Prepping for your Valentine’s Day While on the Go (Part 1 of 5)

Making Valentine’s Day Special with Help from HP (Day 1)

Valentine’s Day isn’t that far away, and if you haven’t noticed, I want to make it something special this year.  No particular reason why; I just feel like going retro with a romantic celebration like something from back in the day (and if I can convince the Hubs to play along and enjoy the evening, all the better!) But, right now?  I’m stuck in Windsor ON, visiting the Sis and helping my parents move some of her stuff back to Toronto ’cause its not long before she’ll be finished her education here. That means I don’t have a lot of time to organize a fabulously retro Valentine’s Day date for the Hubs and I to enjoy.  The cool thing though?  I have my trusty portable laptop/tablet with me to make some of those date decisions while I have some time to myself here.  I cannot explain how much I’m loving my new HP ENVY x2 (the laptop that doubles as a tablet!)  For one thing, the battery life is all kinds of awesomesauce.  It lasts virtually all day, and all night!  At first I was worried at all hours of the day that the battery would die at any moment, ’cause that’s what I’m used to.  But this baby though has not just one battery cell, it has TWO!

Both the tablet and the detachable keyboard have their own battery packs; so while I take the tablet around with me during the day and use it at all hours, when I come back home in the eve the keyboard battery is ready for me to continue working without the need to find an outlet to plug-in.  How genius is that?? And as much as I love the Android OS, working on a Windows 8 tablet is starting to feel like “home”, especially since its the OS that I use on my desktop as well.  If you’re into graphic design, you may appreciate how happy I am that I have my fave programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop available on a tablet!  So despite the tablet build, it’s a fully functional Windows 8 OS that means all of your favourite computer programs can be easily installed and used whenever you need, wherever you may be.

So how am I using this device to help plan Valentine’s Day today?  I’m spending my free time:

• Checking out special restaurants that I might just want to reserve for our dinner using a local WiFi hotspot.  I have a growing need for fondue for two, so am hoping to find some place like The Melting Pot, but more within Toronto.
• When I do find the right place, I can simply use my Skype account (along with my annual North American subscription) to call in my reservation through the tablet, instead of spending long distance minutes.
• And to go along with my retro-cutesy plans, I’ll be sending the Hubs the invitation below using our WiFi enabled, print-anywhere, HP Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One printer.  Yes, you can print anywhere around the globe just as long as you have access to your email, so even though I’m in Windsor, I can get my invitation printed at home at any time, which I just did… the Hubs is sick back home in Toronto, so maybe the print (that I had easily created all of five minutes ago on the tablet,) below will cheer him up a little.

Valentines Invite for the Significant Other by

I love being able to do fun types of communication with the Hubs.  Sure, I love simple phone calls too, but it’s nice to keep him on his toes!

And now I have a question for you!  Would you like to win your own HP ENVY x2 laptop/tablet and Photosmart eAIO 7520 printer for Valentine’s Day??  If so, use the giveaway app below to enter for your chance to WIN!

Every day there will be a new question to go with each blog post (total of five questions), so be sure to come back regularly to answer each one! Best way to keep up to date for a new blog post is to join the Geek with Style newsletter, as it will send you a note each morning when a new post to enter is available. Good luck!

EDIT: So that I can accurately determine your contest entries, please comment on the blog post that corresponds with the mandatory question asked in rafflecopter.  I will accept entries accidentally entered on this post that belong to the Day 2 question.  I would really dislike it though if I missed the fact that you did truly comment for the winning entry, but I couldn’t verify it because it was found amongst the masses on a different post.   Thanks for your help guys!

DAY 2: Valentine DIY, can be found here. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This blog post has been compensated, but please rest assured that it in no way affects the information that I’m imparting to you.  I want you to have the best that’s available out there, so you won’t ever find “lemons” from me.