Date night at home + World Market's Movie Lovers Sweepstakes

Since adding another kiddo to the mix, I know our dates out may become less.
We're lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents close and willing to watch all three.
Sometimes though, a date at home, is the better choice.
It's easier than packing up all the kiddos to leave and easier on the wallet as well.
Plus, you can make yummy recipes like the one I'm about to share! ;)

Since Valentines Day is right around the corner,
I thought I'd share a date night centered around that!
My husband and I are big fans of watching tv shows or movies together.
It's a great way for us to relax together after long days of taking care of children and working.

You might be saying, "Really? You chose Valentine's Day as your movie?" 

Yes, why yes I did because it was the movie we saw on our first Valentine's Day together. 

We always enjoy sharing memories together and I thought this was a good way to do just that! ;)

Clearly, you can't watch a movie together without a snack to munch on.
Again, I chose the obvious choice, but with a bit of my own twist! 

I call it Valentine's Day Chocolate Crunch. 

It is delicious and hard to share, but I guess I better! ;)

Want to try it? Here's what you will need:

Popcorn - World Market has many options. 

The lightly salted is a good choice or maybe even the kettle corn! I'll have to try that next! 

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers

Valentine's Day Pretzels

Red and Brown M&Ms, if you please! 

All these items can be found at World Market except for the M&Ms. 

You can make this crunch as chocolate-ly as you would like! 

I'm a lover of chocolate, as our most people in my house, so lots was the only option! 

Break the pretzels into pieces and add them to the popcorn. 

Add as many chocolate chips as you would like. 

Melt as many chocolate wafers are you think you need and pour it over the mix. 

I then stirred it and added the M&Ms last after I realized we had some. 

The more chocolate, the better, right?
That's what we think! Then, munch away! 

I also picked up some sparkling apple juice from World Market. 

They have a great assortment of sparkling juice and other drinks as well. 

I cut up a few apple pieces to make it a bit more fun! 

I always like to add some fruit to my sparkling juice.
Strawberries and blueberries are a fun choice as well. 

World Market has some amazing Valentine's Day items right now. 

I couldn't pass up on grabbing a few!

I mean how cute is this tin, these hearts for baking, and these wine glasses?
Perfect for making the date night a bit more pretty! 

Please let me know if you make this and what you think! 

I think popcorn mixes are great because they are simple and yummy. 

You really can't go wrong there! 

Our movie choice isn't one we'd want the kids to watch. 

I mean, really this date night is for after the kids are in bed, not being wild toddlers! 

But I didn't want to leave them out. My son enjoyed some of the crunch and also some hot cocoa. 

World Market has lots of good cocoa choices like the hazelnut I picked up!

I just made that, added some whip and a few conversation hearts. 

This is a simple, but enjoyable date night at home. 

There are really endless possibilities when it comes to date nights at home and food!

Want to make this Valentine's Day Crunch or come with something on your own?

Let World Market help you! Check out the links below to come up with your own perfect date night!

World Market Party Essentials

World Market Food and Drink

World Market Valentine's Day Items

Want a date night out? Love to go to the movies? 

Then you don't want to miss World Market's #MovieLoverSweeps

Enter for a chance to win movies for a whole year! 

Click here to enter and good luck! 

This post is sponsored by World Market but all thoughts, opinions and ideas are my own. 

My side of the story

A few weeks ago my husband wrote this post about the first night we'd met. 

I decided to write about the night from my view point. I wrote about it a bit here, but vaguely, so here I go into it a more deeply.

I was sitting outside AMC theater waiting for James, this guy I'd never met. I remember thinking how strange it was that I wasn't super nervous. I didn't quite understand because these things (as in meeting people I've never met before - especially a guy) normally made me nervous, so nervous that I usually refused. But with James, I didn't get that feeling. I sat there, just patiently waiting and then I saw him and he saw me. I got up to walk towards him and even before I got super close I remember thinking to myself, this guy is really good looking. I don't know why this took me by surprise - I mean, I'd seen his facebook (ha ha), but it didn't do him justice. We introduced ourselves and went to get our tickets. This was a bit awkward for me because before getting together we'd established that we were just hanging out as friends, so I was like is the guy going to pay and if so is this a date (this goes through every girl's head right...I'm not strange right)? He paid and we went to find our seats to view the movie Surrogates. We talked and talked. We talked about our families (how I had one sister and he had 9 other siblings), how we went to the same junior high and both grew up Catholic, and things we liked to do (for instance, he loves to fly). The movie started and it was awful. I'm pretty sure it was the first movie I've ever walked out of. After the movie we went to Old Chicago where we ordered a pizza and talked more about our lives. At one point he said, "you know this isn't a date right?" It was SO awkward. I, of course, said that I knew because well, any other thing would have just made it more awkward. He asked me, after dinner, if I'd like to go flying with him. I said I would and as we drove we talked more about this not being a date. I remember James saying something about how this may not be a date, but whenever guys and girls hang out it always seems like a date. Part of me laughed inside because I knew that this conversation was more then conversation or he wouldn't  be saying such things. When we got ready to fly James had to put fuel in the plane and he stepped up onto the side of the plan by my window. In that moment I knew I was in trouble. In that moment I knew I could fall for this guy and I could fall hard. It scared me. Its all I could think about while up in the air looking at the night down around us. Its all I could think about as he drove me back to my car. Its all I could think about as I quickly got out of his car and into mine to drive away. 

I thought about this night for a long time. I still do sometimes. 

The whole time we were going on "non-dates" I kept on thinking about this night and the moment I knew I could fall hard. I tried to fight it, I really did, but you can't fight what God has for you, you can't fight love.

(A picture from a recent date night)

Love you James Matthew Rew

Even then...

It's the little things: date night, a new book, and memories

I'm linking up with Lindsay from Aisle to Aloha to share some of the little things that brightened my week!

Husband and I got to go out on a date. We haven't been out on one in about a month, so this was nice. We went to cheddars and it was so good! Whoever decided to put honey dijon on chicken with mushrooms is amazing! Oh, and a jumbo frozen strawberry margarita..my favorite! Sadly, I didn't get a picture of us. The lighting wasn't great, clearly.

I'd been wanting to read The Help, so I borrowed it from my mom. I can tell that I'm really going to enjoy it and when I actually get the time to read, I am sure it will be quickly devoured. 

I had a video here instead of a picture, but for some reason it couldn't be viewed (anybody know why?), so heres is a darling picture instead. Watching him with bubbles is so much fun. He closes his eyes right away when they are blown...even though they are nowhere near his eyes. He reaches for them and watches them so well. So curious, he is.

What are the little things this week that made you happy?

Happy Friday!