The length of your shower, the time before the first commercial break, Antoine Dodson’s fame… 15 minutes is not that long. However, surprising studies – including one of 4,500 parents commissioned in 2008 by Holiday Inn - showed that the average couple with kids talks uninterrupted for LESS THAN 15 MINUTES a day. Where is the love!?

The relationship between two people is a beautiful, wonderful, unique, living creature, and it must be nurtured as such. In honor of Valentine’s Day, American Heart Month and the overall month of love, we introduce to you the newest member of Spa Week’s Expert Panel, Healthy Relationship Expert Andrea Syrtash (whose latest book insists you “Cheat On Your Husband… With Your Husband”), with a challenge to fire up your love life!

Are you ready for CHALLENGE #9?

Here’s what to do:

Commit to 15 minutes a day of date talk during which time you will not talk about household chores, bills, kids or in-laws. It’s essential to have date talk if you want to keep the spark alive. Stay curious about each other!

When:

From Friday, February 3rd to Valentine’s Day, February 14th

Why?

ANDREA SAYS: “One study showed (and all of the couples I interviewed for my last book demonstrated!) that the average couple with kids communicates uninterrupted for 15 minutes or less a day! And let’s be honest, even those of us without kids often forget why we fell in love with our partners. It’s essential to your health and happiness to connect every day as lovers and partners — not just as parents and roommates.”

What’s in it for me? (Loving and WINNING!)

Besides feeling closer to your partner and improving your happiness and mental health… join Andrea Sytrash’s Spa Week Daily Challenge Event on Facebook and share your success story or struggles. Once you RSVP and start sharing, you are automatically entered to win a $50 Spa & Wellness Gift Card by Spa Week.

MORE ON ANDREA:

Andrea Syrtash is the MSN Living Relationship Expert, a dating and relationship author and on-air personality. She has contributed to over a dozen relationship-advice books and is the editor of How to Survive the Real World and How to Survive Your In-Laws. She is the author of He’s Just Not Your Type (And That’s a Good Thing) and Cheat On Your Husband (With Your Husband) (Rodale Books, 2011).

Andrea Syrtash with Michelle at LoveLife 2011

You may recognize Andrea from her previous articles here on Spa Week Daily, such as How To Be Single and Happy. We also had the pleasure of co-hosting our LoveLife 2011 event with her last February, and also as a featured online dating expert guest at our #SIGNOFF event in 2010.

Andrea has shared relationship advice as a contributor to numerous popular sites including OPRAH.com, Yahoo!, MSN and The Huffington Post; and she is the on-air host of ‘ON Dating’, produced by NBC Digital Studios. She frequently appears as a guest on shows including The TODAY Show, CBS’ The Early Show, ABC News, VH1, TV Land, Martha Stewart Radio and NPR. Her advice has also been featured in Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Glamour, Women’s Health and Redbook; and in newspapers including USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle and The New York Times.

Andrea frequently speaks about effective relationships at events and conferences around the country. For more, please visit www.andreasyrtash.com or follow @AndreaSyrtash.

For that adorable man and woman dip-dee-dip photo above, check out etsy. You can buy it as a print.

Some people love gambling.

Some people gamble on love.

To do both of these things at once, your Valentine’s Day destination is clearly Las Vegas.

One of our Travel by Spa Week partners, LVH – Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, is doing up Valentine’s Day dinner at Casa Nicola and TJ’s Steakhouse with a special offer at either restaurant. Couples dining on February 14th will be treated to a complimentary champagne toast and chocolate truffles, PLUS a chance to win their Valentine’s Day Escape Drawing, which includes a one-night stay at the LVH with a special room amenity and dinner for two at Casa Nicola.

Which restaurant to choose? Let him pick (guys love to think they’re in control) between Casa Nicola, an authentic Italian restaurant boasting robust, flavorful (manly man) dishes, and TJ’s Steakhouse, a sexy, Rat Pack-esque restaurant with only the finest USDA beef hand-cut and broiled to perfection over an open mesquite flame (need I say more?). Guys love steak and Italian food (most likely) just as much as they love you.

Casa Nicola

TJ's Steakhouse

If you win the Valentine’s Escape Drawing, you and your man can enjoy all of the exciting goings-on at LVH during the month of March:

Watch the games: From March 15-18, the LVH Theater transforms into Hoops Central, where you can watch the best in college basketball battle it out on giant HD screens. They have over 1,500 seats, $2 beer/$2 hotdog specials and free t-shirts.

