'Sorry officer...'

Valentine's Day has never been an ideal holiday for me. After growing up working in a restaurant, I have always worked and waited on served lovely couples their romantic dinner together! This year was no different, although I now work in Albany, I was called to work at the restaurant in Syracuse because they just opened an addition and were short staffed. So I decided I could strap my cape on that day and play Superwoman. I woke up extra early to make my Valentine breakfast only to rush into work late and leave early.  Speeding down the throughway I made it just in time for my shift at the restaurant. After a two hour drive, I decided to quickly gulp down some espresso shots before my station would fill up with happy couples. The busy night didn't end much before midnight, putting me in bed by 2am. With only 3hours of sleep under my belt, I was very angry when 5am came and I had to get back in my car and make the trip back to Albany just to make it to work on time. Exhausted from the very eventful evening, it took me a while to get out of bed. My mother was reminded at how hard it was to wake me up in high school!

After 3 large cups of coffee, I made the long haul back to the 518. Running late as usual, I was trying to make it in a record time! Flying with my Superwoman cape on, I almost hadn't noticed the police officer tailing behind me with his sirens blaring and his lights flashing. I was immediately mad at myself for not paying more attention to my speedometer, I didn't even realize how fast I was going. When he came and tapped on my window, I didn't even know what to say but to give him my sob story. I was hoping he would feel bad for a little Liverpool princess like myself having to work on such a romantic holiday! He must have a heart because he did not give me a speeding ticket (how fast I was going I will not say) however, when he ran my license and registration he realized my car was not inspected. With all of the hustle and bustle of my life, I had completely forgot to get my car inspected, which my father so politely reminded me of about a month ago! For some reason I was able to get away with speeding but an un-ispected car is not dismissible.

Upon returning to Albany, I had already started my day on the wrong foot and was only irritated the rest of the day. I ignored some fatigue signs and completely dismissed the headache and sore throat.  After re-doing our Valentine's Day, soon enough it was almost 2am again and I felt that all I had done was run around the past 24hours. I should have picked up on some warning signs that I needed to slow down but it wasn't until 7am the following morning when my head was in a toilet bowl thanks to the flu, that I didn't realize how bad I needed to take a break! Now working three jobs, having an active social life, visiting friends and family on the weekend and trying to find time for myself in between gets exhausting! It's hard to take a step back and realize how much of life we miss! I came to this epifany that I need to start worrying about myself more. I need to take a step back and remind myself what it is I need instead of what my roommates want or that my boss needs help staffing for Valentine's day. I know too often that I have put others before myself and now I need to take care of myself. I think that too many of us do this as well. We get caught up in the day to day activities that we almost lose ourselves.

So this morning when I was abruptly woken up by my violent cough, I decided that the only way to kick this flu was to care for myself more. I promised myself that even with everything going on in the day that I am going to make more time for myself. I used to read almost every night before bed and I would like to get back to that because that was at least an hour to myself that I could escape from the world and just dive into a great read! The time we spend with ourselves and our own thoughts is one of the most important parts of the day and I think we all need to do more of that. I also notice that even when I get an hour to myself I am in a much better mood! So give it a try, spend at least an hour out of every day to yourself, rather it be running, working out, reading, painting, scrap booking, cooking or even just sitting quietly. Collecting your thoughts and compartmentalizing your day in your head will make the day a lot less stressful and you will feel a lot better! If your schedule is as busy as mine, wake up an hour earlier while the world is still asleep and take advantage of the quietness! These are the times we take for granted!

Cook for Love!

Although I have been called the scrooge of Valentine's Day, with only one day left I sort of feel guilty for boycotting it this year! I will stand behind my beliefs that it is a stupid holiday but not everybody feels that way and I feel bad for pressing my opinions onto others! So with only 24 hours left until the day, I am going to change my attitude around. After work I am going to swing by Target and purchase some Valentine's day cards to send to my friends and give to my roommates tomorrow. Since I am trying to budget myself, I will still not be purchasing any gifts but might be thinking about cooking something cute for the roomies in the spirit of love! Since I love to cook, I thought this was a good compromise! So here are some last minute ideas for those of you who are in the same boat and are searching for a simple Valentine's day activity! 

