BloggingDangerously

You've Got To Know When To Hold 'Em

A few months ago it occurred to me that I LOVE to play cards and I don't do anywhere near enough of it - so I resolved to play more.

I mentioned it to my friend - "I used to play a ton of whist." I told her.

"Oh my God," she said, "ME TOO!"

So we decided to get our husbands together and play.

And we did.  The four of us played while the kids watched a movie and it was great.

I started playing whist on my phone.  It was fun.

Then my husband started playing poker and I thought, "Hm, that may be a more useful life skill than an obscure British card game."  This was roughly around the time winter REALLY came to Boston and it snowed - a lot.  That put a damper on my running outside so I grabbed my ipad and hit the elliptical and started playing VIP Poker.  I got killed.  Luckily it was fake money.

I started getting better. Well, at least I learned that a full house beats a flush.

And never draw on an inside straight.  

Whatever that means.

A few weeks ago we invited our friends over to play cards again but they couldn't make it because they were going out of town so we invited a different couple.  We didn't really say what game we were going to play but they showed up with a professional poker case with fancy colored chips.

Poker it is!

Their kids played with our kids while we figured out how to play poker.  The husbands both fancied themselves experts, I was more realistic, the other wife had never played before in her life.

We had a great time.  They didn't go home until 11.  The kids had a great time.  It was a perfect suburban night.

The next day my husband and I were playing cards.  He looked at the back of the cards and said, "If I ever got a tattoo it would be of the bicycle playing card logo."

Then he saw an insert in the deck that advertised clothing with the bicycle logo.   We pulled up the site and saw George Clooney wearing the t-shirt.  The designs were great.

I contacted JacksandJokers.com and asked them if they would be interested in letting me review a couple of shirts so they sent a shirt for me and for my husband.

I got this shirt and I have to say it's the softest tshirt I have ever owned.  It fits great and is beautiful.

My husband got this one:

It has the Bicycle logo on the back.  That's a much better option than a tattoo and much less expensive.  It's also so soft that I LOVE snuggling up against it.

These shirts aren't inexpensive but they're incredibly high quality, soft as can be and have a great design.

If you're interested in Poker and like soft tshirts you can wear to the club or wear to bed I can't recommend them more.

And if you're looking for a GREAT inexpensive way to socialize more and meet more people, start asking everyone you know if they play cards.  This weekend we went back to the home of the couple we played poker with.  The wife is now a pretty solid poker player and they invited a third couple.  Neither of them had played much poker before but by the end of the night they were both excited to play again.

Note: We don't play for money - just for fun - so the whole night cost us $20; $5 for the appetizer that I brought and $15 for beer.  

I wrote a post a while back about how hard it was to make friends when you get older.  Then I realized that it was because I wasn't really trying.  Since I've started inviting people over for poker I've realized that most people are excited to be invited - they're not doing cool things on the weekend - they're doing the same nothing I'm doing and wishing they weren't.  

And that cool couple you'd like to spend more time with?  They'd like to spend more time with you - and they have cool friends.

PIC IT

Do you ever wish that you had more time to work on your photography skills but you never really have the time?

This year I started a Facebook Photography Group to encourage people to take more photos but I never remembered to check the "prompt" early in the day and when I finally checked it at 11pm it was sort of hard to find the topic.

Well, I'm excited to announce that I'm partnering with an iphone app development company on a new app called PIC IT.

Pic it is a great app that gives you the opportunity to vote on the subject for tomorrow as well as post your photos to instagram for other people to choose as the best photo!

It's free to download the app and I've really been enjoying playing.  

Let me know what you think!

Lubricant Review and Giveaway! (Sponsored)

As you know I've been working with the amazing people at Zestra to tell you about their new line of products that make sex more pleasureable for women.

I already told you about Zestra Essential Arousal Oils - which REALLY spice up your nether regions (in a good way.)

And now I want to tell you about Zestra GLIDE - the new lubricant from Zestra.

It's designed to work with the Essential Arousal Oils or alone.

My husband and I tried it out this weekend and it was fantastic.  Some of our toys require a little help in the lubrication department and this worked wonders!

It even lasted long after we'd misplaced our toys and found each other.

If you're looking for a lubricant with all natural ingredients, I would encourage you to try Zestra GLIDE!

And now, 2 lucky readers can WIN their own bottle of Glide!

Just leave a comment answering the following question and you're automatically entered to win:

What is the most romantic place you would like to go to?

