Those Three Words

I love you. Three tiny, little words capable of big things.
They carry much weight, those three words.
It’s somewhat of a currency early in a relationship – saying ‘I love you’ is a major milestone, an indicator that you are no longer just fooling around, that you have something real together.
Hearing it back [...]

Has True Love Officially Carked It?

Forgive me while I fixate for a bit longer on keeping relationships alive. I was ready to let it go after last week’s column, but then Seal and Heidi dropped their bombshell on us all, leaving us with the fallout – true love has been obliterated to smithereens all around us.

Everywhere you look, people [...]

Giveaway: The Vow

Oh dear. I can tell there will be tears when it comes to this movie.
I’ve long been obsessed with memories. I’m fascinated by how subjective and slippery they are – how we never really know what actually happened, we just have to trust in our brains to feed us the right information.

Even [...]

If Your Days Really Were Numbered…

Forget the apocalypse, if we keep modelling our relationships on celebrity marriages and chasing sky-high Hollywood rom-com expectations, we’re all doomed.

Sunshine and Good, Cheap Food

It was a beautiful day in Melbourne last Thursday. I always say there is nothing quite like a gorgeous Melbourne day. It is partly because we never know when the good weather might come back. It may be 30 degrees and sunny now, but by Christmas day we could have 17 degrees and pouring rain…

How to: Support your partner when they’re stressed

It’s moving week. I told you all about it a few weeks ago – how I was expecting to be tired, at my wit’s end and neck deep in boxes by now.
Well, I’m all that.
And to add to the fun, all the expected relationship stress has peaked this week as well.
So now [...]

Weddings & Princesses

Weddings and princesses. Diehard fans of both these things know they have something in common.
Both give us hope.
Hope that there’s something magical going on out there. That fairytales really do exist. And that true love is real.
Let’s start with princesses. So rare, kids can be forgiven for thinking they’re make-believe.
When I [...]

He Loves Me? He Loves Me Not? Why Women are Suckers for Mixed Messages

It’s official: Women have a thing for Mr. Mysterious.

To be exact, women like a man more if they’re unsure about whether he’s interested in them or not. They thrive on it, in fact.
A recent study, titled “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not…” and using only women as the test subjects, [...]

The Sad Truth About Online PDAs

We got hot ‘n’ heavy last week talking about the etiquette involved in Public Displays of Affection (PDA).
Like everything else, the PDA has adapted with our tech-savvy world and what we now also have is the original PDA’s pixellated cousin – the ODA (Online Display of Affection).
Listing status updates like “I love my pumpkin pie” [...]

Y is for Laughter Yoga (Video)

This is one date I’ve always wanted to do. Laughter Yoga clubs exist all over the world.They are free to attend, usually held in public parks or city squares, and the benefits of practicing are enticing – more endorphins, less cortisol. An antidote for anxiety, stress and inflammation in the body. It may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and more. You burn calories when you laugh. Best of all, you feel good!

Giveaway: Friends with Benefits In-season Passes

Friends with benefits. We’ve made no secret of it – that’s how the Den and Emma story started. Great friends, then, for the better part of a whole year, friends who knocked socks occasionally (okay, it was a bit more than occasionally. More like a couple of times a week. You can see how we [...]

The Dos and Don’ts of PDAs

We’ve all been there. Smack-bang in the middle of a sensational make out session that we’re not actually a part of.
Out at a bar recently, my table was treated to some free entertainment courtesy of a young couple pressed against the wall next to us.
They weren’t just kissing.

They were engaged in a no-holds-barred [...]

Supporting Your Partner Through Times of Stress

It’s moving week. I told you all about it a few weeks ago – how I was expecting to be tired, at my wit’s end and neck deep in boxes by now.
Well, I’m all that.
And to add to the fun, all the expected relationship stress has peaked this week as well.

So now [...]

Intimate Moments in the… Kitchen?

New research shows Australians’ passion for food is reigniting relationships across the country with 44% admitting to ‘intimate moments’ in the kitchen and almost one in 10 confessing it happens at least once a week.
Kind of makes you want to rethink your next invitation to a dinner party, doesn’t it?
In all seriousness, I’ve [...]

How to Impress the Parents

“How soon is too soon to meet the parents?” someone asked the other day.
My friend E would probably argue that you should at least be dating the guy before you have to make that decision.
She turned up at a – ahem – friend’s house late one night for what was, by all accounts, [...]

An Open Letter to Ms. Julia Gillard

Dear Ms Gillard,
I need you to do something for me, please. Well, it’s really not just for me, it’s for all of Australia, and indeed the world.
We need you to legalise gay marriage in Australia.
I’m not a gay woman. But that doesn’t matter.
You’re still cheating me out of something that’s very [...]

