For my readers, I have an early Valentine’s Day present.  One of my readers will win a $25 EdenFantasys gift card.  To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What would you go out and do on your ideal Valentine’s Day date with your significant other?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Follow @EdenFantasys on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @EdenFantasys and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Get ready for Valentine’s Day with @TechyDad and @EdenFantasys #Giveaway http://bit.ly/x1ILO3
• Circle Me on Google Plus. Let me know your Google Plus name in the comments. (1 bonus entry)
• Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from January/February. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, January 24th and ends at 10pm EST on February 7th, 2012. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to U.S. residents only.

Disclaimer: The Heart Balloons clipart comes from OpenClipArt.org.

Towards the end of the day, before dinner was ordered, B and I decided that we should both take showers.  We had just washed and changed the sheets on all of our beds.  (Ok, so it wasn’t a completely lazy day.)  We figured we shouldn’t go to sleep that night without having showered.

As part of my day’s activities, I had resurrected an old laptop we had.  So the boys both had computers to play on.  They were both occupied so I dared to suggest we shower together.  It’s been awhile since we’ve done anything like this and it seemed like a golden opportunity.

B and I got ready.  We got into the shower and B adjusted the water temperature.  Then, as the temp was just right… NHL came walking into the bathroom.

Did I mention that we only have one bathroom on the ground floor?  There we were in the shower with NHL just inches from us on the other side of the curtain.  No, we weren’t engaged in any "activities", but it did mean that any hope of "activities" was rapidly dwindling.  NHL wasn’t rushing either, but decided to talk to B for a bit.

I kept quiet at first until B gave away that I was in there.  NHL was surprised but didn’t question why dad would get into the shower with mom.  He probably figured that we were saving water.  (Yeah, saving water.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

This seems to be a recurring theme in our lives.  I’ll admit, there are days when I miss our pre-kid years.  In those before-kid times, we could go out to a romantic dinner or just spend some quality time indoors on a whim.  Now, we need to plan when we can drop the kids off at B’s parents house and when we need to pick them up.  Spousal quality time seems all too lacking no matter how much we try to make it a priority.

Still, we’re not going to stop trying.  Having a child burst in on you when you’re having a quiet moment together is just one of the many challenges about being a parent.

Luckily, there are always ideas to be had at EdenFantasys. Perhaps we can take a few quiet moments, while the kids are otherwise occupied, and give each other a massage.  Or maybe we can find some "toys" to help add excitement when we would otherwise give in to exhaustion at the end of a long day.  If we’re running low on ideas ourselves, we can also head on over to EdenFantasys Forums to ask other people for ideas.  Yes, B and I are always on the hunt for ways to maximize our Us Time.

Disclaimer: This post was written as part of the EdenFantasys Ambassador program.  I received an EdenFantasys gift card, but the opinions expressed above are my own.

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.  A man and a woman are madly in love.  They have a wonderful time in the bedroom (perhaps in other rooms as well).  Then they get married and have children.  Gradually, their bedroom antics become fewer and fewer.  They turn from passion filled romps into scheduled sessions timed for the least interference of the kiddie kind.

The bad news is that this happens to far too many of us married folks.  The good news is that it doesn’t need to be like this.  Sometimes, all you need is to add a little spice to your relationship.  And boy does Eden Fantasys have spice!  You can go for the tamer items like massage oil or lingerie, or for some more adventurous gear.  There is also a whole community of people at Eden Fantasys, so be sure to stop by their forums.

Thanks to Eden Fantasys, one lucky winner will receive a $50 gift certificate. To enter, simply leave a comment below answering this question: What type of product would you buy from Eden Fantasys with $50?

Update:  It has come to my attention that some people might feel uncomfortable answering this question.  That’s fair enough.  So you can either answer the question above or this alternative question:  What do you do to keep your relationship from falling into a rut?

You can also earn bonus entries by doing any (or all) of the following items. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each item that you complete.  (Don’t just leave one comment listing everything you did.)