Homemade Marshmellow Hearts! 

Who doesn't love those cute little heart shaped candies! Here is a recipe to make your own and that way you can write your own sayings on them! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Yum!!!! Although these are tough to make, the pay off is well worth it! And red, how perfect for the Valentine's Day theme! 

Heart Shaped Toast

This simple breakfast could start your Valentine's Day off right! All you need is a heart shaped cookie cutter and you can use what you have already in your fridge for breakfast ingredients! 

Heart Shaped Hot Cocoa 

Simply freeze some Cool Whip on a tray, let it set, then cut out your desired heart shaped toppings for either hot cocoa or coffee! This along with a heart shaped toast and eggs will be sure to make your Valentine fall in love with you again! 

Heart Shaped Fruit

Cut out some homemade pancakes into hearts topped with heart shaped fruit makes for a nice romantic breakfast! Maybe even add some heart shaped strawberries to a mimosa to really start the morning off right!  

Lunch Packed with Love

If your Valentine is not a breakfast person or if you just simply don't want to wake up before the sun rises to make breakfast, pack his lunch for him and cut his bread into heart shaped slices and he will be sure to think of you while he is taking his lunch break at work. 

Simple Heart Cookies

Another perfect food to pack for your loved ones lunch! Although he might get made fun of in the office, all the other guys will be jealous they didn't receive delicious homemade cookies in their lunch! Simply make his favorite cookie recipe but cut them into hearts! 

If you are like me and would rather work on Valentine's day and don't have enough time to make something extravagant or refuse to spend your week's budget on a dozen roses, these simple cooking ideas will be sure to keep you out of the dog's house for not celebrating Valentine's day and are also easy enough to not consume your whole day! 

10 Valentine's Day Gifts!

By now we all know I am anti-Valentines! But for those of you who absolutely MUST celebrate this pointless holiday, I have devised a list of some cheap and clever Valentine's day gifts for couples! With less than a week until the big day, these gifts are perfect and involve minimal preparation. But if you are like most couples and decided to celebrate it this weekend, you better hurry up and get shopping! But while all of you are out there running around spending money on candy grams and chocolates I will be enjoying the company of my best girlfriends enjoying my weekend :)

1. Romantic Movie Basket

 Put together a little basket of his favorite movies, a bottle of wine, popcorn, maybe a snugly blanket, some sticks and marshmallows for the fire and a take-out menu of his favorite Chinese food place for later. This gift should not cost you more than $70 if you play it right and he will absolutely love it! This will also give you two a chance to spend some time together and bond rather than just going to see 'The Vow' in a packed movie theater when you two can't be close or talk!

2. Lotto Scratch Off

I saw this idea on Pinterest (of course!) which is where most of my great ideas come from but I thought this was such a cute homemade gift for both guys and girls! I could not find the exact example I had found before but the jist of the gift is to create your own scratch off where your loved one can scratch off one square a day until valentines day. It will take a little creativity and some time but it should not cost you more than $10. This is a great idea if you two are already planning on going out to dinner because it will be a good lead up to a nice romantic candle lit evening!

3. Dirty Darts

I found this unique idea on a website and I thought it was a great idea because it incorporates sports and romance. This game will be sure to spice up the night and it will also entice his sports side. He will be thrilled to see you got him something sporty yet adventurous. And it is fun for both parties! 

4. Personalized Pub Glasses

On this same website where I found the dirty dart game, I also found these personalized beer glasses which most men would love! Beer and their name, of course they would love this! They also have beer mugs and personalized beer coasters. Another variation of this would be to add chalk paint to beer glasses which allows guests to write their own personalized messages to their glass.

