DISCLOSURE:  I received free products from Crowdtap to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

Other than when I'm out running errands or picking kids up from school and with me working practically every weekend, I haven't had the chance to really get out of the house.  It's been so long since the last time I went out to dinner with girlfriends or did anything with friends.  Every time I try to set something up, either no one's available when I'm free or something comes up and we have to cancel.

Recently, I was chosen by Crowdtap to host a Sweet'N Low Girls Night In.  I thought this would be a perfect alternative to going out with friends.  They could all come over for dinner and drinks and we could rent something from Redbox!  It would be a fun way to catch up with everybody and not have to deal with driving somewhere.

Crowdtap sent a nice kit that included:

• Sweet'N Low packets
• Sweet'N Low samples to hand out
• A Sweet'N Low branded pitcher
• Sweet'N Low branded cups
• Sweet'N Low branded napkins
• A Sweet'N Low branded measuring cup
• Recipe Cards for different beverages
• $10 Gift Card to use towards party expenses

Once I received the kit, I started emailing and texting friends to see when people were free.  And wouldn't you know, any date they were free conflicted with either my work schedule or some other previous engagement that I had.  Ever since one of the girls moved away at work (to Canada!), I've had to work pretty much every weekend.  While it's nice to have the money, it makes it impossible to do anything socially without knowing months ahead that I need a specific date off.

In the end, I ended up turning the Girls Night In into a Date Night In with my husband.  While I was at work this past Saturday, he dropped off the kids at my parents' house in the afternoon and picked up the ingredients we would need for our dinner and drinks and he also stopped at Redbox for a movie.  We haven't been to the movies together in forever (it's probably been over a year!) and it would be nice to watch something that wasn't one of my daughter's Monster High DVDs or Disney Junior!

When I got home from work, these lovely flowers were waiting for me when I got home. Aren't they beautiful?  I love lilies!



While my husband prepped dinner, I made some Sangria:

Red Wine Sangria

Ingredients
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup lime juice
1 bottle (1.5L) Burgundy or other red wine
1/2 tsp Sweet'N Low (about 2 packets)
3 1/2 cups seltzer
1 orange, chilled and cut into wedges
1 lemon, chilled and sliced
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

Directions
1.  In a large pitcher or punch bowl, stir together juices, wine and Sweet'N Low until the Sweet'N Low dissolves.

2.  Refrigerate until well chilled.

3.  Just before serving, add seltzer, orange wedges, lemon slices and strawberry slices.


After making the Sangria, I let it chill in the fridge, while I helped my husband finish up prepping dinner.  We had a lovely (and quiet -- no kids in the house!) meal of chicken, rice and veggies.  The Sangria was good.  It wasn't as fruity as others I've had.  You could taste the alcohol in this, which was probably a good thing.  With the fruitier ones I've had, I usually end up drinking too much of it!  Plus, with this Sangria only being 60 calories per serving, we splurged and shared a slice of Cherry Cheesecake for dessert.


Even though it was store bought, it was pretty darn good.  Next, we headed to the living room to watch the movie we rented, American Hustle.  I've been wanting to see it and finally had the chance to do it!


It was a lovely evening.  And bonus -- the kids ended up spending the night at my parents' house!

Thanks Sweet'N Low and Crowdtap for this chance to spend some alone time with my husband!