Date Nights...

I have been thinking about date nights for me and my husband for a while now. We seem to have gotten stuck in a routine over the years. Work all week, errands on the weekend, taking care of the girls and chauffeuring them around and taking care of our parents. It doesn’t leave a lot of quality time for us. We don’t seem to have fun doing things any more because something is always in the way. By the time we have a block of time all we want to do is relax at home.

I have heard over and over how couples have to make time to do things together. I guess that’s true if you really want to have a date you have to make an appointment. You also have to have some ideas as to what you want to do or you may end up doing the same thing over and over, like dinner and a movie. After not doing anything for so long almost any idea would be refreshing for me right now. I decided to brainstorm and see if I could come up with at least 12 ideas that would be fun for both of us, and things we used to enjoy too.

1. Dinner and a movie. I don’t remember the last time we did that and when we were dating we did it all the time.

2. Concert. We just went to see Carrie Underwood in November, but that was solely for my pleasure. Before that we went to see Shania Twain seven years ago! Also for my pleasure. When we were dating we went so see people we both enjoyed like Bruce Springstein, Billy Joel and Willie Nelson. I’ll have to see who is touring here and when.

3. Theater. It’s so easy for us to get to the theater district in NYC and I love going to Broadway shows. Yes they are very expensive, but it’s my favorite thing to do in the city. They have a whole street lined with restaurants right there called Restaurant’s Row where you can eat before or after the show.

4. Picnics. Indoors or outdoors, daytime or at night under the stars, food, wine, music.

5. Take a walk across a bridge.

6. Share a banana split at the local ice cream shoppe.

7. Visit a Planetarium.

8. Take a drive to a winery and go on a tour.

9. Go to a ballgame and have hotdogs and beer.

10. An overnight trip to a nearby bed and breakfast.

11. Visit a museum.

12. Get snacks, wine and watch a favorite marathon tv series. Some of ours are The Sopranos, The Honeymooners, and All In The Family.

Okay, there we go, 12 great ideas to start with! Now I just have to make a date and follow through! We better get started before it’s too late.