Let's Talk About Massage

When was the last time you gave her a proper massage? With massage oil and your full attention?

We all love a good massage and I think girls especially love them as a treat from their boyfriends so I thought I'd find you a video or some online tutorials to help you give her the best massage in the world! I don't know an awful lot about massages but I found two videos online which I thought were really useful. The first tells you how to do a swedish back massage and although it's aimed at someone trying to perform a salon style massage, it tells you how to warm up the muscles, gives you some techniques for the main part of the massage and tells you how to warm down the muscles. The second also uses swedish massage techniques but is much longer although it seems worth the watch!

So here are the videos...
The first, shorter option:

The second, much longer option:

Now I hope you feel armed with some good techniques that you can use to give her a semi-professional massage which I'm sure she'll love. At least once in a while it would also be appreciated if you went all out and laid out a 'massage table' and had some nice massage oil to give her a proper massage. What are you waiting for? Get massaging!

Love from lila xx

Romance.

Have you ever googled romance?

Why not do it now. But don't just google romance, try love, couple, romantic and relationship too. Then scribble a few ideas down and try and recreate your own picture which you can use for future presents.

You could also get your girlfriend involved too and ask her to come up with some ideas or keep it a secret so that you can surprise her with a day of romantic photography!

You probably won't be able to take most of the photos yourself so try and get a friend to help you out. If you can't find someone to help then you could try self-timer although it's definitely not as useful as having a friend to help! (One of the times when being nice to her best friend will pay off!)


Just to get you started, here are some of the pictures that google came up with...

You don't have to have your faces or whole bodies in the picture, there are plenty of ways to communicate love in a picture, so just try it and most importantly, have fun with it!

Love from lila xx

The Dangerous Book for Boys

It's always interesting to get different points of view in life so the following excerpt is taken from Conn & Hal Iggulden's Dangerous Book for Boys.

You may already have noticed that girls are quite different from you. By this, we do not mean the physical differences, more the fact that they remain unimpressed by your mastery of a game involving wizards, or your understanding of Morse Code. Some will be impressed, of course, but as a general rule, girls do not get quite as excited by the use of urine as a secret ink as boys do.

We thought long and hard about what advice could possibly be suitable. It is an inescapable fact that boys spends a great deal of their lives thinking and dreaming about girls, so the subject should be mentioned here - as delicately as possible.


Advice About Girls

1. It is important to listen. Human beings are often very self-centred and like to talk about themselves. In addition, it's an easy subject if someone is nervous, It is good advice to listen closely - unless she has also been given this advice, in which case an uneasy silence could develop, like two owls sitting together.
2. Be careful with humour. It is very common for boys to try to impress girls with a string of jokes, each one more desperate than the last. One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself...
3. When you are older, flowers really do work - women love them. When you are young, however, there is a ghastly sense of being awkward rather than romantic - and she will guess your mother bought them.
4. Valentine's Day cards. Do not put your name on them. The whole point is the excitement a girl feels, wondering who finds her attractive. If it says 'From Brian' on it, the magic isn't really there. This is actually quite a nice thing to do to someone you don't think will get a card. If you do this, it is even more important that you never say, 'I sent you one because I thought you wouldn't get any.' Keep the cards simple. You do not want one with padding of any kind.
5. Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of wind-breaking will not endear you to a girl, just to pick one example.
6. Play sport of some kind. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it replaces the corpse-like pallor of the computer programmer with a ruddy glow. Honestly, this is more important than you know.
7. If you see a girl in need of help - unable to lift something, for example - do not taunt her. Approach the object and greet her with a cheerful smile, whilst surreptitiously testing the weight of the object. If you find you can lift it, go ahead. If you can't, try sitting on it and engaging her in conversation.
8. Finally, make sure you are well-scrubbed, your nails are clean and your hair is washed. Remember that girls are as nervous around you as you are around them, if you can imagine such a thing. They think and act rather differently to you, but without them, life would be one long rugby locker room. Treat them with respect.

Well I hope you enjoyed the change in perspective, although I do agree with many of the things written, at least you may appreciate that it comes from a male perspective and therefore may be more inclined to listen to it rather than what I say!

