10 Sex Tools Every Woman Needs

Check out Redbook’s 10 Sex Tools Every Woman Needs for some surefire ways to spice things up! The best part? You’ve already got most of them at home!

Busy Couples Reconnect

Between work schedules, managing a household and juggling children, many couples are left with little or no extra time, often causing their relationship to suffer.

Mira Kirshenbaum, author of The Weekend Marriage: Abundant Love in a Time-Starved World, says that without quality time together, the connection between you and your significant other can wither. What’s more, it can become increasingly difficult to reconnect as time goes on.

Kirshenbaum says that in order to have a strong relationship, couples need to spend three types of time together: close time, relaxed time, and fun time (with an emphasis on the fun!).

So what can you do to help reconnect and have fun with your beau? Check out Revolution Health for surefire ways to help bring you and your partner even closer!

Love and Money

Given our country’s current credit crisis, it’s more important than ever to talk with your significant other about your financial situation. Your relationship could depend on it!

According to David Zinczenko, author of Men, Love and Sex, a recent national poll discovered that 38 percent of men and women say that money is the number-one cause of marital strife. (Which incidentally is way ahead of the second place “lack of sex” fight!)

One of the main reasons couples argue over finances is the disconnect between his and her financial goals. Avoidance and/or a lack communication about financial planning just exacerbates an already sticky situation! Managing a budget is tough enough—why not face the challenge head on as a team?

What should you talk about to prevent moo-lah from turning into marital issues? Check out Jeff Opdykem’s “Love and Money” column for nine questions all newlyweds (or any couple) should discuss.

What’s worked for you?

Googling Your Date?

Ever try and “Google” your date? According to author Laura Schaefer, eleven percent of women have gone online and done research on a person they were dating or were about to meet.

“Googling your date” can be a great way to do some research and find out things you both have in common before you meet. It can also be a great way to get the dirt on your prospective partner!

Be forewarned though, “Googling” is by no means fool proof! For example, if your date has a relatively common name, you’ll end up with millions of search results. Who knows if your Michael Smith is the one listed as Harvard alum or the one featured in the Metro’s Police Blotter.

And, while pre-date research can give you some info on your would-be beau, always remember that you often learn the most about a person by meeting them face to face!

Have you ever “Googled a date” before? We’d love to hear about it!

Does Size Really Matter?

Get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about engagement rings! It seems as though lately, perception is becoming flawed. Do women really care more about what’s in that tiny black box then the man that’s giving it to them?

“It’s not that women are necessarily getting bigger rings,” says New York City-based psychotherapist Debbie Magids, PhD, author of All the Good Ones Aren’t Taken. “It’s just that they’re talking about it more openly now — and guys can’t help but notice.”

Wondering how big the average engagement ring is? According to the Jewelry Information Center, “it’s just under half a carat, a far cry from Beyoncé’s blingtastic 18-carat stunner. And the average bucks expected to be spent nationwide in 2008 on that average ring: $4,332, according to Theweddingreport.com.”

Check out the latest from Cosmo for the scoop!

Fascinating Love Facts

Love is a crazy thing. It does things to the mind, body and soul one can never truly understand until immersed in it fully. Laura Schaefer, author of Man with Farm Seeks Woman with Tractor: The Best and Worst Personal Ads of All Time, provides us with 25 fascinating facts that will leave the most noted love expert intrigued:

• Men who kiss their wives in the morning live five years longer than those who don't.

• Falling in love can induce a calming effect on the body and mind and raises levels of nerve growth factor for about a year, which helps to restore the nervous system and improves the lover's memory.

• A man's beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex.

• People who are newly in love produce decreased levels of the hormone serotonin — as low as levels seen in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Perhaps that's why it's so easy to feel obsessed when you're smitten.
  
  

Check out the MSN story here for all 25 fascinating facts!

Seven Steps to Happily Ever After

Many things go into making a marriage last a lifetime. That kind of commitment is no small feat. According to Redbook, “a great marriage isn’t just about what you have. It’s about what you have to do to make a relationship stronger, safer, more caring and committed”. Click here to read their seven steps to make your “forever fantastic”.