5. Kick Boxing Class

Why not beat up on each other a little bit for a nice romantic Valentine's? Most classes will only cost $50 a class or sometimes LA boxing even offers free classes. Working out releases endorphins and will ultimately put you both in a better mood after. This is a perfect gift for the athletic boyfriend and the healthy girlfriend. Another alternative is dance lessons, especially if you guys are considering marriage or engagement. Perfect preparation for the big day!

6. Coupon Book

As I was searching for more Valentine's Day gifts, I noticed a lot of suggestions to purchase romantic coupon books. So why not make your own personalized coupon books. For example: This coupon is redeemable for one morning I will take the dogs out and serve you your OJ and ham egg and cheese in bed. By making the coupons more personable, this will make him more excited to use the coupons that he would actually do! This involves some time but very cheap! Guys, you could also do this for girls! We would love it :) 

7. Cook Book

Nice way to hint that you would like him to cook more for you ;) Create a cook book of your favorite recipes, maybe throw some of his own in there and on Valentine's day give him a cooking class with one of the recipes in the book! Along with a bottle of wine, this would make for a nice romantic night where you guys are helping each other out and working along side with one another! This will also be a good useful gift for the future because next time he messes up he can refer to the book and be awaiting for you when you get home with your favorite meal already on the table! Hint hint, this will be sure to get you out of the dog house fast!

8. Royal Flush

Chances are he is probably better at Poker than you so let him give you a lesson. At the end of the lesson, play each other and be creative! Bet with something other than chips and be sure to wager something for the winner! This will be sure to boost his ego and also give you guys a common new hobby. So next time a bunch of your friends get together to play poker, your girlfriend could be the one taking home the winnings for you!

9. Gift Basket

Similar theme to the movie basket but this time create a basket with all of his favorite things! Be sure to limit yourself to a budget and stick to it. Include his favorite beer, food, snack, underwear, candy, game and hobby. This will be easy on your wallet and if you know him well enough he will be sure to use everything in your basket! You could even make it cute and more geared towards a Valentine's Day theme. Maybe some heart boxers or movie tickets to 'The Vow.' You can even label your own beer with Valentine's Day popular sayings! How cute :)

10. Volunteer Together

If you and your Valentine are looking to give back to the community, volunteering together is a great option! Find something local around Valentine's Day and volunteer together. Might not be the most romantic Valentine's Day gift ever but it will make you both feel good about giving back to a local cause. Afterwards, you can celebrate by going out to dinner and be proud that both of you are with someone so generous!

Valentine's Day Contest!

 14 Days 'til V-Day Countdown Contest

Dear Valentine's Day Couples and Singles:

How would you like to win a $50 gift card to Exit 9 Wine and Liquor for whatever your Valentine's Day plans may be? It's as simple as tweeting to your Twitter account:

'I love you more than _____ loves ____' 

Some examples include: 'I love you more than Lucy loves Ricky.' Be sure to include @MoveThatBlock and #loveyoumorethan so we can track who has entered to win! 

Simple and fun way to earn a cool prize for Valentine's Day! Can't wait to see all the creative answers our fans come up with! Let the games begin!

Cheap Valentine's Date Ideas

Instead of continuing to complain about the Valentine's Day experience and the billions of dollars that America spent on this holiday last year, I decided to channel my energy into finding a bunch of cute yet inexpensive date ideas. I gathered some from my own experiences, friends experiences and other blogs. If you feel the need to have to celebrate this holiday, here are some romantic ideas that are easy on your wallet!

1. 14 days of Valentines: Pick up a bag of those heart candies and each day hide one where your loved one will find it. It's a cute way to say 'I Love You' and he will look forward to your messages each day!

2. Build a Fort: Grab a bottle of wine, take the cushions off the couch, drape a blanket over two couches and string some white Christmas lights under the blanket. This will give the two of you a romantic star gazing experience and the close quarters will facilitate those loving feelings. 