Love from lila xx

Easter Treats

Well as you know, I'm a big advocate of the 'women love chocolate' philosophy and with Easter coming up, now's the time to go mad for chocolate!

If you're new to the blog then you might not have read my very first post on how to reinvent chocolate and flowers, so my first suggestion is to head over there to get some ideas on how to do things a little differently.

Then you have to decide whether you're going to be brave and try and make her an easter egg (or chocolate treat) yourself or whether you're going to go out and buy one.

I'll start with the easiest option, so if you're not intending to make an egg/treat yourself then I really really recommend that you try and buy her something a bit more special than a generic Cadbury easter egg. If you don't know of any local chocolate shops where you could buy a good quality handmade egg then I strongly suggest that you splash out on the quality eggs at the supermarket. Failing that, you could just put together a box/bag of her favourite chocolates alongside some eastery treats like creme eggs or mini eggs!

If you're up for the challenge then you could even make her...

• an easter egg (here's one recipe or an alternative and visit a local cake decorating/cookery supplies shop for chocolate mouls)
• a chocolate krispie chick (here's the recipe and again, you'll need to buy some moulds)
• chocolate nests (the recipe uses shredded wheat but you could use cornflakes or rice krispies)
• decorated easter eggs (have a look here for one idea but google decorated eggs for others or come up with your own personalised idea!)

As always, try and package it as beautifully as the present itself is otherwise it won't have the same effect!


But most importantly, have a lovely Easter weekend and make sure you eat lots of chocolate!

Love from lila xx

The Present Bible

Always stuck for present ideas?
Start a present bible!

If it comes around to your girlfriend's birthday/christmas/anniversary/valentine's and you've forgotten things she's suggested to you or that you've thought of throughout the year it can be pretty annoying.

I always keep a little book filled with present ideas so that I'm never lost for presents. This is also helpful because it will avoid her getting upset when you've forgotten to buy her something that she's asked for (repeatedly)! It also means that you can save ideas for future occasions and be a bit more organised!


So why not give it a try? I promise, it's worth it!

Love from lila xx

A Gentle Push...

Sometimes when we're working hard or have lots to do, it's hard to stop and take some time out. Here's where you come in...

Have you ever watched your girlfriend working non-stop and can tell that she really needs or would really like to just take a break but can't bring herself to stop? Sometimes we just don't think we have time to prepare the relax but sometimes we just need some gentle encouragement or reassurance that it's ok to take a break. So why not help out your girlfriend and prepare her a little break so that all she has to do is stop for 30 minutes and relax!


If you need some ideas then you could;

• run her a really warm, bubbly, inviting bath
• buy her some chocolate and sit her down with a film/tv program
• take her out for a walk around the park/along the beach
• buy her a packet of cake mix so that she can have a little baking session
• take her to the cinema or for dinner
• or just get her to put on her pyjamas and snuggle and snooze

It doesn't take much to do, but will mean much more. So if you think your girlfriend's stressed and needs a break - plan a little relaxation time for her!

Love from lila xx

Why Being Romantic Is Important...

If you're one of those guys who doesn't think that being romantic is all that important, this post is aimed at persuading you that it's not so unimportant!

Now this is just a theory of mine and we all know that theories are often disproven so all I'm hoping with this theory is that you have a little think about the ideas that I'm proposing, the implications of them and what they mean for romance and relationships.

People think with both their hearts and heads depending on the situation. In most situations, women think with their hearts which is why they are loving, caring and kindhearted. For women, the hearts tend to control the positive decisions and the head controls negative decisions. In the female world, the heart can take over the head. To do that, the heart needs to have enough power to do that. How can that happen?


Love and Romance.


The heart collects all of those gestures of love and romance, stores them up and locks them away, ready to fight away logic.



Take the following example...
Your girlfriend is mad with you again because you've done something wrong. If her heart doesn't have enough power then her head will win and her decision will be based on right vs. wrong, based on the situation - what you've done wrong and how badly. If her heart has enough power then it can say - all of these (romantic) examples show that although he's done this wrong, they don't matter because normally he's like this.


So the next time your girlfriend is mad, try and win over her heart, not her head! Good luck as always!

Love from lila xx

A Present for Cookie Lovers!

