Friday 22 March 2019

How We Do Date Night & What I Wore


 

We love date night.  We make it a priority.  We plan for it.  We are intentional with it. 

 

What do we do for date night?

 

Recently we celebrated Logan's birthday with a date night out with several of our couple friends.  We got all dressed up and headed out for a child-free evening. Generally we enjoy going to a nice restaurant, ordering a bottle of wine and taking our time.  We usually end up coming home, relaxing and watching a show together .  What I love about a nice  dinner out is a) I don't have to cook, b) I don't have to clean and c) is that we can talk without any interruptions or input from the children.  We get to catch up with one another, like really catch up and not pass information and schedules back and forth. 

 

 

Active Date Nights!

Dinner is one type of date night and one that is our go-to in the winter months.  In Spring/Summer we prefer to have an outdoor activity followed by either an evening at home, cooking together, or dinner out.  We absolutely love being active and making memories together, check anniversary date night here.  Some of our favorite actives:

Tennis

River walk/run/bike ride

Paddle boarding/canoeing

Board games with friends

Picnic

Hiking on new trails

Golf (not really cheap but fun)

X-country skiing/snowshoeing

Skating at an outdoor rink

Pinterest board full of great ideas here.

Sometimes dates are as simple as sharing a cup of coffee and some chocolate together.

Just us and the pups.  Reconnecting with each other and nature.

Anniversary date 2018.  15 years of marriage. 
 

 

What we DON'T do on date night?

We don’t go to the movies.  We used to but now it’s a no-no for us. 

Why? 

Because we don’t talk.  We don’t have to be engaged with each other.  We watch enough TV at home the return on a movie date night isn't high enough.  If movies are your thing, by all means, it's just not something we tend to do.   

 

How often do we have date night?

I think this is, and should be, different for everyone.  What works for you, doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.  Also, this has changed with the seasons of our lives

Our goal is once a month but in reality it’s more like every 6 weeks.  That being said the last couple of years as our children have gotten older and can stay home on their own, we carve out time to go for an evening walk, jog, or go to do errands, just the two of us almost every week.  Currently we don’t have a specific evening that we do it due to our ever changing schedules but we tend to aim for Wednesday evenings. 

The monthly “date” night is much more planned.  We make a plan with friends or by ourselves a couple of weeks in advance.  We connect with my parents, or a babysitter (which we don’t need anymore).  We are fortunate to have my parents nearby and they love having the kids which often means a sleepover for the kids!!!   It’s glorious.  If you don't have this as an options here are a couple of suggestions

a)  Kid Swap.  Kid swap with friends monthly so that you can have a date night.  I think friends are some of the least utilized people in our lives.  We don’t want to impose or inconvenience others, but the truth is they are  likely feeling similar.  They would probably love some sort of arrangement but just like you, but don’t know how to ask. 

b)  Budget.  Babysitters are costly.  I get that.  I would make it a priority and put it into your monthly budget plans. 

c)  If you can't make a monthly date night work, see if you can sneak in an hour weekly into your schedules for a walk by yourselves, and a bigger chunk of time for an evening out quarterly instead of monthly. 

 


Why date night?

Here is my take on this.  In the hustle and bustle of life, the first things two things to go are

a) me and

b) my relationship with my partner. 

It’s easy to get disconnected.  It’s easy to get complacent.  It’s easy to get annoyed because life is hard to juggle.  When I was in my teens and just after high school, many of my friends parents ended up getting  a divorce.  I am not opposed to divorce, in fact I strongly urge people to find happiness and joy that they need to live their best life overall.  That being said, I also feel that it’s easy to let life take over and then find yourself with a person that you care deeply about but necessarily know anymore.  Example, when Logan and I went to London/Paris years ago now, we realized that we hadn’t spent 12 days, heck 3 days, on our own without the kids.  Once we exhausted the topics of our kids, work, and day to day life, we were struggling to figure out how to be just the two of us again.  On this trip not only did we explore new places but we relearned how to make our own fun, reminded each other of why we fit so well together and what drew us to each other in the first place.  The memories we created are now reminisced by us time and time again and we know that we need to carve out some extended alone time.  We can't afford to always go to Paris/London but we can do a weekend getaway to the lake or last year we took a 3 day road trip just the two of us, read here. 

Remembering who we were before getting the best and most important  job in the world, parenting. 

 

 

What I Wore to Date Night Recently?