3. Camp fire: Build a fire outside, roast some marshmallows and try to find the big dipper. The feeling of being a kid again will remind the two of you of the excitement you once had in the beginning of the relationship.

4. Game Night: Operation, Trouble, Sorry and Twister sound familiar? Dust off these old childhood games and have a game olympics. This plain, simple fun will be more fun than you expect! End the night with Twister and by that time your inner kid will have come out. Seeing this side of one another will make Twister interesting! 

5. Movie Marathon: Call in sick to work, put your pajamas back on and spend the entire day watching new movies with each other! Order some Chinese and just enjoy the warmth of the bed and each other's company. Just spending the day together will re kindle your love and remind each other how much fun you can have by just enjoying the simple things in life. 

6. Scavenger Hunt: Turn off all the lights for when he comes home from work, create your own little scavenger hunt where he is lead by candle light. At each candle light, give him another clue that will lead him to the next candle. You could make this romantic or fun, whichever way you would like! It's a cute idea and allows him to use a little bit of his intellectual side! He will enjoy getting every clue right and be happy to find you at the end of the hunt. 

7. Theme Night: Pick a theme for the evening, rather it's something new or his favorite topic! If you guys have been talking about going on a cruise together, create your own little cruise at home. Every room is a different island. The dining room could be in Mexico where he is served nachos, enchiladas and tequila! The living room could be transformed into a Bahama room with the heat turned to 90 degrees, you change into your bathing suites and watch Creatures of the Sea. End the night in the bedroom which is actually Puerto Rico where you are served rum and enjoy the sunset in a homemade hammock! 

8. Learn something new: Dance class, cooking class, or boxing class, learn something together! You will feel vulnerable at times and maybe even a little stupid but putting yourself out there together will create a bond and trust for each other knowing that it's ok to be vulnerable sometimes! Then, you both can show off your new talent once the class is over. 

9. Spa Day: Instead of spending money on going to the spa, create a menu of options for one another, you can pick three things off the menu. Then, one person gives the other a massage, maybe a facial and a manicure. Then you take a break, maybe eat some chocolate cover strawberries and champagne then the other person pampers the other! You both will feel so relaxed! 

10. Breakfast in bed: Sweet surprise! Each of you make the other their favorite breakfast food and feed it to each other in bed blindfolded. Being fed without being able to see what it is you are eating really makes you trust the other person and exemplifies your other senses. 

11. 20 Q's: Create a list of 20 questions, could be personal, silly or just some basic knowledge about each other. Write down the answers you think they might respond with and whoever has the most answers right wins. Take a sip of wine after every wrong answer! Getting to know more about each other will build your relationship. 

12. Bucket List: Sit down with each other and make a list of 100 things you both want to do before you die together. Coming up with this list together will make you both look forward to the future and that you have something to look forward to. Cut up the pieces, put them on a cork board, and every time you accomplish one of them, put them in a little bucket hanging on the wall! Such a cute idea! (Thanks Pinterest) 

13. Dine In: Everyone goes out to eat on Valentine's day, so why not make your home your own restaurant. Create a menu, serve three of his favorite courses and favorite bottle of wine. The best part of the night is that your already home when the meal is over! Pretending to be his waitress will also make it feel like something new! 

14. T.V. Marathon: Chose your favorite T.V. show, record 10 episodes or find it on Netflix and spend the night watching the whole first season of Lost. Take a break to serve each other some t.v. dinners and another break to make your homemade popcorn! 

15. Bar Hop: Create your own bar crawl! Make a map of all the bars that have good happy hour and make a plot of all the drinks you want to try at the different bars. Tell some of your friends to meet you at the last stop and have your own little party! Being around all your friends at the end of the night will make you both want to be alone together again! Building anticipation makes the time you finally get to be alone much more desirable. 

16. Create: Build something together! Rather it be just a book shelf or a wine cork board, creating something together will show you both that you make a great team and accomplishing something together gives you both a great feeling that you can conquer the world and do anything together! 

