J is for Jigsaw Puzzle

I loved our J date idea. It was a horrible, cold, rainy Melbourne afternoon – no one would want to be outside in that. Luckily, we were prepared and snuggled in our warm apartment with a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle that I picked up from the supermarket for $3.99…

5 Great Date Ideas Beginning with J

Jigsaw Puzzle
On a rainy afternoon, settle in with one of those huge 500-piece jigsaw puzzles and some hot chocolate and yummy snacks. It’s a great way to spend a miserable day together.
Jump Yourself Silly
Ever seen one of those trampoline parks? They have indoor and outdoor ones, it’s basically Olympic-sized trampolines all set next [...]

Everything You Need to Know About Budgeting As a Couple – Part 2

So you’ve done your prep from Part One and you’re ready for your first Couples Money Meeting. Here’s how to tackle it. Part 2 in this series that we’ve asked guest poster Timothy Ng from Credit Card Finder to put together for us:
With your individual meeting prep done, it is time to lay the [...]

5 Hot Date Ideas Beginning with H

Oooh… H is one of those tricky ones we keep coming across! These five Happy Date Ideas were the only ones I could come up with, but I know you clever little things will be able to offer some more great ideas to me as well.
Hedge Maze
Get lost in a hedge maze together. This is [...]

Get Lips Guys Will Love!

Continuing our week of beauty, the divine Stefanie from The Lip Print imparts her beauty wisdom on us with great tips for great lips!

Picture this: you’re enjoying a blissful Date Night with your partner. The mood is perfect, there’s ambient lighting and smooth background music. You close your eyes and lean in for a kiss [...]

Fuss-Free Beauty – New Fun Things

There are three new things in particular that have come to my attention this week in the fuss-free beauty arena. I’m pretty excited about them! As we discussed earlier in the week, being in a relationship makes me lazy when it comes to grooming. I know a lot of other women in the same boat. [...]

Fuss-Free Beauty – Things I Love

When it comes to my beauty routine, I’m kind of lazy. Add to that my general busy-ness and my hate of early mornings and what you get is a girl who either doesn’t have time or patience to spend hours in the bathroom every morning.
In an ideal world, one of two things would happen.
1) I would [...]

A Week of Beauty on $30 Date Night

Happy 201st Post, Daters! Just to mix things up a little bit, this week $30 Date Night is going to take a little deviation down the beauty route.
Why, you ask? What does that have to do with dating and relationships?
Plenty, it turns out.

Because if you feel good about yourself you’ll feel better [...]

7 Great Date Ideas Beginning with G

G is for Green Date Ideas
Which we already discussed awhile ago. Click this link to see our Gorgeously Green Date Ideas list, compiled for us by Cate and Chris at GreenRenters.org
G is for Games

Like, board games. And such. Either hold a game night at home for the two of you or tuck [...]

6 Fruit-and-Flower (4th) Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas

Well I am completely taken aback to learn that the fourth wedding anniversary traditional symbols are fruit and flowers! I didn’t expect that. I thought after paper, cotton and leather we were certainly starting to head towards some sort of semi-precious something…
Go figure.
Okay, well – when you think about it fruit and flowers [...]

mX Column: The Etiquette of Dating

What has happened to manners?
It seems everyone is so busy these days that there is no time for niceties – returning emails, RSVPing to parties and even saying thank you have fallen by the wayside.
When it happens with friends, we can understand, kiss and make up.
In dating, however, bad manners are unforgivable.

I was out one [...]

Why We Love, Why We Cheat

In the midst of researching for my new ebook, I came across this great presentation given by Dr. Helen Fisher at the 2006 Ted Conference. We love Dr. Fisher’s research and I don’t know how this particular clip has eluded me for four years now.
In it, she explains the brain chemistry of the stages [...]

Melbourne Giveaway: Bride Magazine Expo Double Passes and Mags!