• Follow @TechyDad on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Follow @EdenFantasys on Twitter. (1 bonus entry)
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Be sure to include @TechyDad, @EdenFantasys and a link to this post in the Tweet. (1 bonus entry per day) For example: Add some spice in your relationship. Win $50 for @EdenFantasys from @TechyDad http://bit.ly/fxCCpR #Giveaway
• Subscribe to my RSS feed or let me know if you already are. (1 bonus entry)
• Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway posts from December/January. Leave a comment here letting me know which post you commented on. (1 bonus entry per comment, maximum 3 entries)
• Write a post on your blog linking to this giveaway. Leave 3 comments about this to get credit for all of your extra entries. (3 bonus entries)

To enter, please follow the rules above within the comment section. Contest starts today, January 6th and ends at Noon EST on January 20th, 2011. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. This giveaway is open to any place in the world that Eden Fantasys ships, which is the entire world!

Disclosure: I was provided with a gift certificate to Eden Fantasys for running this giveaway. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed above are my own.

Earlier this year, I first learned about Eden Fantasys.  I found out that they are an online shop that sold adult toys.  I considered doing a review from them for a bit, but was concerned.  After all, I consider this a family friendly blog.  I also have some lines that I don’t feel comfortable crossing.  How could I review a sex toy on here without a) getting explicit or b) divulging information about my sex life that I’d prefer to keep private?

After perusing their selection, I realized that their inventory contains, not just vibrators and the like, but other items of a tamer sort.  And so my Good Clean Love Gift Set massage oil review was born.  Later, at BlogHer 2010, I was able to meet Jenn from Eden Fantasys, attend their BlogHer session and go to their “decorating” party.

Over the months, I’ve found out that Eden Fantasys isn’t just a simple “sex toy shop.”  It’s a whole community dedicated to allowing people to discuss and learn information about those most intimate of moments.  As many parents can attest, having children (and all the complications it introduces) can negatively impact the quality and quantity of intimate encounters.

And now, I’ve become a member of the Eden Fantasys Ambassador Program.  While their review program allows bloggers to receive free products to review, one can run up into a limit if one doesn’t want to regularly discuss vibrators and the like.  The Ambassador program is designed to bypass this limitation.  Once you sign up, you can receive up to one free product per month (within reason, of course).  You then are under no obligation to review said product.  Instead, you can write about Eden Fantasys in more general, family-blog-friendly terms.  This is only my first Ambassador program post and I can’t wait to do another next month.

If you would like to sign up, simply e-mail Jenn (yes, that’s the same Jenn I met at BlogHer).  Be sure to let her know that I referred you.

Disclaimer: This post was written as part of the Eden Fantasys Ambassador program.  I received the Fairy Wand Massager in exchange for posting about their site.  The opinions expressed above are my own, however.

There, now that all of you are in the privacy of your own home, I’ll begin the story. As I mentioned earlier, I met Jenn before and after the Bringing Sex Out of the Closet session. She had mentioned a party that Eden Fantasys was throwing in their suite. There would be treats and dildo decorating. I knew we just had to attend. I’m pretty straight-laced about many things, but how often can you say you got to go to a dildo decorating party?

When the BlogHer party time approached, B, CutestKidEver and I walked to The Warwick hotel and crammed ourselves into their tiny elevators. (Seriously, those things were small!)

We cautiously approached the room and knocked on the door. Jenn answered and in we went. After speaking with her and Victoria, briefly, we made our way around the room. There were plenty of snacks and buttons:

Some toys to admire. These were not for use during the party! It definitely wasn’t *that* kind of party!

And then there were the dildos along with feathes, glue, glitter, pipe cleaners and other decorating essentials.

A table directly behind the dildos (how many times can I say that in one blog post?) contained chocolate lollipops that were decidedly *not* for kids, condoms (meant to be made into earrings though I’m sure they could have other uses), and some other decorating supplies.

It wasn’t long before everyone got down to the serious business of decorating their dildos.

The creations showed a lot of imagination. There was David. Note the "fig leaf."

There were simple creations:

And very elaborate creations:

Here’s one in the early stages and when it was finished:

There was an angel (not made by my angel):

And, of course, I decided to make a devil:

Which, in turn, prompted the angel’s creator to spruce up her creation. Though many of us had never met before, somehow decorating dildos brought us closer together.

