Guest Post: Romantic ideas for the New Year

I don't know about you but I'm still saying happy new year to people and it's February. Maybe I'm in denial. I'm absolutely in denial about the state of this winter. The polar vortex has taken it's toll on my aging body and soul. Ugg boots and Netflix are my regular dates.

But if I did have a lover this winter I would take Ivy's advice on how to keep romance alive.

Ivy works works for a romantic retreat that aims to add a little something special to your relationship.

Romantic ideas for the New Year

If you’re anything like me, you fear the pressure of having a huge New Years blowout and crave the intimacy of a cosy night in with your special one. I know to a lot of people this seems insane and completely and selfishly reclusive, but if you are your partner are up for a night alone, I promise you there is no better way to spend your NYE. However, I would encourage that if you do decide on this route, do something special like stay at a hotel in the city or go for a drive to the country and spend the night in a different place, not in your own home.

For starters, there may be a romantic retreat close to home that you didn’t even know about, like the hidden gem Japanese Mountain Retreat, a romantic getaway that’s only a stones throw from the city. Or if you want to go for a bit more of a trip, or even go on a jaunt overseas, I have a few more extravagant suggestions that make the most of the winter chilly season!

Finland offers a beautiful winter wonderland for you and your partner to explore, while also enjoying the comforts of a cosy mountain cottage among the trees and soft white snow. When people talk about exotic tropical holidays, I don’t quite get the appeal, what’s more romantic that a timber cottage with a roaring fire and your partner by your side?

Similarly, Norway offers arctic delights with some exciting activities on offer like dog sledding, snowmobiles, boats and skiing.

Switzerland, the home of the majestic Swiss Alps have igloo villages that you and your partner can enjoy, they also happen to be state of the art, offering all the mod cons of any regular romantic accommodation. You can be immersed in nature and eat delicious meals while engaging in a environmentally friendly village that aims to have very minimal impact on the environment. Amazing.

While Europe sure does offer some winter delights (it has ALL the mountains) America sure does offer some beautiful vistas in Colorado, New York state, and even further north to Canada in Nova Scotia.

Guest Post: The FIZZLE

The Fizzle

By Gabby

It's like reaching into the fridge for a soda on a hot day excited to taste the refreshing cold carbonation, only to discover it's gone flat and is not even that cold.

How do you end something with someone you've only been seeing for couple of months? It's not quite a relationship, so what do you call it? A datingship? A summer fling? Though summer fling feels too carefree for this particular circumstance.

Circumstance being; I've been seeing someone for the past two months. During the first month I had been casually dating a few other people. However, our first date lasted 8 hours, and only increased from there, thus the rest were benched or faded away on their own accord.

We always have a good time hanging out, as we have quite a bit in common, and share a similar sense of dry humor, though simultaneously it's felt quite unnerving. He keeps wanting to hang out, but seems completely closed off emotionally, and covers any true feelings with a blanket of sarcasm and apathy. The conversations I've initiated regarding my above concern end up becoming circular and go nowhere. I've been known to disarm even the hardest of characters. But with this one I am completely worn out, to the extent I am at a loss as to how he feels about me, in turn making me question how I feel about him.

I want more, and by more I mean; more affection and more openness, and I am starting to wonder if this person is willing/able to give more, to me at least. We are both traveling this month, and I suspect if I do not reach out and open the line of communication, he won't either.

Which brings me back to my initial question. Do I persist and hang in, or just let it fizzle?

Guest Post: 365 Days in Japan, Zero Dates

DATING IN JAPAN: One-Year-Recap

By Sarah

 Teacher, writer, photographer, lover of food and life. Check out her blog 

Daily Nibbles

Last week I was on a road trip in Hokkaido with a friend. A last holiday hurrah before we both returned home from teaching English in Japan for the year. While he was driving, I would often curl up in the passenger seat with my feet on the dashboard and catch up on blog reading when we had 3G service. I read through a lot of the 100 First Dates archives - out loud, oh yeah - and my friend told me to write a recap about dating in Japan.

I laughed.

It's not impossible, but it's difficult for Western women to date in Japan. I'll break this down in over-simplified terms. Japanese men are shy. Japanese women are adorable. Western men like adorable Japanese women. That leaves Western women out of the dating loop, unless they are a stone cold super fox. Throw in my limited Japanese, a stressful job, a rural living location, and wild curly red hair from lack of proper curly hair products, and well, I didn't have a date at all when I was 32 and living in Japan for the year.

According to any women's magazine or romantic comedy ever made, I should feel sub-human and immediately book a one-way trip to a tropical island until Sarah Gets Her Groove back.

It's okay. I might not have had one damn date, but I had a lot of self discoveries.

ONE-YEAR-IN-JAPAN recap.

The Bad.

0 - Dates. (Awww.)

1 - Email from a former crush. Luckily, unlike last year at this time, I felt nothing.

1 - Attempt at OK Cupid. Joined. Changed my dating location, something like, four times. Received a marriage proposal and a request to move to Colorado by total strangers. Quit.

1 - Shared a cab with two hot Danish backpackers in Malaysia. Flirted, then never saw them again.

2 - Failed crushes that confused the fuck out of me and caused me to write a SERIES of long and exhaustingly embarrassing emails to my besties back home detailing any interaction with said-crush, until they flopped and made me realize I still focus on the fantasy of people rather than the reality of the situation.

The Good.

I made more guy friends than ever before. Friends to go hiking, have over for dinner, go on holidays and road trips, meet up for workouts, and go on camp-outs. They would call me out when I was too hard on myself or acting crazy, push me to try new things, patiently teach me Japanese, and would even help me write my online dating profile. And unlike ex-boyfriends, these men have the potential to always be in my life. I treasure them.

I did yoga regularly. I went on more hikes in one summer than in the last five years. I tried kettlebells for the first time. I walked everywhere, and I biked almost everyday.

I traveled often - sometimes with friends and sometimes alone - and bought myself fresh flowers almost every week.

My sweet students told me that I was kawaii (cute), even on the days I was sweaty and disheveled at school.

I learned how to make homemade Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. It's weird looking, totally unique, and incredibly delicious, so of course it's my new favorite food.

While the year could be hard and confusing and non-romantic, it also felt so insanely liberating. It taught me how to be me, which is better than any relationship I've had.

But now I'm home and everyone wants me to get back to dating.

Ganbatte ne.