Dates are Wonderful

Last night my husband and I went on a date to the Melting Pot in Pasadena.  We haven't been able to have many dates since the arrival of our daughter for the simple fact that she wakes up at 6am and so do I (during the week, my husband gets up on the weekends).  That translates to an early bedtime for me because I like sleeping and being rested.  Sadly, that also means that going out at night means I turn into a pumpkin at 9pm or so.

However, last night, caution was thrown to the wind!  As a thoughtful and terrific Christmas present, Doug's sister not only gave us the funds to have a night on the town, the offer came with babysitting!!!  So after a fun afternoon of playing a board game together with my sister-in-law and her honey, my husband and I fed the little one, loved her up, and tucked her in for a restful evening.  Then ... we hit the town!

We had reservations in "lovers lane."  This meant we had a cozy booth where other patrons did not have a view of us, nor did we have  a view of others.  The privacy was dreamy.  We enjoyed the classic fondue menu and relished the time to reconnect.  My husband is a great guy who is fun to be around.  That's why I married him!

This semester (I'm a Ph.D. student as well as a professor), my husband and I have dedicated one night a week to date night.  We're planning on having a babysitter (who primarily watches TV and calls if anything suspicious happens) one night a week so we can have a date.  I'm thinking we'll sometimes go out to eat, but more likely is us going to a great bookstore or walking around old town Pasadena.  Dates don't have to be an expensive dinner to be terrific.  Just having the time to laugh with and enjoy my man does the trick for me!

Copyright 2012 Heather Corwin

Letter to My Daughter about Dating

Dear Sweet Girl,

Here are some things to consider when you start dating.

• When you decide to commit yourself to a man (if men are your preference), make sure he makes you laugh.  If he doesn't, kick him to the curb.
• When you decide to date, make sure you get butterflies inside.  If you still have the butterflies on the third date, keep dating him.
• If he does not kiss well, and you really like him, teach him how to kiss you. 
• If he doesn't make you feel special, dump him.
• Know that there are several ways to say "I Love You."  You might like flowers, he might like to fix your car.  Both can mean "I Love You."  Make sure you find the guy who speaks your love language!
• When you enter the room, if his eyes don't look for you, you may have reason to wonder about staying in the relationship.
• If he doesn't make you feel beautiful, dump him.
• If he looks at other women with lust in your presence, dump him.  (This may have to wait until you're in your thirties...)
• If your pulse rate doesn't speed up when he's around, question why you're in the relationship.
• If you feel defensive around him more than 5% of the time, dump him.
• If you don't like his family and you are considering being with him for the long haul, know that you're choosing a long hard battle that you won't win.
• If you're thinking of cheating on him - dump him.  I don't care how long you've been together - end the first relationship before you start another.  Even if it's hard, DO IT.  Not ending the first relationship will make the second never work - and all will feel terrible.

And finally,
Know that you are the most precious person in the world.  If the person you love does not awaken in you and recognize the best parts of you, walk away.  You deserve someone who celebrates you for the amazing person you are.

Love,
Mom

Copyright 2011 Heather Corwin

Romance is NOT Dead!

There are times when I just don't have the words to tell my honey how much I love him.  So I turn to the people who have made words their life: poets.  Pablo Neruda is a personal favorite.    

Neruda's book of 100 Love Sonnets is one of my "go to" romance books...

I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair

DON'T GO FAR OFF, NOT EVEN FOR A DAY
Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?

~Pablo Neruda 

See what I mean?  *sigh*  Plus, in 100 Love Sonnets, the sonnets appear both in Spanish (how Neruda wrote them) as well as their delicious translation in English.  

Send your love (whether you have met him/her yet or not) a sonnet today!

Copyright 2010 Heather Corwin