Surprise Kiss

Archive for August, 2009

If you keep saving $5 a week you and your spouse will get the relaxation and pleasure you deserve on your anniversary weekend away.

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

I just found out about a great travel deal and had to let everyone know about it. For those who can afford it and have the time to travel this is an unbelievable deal.

JetBlue Airlines is offering an unlimited travel from Sept 8 to Oct 8 for only $599. It is called All-You-Can-Jet Pass. They fly to more than 50 cities throughout the United States and Caribbean, as well as Cancun and San Jose, Mexico; Colombia and Aruba. The pass is good on any available seat booked at least three days before scheduled departure. Taxes and fees are included on domestic flights, but not international and Puerto Rico.

The sale is good through Aug 21 or while supplies last. Passengers who have a flight booked during Sept 8th through Oct 8th can pay the difference to upgrade to the pass. To get the full details or to purchase a pass go to: www.jetblue.com or call (800) 538-2583 and select 4.

For those who have the money and time how fun would that be to travel for a whole month or even just the weekends during that month.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Our daughter and her husband raised 4 children and when the kids were younger and money was tight they always found time and a little money to have date night. They would make arrangements for the children to be babysat by a teenager whom they trusted or a family member had them at their house while they went to the local coffeehouse and had a cup of decaf coffee or hot chocolate.

One family member in particular couldn’t understand how they could go to a coffeehouse and spend the money on expensive coffee. She thought they were nuts to spend money like that. When my daughter told me what this individual had said I started laughing and told my daughter this individual didn’t quite get it did she. I actually felt sorry for her because she didn’t see the importance of this weekly ritual. Yes the coffee was a little more expensive than making it at home or buying it at a fast food place. What she didn’t understand was they were paying for not only a specialty coffee but also for a nicer atmosphere with good music playing in the background. They could sit quietly and have a conversation uninterrupted and people watch as they sipped their favorite brew. This was their down time, their couple time, where they could feel like a couple again not just mom and dad.

The way I look at it is this ritual was a way to be together and catch up on what was important to them as a couple. One to two hours to reconnect spent on a cup of specialty coffee. Wouldn’t you agree that is much cheaper than a marriage counselor? Their nice and easy couple time has kept them happily married for many years. Next month they will be celebrating their 20th anniversary! And yes they still enjoy their coffee time together.

I do understand that sometimes there is no money for even one cup of coffee at a specialty coffeehouse, let alone hiring a babysitter. What I recommend is that you talk to one of your children’s friends parents and see if you could do a trade off. You take turns caring for each others children. Then you make your favorite drink at home put it in a travel cup and go to the park or beach and enjoy your quite time there, at no cost to anyone.

So why not enjoy a nice and easy date! Have a special cup of coffee and take pleasure in being together even if it is for one or two of hours a week. It will do your marriage good!

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Contrary to what people think a study at the Kansas State University found that “chick flicks” aren’t just for women. Men enjoy them also. What the study found was that the choice to view a romantic movie was usually made together as a couple, not just by the girl. Though there are some differences in the type of romantic movie they like to watch.

Fandango.com did a survey last year showing the difference between what men and women like to watch when choosing a romantic movie. According to Fandango.com, men like movies with more masculine roles. Whether you agree or not, this list makes a good starting point when you’re thinking about renting your next romantic movie.

Top Romantic Movies – Women

• The Notebook-2004
• Titanic – 1997
• Pretty Woman – 1990
• Sleepless in Seattle – 1993
• A Walk to Remember – 2002
• Ghost 1990
• Dirty Dancing – 1987
• Gone With the Wind – 1939
• William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet – 1996
• Juno – 2007

Top Romantic Movies – Men

• Titanic – 1997
• Casablanca – 1942
• Sleepless in Seattle – 1993
• Ghost – 1990
• The Notebook -2004
• When Harry Met Sally 1989
• 50 First Date – 2004
• An Officer and a Gentleman – 1982
• The Princess Bride – 1987

Men and women may have their differences when it comes to viewing romantic movies but one would have to agree the movies men choose women would be happy to watch also. So go ahead cuddle up with your spouse and watch a romantic flick!