Every girl loves sweet treats so why not treat her to a lovely new cookie jar with some bite size yummy-ness inside?

If your girlfriend loves cookies or biscuits or brownies or flapjack or any treats that you can cut into small sizes then why not make her some as a present and put them in a beautiful jar - she'll love it! The picture below shows some cookies that were a present for a friend of mine. They're really easy to make and you can find a recipe in this post here (I used 2/3 of the recipe and made nearly 40 cookies). Pick 2 or 3 shapes and then 2 or 3 colours for icing and go wild with decorating them. If she prefers brownies or any other kind of biscuits then try and make those if you can! If you're not a brilliant baker then you could try looking in local stores and independent bakeries to see if they sell any good quality, homemade biscuits or treats that you could use. Then all you have to do is buy a really pretty jar or biscuit tin or box and put them all inside. Add a really pretty ribbon around the top and it's finished!

Aren't they just so cute with the little eyes on! They're really easy to make and look absolutely beautiful when they're inside a pretty jar so try something new and bake a few cookies.

If you can't find a pretty jar or only need a little present then you can make a little bag instead. You can download the template for the packets from here and you'll need to buy cellophane bags (9'x3'x2') which you place inside. If you want to make them look like the ones below then punch two holes near the top and thread some ribbon through and tie it neatly in a bow.

Love from lila xx

Get Some Feedback...

Whether you think your present was perfect or not, why not ask her what she really thought?

Sometimes we know we've given really bad presents. Sometimes we know we've given really great presents. And sometimes we're just not sure. Whether you think your present was terrible, brilliant or just so-so, why not ask her what she thought? I know that it may not be great to hear that your present sucked when you thought that it was brilliant, but surely knowing that it was bad would help you improve in the future? Even if it was really bad, I'm sure that your girlfriend wouldn't be so harsh that she would outright say it was the worst present in the world! She's more likely to say something like, 'well, I could see that you put thought into it' or 'it wasn't terrible, it was just...'.


I'm not saying that you have to ask her, just in case she didn't like it, but I'm sure that deep down you do want to give her great presents! The only way to do that is to take criticism and improve next time. You could even ask her if there was anything she'd change about Valentine's day - just make sure to remember that for next year! And most importantly, if you thought your present from her was absolutely amazing - make sure to tell her!

Love from lila xx


P.S. I hope you had a lovely Valentine's day.

Valentine's Day Wrapping Ideas

If you're not particularly good at wrapping then this is a must read post! It'll also be useful if you're looking for an extra idea or two for the day.

Like the title suggests, this post will give you a few ideas for beautiful wrapping. As much as we will love the presents inside, it's nice if they look good on the outside too! Sound familiar? So take a look back at the post I wrote on Christmas wrapping as it'll give you the basics of wrapping. This post will show you how to make your wrapped presents beautiful!

Firstly I would strongly advise buying some double sided tape to wrap the presents and avoid unsightly tape everywhere! It really does make a huge difference.

My second note on wrapping is that I rarely use patterned paper. I prefer plain papers which are easier and more effective to decorate. I bought a roll of brown kraft/postal paper a while ago from Ebay which is so useful to have. Instead of having 10 different rolls of wrapping paper, I just keep the brown paper on hand and decorate it appropriately for the occasion!

My third tip is to head to your local haberdashery (that's where you can buy fabric and ribbon!) and buy a few metres of different ribbons, plain and patterned that you can use to wrap presents with.


So working from the left and moving clockwise...

1. This is homemade wrapping paper. All I did was design something in MS publisher and print it off! Easy-peasy. If you'd like this one with lips on then just click here. Then I added a tissue paper flower on top  (the tutorial can be found here - I layered 4 light pink, 4 dark pink and 2 smaller yellow). If you don't like that flower then take a look back at my very first post for lots of different homemade flower ideas.
2. This has just been wrapped in plain brown paper with a ribbon (secured with double sided sticky tape) running straight across the middle.
3. Firstly I roughly measured out the size of the present and then chose where I wanted my design. Then I drew out the hearts in pencil. After that I spread the glue into the shape, don't forget to go over the lines otherwise you'll still be able to see them (!), and sprinkle a huge pile of glitter on top (you don't want to miss a spot!) and leave it to dry. I'd advise doing all of this without the present underneath in case the glue leaks through. Finally, wait until it's dried, shake off the glitter and wrap your present very carefully, trying not to touch the glitter at all.
4. This one is just simply wrapped in plain paper with a line drawn and 'i love you' written in a completely joined up script. Then I added a little sticky heart where the dot would be on the 'i'.
5. This one took the most effort so don't expect this one to be done in a minute! Again, roughly work out the size of your present and where the front would be. Then on the inside, draw out a mirror image of the text that you want written. Then get a craft/stanley knife and cut out the words being extra careful of fingers! Take it slowly as the more intricate the letter, the more likely it is to rip whilst being cut out. Then all you need to do is back it with some coloured paper or tissue paper and wrap the present.
6. Finally this one has been wrapped in purple wrapping paper and tied with a bow. If you plan to do this one, this is an easy one to replicate for all presents, making a really effective, coordinated look.

Hopefully that will have given you a few ideas for beautiful wrapping that will impress your girlfriend.

Next I'm going to give you some help in putting together a Valentine's banner like the one below. I originally got the idea from here and put together my own version of the background.

You know how I like to make everything as easy as possible for you? This could be one of the easiest things you will ever make! All you need to do is print off the template onto card, cut it out, make a little cut on each side of the shape and thread the ribbon through all of the letters in the correct order. Then hang it up somewhere on the day!

Finally, if you're feeling adventurous, you could even bake a cake for the day. Again, I'll make it nice and easy for you! 

You don't need to bake the cake from scratch (I won't tell anyone!) so you could buy a box mix. If you do decide to make your own then here is a simple recipe for a victoria sponge cake or here is the recipe for the cake I made above which is purple, alternatively but much more difficult is a red velvet cake (with some extra Valentine's link ideas) which will look amazing as a Valentine's cake! Once your cake (boxed or from scratch) is cooked and cooled, slice the halves so that they are flat. Spread one half with jam and the other half with buttercream (from Lindy Smith's 'The Contemporary Cake Decorating Bible') and very carefully place them together. Then use a sieve to sprinkle icing sugar over the top so that it is completely covered with white. Rinse out the sieve and leave it to dry. Then cut out some shapes, I already had hearts cut but you could use anything (heart shapes, a message) that you can cut out or that you have on hand, and arrange them on your cake. Then dry off the sieve and sprinkle the cake and shapes with cocoa powder. Next you need to really carefully pick up the shapes leaving your design clear to see.

And if you missed last week's or the week before's blog then you should definitely check them out! Last week was a little romantic cards idea and the week before had the link to a youtube playlist full of romantic, cheesy and just plain lovely songs with some ideas of how to use them. I've already put the link above but if you don't want to give the classic chocolate and flowers then have a look at my very first post to get some new ideas to mix it up!


Finally here are some links to previous posts that may help you out...

• How to turn a takeaway into a Romantic Date Night
• How to turn a DVD present into a Movie Night
• How to bring her Favourite Film To Life
• A few thoughts on Female Indecisiveness
• How to make love vouchers
• How to start a collection for her as a present
• How to write anniversary cards (or Valentine's!)
• A printable list of her favourite things

And some links to posts from other blogs or sites...

• How to make a scratch off card
• 18 homemade Valentine's Card Ideas
• 20 homemade present ideas from A Beautiful Mess

Love from lila xx

Valentine's Cards

If you want to plan an extra special treat for your girlfriend (or boyfriend) then this post is a must-read!

For this year's Valentine's day, on top of the presents that I've bought my boyfriend, I'm planning an extra surprise. I'm preparing 10 little envelopes containing thoughtful little presents, statements of things I love about him and a few other little ideas.

I haven't quite decided how I'm going to present them to him yet but my current thought is to plan a film or episode of our favourite tv program to watch and then edit it so that it pauses 10 times and a question about our relationship comes on the screen. The answer will then be one of the numbers written on the envelopes, which if he answers the question correctly, he'll be able to open. Easy?!

I think that I should probably give you some concrete ideas now, so that you can go off and make your own. So what I'll do is show you the ones I've already made and then talk you through them. If you don't know where to find blank pre-made cards then you can buy them in lots of card and craft shops and these ones are from The Works.

