Tag Archives: at home date night

blast the music

Blast the Music – a Practical Fun Date Night

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I really hope I am not the only one that feels a little overwhelmed by all the Christmas decorations needing to be put away, or the presents still needing to be organized now that all the holidays are over!

I did not think so. :)

Sometimes I think we as couples get into a routine, I know we do around here.  It can also get a little stale with all the mundane things.

We do not have kids to keep us busy, so unless you count the MANY times of getting on our dogs – reminding them they are not 10lbs but close to 70… then its pretty calm and um… boring? 

OK, I said it. We can be boring!

This may not be an Einstein-like idea but come on… stay with me.

I was brainstorming on how to do things differently around here when the mundane things get … well mundane. (giggle)

So I’m going to share what we do around here.

I’ll be willing to guess that putting away your decorations, presents, or even cleaning the house is not what you want to do for date night, right?

Moving the furniture back to its pre-Christmas locations or rearranging things for the New Year is not romantic either.. I know this.

So why not make it be?

Hear me out. This is how we do it here…

1. Get a game plan – this can be just you and the hubby or you can get the kids involved. Decide what room to tackle, or maybe you split up? Kids do their room and the parents do one… whatever the case may be, HAVE A PLAN.

2. Make it FUN – I’m not even in the same category as June Cleaver, so I know cleaning and organizing isn’t glamorous nor could I tackle it in heels. But when the hubs and I crank some 80′s music and start dancing around, now THAT is fun!

3. Have a reward for a job well done: Shower together and go ahead and give a massage while you’re there. Then go OUT for dinner (don’t dirty the clean kitchen), whatever suits you!

So you see, it is not all that bad right? Come on… Can’t you see yourself dancing to Dead or Alive’s “You spin me round”?

You know you want to Youtube it now.. go ahead! It is one of my favorites!

Now it’s your turn, go ahead, Blast the Music!

Come visit me over at Aunt LaLa!

Date Night

At Home Date Night On a Budget

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When my husband and I were newly married, we received some wonderful advice from a great Christian couple.

They told us that they’d been having a weekly date night for 20+ years of marriage. As newlyweds, we decided to be intentional about a weekly date night.

After we became parents, my mom was more than happy to babysit for a couple of hours each Friday night so we could continue the tradition. 

So, for our first 7+ years of marriage, we have had a date night every single week!

Then, we moved away from my hometown. We’re now 2 hours from one set of grandparents, nearly 6 from the other. No more easy babysitter!  Couple that with a tight budget, and we knew we needed to get creative!

This is why I invented the no-prep, at-home, low-cost date – that I affectionately call the “Dessert Date”.  Thinking it was a great idea, I wanted to share it with you!

Everything for this date can be done within about 5-10 minutes. 

I thought it would be fun to make this a surprise for my hubby. So, I waited until the boys were in bed and hubby was in the shower, and then got to work.

The first thing I did was to lay out some nice clothes for him on the bed, with a handwritten note saying, “Put these on, and meet me in the kitchen.” Next, I put on some nice clothes myself and dusted on some make up.

I found the champagne glasses from our wedding, along with a couple of napkins, and a copy of the invitation from that day. If you don’t have glasses from your wedding, substitute what you do have.

You could also use a nice quote about love or marriage printed out, instead of your invitation. We don’t drink alchohol, so I bought some sparkling grape juice to go in the glasses.

I prepared my super quick, super yummy strawberry cream desserts.

Finally, I found the mix of love songs that played during our wedding reception. 

Honestly, because of the effort put into it,  this felt much more like a “real” date, than some of our out-to-eat, followed by a stop at Walmart “dates.” 

We had a lovely time staring into each others eyes like newlyweds.

The entire prep for this date happened during the short time that my hubby was in the shower, making it a very low-stress date. It was also very inexpensive – around $5 or so. And between the fancy plated desserts, the champagne glasses, candle light, and all of our wedding reminders, it was very romantic.

We both remember it fondly as one of our favorite dates ever — going out included.

If you’re needing some alone time with your husband, but don’t have the resources or babysitter for a night out, I would encourage you to get creative!  

You can make great memories right where you are.

What’s your favorite date night?