B even got into the act (though this is the only photo she’d allow me to post of her working):

CutestKidEver seemed to be having a blast as well.

Before long, we needed to leave to attend other BlogHer parties. We left our creations in Jenn’s care so that they could dry overnight. The next morning, we headed over and woke Jenn and Victoria up. Jenn apologized for being in her pajamas without any makeup on and we apologized for waking her up. We picked up our dildos and headed back to our room to pack up to leave the Hilton. I later found out from Jenn that we were the only ones who picked up their decorated dildos. Now why would someone want to leave creations such as these behind?

Jenn and Victoria, fortunately, were able to take the remaining masterpieces back with them. I do think it would have been funny to have seen the cleaning staff’s faces had they discovered a dozen or more dildos all dressed up with nowhere to go! On a side note: I don’t think I’ve said/typed the word "dildo" so many times in my life.

Thanks Jenn, Victoria and Eden Fantasy’s for a wonderful party!

This job done, I attended “Fight Spam and Hackers! Plugging Security holes in Your Social Media Life.” Now, I’ve been interested in security matters for a long time. I might have been a bit advanced for that session, but it was still interesting. My only complaint was that I sat down on the right side of the room near some surge protectors to plug in my laptop. I was told that the right side would be for a CSS workshop and the left side would be for the security Geek Lab session. So I went to the back near a wall outlet, plugged in… and was told that the wall outlets were for AV equipment only. Really? A Geek Lab without access to power? I puttered along on battery power, coming dangerously close to empty before the session ended. Still, it was great session and I was given an idea for a future series of posts by Amy Leis of Amiable Life.

While talking with Liz Henry (who ran the session) afterwards, I ran back into B and CutestKidEver. CutestKidEver was planning on going to the Eden Fantasys’ session titled “Bringing Sex Out of the Closet.” B wanted to go to the Geek Lab session about how to take great pictures. I had decided to go to the Family Foodies one.

Before I went to the Foodies session, however, I stopped by the Eden Fantasys table outside of their session. There, by the table littered with toys of the adult variety (nice euphamism, huh), I got the chance to meet Jenn aka KissMyKitty. As I said in Friday’s post, I had worked with her for my massage oil review. We had kept just missing each other previously. We chatted for a bit and she gave me a recommendation for something to buy B. (Insert evil grin here.) Eventually, I moved on to the Foodie session.

During the Foodie session, I began getting odd tweets from B. It seems she made a last minute change in plans and snuck into the sex session right behind my back! I tried to be interested in the Foodie session, I really did, but it just didn’t seem to catch my interest. So I snuck out and joined B and CutestKidEver in the sex session. (Ok, that just sounded really wrong!)

Unfortunately, my wireless network went down and wouldn’t connect. (Please, no cracks about being unable to “keep it up” during the session…. B already made those!) The helpful Hilton network guy came to help me. Now picture this: The guy had to come into a session where a lot of sex talk (including lesbian-type stuff) was going on. Nothing X-Rated, mind you, but still on the racy side given the subject matter. And the guy helping me has a yarmulke on. Yes, an Orthodox Jewish network technician braved the sex session to assist me in my wireless network! Now that’s dedication.

Due to my network troubles, I wasn’t able to pay attention as much as I would have otherwise. Thank goodness, CutestKidEver live blogged it. At the end, anyone who hadn’t gotten a swag bag (like myself) was invited up to get one. I took a peek inside and saw that this was one swag bag that the kids definitely wouldn’t be playing with! This one was for grown-ups only! As we left the session, we ran into Jenn again. I introduced B and CutestKidEver and we took a photo with her.

We passed by the food area on our way to the Expo and noticed that snacks had been put out. Pretzels, popcorn and the like graced the tables. It all looked good, but we were still stuffed from lunch. That didn’t stop me from taking photos, of course!

Then, it was on to the Expo where we saw many different products and talked with many different people. I’m ashamed to say that I was so involved with connecting with people that I neglected to take many photos. At least my Photo Geek FAIL meant that I socially won (aka made some good contacts and saw some great products). I did take a few photos, so here they are.