Catch a concert: The Isley Brothers (3/2-3) and Chicago (3/9-10) are rocking the LVH Theater only in March.

If you’re not in Vegas but looking to go, be sure to check out Spa Week’s exclusive 3- and 4-night packages at the LVH, which you can use for travel through March 2012.

Happy Valentine’s Day, our Spa Sweethearts! In honor of the holiday, we are pleased to announce one of our readers the winner of our Ecoya Beauty Giveaway, a $200 basket including the sweet smelling Pink Champagne Ecoya Love Candle. (At bottom.) You won’t have it in time for tonight’s festivities, but it will definitely come in handy when the mood is right.

But when IS that mood right, you wonder? To enter, we asked: What do you think is the best occasion to ignite a scented candle?

Directly from your responses, here’s a list of the…

Top 10 Occasions to Light a Scented Candle

10. When you’re cooking! –Emma Brooke

9. My favorite time is when traveling and am staying in a hotel, I like to light a candle to make the generic hotel scent go away + its just more comforting  –unidentified Facebook User

8. During a bubble bath — popular answer

7. After the kids go to sleep Every night at dinner we light a candle after we put our son to bed. It helps us to forget the day and be a couple again! —Deanna Munson

6. When sitting on the balcony with my husband at 2AM taking in the sights of the city. It adds mystique, romance and calm to the city. –unidentified Facebook User

5. I always light a scented candle before I have company over so my apartment is fresh when they arrive. –unidentified Facebook User (and) I almost always have a scented candle burning, but I always make sure there is one lit when company is over. I love candles!!!! – Virginia Mugerdichian Rowell

4. During yoga and meditation –unidentified Facebook User

3. After a long day… or bad day –popular answer

2. For a romantic evening –popular answer… (such as) an anniversary for sure, that would spark me up a bit :) –Diane Bassette (or) When my husband and I are wanting a extra special romantic evening together –Teresa Cangiano

Coming in #1 as the most popular occasion to ignite a scented candle…

1. ANYTIME is an occasion. Some of your reasons:

There really shouldn’t be a specific occasion to ignite a candle – Life is too short. If you are a lover of candles like I am, they should be lit whenever you have the desire to do so. Generally I love to light candles at the start of the weekend which means from Friday after work to unwind to Sunday when I’m preparing myself for the week ahead. For those days they are burning practically the whole day. –Gigi

Anytime you need to relax –Tina Mava

A candle can be lit for any occasion-big or small. It definitely defines and brings the room or house at a comforting level. I usually light a candle for anything that has been stress or tension related. Its relieving, therapeutic and smells wonderful. It’ll take your mind off the distractions and the scent should melt you to wonders! –Janet Kang83

There should be nooooo reason, just light one up. –Vanessa Martinez

And the winner is….

Every day is a gift, and a reason to celebrate and enjoy – and what better way than to light a scented candle, relax and reflect. Don’t just save them for ‘special occassions’. Make every day special. – Cheryl A.

Congrats Cheryl and thank you all for your contributions! May you all make every day, and every moment special. Please email candace(at)spaweekmedia(dot)com to claim your beauty basket of Ecoya products.

In the words of Katy Perry last night at the Grammys:

This one goes out to all the Valentine lovers.

While Katy’s “Teenage Dream” might land on this list 10 years from now, we’ll let it slide for the time being. From the bottom of our hearts, here are the cheesiest, most classic love songs of all time. (Your list—we couldn’t resist recycling from last year.) Enjoy, and have a LOVEly night! <3

Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend! This year the holiday of love falls on a Monday, so you have the whole weekend to celebrate. For those of you not in a committed relationship, celebrate by buying yourself something nice, or even better WIN something nice! Below you’ll find a host a great giveaways inspired by the holiday.

Ignite Passion On Valentine’s Day With This Femmescience Body Polish Giveaway on The Blay Report

Tweet this Giveaway! Enter to win a Beau Bow Model Mirror on Posh Glam

Enter to win the Botkier Charlotte Satchel for Valentine’s Day on Nitro:licious

Win a Carolee Sentiments Cuff Bangle in Sterling Silver on Shopping and Info.

Enter the Fendi Superstar Bauletto $710 Valentine’s Day Giveaway on The Find.

No V- Day affair is complete without candles. Don’t forget our own Ecoya Love Candle & Beauty Giveaway – ending Sunday!

Need a last minute gift idea? Print out or email a Spa Week Gift Card.