Hi Melbourne Daters! I have an extra special treat for our readers that are engaged, or are in a wedding party for a close friend that is getting married soon.
My dear friend Jason Grech is the talented fashion designer behind JASONGRECH White – and I’m not even exaggerating when I tell you they are [...]

LoveStars Astrology Date Night Review

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I really, truly believe in astrology.
I’ve been scoffed at before for it, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’m still a believer. I could not be more of a Pisces if I tried. I’m your typical dreamy (read: flaky), emotional (erratic) romantic (unrealistic) type with an [...]

mX Column: Virtually Together

I’m sitting on a plane to Sydney as I write, on my way to visit my bestie, V.
I don’t spend much time on planes these days, though V does.
He moved to Sydney for work a year ago, while his partner still lives and works in Melbourne.

They fly back and forth as often [...]

mX Column: Damn Smug Morning People

I hate morning people. They’re always so freakin’ smug. Me? I am, categorically, not a morning person.
I resent getting out of bed before 9am. It takes me hours to wake up properly and God help you if you try anything smart with me before I’ve had a coffee.
Nothing is more annoying than a chirpy early [...]

Using the Mere Exposure Effect to Your Dating Advantage

I wrote in my column a few weeks back about the theory behind Office Romances and why they are so prevalent these days. The idea is that the Mere Exposure Effect dictates your hormones here… the more time you spend around someone, the more attracted you will become to them.
And – obviously – vice [...]

mX Column: What Mothers Teach Us About Love

Thank goodness for mothers and their unconditional, all-enveloping love.
I know my mum is the one person in this world who will pick up the phone every time I call, and she’ll be glad to hear from me to boot. I can also depend on her to be the first by my side if I’m unwell [...]

An Interview With HitchedMag.com

Hey readers, as you know we love anything to do with couples, love and marriage that is available as a resource on the interwebs. We sent a few questions off to the founder of HitchedMag.com to see what inspires him and his marriage. The site is online, magazine-style and written by a team of experts [...]

The Better Marriage Blanket

I am still giggling as I write this post from watching the commercial. In short, an American company has come up with the ‘Better Marriage Blanket’ made from the SAME CARBON FABRIC THE MILITARY USES TO PROTECT AGAINST CHEMICAL WEAPONS (I couldn’t make this stuff up, it’s that funny) to stop the odour of farts [...]

mX Column: The Sperm Shortage in Australia

Men once worried that advances in IVF and female independence would render them obsolete.
Of course there are lots of things women need men for but, biologically speaking, sex and babies are the main things.

But it turns out that women do still need men in the babies department.
Sperm donations are at an all-time [...]

Love Plug: Hello You Fool, I Love You

I just saw these gorgeous prints featured in Shop Til You Drop while I was having a pedi (coral pink, thanks for asking) and immediately had to run home to Love Plug them for you guys!
Blacklist Studio, a tres chic Sydney art and design company is selling these great love-inspired prints that aren’t cheesy [...]

Marriage is Good For Your Health!… Until It’s Not

Marriage: When it’s good, it’s very good. But when it’s bad, it’s… deadly?
New York Times Magazine recently published this long piece on whether marriage is good for your health or not. Very early studies into the matter, circa 1858, concluded that marriage is a healthy estate and that single people died from disease “in [...]

Sexy Christina Hendricks Has Advice for Men

A wonderful open letter to men, from the Best Looking Woman in America (So Esquire says. I might just second that after reading the following advice from Christina Hendricks to Men of the World.)
“We love your body. If we’re in love with you, we love your body. Your potbelly, everything. Even if you’re insecure about [...]

How to Save a Marriage

Laura Munson’s new book This Is Not The Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness
has just been published, containing the account of the time her husband walked in the door one night, after 20 happy years of marriage and two children, and told her it was over. “I don’t love you. [...]

