Surprise Kiss

Archive for August, 2010

Are you or your sweetheart going out of town for a few days on business and you are already lonely just thinking about it. Or are you looking forward to a few days of alone time but at night is when you miss having your arms around each other before you fall asleep?

Ladies whether you are heading out of town or staying home with the kids why not grab a well-worn pair of pajamas or old tee-shirt your husband wears and put it on when you go to bed. Did you know just the scent of him can boost your mood. You won’t feel so alone and you will be able to sleep because you will feel more relaxed.

Men the same goes for you. Whether your spouse is heading out of town or you are left home with the kids, grab that old tee-shirt she wears all the time and slip it on the pillowcase you sleep on until she gets home.

Feeling a little lonely because your sweetheart is gone? Grab that old tee shirt or pair of pajamas your sweetheart wears and you will feel better.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Love your sweetheart. Love them like they are the only one you will ever love. And they will be. Keep saving your $5 a week for your romantic rendezvous.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

A few weeks ago I mentioned we were driving my husbands parents, who are in their late 80’s, to Los Angeles to visit their oldest son who is very sick. It is very sad and difficult for everyone but he knows he is surrounded by people who love him very much.

We usually leave at 8:30 in the morning and stay for a couple of hours and get home between 5 and 6 depending on traffic. We will stay and visit Larry’s brother for a couple of hours and then stop to have a quick lunch someplace Larry’s parents enjoy eating. Once we get into town we know mom and dad are tired but we always make it a point to make sure they have something to eat at home. We know they are too tired to go out and eat.

Last weekend after we dropped his parents off we went home and freshened up a bit and then went out to dinner in Arroyo Grande, which is about fifteen minutes away from our home. We went to one of our favorite healthy fast food restaurants, Baja Fresh. The place is located up on a hill overlooking the Arroyo Grande hills and Pismo Beach. You couldn’t ask for a nicer view.

We ate outside because it was warm enough and it is the only way to have dinner with a view. We split a burrito and each had a beer. It was nice to enjoy the quiet beauty outside while enjoying the fresh air. After diving all day in an air conditioned car and sitting in an air conditioned condo we felt like we had been cooped up all day.

The reason I am telling you this is because when you are going through stressful times try to find a moment where you can be alone together and relax. That is exactly what we did. A simple dinner, one bottle of beer each and time to unwind and talk to each other while reconnecting. Just what the doctor would have ordered.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Yesterday I wrote about Santa Catalina Island which is 22 miles off the coast of California. The Inn at Mt Ada is such a beautiful inn perched on top of a hill overlooking Avalon and the bay. They have six rooms available. One of the smaller rooms called “The Windsor Room” is one of their most popular according to guest. Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Warren Harding and the Prince of Wales slept in this room. It has a queen size bed and full bath and views of the Avalon Bay, the Pacific Ocean and Long Beach on the mainland. It is quite a beautiful sight.

The prices for the “Windsor Room” are:

High Season – $640
Value Season – $550

There is a two night minimum stay for the weekends and holidays. Value Season is Monday through Thursday, from November 1 thru April 30. Remember these rates include breakfast and lunch along with snacks and appetizers and your own golf cart to ride around in Avalon.

Here is the breakdown if you wanted to spend the weekend in Catalina during “Value Season”

Room Rate for 1 night:            $550.00
Round Trip Boat Ride for 2:  $133.00
Total:                                            $816.00

$816.00 ÷ 52 weeks = $15.69

If you saved $20 a week that would give you $1040.

Please note I did not include tax on the hotel room so you will need to factor that in. I figure if you saved $20 a week you will have more than enough to spend one night in Catalina and have a very romantic evening in the “Windsor Room.”

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo
*Please note rates may change so always check before you start to save your money.

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

This week we are in my home state of California and because I like to sometimes take you to a unique place to visit we are not heading to the normal tourist destination. That is, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc. I am going to take you to a small island off the southern California coast. The place we are heading to is Santa Catalina Island and it is known as the perfect romantic getaway.

It is a small island only 22 miles long and 8 miles across. You can get there by boat or helicopter. The main town of Avalon overlooks southern California and has a unique Mediterranean charm. You can rent a bicycle for 2, go parasailing or kayaking, take a glass bottom boat or an undersea tour in a semi-submersible submarine and an inland motor tour. For the couple who likes extreme adventures there is a zip line you can take down a steep mountain overlooking the Catalina bay. Check out their Chamber of Commerce and see what kind of events are going on during your stay. When I got on their website there was something going on every month of the year.

We took the grandkids there a couple of years ago and said we would like to go back just the two of us. One of the things we did was rent a golf cart for an hour ridding allover the area. We all had so much fun laughing and following a map the rental place gives you.

