Do you and your spouse have a date night?  Seriously, do you?

Nathan and I don’t have a set date night.   Between kickball, work, traveling, PTA, fundraisers, kickball, girl scouts, work etc… etc… etc…  it seems like we can hardly fit a night at home together, much less a date night.

A few weeks ago I was contacted about working with Bertolli and doing a “date night that would sweep us away to Italy” seriously y’all, my fingers tripped over themselves saying yes when she mentioned CANDLES, Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Wine Glasses, Silver and Andrea Bocelli.

Y’all know me, I’m not picky about food but, I’m also not a huge fan of frozen dinners but, I’m always up for trying new things and, she said pretty things to me about food and bowls and serving dishes and wine glasses; she knew my weaknesses.

The gigantic box arrived and while my kids burst our eardrums with the pop pop popping of the bubble wrap; I uncovered beautiful white dishes, two gorgeous red wine glasses, two napkins and sterling silver napkin rings, a wine aerator (had to google how to use it) a coupon for Bertolli, an Andrea Boccelli CD (I’ve mentioned him before, I love. love. love him) and a pretty orange candle.  I shoved the coupon in my pocket and took off to the store.. goodnight y’all, the choices! I ended up using the coupon for one and buying two more because I simply. couldn’t. choose.

Nathan and I fed the kids early, put them to bed and then we lit the candle

and poured the wine (through the aerator)

oooooh!  I forgot to mention! They sent me a wine pairing list! SWEET!

The first night we had a red wine because we made the Chianti Braised Beef and Rigatoni (I couldn’t find a chianti, so we had merlot.)  The verdict, surprisingly good and filling.  There could have been a bit more meat but really, for under $6 for the both of us and less than 20 minutes prep.. This will be showing up again.

Hands DOWN, mine and Nathan’s favorite dish was the Chicken Florentine and Farfalle.  It has chicken, a creamy sauce, farfalle and spinach.  Nathan kept trying to steal mine out of my dish.

The Chicken Florentine paired with a rosemary bread and a glass of pinot grigio while curled up on the couch next to my husband watching Bones in our pajamas was quite possibly one of the nicest and most delicious “date nights” ever.

We’re simple people, y’all    You have to remember; he proposed while we were in our pajamas, studying for finals and I had a green cast on my left arm.

It’s not so much about the setting, as the company.

Now, for the good stuff:

Tell me your ideal date night: (the food, the location, the wine) and you’ll be entered to win the exact same “Date Night” Package from Bertolli that I received.

I’ll use Random Generator to choose the winner:

This contest is open from 10:47PM CST April 22nd, 2010 to 10:00 PM CST April 25th, 2010

• First entry (mandatory)  Tell me your ideal date night
• Bonus:  Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment with the tweet url
• Bonus:  Watch the embedded episode of “Into The Heart of Italy” and tell me something you liked about it. (worth 2 entries)

each entry must be a separate comment.  only open to the US.  valid email address must be provided for contact purposes