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Happiness expert Sophie Keller wrote this great piece over at Huffington Post about whether you and your partner are “Incompatible, or Refreshingly Different”
“My husband loves the middle of a quiche and I love the outside. He hates exercise, I love it. He knows everything there is about music, I know very little. Does that mean [...]

Alphabet Dating: 9 Date Ideas Beginning with C

C is for Casino
Ever played roulette? No? Perfect. Set a budget for your date night (it’s no secret we like ye olde faithful $30 limit) and head to a low-betting table at a casino to learn the ways of roulette and (hopefully!) win some money. If you pick a table where there are no [...]

Alphabet Dating: 10 Date Ideas Beginning with B

B is for Breakfast (or Brunch)
The perfect date if there’s just not enough time in your week or you suddenly find all your nights booked up. Get up a little early and have breakfast with your sweetheart, whether you take them out or cook for them in bed is up to you!

B is [...]

Real Life Couples: Brett and Mandy

Brett and Mandy have to be one of the most fun-loving couples we’ve come across in our web-travels!
They are daters in their own right on their side of the world, writing for Seattle P-I about their adventures on the town dating in Seattle, as well as on their own Brett and Mandy Date Night Blog, [...]

mX Column: The Age of the Bromance

I think my husband may be having an affair.
G. – the object of his affection – is tall, good-looking, and also happens to be our next door neighbour.
They see each other every day. They are members of the same gym, take frequent coffee breaks and if they can’t be in the same room [...]

Alphabet Dating: 9 Date Ideas Beginning with A

So to support you (and us) through an Alphabet Dating adventure, we are going to publish a list of date ideas each week that start with our Letter of the Week (Sesame Street, we’re coming after you!)
If you’re thinking of Alphabet Dating, now’s a great time to start. You can check back in every [...]

A 3-way Relationship? Bingle, Clarke, and the Rest of Australia

The end of a relationship – or facing any relationship problems, for that matter – is never easy, never clean-cut.
In the case of Lara Bingle and Michael Clarke, the nude photos, the Fev affair and the very public flight home from New Zealand have made it even less so.
I feel for them both, [...]

Alphabet Dating: A is for African Cuisine

You may have caught yesterday’s post on ABC Dating – we’re going to spend the next six months working our way through a dating alphabet. This has a few benefits – we make sure we’re doing something different every time we go on a date and we also introduce a little more structure into the [...]

Love Plug: Hollywood Make-Out Mints

I have just fallen in love with these cute-as-a-button Make-Out Mints… packaged in a sexy retro pink tin with embossed hearts on it, it’s the perfect product to keep you date night ready in a crisis. Tuck them into your handbag and freshen yourself up pre-date with the tiny pink heart-shaped mints inside.

Says the [...]

Getting Back on the Date Night Horse

I have to confess, ever since Christmas hit Den and I have been kind of… slack when it comes to date night. It’s been a blur of road trips, holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, partying… summer nights at rooftop bars… bad, bad date night couple.
We’ve waned from our usual Wednesday night date night, which means some [...]

The Post-Break Up Makeover

I’ve just finished reading this great post The Power of the Post-Break Up Makeover from the ever-fun Zoe Foster over on Primped.
Says Zoe: “Nothing says “I’m over you” to your ex-boyfriend than hiring a Monster truck and gleefully driving over his car, or in the case of Miss ABBIE CORNISH (who recently split up [...]

8 Paper (First) Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas

It’s our first wedding anniversary today! That makes it a paper anniversary. We’ve decided that we’re going to stick with the traditional gifts in the traditional order.
Of course being a guy, Den automatically went “Well, what do I get you? A ream of A4?”
No, Den. No you don’t.
Here’s a list of paper-anniversary gift [...]

mX Column: The Rise of the Cougar

It might be the Year of the Tiger but another big cat is on the prowl.
Demi started it. Then Samantha fell for Smith and we all fell right along with her. Now Susan Sarandon has broken all records by reportedly dating a 31-year-old man that her son introduced her to. She’s 63.
However much [...]

