one I chose for me and Daddy to have with the movie.  Best of both worlds, in combining popcorn and chocolate.  It doesn't disappoint:

This next one was meant to make three so that technically we'd have one each, but this turned out to be the one that got away, which you can find out more about in our Google Plus album that tells the full story of this blog post.

Putting back the Crunchie enabled me to get this Disney Car to make Aaron's Saturday night complete:

So I bought two movies in Morrisons, the supermarket we went to next, in order to get Aaron's milk which Tesco (that branch of it) didn't stock.
It was a 20 minute walk to Morrisons, but I wasn't going to bus it as I only had enough on my Oyster card for the one journey home and wasn't expecting to have to go to two supermarkets.

As it turned out the walk was pleasurable - it was a lovely evening as my Google+ album shows and we enjoyed the walk.  Aaron stayed in the buggy so I was able to walk at a very brisk pace.  Means I got some exercise in too = result!

So here below are the two bargain movies I got *coughs* along with a load of other snips/offers I simply could not resist. The buggy was laden down.

So armed with 2 movies, 2 packets of Cadbury's Dairy Milk bite size chocolate, and a new car for Aaron, that was the ingredients for a perfect family night in. Or, so I thought...

Turns out I should have listened to my inner whisperer. Something told me I recognised the cover of Date Night, but because it was the same name as I was hoping to have that night, I could not resist it.  The hubby burst my bubble when I was happily unpacking the shopping, to tell me we already own it.  When asked if I've watched it, he says "no!" When asked why he would watch such a movie alone, he reminds me that we haven't really watched movies together since Aaron came along, and that the Bridesmaids that I had recently watched AND enjoyed, it had taken him MONTHS to get me to watch.  Oooooops.

So I give myself an internal high five that I got TWO film options and take the below photo.

I'm not really a huge fan of the bath, bottle bed model, but decided to follow it Saturday night as it had worked a treat on Friday.

So I got Aaron into the bath at a reasonable time despite the evening trips to TWO supermarkets, then gave him dinner, and a bottle and bed was therefore a breeze.  He was asleep by 21:20 for the second night in a row - it's been way later lately.

So I get myself into the sitting room, all expectant for the date night / movie night.  I dig into the popcorn chocolate knowing it is right up the hubby's street, and he says he is too full from dinner.

THEN he decides that what is on the telly is good. A movie called The Ghost Writer.  I patiently sit there playing with my computer (which is not working) for hours, waiting for it to finish and when it does, the next movie on is The Others, so my DVD is being neglected.

In the end, having eaten half the chocolate (only one bag - the popcorn) by myself, I go to bed with a heavy heart, knowing that me, my DVD and my chocolate stash, will attack him at a later date :-)

Hopefully a Date Night - either movie or otherwise will be coming to a cinema sitting room near me soon.

Click here see the full Cadbury range.

Oh it has to be said though, that MY favourite Cadbury product at the moment is Marvellous Creations (jelly popping candy shells covered in delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk) ... Have you tried it? I have a bar next to me right now.  In fact it has provided me my sugar boost all the way through this blog post.




13/06/2013
Even though the popcorn one was my favourite, it is a couple of days later and I am still munching just finished the Twirls. They really really ARE bite sized, look!

I was really sensible and did not eat all of the popcorn chocolate by myself.  I gave the hubby half of the bag to finish last night (it was actually a third ;-) ), but he loved it as much as I do/did.

Liska xx