by Melissa Chapman

‘Tis the season to drink hot apple cider, admire  the fallen tri-colored leaves and soak up the cool crisp autumnal season.  It’s also the perfect opportunity to snuggle close to the one you love. Go out on one of these three fall-inspired dates!

Elaina McMillan, CHt.,  a Denver based intimacy expert, relationship coach and clinical hypnotherapist who is currently working on her new book, Confessions of a Frigid Wife: Coming Clean About Getting Dirty, has three suitably seasonal date suggestions for you…

#1 Get sizzling, sensuous and succulent

Celebrate the fall by visiting a local farmer’s market for some seasonal fare and then spend the evening heating up the kitchen while cooking together. Be sure to include romantic spices and flavors such as nutmeg or vanilla. Highly prized by the Chinese as an aphrodisiac, a little nutmeg in a warm pumpkin soup can be a delicious way to help spice up your evening. And the scent of vanilla is believed to increase lust.

Co-creation is a natural and easy way to bond, says McMillan. Selecting and preparing ingredients together, as well as creating a festive fete, allows for a collaboration that builds connection.

#2. 1-on-1 football

What could be more fun and flirty than frolicking in the park on a brisk fall day. Seriously, being chased and tackled onto the grass by your significant other…need we say more?

Physical contact automatically facilitates bonding, says McMillan.  After all, tackling includes wrapping your arms around your sweetheart, and rolling around together is a pretty sexy way to “score”.

#3 Play (haunted) house

Fall is the perfect backdrop for a visit to a super spooky haunted house. It may not sound romantic at first, but it’s hotter than you think and here’s why…fear and excitement illicit a similar physical response. Think butterflies in your stomach, intensified breathing and wild body quivers.

Due to the release of endorphins, fright creates an instant bond. That’s why “love” reality shows like, The Bachelor, include thrilling bungee jumping dates, notes McMillan.  In fact, some studies suggest that being afraid may deliver a shot of epinephrine similar to what you might experience during an orgasm.

“Of course the old dinner and a movie standby is fine, but keep in mind that predictability can breed complacency, ” says McMillan. “And mixing it up, with these three fall inspired dates, allows you to design your time together on purpose, not by default.”

by Melissa Chapman

Are you and your love in need of a serious infusion of pure, unadulterated romance? The kind that will inspire your man’s chivalrous nature, and  may even convince your gal to strap on a pair of feminine stilettos and paint her lips a luscious candy-apple red? Well, then you may want to consider investing in an evening of classic movie viewing and dinner in.

Certain films have that magical ability to literally transport us back in time, to an era when  all gentlemen wore smart, tailored suits and always opened doors, women dressed in crinoline skirts and jewels to the market and good, old-fashioned romance reigned.

According to Emma Merkas of $30 Date Night, watching a movie at home together can be just as exciting as a night out at the movies – with the added benefit of it being cheaper and much easier for couples who have children. All you need to do to ensure a wonderful date night at home is to make the effort to make it special. Turn off the phone, put on some soft music over dinner, light candles, dress up for each other. And, if possible ban the children from your date space for a bit – ideally, they’ll be in bed already.

Merkas says that theming your dinner to match your movie makes the date even more special and separates it from every other night you sit on the couch together watching TV. She offers these three classic 50′s movies and theme suggestions for your next date night in.

Roman Holiday
Audrey Hepburn is the darling main character of  this classic film, which is the perfect movie to watch if you’re feeling the need to escape to Italy too, if only for a few hours. You and your love can watch a runaway Princess fall in love with a handsome young reporter against the backdrop of vintage Italy. Of course, a homemade Italian feast is an ideal accompaniment – a bottle of Chianti Italian wine, spaghetti with a rich sauce (Remember that darling scene from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp? Another great classic 50s movie by the way!) and gelato to finish off in front of the television with Baci chocolate kisses.

An Affair to Remember
One of the most romantic movies of all time, a tale of unrequited love and forbidden passion, it is also a stunning portrait of classic New York City glamour. Dress in your 50s finest, serve martinis and canapés. The 50′s were traditionally toast points with some sort of topping, shrimp cocktails, cheese puffs, pigs in blankets and anything with puff pastry involved. Then settle in to watch An Affair to Remember together. Bring the Kleenex.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
A wonderful way to spend a lazy Sunday together – cook your sweetie a big brunch with eggs their favorite way, fresh fruit, croissants and preserves. Champagne is optional (not to mention decadent for a Sunday morning!) and then sit down to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s. A classic quirky film, with pixie sweetheart Audrey Hepburn dressed in frocks that will dazzle, and set against the aching melody, Moon River it is a film that will make your love want to adorn her neck with a strand of  pearls  and a pill box hat. Grab your mimosas and settle in for romantic love at its finest.

by Melissa Chapman

Adventure dates are exciting, romantic dinners are… romantic! But sometimes what you need as a couple is a quiet, interactive evening at home. Try one (or all!) of these dinner and a movie date ideas.