It's finally warming up here but two weeks ago, it was COLD, COLD, COLD.  I love this monochromatic  outfit, black turtleneck, houndstooth skirt, black tights and booties.  I showcased this exact outfit last week as one of my work outfits, but I actually put it together for this evening and loved it so much that I wanted to replicate it for the office as well.  The best thing about this outfit is the wool coat.  It's finally spring here but two weeks ago we were still in the depths of one of the coldest winters and this 70% wool coat, linked below, is worth the price tag at Aritizia and I see it as an investment piece.  If you are looking for a coat that's classy, chic, and extremely warm, go buy it now while it's on sale, you won't regret it.

 

Shop This Post:

Houndsthooth Skirt (similar, Shien)

Black Turtleneck (similar, Shopbop)

Aritzia Wool Coat (sale alert!)

Black booties (similar; Hudson Bay



 

Now tell me how you stay connected with your significant other? 

 What are your favorite date night ideas? 

19 comments:

  1. Date nights are so important to stay connected. We try to go out once a month but it usually ends up being every other. It's definitely easier when the weather is warmer. So much to do outside!

    Jill - Doused in Pink

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    1. I know what you mean. Ours get pushed aside but lately I've been trying to really look at the time we spend together vs. a fancy date night.

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  2. We love to spend time together. To go out for dinner or just walking or shopping and have a drink on a terrace. Thanks for stopping by at my Fancy Friday linkup party!

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    1. That sounds lovely Nancy. thanks for stopping by.

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  3. You guys are just so adorable! Love your date night outfit. Some times I wish I wore skirts more because they are so cute! On my end, I love date nights! Of course, it was so much easier when we didn't have kids and we were able to go each week. It's a bit harder these days with a kiddo and since I am opposed to hiring or leaving my son with a babysitter, we wait until my parents are available. So date nights have been rare. When we do get some time, we talk and really catch up. I don't watch a lot of TVs so I always say no to movies or any shows. LOL If my hubby wants to watch I just read my book next to him. We also cook together or walk in our neighborhood if we only have a short amount of time. It helps with team building! Hehe Plus, it's just fun to see each other in a different element.

    Maureen | www.littlemisscasual.com

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    1. I get not wanting to leave your son with a stranger, we are all different. I am fortunate to have close family by and also it's never been something e I've really worried much about as I babysat a lot in my teens so I feel comfortable. It sounds like you have found a system that works for you guys and that's awesome. I love the idea of cooking together. That's actually been on my mind but we never do it. Do you have kind of favorite meal recommendations that you do together?

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  4. Great post! You guys look so sweet together - and you look like you're actually having fun. I love it and I can see why the movies are off the table now. I agree no talking or connecting going on! Btw, your outfit is on point! Have a great week!

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    1. Wow, thanks so much! Your comment was so thoughtful. We definitely do have fun together and try to life through life as much as we can because it's hard sometimes.

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  5. We enjoy active dates too like canoeing or kayaking.

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    1. What's not to enjoy, right? Time together. Exersise. Making a memory. Being outdoors. Ahhh.

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  6. You are so right - date night is extremely important! Trust me - when the kids move out, you want to still know/like each other. We still go on date nights, although we don't have to plan as much anymore, and can be more spontaneous.

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    1. Right? That's the advice I"ve heard/gotten so many times and I think it's hard to remember that your children and their lives are going to be okay even if you are taking a two hour break from them. LOL. I love how you did a new adventure last year, where you went to the folating tank, explored new places, etc.

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  7. Oh man, I need to do this more often..I love the point about you being intentional about it.

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    1. I think everything that you have outlined as a major goal or belief, you have to then plan and act upon with intention. One of my intentions is to stay close to my grandmas, but this year it's become more difficult to visit them once a week or even every other week, so on Mondays when I drive home from work, I call one of them to chat and then swich it around the next week. I actually had to make it a goal/plan in order to do it.

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  8. love, love...YES..so important to make date nights a priority. Y'all look like you have a blast together.

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    1. We do love our time together and thankfully for the most part we do enjoy each other's company. Hopefully that never changes.

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  9. What a great post! I'm so glad you prioritize date night! Jeremy and I don't even have kids and in the last few years (since moving)date night has gotten de-prioritized in the busy-ness of life. Shame on us! I love your idea of swapping kids among friends to make time for date night and I'm going to file that idea away for later!

    Virginia | More to Mrs. E

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    1. It happens to all of us regardless of kids/no kids, life just kind of takes over and the intentionality slips our mind. 😊. Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. Lol ,the guard is looking at you like what is she doing 🤣

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