Sponsored: Love Potion

A few weeks ago I told you about a new product called Zestra.  It is a feminine arousal product that promises to bring back her enthusiasm between the sheets.

This weekend the husband and I had a chance to try it out and the following is my honest review:

We woke up Saturday morning after the kids had already gotten up and gone downstairs.

He got up to go to the bathroom and on his way back to bed I asked him to get the bottle of Zestra out of the top drawer of my dresser.  He handed it to me and I read the directions... "Dispense 3-4 pumps into your hand and apply to all of your girl bits.  Wait 5 minutes and prepare to have your head explode." (I may be paraphrasing.)

I dispensed.  I applied.  I told my husband we had to wait five minutes.  "You don't have 5 minutes." he answered back.

I waited, I concentrated, and I didn't feel anything.  Well, except for my husband trying to urge time forward at the 4 minute mark.

Still nothing significant at the 5 minute mark but my husband was beyond ready.  Maybe some of that lotion had splashed onto him?

Somewhere around the 6 minute mark I felt everything start to tingle.  I'm not talking about a slow burn like a certain "warming lotion" I've tried before.  This was a tingle that felt like there was a vibrator present - even though there wasn't.

It was a little distracting - what with the other BUSINESS that was happening - but we made a position switch that augmented the tingling sensation and eliminated the distraction.

So, did my head explode? Absolutely.  Was it entirely due to the Zestra?  The health of my marriage requires me to say, no, not entirely.

So what do I think?

I think that the lotion certainly gets the nerves in her sensitive areas firing on all cylinders.  I think that if she has time to really get into the sensation, it will definitely help put her in the mood.

I think that 10 minutes of foreplay will certainly give him plenty of time to become aroused.

I think that any time two people have an honest discussion about what they want, enter a bedroom looking forward to trying something new and spend ten minutes focused on her body, magical things happen.

I think that sometimes after having a baby or some other significant life change, we need a little help getting back into a groove in the bedroom.  We think that we don't need it and that we can live without it and that our marriage can live without it.

And maybe those things are all true, but we don't have to live without it.  And neither does our spouse.  There are lotions and potions and all sorts of things that we can try to rediscover intimacy.  They don't all have to work for us.  Some things will work for one couple and won't work for another.  The key is to keep trying to find the thing that works for you - and for your partner.

Do I think that Zestra is going to revolutionize sex for everyone? No. 

But it may enhance it for you. 

Can you say "stocking stuffer?"

Order here for a "Blogging Dangerously" discount offer.

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FCC Disclosure: Zestra provided product to me for this review but this is my 100% honest opinion.  If you have further questions regarding my experience with the product please email me or ask me on Twitter.

Sponsored: Kiss and Makeup

Thanks to L'Oreal for sponsoring my post about my favorite beauty looks, tips and tricks! Check out Makeup.com for beauty advice from the experts.

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 As a full time working mother trying to squeeze in workouts and blogging, I don't have a lot of extra time for pampering myself.  Let's be honest, I barely have time to brush my teeth and shower.  Drying my hair is a luxury reserved for weekends, date night and corporate meetings.

Barring that, I can usually be found wearing jeans, crocs, a ponytail and no makeup.

Until recently.

The other day I was picking my daughter up from school and I bumped into my friend.  She was telling me a story but I interupted her to say, "You look great!"

She laughed at me and said,  "I'm wearing eyeliner because I'm freaking exhausted and I figured it would distract from the dark, puffy circles under my eyes.  I guess that says how I normally look!"

She was right, it was the eyeliner. 

Since then I've been making an effort to wear eyeliner whenever I leave the house.  I typically don't wear eyeliner unless I wear shadow and mascara because they eyeliner looks too dark without shadow and shadow lightens my lashes so I need mascara... at least that's what I used to think.

The other day I bought a lighter brown shade of eyeliner that blends in better.  Now I can get away with a little eyeliner to bring out my eyes without spending 5 minutes "putting on my face."

It's made a huge difference in how I feel when I go out.

The other thing that I've been doing lately is making sure to put on lipstick whenever I get into my car.  It's not a big deal but it means that whenever I go out I have lipstick on and people have commented, "You look great!"

Besides, it makes me rub my lips together which helps me remember to smile - and really, that's the best accessory you can wear!

(Shown below: my GOTO lipstick, Clinique Black Honey - it's not a real shade, it just makes your lips POP!  Try it today!)

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I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. Click here to learn more about Makeup.com or become a Facebook fan by clicking here