Keep Your Romance Sparked With A Movie Date Night

Do you remember the moment you met the love of your life?  For me an attractive blonde caught my eye standing outside a restaurant where I was headed to meet some friends for dinner as I drove past heading to the public parking lot on the block.  I swear our eyes locked and she gave me a smile.  When I arrived at the restaurant there she was at our table as one of our mutual friends had also invited her to join the group for the evening.  She smiled at me and said "didn't I just see you outside as I was coming in here?"  We dated for two years and this year will be our 11th wedding anniversary.

With busy professional lives and the parenting responsibilities for 6 year old twins it can be hard to make time for one another.  With the cost of babysitters, not much family close by to conveniently watch the kids, and young children that suffer from life threatening food allergies which can make others watching them tricky to put it simply getting away for a date night can be just plain tough. Sometimes though you just need to take a drive to dump the kids off with grandma and grandpa for awhile or put them to bed early to have a date night that may be as simple as watching a movie at home together to keep the stresses of life from tearing your relationship apart and to enjoy being with your special someone.  So while we love having Family Movie Nights it is also important to make time for some Couple Movie Date Nights as well to help keep the spark alive.

Since our Family Movie Nights with our kids are dominated by animated movies and when we go to the theater my wife normally lets me pick out an action or sci-fi flick for us to see when it comes to picking the dvd or digital download we're going to see for our in-home Date Nights I leave that selection to my lovely bride.  She likes the work of Nicholas Sparks and so we've had quite a few Date Night watching movies like A Walk To Remember, The Notebook, The Best of Me, and Safe Haven.  I'm sure there will be a Date Night for us coming up soon because a new Nicholas Sparks movie The Longest Ride will be available soon to bring home with the digital download available to purchase on June 26, 2015 and the Blu-ray/DVD being released on July 14th.

Thanks to our friends at Fox Home Entertainment, one lucky A GEEK DADDY blog reader will win a free DVD/Digital HD Download of The Longest Ride so he or she can enjoy an in-home date night with a spouse or significant other. Must be a U.S. or Canadian resident over 18 years old and submit one or all of the following entry methods to earn up to 3 entries prior to 11:59 pm EST on Friday July 17, 2015:

UPDATE: Congrats to Terry from Missoula Montana who won The Longest Ride on Blu-ray!

E-mail thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com your name and mailing address with the story of the moment you first met your spouse or significant other. Email subject line should be DATE NIGHT SPARKS. (1 ENTRY)

Visit our Facebook page and on the contest post leave a comment telling us about the moment you first your spouse or significant other (2 ENTRIES)

 **By submitting your story you grant permission for it to be published on this blog or via A Geek Daddy's social media accounts as part of the #InsidersLongestRide promotional campaign** 

All valid entries will be assigned a number in the order they are received and one number will be  selected to determine the winner using random.org.  E-mails will only be used to contact the winner and deleted following the selection of a winner.

Based on the bestselling novel by master storyteller Nicholas Sparks, The Longest Ride centers on the star-crossed love affair between Luke, a former champion bull rider looking to make a comeback, and Sophia, a college student who is about to embark upon her dream job in New York City's art world.  As conflicting paths and ideals test their relationship, Sophia and Luke make an unexpected connection with Ira, whose memories of his own decades-long romance with his beloved wife deeply inspire the young couple.  Spanning generations and two intertwining love stories, The Longest Ride explores the challenges and infinite rewards of enduring love.

DISCLAIMER:  A Geek Daddy Blog will be responsible for selecting the winner of this contest, but Fox Home Entertainment is responsible for fulfillment and delivery of the prize.  By participating in this contest you waive any liability towards A Geek Daddy Blog or its publisher that may arise from your involvement with this promotion.  If you win this prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification. Prize will be delivered by UPS or FedEx so no P.O. Boxes are allowed as mailing addresses. A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive any financial compensation but did receive a review DVD for the blog and the prize that is being awarded to one of our readers for this contest.  A Geek Daddy Blog is hosting this contest as a benefit to our readers. Any opinions in this post are my own.  #InsidersLongestRide

OSRAM SYLVANIA Teams Up With Relationship Experts To Shed Light On How To Be A Valentine's Day Superhero

Whether you are newly dating someone or are in a long-term committed relationship, being a Valentine's Day superhero can often seem to be a daunting task.  This year, OSRAM SYLVANIA, a leading company in the lighting industry, has partnered with relationship experts Laurie Davis, Founder of eFlirt and author of Love @ First Click: The Ultimate Guide to Online Dating, and Thomas Edwards, Jr., Founder of The Professional Wingman, to offer some mood-setting tips.

OSRAM SYLVANIA's is the perfect side kick for setting the mood for a romantic evening with its LIGHTIFY portfolio of indoor and outdoor lighting products that can be controlled and automated via an app from your mobile device.  From changing lighting color to dimming to simply switching lights on and off, combining LIGHTIFY's features with these tips from Davis and Edwards, who are also a married couple, can make for a super Valentine's Day:

Tips for the Ladies from Laurie Davis

#1 When you change the body language between you and your partner, it creates a different mood and connection.  This Valentine's Day, instead of watching a movie on the couch together, grab cooking utensils and make dinner together!  Top of the night by slow dancing in your living room.

#2 Teenage traditions are still fun even when you're in a committed relationship and well past those teen years.  Thomas and I still ask each other out on proper dates.  Even though I know he will say yes, it helps build anticipation and reminds us to make each other feel young even when we've been together for ages.

#3 Think of your partner first if you are the one planning Valentine's Day.  While they might not be the most romantic fare, hamburgers really make Thomas happy.  I'll pick up greasy burgers and a nice bottle of red wine, and I'm always guaranteed a smile and a light-hearted mood for the rest of the night.

#4 As we all know, color can affect your mood and emotions dramatically.  Use LIGHTIFY smart connected lighting kits and app to set the color of your LED lights in your home to match the mood you want to be in.  On Valentine's Day morning, I'll want blue lighting to help us wake up and be alert, but then I'll switch to red lighting that evening when I want to evoke passion.

Tips for the Gentlemen from Thomas Edwards, Jr.

#1   Enhance the five senses.  Your partner can become fully immersed in the environment when each sense is stimulated, allowing them to feel the emotions that come with each sense and associate those emotions with you.

#2  Hearing music can put your partner in almost any mood, from relaxed to seductive to loving.  For our living room dances, Laurie and I will turn off the lights or change them to a soft red with the LIGHTIFY Flex RGBW and dance to a soundtrack that I carefully curated, highlighting our favorite songs since we've been together.

#3  Scent is very powerful because one whiff can tap into millions of memories.  If you and your partner have specific romantic memories tied to smell, it can really amplify the mood.  One day, Laurie noticed I was wearing cologne I used to wear when we started dating.  It made her reminisce about the early days of our relationship, which brought a smile to her face.

#4  Surprisingly, what you wear can be another way to help set the mood.  When you wear something that looks good on you, you will project confidence, alluring your date even more.  It's the subtle touches on Valentine's Day, those favorite cufflinks or that new necklace, that can take it from any normal night to a truly special one.

"The most important thing to remember this Valentine's Day is to have fun and enjoy your partner's company first and foremost," noted Davis.  "And keep the romance going after Valentine's Day too!" added Edwards.

As these relationship experts both mentioned, LIGHTIFY can help you set the mood with lights on -- flirty, fun, relaxed -- or off.  Check out this fun video to see how LIGHTIFY can set the perfect lightscape and help make you a Valentine's Day Superhero: