Update – We have a winner!

Thank you for all the entries and wonderful comments for this giveaway. We’ve really enjoyed reading all your stories about your best & worst Valentine’s Day.

The randomly chosen winner is (drumroll please….) @Toaster4JC!

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to enter the giveaway and we hope you continue to enjoy Things To Do For Two.

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With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we thought it would be fun to do another giveaway. We realize that a lot of people have strong opinions on Valentine’s Day. Some people hate it, some people love it, some people think it is just an excuse for Hallmark to suck money out of our wallets. Regardless, we think you’ll enjoy this giveaway. It’s a gift basket full of coffee related goodness from the good people at Perks Coffee. It includes a travel mug, a t-shirt, a few different types of coffee, some Gold and Specialty Club cards, some heart shaped chocolates, and more.

If you’re looking for a nice gift to give on Valentine’s Day for that coffee lover in your life, this fits the bill nicely. Or if you prefer, you can keep it all for yourself. We won’t judge you.

Here are the details of the giveaway

The Prize: 1 Gift Basket courtesy of Perks Coffee

How to Enter:

1) Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/thingstodofor2 and send out a tweet that says (without the quotes):

“Win a Valentine’s Day gift basket from @thingstodofor2 and Perks Coffee. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/chjWAX”

2) Leave a comment on this post telling us about your best or your worst Valentine’s Day experience.

You can enter the giveaway through Twitter or by leaving a comment, or you can do both and get two entries. If you do both, please include your Twitter name in your comment so we can keep track of everything.

Fine Print: Contest closes Thursday, February 11th at 2pm ADT and is open to Canadian and U.S. readers. If you are chosen as a winner we will message you to find out your shipping address. You then have 72 hours to respond to our message.

This is the first of our 12 Dates of Christmas series so we thought reliving our first date would be fitting. We jumped in the car and went to Perks in Halifax where we reminisced about old times and dreamed about things to come. We also had a run in with a crazy lady, but you’ll have to read on to find out about that!

SHE SAID:

Our first date was definitely not very glamorous and some might argue it was no date at all. We simply went to Perks, a local coffee shop in Halifax, ordered hot chocolates and talked for a few hours. It was simple and perfect and not too costly to relive!

It’s hard to believe it’s been over six years since our first date, so it’s no wonder I barely recognized the inside of Perks. I no longer live in Halifax and therefore don’t frequent Perks as and had no idea they had undergone such extensive renovations. The only thing we did differently than our first date was that we opted to sit in the new cozy little nook off the main entrance.

While we were trying to think of the details of our first date, I found I remembered really odd, useless details like what we drank and Brad nervously playing with a napkin. Brad, on the other hand, can practically quote our conversation verbatim. This time around the same thing happened. Once again we ordered hot chocolates and once I again I forget what we talked about. I swear I was paying attention.

I really enjoyed going back to the place it all began. Not only did we get to reminisce but we got to make new memories as well.

HE SAID:

I’m not sure what most first dates look like, but I’m pretty sure ours was a little unusual. We had been friends for several years so we knew each other quite well. It was more of an unofficial first date since it was quite a while after this that we were officially a couple.

You know how men are typically the ones who forget important details about their relationships? Well, in this case it’s reversed. Susan totally forgot the fact that I bared my soul to her on our first date. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever worked up the nerve to do, and all she remembers is the music we listened to in the car on the way there.

It was a lot of fun to go back to Perks all these years later. Life has changed a lot, and so have we, but it was nice to take a minute to look back and see how far we’ve come.

No relived date would be complete without making new memories. Let me set the stage. We’re sitting off to the side of Perks, drinking our hot chocolates, and enjoying our evening, when all of a sudden this older woman comes around the corner talking about how she should have a reserved sign on her seat. She then proceeds to sit down right next to us and just sits there and stares at us for a good five minutes. She wasn’t sitting in the next seat over either, she was so close we could almost smell her breath as she snorted in disgust. Susan wanted to get up and leave, but I refused to give in. We sat there staring at each other in silence determined to out wait this woman. After what seemed like an eternity, she angrily got up and moved to another seat. It was one of the strangest things a stranger has ever done to me. If she had politely asked us to move I may have considered it, but since she decided to force us out by making us feel awkward, I decided to out last her awkwardness. It worked!

There were no life altering conversations at Perks this time around, but it was great fun. We talked about the memories of when Susan used to live in Halifax and the fun we had just hanging out together. We also talked about the future and how grateful we are for the way life has turned out. Reliving our first date was a great idea. It gave us perspective on how far we’ve come, and reminded us to have fun in life as much as possible, because time goes by very fast. Hopefully your first date experiences were positive enough that you want to relive them. If so, get out there and give it a try!

It looks as though the fall season is in full swing these days. The leaves are falling off the trees and the temperatures are steadily falling. Hopefully you are all enjoying it as much as we are. We’re always looking for ways to keep warm through the cold months of fall and winter. Of course, one of the best ways to warm up is with a nice hot drink. That’s why we’re giving you the chance to win your very own french coffee press.

Last night we pulled out a french press to make some tea after supper. We had never attempted it before so we weren’t sure what to expect. It turned out to be very easy and the results were great.

First you boil some water. Then you dump in however much loose tea or coffee grinds you want into the bottom of the press. It’s a good idea to wait a minute or two before pouring the freshly boiled water into the press so you don’t burn your coffee. Pour in the hot water and let it steep for however long you like. Once it looks good, just push down on the press and watch the grounds collect at the bottom. That’s all there is to it.

The Prize: 1 Bodum French Coffee Press

How to Enter:

1) If you haven’t already, sign up for Twitter.

2) Go to www.twitter.com/thingstodofor2 and click on the Follow button.

3) Send out a Tweet that says:

“Win a Bodum French Coffee Press from Things To Do For Two. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/2WJ3u3”

Fine Print: Contest closes Friday, October 30th at 2pm ADT and is open to Canadian and U.S. readers. If you are chosen as a winner we will message you to find out your shipping address. You then have 72 hours to respond to our message.