17. Truth or Dare: Create a list of truths and dares, pick up your favorite 6 pack and see where the night takes you. If anything, more memories will be made and the silliness of the game will bring out your inner kid, bonding the both of you on a different level. 

18: Venus vs. Mars: A little one on one with each other. Place a bet on who can beat who in a race or maybe even a little one on one soccer match. Loser has to wait on the other hand and foot for the remainder of the night!

19. Reminisce: Create a scrap book of your memories or create a memory box and spend the evening going through your memories together, remembering vacations and concerts you went on together. Remembering good times brings back great memories and how much fun you have had together! 

20. Be Spontaneous: Just get in the car and drive! Don't have any plans on where your going but be happy wherever the car takes you. The spontaneity of the act will excited the both of you and make for a great evening escaping just the two of you! 

Be Mine!

Yesterdays blog really intrigued me to do soem further research into the Valentine's day experience. What I found is appalling! According to the NY Times, in 2010 America spent over $15.7 not million but BILLION dollars on Valentine's Day! And as if that wasn't disgusting enough, the average American is projected to spend $112 dollars on their Valentine this year! Imagine all the things you could do with $112 dollars! 

1. Put it towards that student load debt

2. Chip away at some of that credit card debt

3. Put it towards that extended warranty for your car

4. Open a savings account for a new kitchen! 

5. Start a college fund for future children.

The possibilities are endless but there are many other money smart ways to spend $112 rather than on a bouquet of flowers that will die in 3 days and she will forget about in 4. Instead of just sitting here complaining about how Valentine's day is just a scam set up by Hallmark to boost sales (sorry St. Valentine) I figured I was going to think of a way for people to save money this year. MoveThatBlock is going to be promoting their dating site with a contest and prize but would like some insight as to what our fans/users would like to participate in! Would you be most likely to participate in a trivia game for the Valentines 10 Day Countdown? Or how about sharing your worst Valentine's Day experience, best story wins? Tag your worst Valentine's Day present to win a great prize this year? We would love to know so feel free to tell us what your more likely to take part of! But hurry, the big day is only 18 days away :) 

Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, many girls are looking forward to a romantic evening with their significant others while their guys are dreading having to spend money on a fake holiday. Quite frankly, I would have to say that I am with the male population on this one! So many girls make such a big deal about what their boyfriend is expected to get or do for them on Valentine's day. But at the end of the day, a big percentage of these girls actually end up disappointed because they didn't receive that new Tiffany's key heart necklace they wanted or their boyfriends forgot to make reservations at the fancy Italian restaurant that is now booked for the evening. Where did all of these expectations come from? Before I make any conclusions about what I believe is a bogus holiday, I did some research and found out that there actually was a Saint Valentine which is the reason we celebrate Valentine's day. 


Apparently the story goes that St. Valentine was performing marriages during a time when Roman Emperor Claudius II was banning them. The Emperor believed that single males were more likely to enroll in the army at that time so he banned marriages. St. Valentine was the only one brave enough to go against his rule and performed marriages anyways. St. Valentine was sentence to death on February 4th 270 and it wasn't until 1537 that King Henry VII declared February 14th an official holiday to honor the brave St. Valentine. Who knew there was such history dedicated to this day! Now it sort of makes sense why we spend it with the ones we love but shouldn't it be more about the sacrament of marriage instead of going out to eat with our boyfriends/girlfriends? I believe if I would have known St. Valentine, he would have never imagined that what he was doing would turn into such a superficial holiday full of spending money on fancy dinners or pumping money back into the economy in forms of gold necklaces and diamond rings. He would probably actually be appalled knowing that we still honor his holiday in a society where the divorce rate is at 75% and climbing! So maybe instead of spending the time and effort in trying to find the perfect valentines day bouquet or fancy bottle of wine, we put our efforts into fixing our marriages and actually celebrate the meaning of what this holiday was intended for!