Starting from the middle card on the left and working clockwise in a spiral pattern...

• The card with the ribbon around the top that says 'All my love' has one of the things I love about him written inside.
• The next card has a heart shape cut out, surrounded by shiny diamantes. Behind the cut out heart shape I've put red tissue paper. Inside is an instruction to hold the card up to the light and then says something about him that makes my heart glow (along the lines of how good he is to me and looks after me!).
• The calendar and 'folder' contains 365 kisses (scanned lipstick kisses) which are each individually dated and are to be stuck onto the calendar. Next year I'm planning to make a collage of them all to hang up on the wall. This is more of a girl to guy gift but you could just write 'X' for a kiss or draw hugs and do the same.
• The next card has lots of 0s and 1s written on it which if you haven't worked out already is binary code. It says 'I Love You'. The bottom of the card then suggests that he opens the card to read the translation from binary. Inside is an 'I Love You' banner that will be posted on next week's blog.
• Next is a card that says 'You're a (diamond) boyfriend' and inside has a picture of us. I've then cut him out and in the space where he would have been I've written 'You complete my picture' so that he can place his half of the photo back into the whole (how cheesy!). If you didn't want to do this, you could perhaps just frame a picture of you two and give that to her instead.
• The next card has a glitter heart on the front and has one of the things I love about him written inside. I'm also planning to make some jelly heart sweets to go with the 'you make my heart turn to jelly' which is written inside. Making your own jelly hearts is a little ambitious so alternatively you could buy a bag of haribo and take out all of the hearts or change the phrase to 'you make my heart melt' and buy her some chocolate hearts.
• Finally this card says 'You (rock) my world' with a stone of lapis lazuli. Inside I've written about the properties of lapis which include love, protection, power and healing. There are lots of alternatives out there so you should be able to find one that you think she'll love that has some equally meaningful properties.

There are lots of things you could write in the cards, and even more if you're going for cheesy! So think about why you love her or what's great about you two and then try and think about a little present that symbolises that. Then all you have to do is put the idea and the present into a card and you're done!

What I'm really hoping that you do after reading this blog is get inspired to make your own series of cards which will show your girlfriend how much you love her and even make her laugh (if you go for the cheesy ones like me!). If you don't want to go all the way to 10 cards, why not at least make her one card to go with one of her presents?

Love from lila xx

Music For Love

Well everyone, yesterday left you with 3 weeks to go before Valentine's day! Are you ready?

If you haven't planned anything yet, hopefully a youtube playlist of over 100 songs (yes, I really did sit down and think of that many songs!) will get you all inspired for Valentine's day.

Click here to be transported to the playlist!

I hope you read my blog post from two weeks ago, but if you didn't then I'd suggest reading it and perhaps using one of the songs to find the perfect words to tell her how you feel. If you're not planning to make something like I suggested in the blog, then why not just use the playlist as background music on the day? Or you could pick your favourites and make your own playlist that you link her to on the day, or you could make her a cd with all of yours/her favourites on!

The playlist may have a lot of songs in it that you're not really fond of but it is really designed to offer as many suggestions that appeal to as many people as possible. So feel free to edit the selection and make what you will with it!


Love from lila xx

Frame Your Memories...

Valentine's Day is the perfect time to give the present of a memory, so read down for one of the easiest present ideas I'll ever give you!

Today if you're lucky it's snowed near you, making a beautiful background for photos. So fetch your girlfriend, put your wellies on, get wrapped up, grab your camera and head out in the snow for a snowball fight, maybe some snow angels but best of all, some beautiful pictures of the two of you having fun together!

If you don't feel like going out in the cold today then stay in and have a look through all of the photos you have of the two of you together.

Then all you have to do is pick your favourite and frame it. This is where you have to splurge a little because, whether it's plain and simple or intricate and unique, a good quality, beautiful frame is the most important part of the present/gesture.

When you wrap it, make sure to wrap it in bubble wrap or tissue paper first to protect it and then find the perfect paper and make the outside look as beautiful as the inside (if you need some help with wrapping ideas then check back in a few weeks!).


See? I told you it was easy!