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Do you and your spouse need to getaway just for one night but it isn’t your anniversary yet? Well you can sneak in one night if your budget allows you to do this once in awhile. Our daughter introduced us to www.priceline.com. You know the commercials on TV with William Shatner in them where he tells you to “Name your own price to get deeper discounts.”

My husband was off all last week and we worked on our home but we both felt we needed to just getaway for one evening. No family, no friends and no work.  We needed down time together.  So we decided to go on priceline.com and see what kind of deal we could get. We started with a price of $55 a night and we wanted to stay in the San Jose area, which is about 3 ½ to 4 hours from where we live depending on traffic. We choose a 3 1/2 star hotel. Well we crossed our fingers and click on go and hoped that we ended up with a nice hotel in or near the area we chose for the price we requested. (Make sure you click on the tab that says “Best Deal – Name your price”) Well we couldn’t believe it but we got a room for $55 a night at the Doubletree Hotel in San Jose! The hotel was quite and of course very nicely done. Love those chocolate chip cookies they give you when you check in!

Here is the price breakdown of our stay in San Jose: Doubletree Hotel 
       One Night:              $55.00
       Taxes and Fees:          9.84
       Hotel Parking Fees:     7.00
       Total:                      $71.84

We ate breakfast at home and brought cheese and crackers to munch on for lunch with cold bottled water in the car. We ate dinner at our favorite restaurant that evening and had breakfast at a cute little restaurant in town. We prepared a frozen pizza and salad when we got home. Easy and quick! While the pizza was cooking we unpacked.

Here is the price breakdown on our food for the two days: 

        Dinner:     $40.94
        Breakfast:   23.79
        Total:       $64.73

Our little one nighter only cost us a total of $136.57! You could keep dinner and breakfast cheaper if you needed to. It was the reprieve we needed. No household demands, just the two of us enjoying each others company.

Be aware that when you are naming your price you have no choice on what hotel they give you. We have used this website quite a bit and so has our daughter and we have been lucky almost every time. There has been a couple of times we wished we had taken the option to pay the additional $5 fee for the opportunity to back out if we didn’t like the room but our thinking has always been one night isn’t too bad if the room doesn’t completely meet your standards. We have never gotten a room that we absolutely would not stay in because of cleanliness or safety.

So if you are willing to gamble a little and be open to priceline.com choosing your hotel, you might be pleasantly surprised at the deal you can get for a great hotel. Just remember sometimes you won’t get the first price you requested but if you can spend a little more then by all means add $5 or more to the rate you are requesting. FYI, sometimes we have gotten a hotel room for $45 a night and it was at a Hilton and one other time it was a Doubletree. Be on the wild side and gamble for a one nighter on www.priceline.com. 

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

There are a series of books written by Bill Gleeson that has been guiding couples to the most romantic hideaways for more than 10 years. The beautiful color photographs of cozy cottages, rustic retreats and bed and breakfasts makes you feel like you are there. Bill Gleeson has found the 50 most ideal spots for relaxing getaways for two! He includes information of the place and how to get there and what rooms are best for romance. If you are trying to figure out where you want to stay once you have decided to have a romantic getaway then you may want to get a copy of the area you plan on staying in. There are 7 different regions Bill has written about.
• Weekends for Two in Mid-Atlantic States
• Weekends for Two in New England
• Weekends for Two in Northern California
• Weekends for Two in Pacific Northwest
• Weekends for Two in Southern California
• Weekends for Two in Southwest
• Weekends for Two in Wine Country
You can purchase these books at:  www.amazon.com
The only drawback to the books is that some of them are not very current. The most recent date published that I could find was 2006 and the oldest book published was from 1994. Personally I would recommend purchasing only the books that are fairly current. If you decide to purchase a book that is published beyond 2003 I would recommend finding out the last time the place refurbished their rooms. There is nothing romantic about arriving to a place and it is old and worn-out. Do you research before you arrive to your destination of choice. Sometimes the problem with staying at a hotel or inn is that they don’t always keep up with the times and redo their rooms. My motto is: “Travelers beware”. 
Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

End that tired feeling in your marriage and increase that happy feeling in your marriage by putting away your $5 a week.

