manfriend Archives - Twenty Something Plus

May 4, 2016

Slate & Willow Showstopper

Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links.

Dress: Rent the Runway | Shoes: Charlotte Russe (similar) | Clutch: Old Navy (similar)

On Instagram, I shared a sneak peek of the dress I rented from Rent the Runway for my eighth anniversary with the manfriend. It was not the same dress that I wore to our anniversary dinner at Ballo Italian Restaurant, which may have caused a tiny bit of confusion.

I rented three dresses as a part of my Rent the Runway Unlimited monthly subscription.

The Slate & Willow Carlene Dress was what I wore after dinner. We stayed at Mohegan Sun and gambled the night away.

I say that very loosely.

While we did gamble a little, we mostly walked around, did a some window shopping and grabbed ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s. And we talked.

A lot.

We talked about how far we’ve come in our eight years together. About mistakes we’d made and the future we see for ourselves. It was the perfect way for us to celebrate our anniversary.

As we walked and talked, we also broke a lot of necks! I mean it’s kind of hard not to draw attention in a sequined statement piece like this Slate & Willow one. Especially with the low cut back.

Want to give Rent the Runway a try? Sign up here using my personal invite link!

May 3, 2016

Anniversary Dinner at Ballo Italian Restaurant

When invited to dine at Ballo Italian Restaurant, the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. The manfriend and my anniversary was coming up, so we figured why not make it an early dinner and spend the night at Mohegan Sun.

One of our favorite things to do together is to eat. And Ballo saw to it that we did!

I wanted to try a spring dish so I ordered the Scallops and Shrimp, while the manfriend went a little more classic with the Chicken Parmigiana.

Literally everything from the bread to dessert was an exquisitely delicious treat. I won’t pretend to be a food critic, but as far as Italian food goes, I really liked everything. Especially their special Sunday pasta sauce and the hazelnut gelato toped with expresso! The manfriend even said it was one of his best dining out experiences. He’s a pretty picky eater, so that is really saying something! We wouldn’t have spent our eighth anniversary anywhere else.

The atmosphere and ambience is perfect for an intimate date night, although not necessarily the best for showing off one’s amateur photography skills…

If you go, I recommend visiting on a Sunday and asking about their special Sunday pasta sauce!

Thank you so much to Ballo Italian Restaurant for the invitation for us to sample your amazing dishes! All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

May 15, 2015

Borrowed from the Boy: Birchbox Man

One year, for the manfriend’s birthday, I made the mistake of getting him a one year subscription to Birchbox Man.

For obvious reasons, I adore Birchbox, but my low maintenance gaming partner? Not so much…

Occasionally, when Andrew did decide to try a sample, he’d like it and stick with it. He’s a product loyalist like that. When his box had a cool tech product he was happy, but that was as frequent as he would have liked.

He was much more pleased when I learned my lesson and got him Loot Crate the following year.

His samples haven’t gone to waste, I found his stash and have been trying some of them. One month he got the same Vasanti exfoliator that I’ve sampled twice now, the second time by choice. I told him how much I liked it and thought he’d love it. He never even tried it. Yonk!

The exfoliator wasn’t the only product offered in both the men’s and women’s shops…

The smell of this shower gel (that also has a matching body lotion) is euphoric. He missed out.

A face and body wash? Don’t mind if I do!

With my short and now straight hair, I thought why not try some of his hair product samples. So glad that I did, I found two that I use and keep in my purse!

Majority of the products that he’d received were beard grooming products. He had the beard, and groomed it, but found one cream he liked and that was that. I was talking to a friend about it and she told me I should use the shaving cream too. I have yet to, but that’s now the plan.

Do you have any products that you borrow from your boy? If so, tell me what in the comments! Want more info on any of these products? Just let me know.

February 11, 2015

Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Manfriend

Valentine’s Day is Saturday.

This Saturday.

I’m not freaking out, because I’ve got my gifts for the manfriend wrapped and ready to go!

What did I get him?

While my boudoir mini sesh was totally for me, I figured why not let the manfriend benefit a little from it as well.

At the suggestion of Victoria Gloria, I used Artifact Uprising to print a custom photo calendar using 12 of my favorite shots from the shoot.

Soy Candle

I had also recently attended a candle making workshop with Northeast Nutmeg, where I got to make three Valentine’s Day-themed scented candles. I gave one candle to my mom and kept one for myself, but set the third aside to gift with the calendar. And since I felt like crafting I made a no-sew heart garland, just because…

No-sew heart garland

I know, he’s spoiled.

Andrew claims that he’s already gotten me something, so naturally, I’m dying to know what my Valentine’s Day gifts from him are…

To be honest, I would be extremely happy just getting to go and see 50 Shades of Gray.

Judge away.

May 5, 2014

spending time with the manfriend

Believe it or not, the “manfriend” has a name. It’s Andrew. Andrew Michael when I’m upset with him.

We’ve been together for six years this month. Like any other couple, we are far from perfect, but he truly is my best friend and has been since college.

Currently, we are working on strengthening our bond by addressing some flaws that we previously neglected to.

The really abridged version of our love story:

He saw me, liked me, chased me. I turned him down. He got a girlfriend, I got jealous. They broke up. I graduated (I’m older), we started dating. We moved in together, and a year after that we were engaged. In 2012, we were supposed to get married. That didn’t work out. We stayed together and moved to Vermont. I got really depressed and started seeing a therapist for seasonal depression and anxiety. I discovered why they say that you can’t love someone else until you first love yourself. My emotional health was hindering my ability to be the best me and a good partner. Then more stuff happened, and here we are, working on us.

Photos courtesty of Once Like a Spark Photography

The three biggest things that have been helping us (I asked Andrew what his thoughts on this were and he said the exact same three things!):

Talking (communication is key)
Showing appreciation and affection
Spending time together

Of those, I really enjoy spending time with Andrew. Our job can be very time-consuming. Yes, we also work together. We used to pass work off as spending time together, but it is not the same. When we do things one (or both) of us enjoys, we get to know more about each other, we learn what we have in common, and we talk more than we normally would.

What do we do together?

Andrew is a gamer, so this past weekend we played Diablo III.

I like boardgames, so we also played Scrabble.

We both enjoy watching movies, so we went for a walk to our local Redbox and rented four movies to watch while we snuggled on the couch.

Spending time together is great, but it is also important to remember that some alone time is much needed and can be just as great.

Do you have a partner/spouse? How do you keep your relationship going? Post a picture of the two of you doing something together on Instagram and tag #spendingtime. This can be a super fun way for us to share some “date” ideas!

xx
Bethany