There are two hotels that were highly recommended for people who are looking for romance. The Aurora Hotel is an older hotel, in downtown Avalon, which they took and completely redid into a hip modern boutique & spa.  The Inn on Mt Ada is on top of a high hill overlooking the Catalina bay and Southern California. Breakfast, lunch, snacks, beers, wines and appetizers are all included in the price of your room. They even have golf carts for your use while you are there. The home was originally owned by William Wrigley, Jr and Mt Ada was named after his wife.

Want to get away to a Mediterranean island but can’t afford to go to Europe. Then head to Santa Catalina the island of romance.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Want to go out to dinner and earn points toward another meal then OpenTable.com is for you. You make your reservation through their website and you can rack up points each time you use their site. You must show up to the restaurant and eat there before they will give you the points. Points are redeemed as cash at any OpenTable restaurant.

All you need to do is sign up for a free account and you will start to receive emails featuring new restaurants and local dining events. You can save your preferences and manage your reservations online. When you sign up you will also receive exclusive dining offers.

They even send you emails about hot local dinning events going on in your area. Make sure you check the box letting OpenTable know you want to get this type of information. Also, OpenTable members have identified the most romantic restaurants to go to in your area. There is no guess work for you. So the next time you want to go out for a special dinner with your sweetheart check their site first. Their reviews are written by people like me and you.

I haven’t tried them yet but I did sign up for their email and will be trying it out. It seems to be very user friendly and I will probably try them out when we travel too.

So go ahead make reservations on OpenTable.com and take that special someone out to dinner. Once you earn enough points you will both be going out to dinner for free! Once you have enough points you could use it when you are planning your romantic getaway!

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

You could go to that special place together for your romantic weekend away if you keep saving your $5 a week.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

It’s Friday and date night but there is no money. Well have a date at home. Have the kids sleep over at a friend’s house and promise to watch their kids next week for the couple that has the sleep over. Grill steaks or hamburgers for dinner and eat by candlelight and music. Keep it simple.

After the dishes are cleaned and put away bring out the video games and play against each other. The loser has to buy ice cream for both of you. Or you could kick it up a notch and who ever loses has to remove a piece of clothing. Before you know it you could have a very heated game of strip video.

Have a date night at home and play a very sexy heated video game together.  You both will be smiling because you had “A Hot Night Tonight.” Remember being a little sexy, laughing and having fun keeps the sparks burning for each other.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

JetBlue Airlines is having their “All You Can Jet Pass” again. You can enjoy unlimited travel from September 7 thru October 6, 2010. You have a choice of two options:

• $699.00 for 30 days unlimited travel
• $499.00 for 30 days unlimited travel (excludes Fridays and Saturday)

You need to be a TrueBlue member to purchase your pass and book flights. When you go online and you are on the home page you will see a link to their TrueBlue program. Click on it and join up. Also please read all the details to JetBlue’s “All You Can Jet Pass” because all rules apply.

If you can afford to take 30 days off and have the money put aside then you will want to go to JetBlue Airlines and purchase their pass.

So you don’t have $699.00 for one person let alone $1398.00 for 2 people then plan on putting money aside for next year plus money for hotels and food. That way you will be ready for next year if they offer this special again. You could have 30 days of romance with your sweetheart! Think of all the time for romantic possibilities you would have together.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

We are heading to Arkansas this week. To a place that is called the Carmel of Arkansas. We actually visited Arkansas several years ago. Larry’s mother was born and raised on a farm there. His parents have lived in California for over 60 years now but have traveled back to his mother’s farm every year to visit it. She owns 20 acres back there with a small 2 bedroom home on it and the old log cabin she was born in which is now falling down.

We decided we needed to visit Arkansas when they were back there one year.  It was good we went because we learned a lot of family history my husband didn’t know. It was very interesting. We did manage to spend some quite time by our selves though. One of the places we went to was Eureka Springs, AR. It is a Victorian village in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. We were there in the fall and the leaves showed off their amazing range of colors to us. Eureka Springs located near Beaver Lake is an hour from Fayetteville, AR and Branson, MI

We stayed at a darling bed & breakfast called Arsenic & Old Lace. We choose the Monet Room because it had a double whirlpool tub, spa shower, fireplace along with a private balcony.  They have the old movie Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant in each room for your viewing and elderberry wine in the living room. When we were there it was still warm enough to enjoy our complimentary gourmet breakfast on the wraparound veranda in the morning.

Here are just a few things you can do in Eureka Springs:

• Great Passion Play – A play about the last days of Christ on this earth.
• Ozark Mountain Hoe-Down – Country, Pop, Gospel & Bluegrass music along with comedy.
• Downtown Underground Walking Tours – 75 minutes walking tour and history of the city and their underground buildings.
• Keels Creek Winery – Boutique winery located in Arkansas focusing on local grapes.

Entertainment, shops, art galleries, day spas, water sports, golfing and restaurants waits you and your sweetheart where romance and history abound.

Can’t make it to Carmel, CA then try to make it to Eureka Springs, AR. Larry and I both agreed we would return to Eureka Springs, AR and of course stay at the beautiful Arsenic and Old Lace Bed and Breakfast.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.