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Bring out the child in your relationship on date night and when ever you can. No matter how old you get you are never too old to feel and act young. My husband and I may have grandchildren but we still act young. Our grandchildren are in their late teens and mid twenties now but they have told us we don’t act like the typical grandparents. We love to have fun. We are always on the move. We love to listen to current R & B on the radio. When you act young, your marriage will feel & look young. Have fun!
One way to do this is to go out to a burger joint and have a hamburger, fries and share a malt with 2 straws. Sit, talk and giggle.  After your burger dinner, do something that you enjoy doing with the kids but minus them. Play miniature golf. You could wager for a Saturday off to do what you want to do and the other has to watch the kids. Men may want to play golf with the guys and women may want to go shopping with the girls. Whatever your fancy is for a Saturday off, wager for that. You will have fun teasing and playing against each other. After, go out for a double scoop of ice cream. Through out the evening while you are in the car, bring music you listened to while you were dating. The memories of you together when you were younger will be priceless and you may get back that old romantic feeling.
Have fun in your relationship. Be child like! Bring out the playfulness you used to have.
Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Do you wish you could bring back the feeling you used to have when you were dating? Well you can! You need to have a desire to revitalize your relationship and implement romance whenever you can.

Remember when you were dating and you talked and did silly things. Most couples once they have tied the knot and have been married for a while, they seem to think that they don’t have to do those silly little things they used to do when they weren’t married. What they forget about is how special you both felt because that person went out of their way for them. Usually it didn’t cost a lot or nothing at all to do something special.

Romance is a little serious, a little fun and once in a while a little surprise. Mix them all together and you might get one big bang! Pun intended. Want to add a little fun and surprise to your relationship today? Well try this idea.

As soon as your spouse comes home after being away, walk up to them and give them a big welcome home. Then put your arms around them and request a one minute kiss. Plant those fabulous lips of yours on their mouth and proceed to give a great big one minute kiss.

My guess will be one of two reactions. They will either proceed to respond to you with that one minute kiss or there will be some laughing and a “What?” response. Now if you get the second response my recommendations is not to get mad, this is meant to be fun not to make you both angry. Start laughing along with them and continue to laugh. Your spouse may think you are a little crazy but that is OK. Isn’t love a little crazy too?

Let me tell you what happened to me when I did it to my husband. One evening when he got home from being out, I ran up to him and said “Welcome home sweetheart!” and then announced to him I wanted a one minute kiss. Well, he started laughing and planted his lips on mine but instead of it being passionate he started to count 1, 2, 3……….. until we were both laughing! Needless to say we both surprised each other in ways we did not expect. Every so often I think about our one minute kiss and have a big smile on my face when I do. There’s a good feeling about our relationship and neither of us spent any money for this special memory. Please don’t expect the same outcome as mine but remember to keep it light and fun.
Bring a little surprise to your relationship and keep the fun and passion in your life together.

Ask for that One Minute Kiss! Let me know what happened.

Keep those sparks flying!

JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

So your anniversary is coming up and you don’t have any money yet, because you just started saving your $5 a week. $30 won’t allow you to stay at a hotel. Well for those of you who like to camp, why not go camping without the kids. Since it is summer and the weather is good. This is the perfect time to consider having a romantic back to nature anniversary celebration. How relaxing it would be to sit back and enjoy the beautiful setting, just the two of you. No little munchkins running around. Hiking and swimming, what ever you both like to do. Getting away for one evening; sitting by the fire and enjoying each others company, now that’s a moment to remember. The smell of the wood burning in the fire pit, maybe a little hot chocolate and Peppermint Schnapps and the trees softly blowing in the wind, it can’t get any better than this.
For dinner keep it simple. Grilled steaks, salad and some good bread with a glass of wine, Yum! Bake your favorite desert and bring that along. Another thing you could do is what a friend of mine has done for years. She makes up some chili and puts it in a vacuum packed bag. Along with the chili, she will serve a salad and corn bread which is put in Ziploc bags. She puts a pot of water on the grill and brings the water to boil and then puts the bag full of chili in the boiling water. After they eat they put any utensils in the still hot water to sterilize everything that needs to be washed. Clean up that’s no work.
The simplest things you do together can be the most unforgettable. Get a card and write in it. ”Happy Anniversary darling! Let’s have a romantic back to nature anniversary celebration by going camping. Later that evening, after we have watched a beautiful sunset together, let’s get o’natural!” Your camp fire will never die because you are keeping that flame alive. Happy camping to you and your spouse!
Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2009, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.