Melbourne Daters: Something Special for You!

Hi you Melburnian Lovebirds… we have something special for you! The wonderful Ben Knight from Ben and Wine has offered three couples the chance to attend one of his upcoming wine tasting nights as a $30 Date Night… which is a hugely discounted offer for our readers (RRP: $150!).
The nights will run over the next [...]

How Much Does Your Man Pay Attention?

I wrote late last year about creating Love Maps in your mind, to track the small details about your partner that are important.
The Daily Mail has reported how millions of men don’t know the most basic of details about their partner – including dress size and even eye colour.

2,000 men in the UK [...]

Top 5 (Non-Soppy) Valentine’s Day Date Ideas

The commercialism of Valentine’s Day seems to be grating on everyone’s nerves this year. And it’s not just singles that are hating Valentine’s Day. Couples everywhere that I speak to are vehement. “Bloody Hallmark”… “Overpriced Flowers”… “Don’t tell me when to be romantic towards my wife”

You know what everyone? Get over it.
It’s VALENTINE’S DAY! [...]

mX Column: Blind Dates? Bad News.

Despite the Austen-like images my moniker may conjure, I’m not much of a matchmaker.
I don’t believe in the ‘set up’, and especially not since one of my best friends, N. sent me on a blind date.
On paper, it should have worked perfectly.
He was cute, fun and intelligent, as promised. He even had just [...]

For Men: How to Buy Lingerie for Your Sweetie

Today’s post is written by the saucy Bra Queen, who knows more about lingerie than anyone I know!
Valentine’s Day is coming and you’re probably thinking about what a con the whole shebang is. To be honest? You’re probably right. But any man worth his weight in gold would want to Va-va-VOOM his Valentine. Blow her [...]

Why Don’t Men Listen?

I get Deja Vu on a regular basis, what with the amount of times I have to repeat myself during the day.
I don’t know what goes through Den’s head when I talk. I can only imagine it’s something along the lines of “miow-miow-miow-miow, miow-miow-miow-miow, miow-miow-miow-miow-miow-miow-miow-miow”… Or perhaps the grating pitch of my voice inspires [...]

mX Column: The Problem with Valentine’s Day

For our out-of-town readers: mX is a free newspaper available in the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane CBD at the end of the day, giving 700,000-odd people something to read on their commute home on trains, trams and buses. mX covers the issues that matter most in a concise, upbeat, funky, intelligent and sexy way.
Our very [...]

The ‘Top 10′ Date Lists Collection!

If we had a popularity contest for our blog posts, these would be the winners, so I decided to make especially for you… Our Top 10 Date Lists Collection!
Well… not all of them are Top 10s as such, but you get what I mean. A quick glance at our most looked-at posts from 2009 [...]

Worst Date #4: The Nudist Beach

So, we finally stopped procrastinating and we did it!
Worst Date #4…. The Nudist Beach.
This was so-called the “Worst Date” because over on our date ideas website, it has one of the worst ratings in our user voting system. Fair enough too, the thought of it is pretty intimidating! After putting it off for [...]

Real Life Couples: Rebecca and Murray

Welcome to one of our new segments for 2010 – Real Life Couples. A tiny insight into the lives of real, actual couples from all over the globe, all going through their own journeys… a very real way to see that each relationship can have it’s ups and downs and that you really do need [...]

New Year, New Goals

Welcome back! I feel like I’m waking up from a really long hibernation today…. so much to do to! So many things to think about!
A new year is a great time for couples to set new goals together… something you can both look forward to, work on together or learn as a couple. It [...]

Is Music Unhealthy for Your Relationship?

The Boston Public Health Commission has proposed a new initiative to categorize music into “healthy for your relationship” and “unhealthy for your relationship”. The campaign will arrive in the form of a badge – kind of like the health department’s tick of approval on healthy foods – and is aimed at teenagers, encouraging them to [...]