W is for Whisk(e)y Tasting

Not many of our $30 Date Nights involve alcohol due to the prohibitive cost. At best, there’s picnics with BYO wine from the cellar (doesn’t count if it was paid for eons ago… or even last week!) so you know you’re onto a good thing when you can get your hands on some hard liquor and a beer for your budget

Why You Should Try a Wingwoman

It’s happened more than once: Cocktails in hand, girly catch-up session in progress.
Enter stage left? An attractive girl on her own.
She breaks into the group with some sort of compliment – “Great shoes,” or “Love your hair.” – you welcome her into the fold and continue chatting.

Of course, she’s only there for [...]

V is for Vegetarian Feast

Our Alphabet Dating Challenge is drawing to a close and it’s getting to the pointy end of the alphabet where the letters are harder and harder to match to an appropriate date idea (X, Y, Z are all giving me cold sweats).

V, luckily, had quite a few options. Most of them food-related. I decided I was going to take Den once and for all to one of my favourite little restaurant gems…

The Walk of Shame

I don’t need to list the benefits here of all the fun involved in a one-night stand. Anyone that’s had the pleasure, so to speak, will know the lure of a no-strings-attached, one-show-only romp.
But, fun as the night can be, the problem comes with how to delicately extract yourself from the situation the next [...]

The Movie Trailer Marriage Proposal

You guys know I’m a sucker for a great marriage proposal… this one is awesome! It’s all explained in the video…

Now This is a Wedding Video!

Joya and Emre didn’t want your average wedding video – instead they turned themselves into rockstars with this MTV Video-style piece that just put a huge smile on my face! Love it!

T is for Titanic

This was a fabulous date that we managed to squeeze in on our Vegas trip among conferencing and partying and getting married and whatnot.

And I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

For the next almost-decade, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition will be docked at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Truth About Nice Guys

Baby fell for Johnny. Sandy pulled out all stops to get Danny. Lisa Simpson even had a thing for Nelson for awhile.
And we all remember when Carrie left Aidan for Big.

What is it about the casual air of the devil-may-care bad boy that sends women to jelly?
They’re arrogant, obnoxious, single-minded, manipulative and [...]

S is for Shopping

I’m not one of those women who drags their husband shopping for new clothes. I always feel sorry for them, the guys who sit forlornly outside the changerooms in boutiques as their woman parades garment after garment in front of them for their “opinion”.
I saw a lot of it when I worked a brief [...]

Win a Date Night with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston

A funny thing happened to Den after we got married.
He noticed that when out with friends in bars or clubs, women were more flirty with him. They would be more open, talk for hours rather than fobbing him off and spout cliches like “All the good ones are taken” (cue flirty eyelash-batting) and “Well, if [...]

Are You a Relationship Chameleon?

Rewind my life seven years or so and you’d find an almost-unrecognisable girl.
I didn’t drink, as a rule (though rules are, and were in this case, made to be broken), and I practiced Reiki while I wore Birkenstocks and read non-mainstream, naval-gazing spiritual books about the afterlife.
I was probably a step or two away from [...]

Surviving Valentine’s Day for Singles

Just three short sleeps to the biggest date on any singleton’s calendar. Yep, Monday is Singles Awareness Day.

As it looms closer, I hear noises of discomfort from friends.

Most will assure you they hate Valentine’s Day – who wants the overpriced flowers, the forced niceties, et cetera?

As a couple, it’s not all that much fun all the time either.

Q is for Quesadillas

I have to admit, Q had me stumped for awhile!

I turned to Twitter for inspiration and my fantastic Tweeps had a plethora of ideas for me… A day trip to Queenscliff, a game of quoits and a quickie among them… we settled on a late afternoon date that involved Quesadillas from Trunk Diner.

Who Lies About Money?

The very clever team at Deals.com has come up with this cute-as-ten-buttons visual representation of Love & Money based on some recent findings… just in time for Valentine’s Day!
Money is one of those Big Things that couples argue most about. You only have to look below to see that no matter if you’re doing it [...]

5 Perfect Date Ideas Beginning with P

10 more dates to go and we’ve finished the alphabet! Here is my pick of the P Date Ideas for you. How’s your alphabet dating going? Have I missed any good P ones we should know about?

Pack a Picnic
A classic! Take a fully-stocked picnic basket to a patch of green near you and while [...]

Where Did All the Men Go?

This is an open letter to the eligible bachelors of Australia: Where did you all go?
There is a plethora of fantastic, smart, attractive single ladies here for you – some are great friends of mine – but you all seem to have collectively disappeared under a huge rock somewhere.

At least, that’s the message I’m getting [...]

Date Ideas and The Circle

It’s been quite the day! I joined the lovely crew of The Circle on Network Ten here in Australia to chat all things date night, cheap dates and more… unfortunately we were cut off just at the end by a press conference covering the Tropical Cyclone Yasi events overnight – what a news day!
Thankfully everyone [...]