Why you should do dinner and a movie dates at home sometimes…

You’ve done the fancy restaurant with three forks and nervous conversation. You’ve also done the movie date, sitting side-by-side in the theater and viewing a film together while you were miles apart in your individual thoughts.

Now what you need is an interactive date, one that is comfortable and low-pressure. Nothing too formal, awkward or without room for some healthy conversation.

“Dinner at home and a DVD on the couch is a good date night idea for a couple whether they have recently met or if they’ve been together for some time, “ says  Kimberly Ellington, a dating and relationship coach for The Art of Charm. “If the two people involved let too much pressure build up — by sitting across from each other at a table, silently eating and drinking, asking interview-style questions that bore even themselves — it can go downhill quickly.”

Ellington believes that best way to do dinner and a DVD date is to make it as interactive as possible. She offers these tips to create a dinner-and-a-movie date that will be full of action, inspire conversation and hopefully lead to a great game of snuggle-bunnies when it’s all over.

Step 1: Set the scene

Jazz up your dinner-and-a-movie date at home by setting the scene. Create a comfy little nest in your living room. You don’t want one person on the couch and the other across the room, right? So set your coffee table with beverage glasses and napkins right in front of the love seat or couch so there’s no mistaking where your date should sit. Make sure you have some squishy pillows and maybe even a throw blanket for snuggling under!

Step 2: Rearrange the space
If you two have been together for a while, it’s huge fun to re-arrange the furniture. Couples tend to fall into patterns after being together for a while, so instead of both of you flopping down where you usually do, shake it up a bit! Slide the love seat to the center of the room, set up the area like your own private screening room — and don’t forget the popcorn!

Step 3: Shop together for the food

“One great way to jazz up dinner and a movie at home is by cooking together – but then take it back even one more step. Just as you don’t greet a date by inviting them in for sex (at least not most often!) you don’t want a dinner-and-a-movie date to start by having the movie on pause with take-out sitting on the table getting cold. Shop together first. Eating is life-affirming, just like sex is, so the choosing and preparing of food is like the foreplay for the whole evening. Have a simple recipe picked out, make sure you have the proper cookware, and then head to the farmers market or grocery store.

• Choose a special salad

One dinner idea Ms. Ellington recommends is having a simple but different salad. Stay away from the iceberg lettuce mix. Go simple with a bag of mixed baby greens, feta, a few berries and some walnuts. Intense flavors, a variety of textures and a simple preparation are the way to go. Any grocery store will have basic vinaigrette, and that will complement ANY choice of ingredients.

• For the main dish – keep it simple.

Don’t try to impress anyone with a sauce that takes three hours to reduce unless you’re a chef and you started it earlier in the day, notes Ms. Ellington. Most grocery stores will have some gourmet bottled sauces that will take any protein to the next level without being labor-intensive. Read the label and buy a small sprig of one of the herbs already in the sauce to add as a garnish at the end and you’ll have an elegant presentation as well as a burst of fresh flavor.

• Dessert should be the easiest part.

Fruit sorbets are cool, delicious and light. Get a couple of different flavors. You can serve them in elegant stemware if that’s your style. Or create your own movie intermission halfway through the flick and scoop some into Dixie cups to nibble and share as you watch the end of the movie. (Sweet lips = sweet kisses!)

Step 4: Pick a movie!

Three DVDs Ellington recommends are The Princess Bride, Hitch and Jerry Maguire.

The Princess Bride is a classic adventure-love story, with plenty of action, laughs and “twue wuv” (true love). It’s an adult fairy tale, which is a great mindset for both parties on a date. The Man in Black’s rescue of his true love is just as heart-warming and pulse-inducing whether you’re brand-new to dating each other or if you’ve been together for a while.

Hitch is a story about a dating coach who is helping a goofy, hapless man find love and ends up finding love himself along the way, notes Ms. Ellington. It’s a rom-com, but with Will Smith and Kevin James in charge of the comedy, there’s plenty of “guy moments” to glide smoothly along with the romance. This movie brings up a lot of preconceived notions that men and women have about each other, so it’s great for inspiring conversation and perhaps even some good-natured debate, which can be great for raising the sexual tension in the room!

Jerry Maguire has great laughs and wonderful snuggle moments — not to mention two good-looking leads for both sexes to enjoy. Tom Cruise is at his passionate best in this movie, and a very fit Cuba Gooding, Jr. does a great job as well. This is a passionate movie the entire way through with a hugely inspiring and emotional ending — just right for happy hugs and whatever might come after.