After this, we headed to the Sheraton for the Sweets in the City event. Here, we were tempted with cupcakes (which looked delicious, but we were still stuffed), got to play a Beamz (extremely cool instrument which plays music via a computer depending on which laser beams you break – wish I could do a review of this one), and got some great swag including a Perplexus (review of that coming up).

We headed back to our room, dropped off our heavy bags and then B and I decided to go for a walk. We were getting hungry and also wanted to see the M&M’s store and the Hershey’s store. First, we headed towards Broadway. We spotted where The Late Show with David Letterman tapes (sadly, no Dave sightings), saw where some Broadway shows are performed (sadly, didn’t have time to take in a show) and browsed the Hershey’s shop. Then we went across the street and enjoyed three floors of M&M shopping.

After this, with some (purchased, not swag) bags in hand and our tummies finally rumbling, we walked to Ray’s Pizza and got a few slices. We brought them back to our hotel room and enjoyed some NYC pizza before resting up for the next day.

I’ve worked with Adam in the creation and running of DadRevolution, but had never met him in person. I was able to remedy this at the Ralph Lauren party and again at Sparklecorn.

I’ve worked with Jenn during my Eden Fantasys review. I got to meet her just before the "Bringing Sex Out Of The Closet" session. Prior to this, we almost met a few times but always just missed each other. It was quite the meeting as we discussed "presents" I should buy my wife. I later saw her at the Eden Fantasys "decorating" party and at Sparklecorn.

I’ve followed Anissa’s husband, and later her, from her stroke through to the present day. I even got to see her three times during BlogHer. Each time, I saw her though, my mind went blank. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out what I was going to say. To keep from completely embarassing myself, I just walked by. Note: This wasn’t due to anything Anissa did or said. A lot of other people went up and talked to her and I never saw her being anything but gracious. I just had a mental freezeup and didn’t know what to say.

Luckily, I met a lot of the people on my mental list and a lot of people who I hadn’t planned to meet pre-BlogHer. I’m now following a lot more people on Twitter, made some great connections, and have a stack of business cards to go through. (I will go through those! I promise!)

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Have you ever been at a loss for words when you saw someone you really wanted to meet and talk to in person? How did you handle this?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #51

I’ve got to admit, I love giving B massages. However, sometimes it can be tough to massage for long. Dry flesh (hands) plus dry flesh (back) equals friction. We’ve considered massage lotions in the past, but B’s skin is highly sensitive. We buy everything we can fragrance free, especially if it will be touching her skin (like laundry detergent). So rubbing a scented massage oil on her skin never seemed like a very good idea.

In addition, massages will mostly happen at night between the time when the kids are in bed and when we go to bed. If we use a massage oil, we’ll either need to put down some sort of towel (uncomfortable and could shift) or get our sheets messy. Worrying about changing/washing bedsheets at 10pm is not very relaxing! Neither is the prospect of having to shower again after you’ve gotten all ready for bed to rid yourself of greasy skin.

I had heard good things about Eden Fantasys for awhile and wanted to give their site a go. After some recommendations on their forums for massage oils, I decided to try the Good Clean Love Gift Set. I liked that it said that it was made of all natural ingredients and that it didn’t leave any residue.

It arrived and we decided to try out the Origins scent. In case it gave her a horrible reaction, we agreed to only use it on part of her leg. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the massage got a little out of hand and more than just her leg got the massage oil on it. We gave it a few days to check for reactions but none appeared. Similar results happened with the others.

Just as I had heard, the oil left no residue. Our sheets were able to be left for sleeping on instead of being tossed in for a late night washing. B’s skin was non-greasy. You really couldn’t tell that massage oil had been applied to it. My hands got a bit greasy, but then again they got more oil on them than anything else and are about the easiest body part to clean.

About the only negative that I could find was that the bottle tops got slippery and seemed to undo themselves a bit. It never wound up opening itself up but it frequently seemed to be on the verge of it. Just remember to give the cap a quick twist before opening it up and you’re good to go.

All in all, I’d definitely recommend this product. At first, it might seem pricey at $27.99 for three small bottles, but a little goes a long way. You won’t need more than a five or six drops to cover an entire back. Those three bottles should provide many, many great massages!

$27.99Good clean love gift set Oil by Good Clean Love   Buy from EdenFantasys