Love from lila xx

Speaking The Truth...

With Valentine's day so close (don't panic!), it's probably time you started thinking about some presents. Read on for a really cute way of telling her how much you love her, without saying anything at all!

Sometimes it's hard to tell someone how much we love them, and how they make us feel, with words. Let's face it, we can't all be fantastic writers who can put together a little speech and say it out loud to the person we love that will make them melt in an instant, with very little effort and stress. That means that sometimes we have to turn to others' words in order to have such an effect on someone but that doesn't have to be plain and boring. There's also a very good chance that someone will have already said what you want to say, more eloquently and more beautifully than anyone else ever could. This post will show you a few sources for romantic and loving words and some ways of presenting them.


Firstly, you can find romantic quotes or passages from...

• books
• songs
• poems
• films
• tv programs
• famous quotes
• and many other places - use your head!

When you've chosen your quote, whether it's just a sentence or a whole paragraph, you need to decide how you're going to present it. You could...

• just write it in her card
• design something by hand or on the computer with the words (and some artistic decoration) and frame it for the wall

• do something similar but onto a canvas - check this blog post out for some help

• record your own version of the song (and post it on youtube)
• recreate the scene (alone or with her) - you could even cut the original movie, replace the scene with your recreation, and play it to her as normal on Valentines, surprising her with your own special scene

• make a video of photos of you (with reference to the lyrics or words)

If you're not sure where to start then here are some lovely quotes from songs, films or books that will start your search for the perfect words...

• 'I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.' When Harry Met Sally
• 'It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together...and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home...only to no home I’d ever known.' Sleepless in Seattle
• 'I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.' Pride and Prejudice
• 'Could you be the most beautiful girl in the world, It's plain to see you're the reason that God made a girl.' Prince - Most Beautiful Girl in the World

These are just a few ideas of what you can do but if you take some time to think about her favourite films or books then I'm sure you'll be able to come up with some quotes or scenes that she'll just love. Not only because they're from her favourite films, but because you've paid attention to her favourite things and made them into something beautiful that she can keep forever. So just remember that you never have to struggle to find the right words to say and how to phrase them because someone has probably already said it more beautifully than you could. So use that to help you tell her exactly how you feel.

Love from lila xx

P.S. Only 34 days until Valentine's day.

Relationship Resolutions

Everyone knows that the new year is all about making resolutions of things to do and not to do. Why not try making some relationship resolutions?

I thought that a nice idea to start the year would be to make some little resolutions of things to do and not to do. So I put together a few designs for 'his and hers' resolution printables so that you can write some for each other.

There are two sides to the resolutions. Firstly, try and think of 5 things that you do that annoys or upsets your partner and list them in the 'stop' side. Then, on the other side, try and think of 5 things that you don't do enough (or at all!) that makes your partner happy and write them into the 'do more of' side. If you're not sure what you do or don't do, then why not include your partner in the process and write them together. That way you can be sure that your resolutions are things that really matter to the other person!

 

You can either print the design that you like (onto card) or just open them up in Photoshop (/something similar) and add your resolutions electronically, then email them to her! If you don't like my designs, then why not make your own or even just buy some nice card and write out something like - 'these are five things I will try not to do in 2013 and these are five things that I will try harder to do in 2013' and sign it, with love.

Writing the resolutions is only part of the process though. Why not keep a copy of your resolutions yourself so that you can see what you've promised to do/not and try and keep them! If you're really confident that you can stick to them then you could even come up with some rewards or forfeits for each month/the year to do together. So if for example you do a really good job (at her discretion of course!) of sticking to your 'do more of' resolutions then she could treat you to dinner out, or vice versa. If you don't stick to your 'stop' resolutions then your forfeit could be doing the cleaning or washing up (when she says) for the whole month! It doesn't have to be serious, it can just be a bit of fun to make you both realise some of the things that you do or say to the other that upsets them or makes them happy. so make it fun. Make the rewards romantic activities that you can both enjoy together.


That's all from me today, so all that I want to say is that I hope that the new year brings love and happiness to everyone regardless of whether they're in a relationship or not. To those of you in relationships, I hope that 2013 will be the best year that you've ever had together.

Love from lila xx