What They Don’t Tell You About Summer Romances

Welcome back to reality, people. It’s been a sad, soggy summer for many, but even so, romance has been in the (rather humid) air for others.
Summer romances are beautiful things. When you’re on holiday, you’re a million metaphoric miles from your desk, from hounding emails and buzzing BlackBerries.
I’ve always dreamed of spending [...]

P is for Photography Night Walk

This P date was a great one. My darling husband bought me a much longed-for DSLR camera a year or so ago and I rarely get to use it for arty shots. Mostly because it’s hard to find the time

5 Outstanding Date Ideas Beginning with O

Orienteering
To be honest, a week ago I didn’t even really get what Orienteering was.
Well, I knew it involved co-ordinates and maps and things like that… and I have vague memories of a compass and a girl guide uniform in my childhood… But we did do some orienteering of our own this week for our O [...]

Revenge: A Dish Best Served Cold

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…
And it does seem to be the women that are particularly good at exacting revenge.
It’s easy to fly into a temper when your partner does something wrong by you. Something really wrong, I mean. Like cheating. Lying. Stealing.
Any damage to the ego seems to result in calls [...]

6 Nifty Date Ideas Beginning with N

Okay this is one of those ones where we draw a few long bows and you tolerate it happily… and if you have any great N date ideas then hand ‘em over! We desperately need some!
Night Walks
I remember when I was little we went with my Girl Guide troupe on a night walk through a [...]

Do You Scare Potential Relationships Off?

I’m all for forthright and honest communication. That said, I think there’s also something to be said for playing cards close to your chest sometimes. At least for a little while.
Not so for a girl I know, L.
L is a genius at scaring people off right off the bat, on account of her [...]

Is Your Partner Snooping On You?

It’s a moment I’m not proud of: Rewind a few boyfriends back and I find myself standing in the lounge of our shared apartment as he’s taking a shower, frantically scrolling through text messages on his phone.
I feel terrible guilt at doing this… until I find exactly what I’m looking for. Very incriminating text [...]

Tips for Working Together as a Couple

I have a confession to make.
You’d think, being someone that makes it their business to write about relationships, that I’d have my shit together when it comes to my own relationship.
Not so much. All the theory and knowledge in the world about a subject doesn’t trump the complexity of emotions.

The truth is, [...]

mX Column: Couples Who Argue in Public

There are few things more uncomfortable than watching a couple air their domestic disputes in public.
Whether it’s tears on a street corner or all-out yelling in front of friends, no one wants to be the bystander in what is undoubtedly the messiest of all fights. Years of history and complicated emotions go into a couples’ [...]

mX Column: The ‘We’ Couple

I wrote just recently about how people lose, on average, two good friends once they fall in love.
One of the theories about ditching those friends goes that once you’re in a relationship, you probably don’t have enough time to spend with your friends to maintain close bonds.

You know what really gets my proverbial [...]

mX Column: Do You Play Together Anymore?

It was Her Holiness, Carrie Bradshaw that first introduced the world to the concept of Secret Single Behaviour.
Those little rituals we all have in the privacy of our house – Charlotte would check her pores for an hour in a magnified mirror, while Carrie stacks grape jelly and crackers while reading Vogue and standing up [...]

mX Column: Tips for Travelling as a Couple

Travelling as a couple is one of those huge relationship challenges that can go either way.
Being taken out of your comfort zone, thrown into busy sightseeing and touring schedules and coupled together for 24 hours a day can be a revealing experience to say the least.
Obviously, we’re not talking about your standard “romantic-weekend-at-a-bed-and breakfast” kind [...]

mX Column: Is Love Costing You Your Friends?

A study has found that love comes at a price. The going rate? Two close friends.
On average, a person who finds themselves in a relationship will suddenly realise two of their nearest and dearest will suddenly become not so close and probably even disappear from their lives altogether.

The researchers looking into the study theorise [...]

Is Sleeping with a Stuffed Toy Creepy?

We were on Joy FM last week in Melbourne, hanging out with the Hump Day Crew, as we like to do from time to time.
The crew were having discussions when we arrived about whether you sleep with a stuffed toy or not. And if you do, is it creepy? Does your partner mind? Is [...]

Love Language: A Jubilee Film

This little video is just gorgeous. And it holds a special place in my heart, in particular. I don’t want to ruin the video for you, so you’ll have to watch it first. And maybe I’ll explain a little more in a future post.

Our Vegas Wedding Album

Our official Vegas Wedding Album! Yes, we got a stretch limo from the hotel to the chapel. Yes, Elvis drove us into the building in a topless pink Cadillac! Yes, he incorporated the words “hunka hunka burnin’ love” into the vows. YES, it was as Epic as it looks, not least because we had awesome [...]

All Hallows’ Eve

Well we’re fresh off a plane (well, three planes) home from the USA. What’s it like to be back in Australia? For a start, there is a notable lack of pumpkins lying around in people’s doorways here. You see, we don’t really celebrate Halloween. It’s changing slowly as Hallmark and the like try pushing the [...]