If you are just joining us, welcome to the DATE NIGHT MARATHON – we have been talking about date nights all week this week. I’m glad you are here. Some think that date night went out of style and if that’s you, I’d love to prove the contrary right here.
We often get into a rut, right? Always doing the same no-effort-necessary 2-3 things, over and over again. And it gets boring. Besides, it also doesn’t really give you the kind of benefit of a date night that you are likely looking for. If you are a couple that gets into a routine fast and are wondering if your date night preferences would be “disqualified” or wonder if they would stand the test – and why that would be the case – Check out this article here from yesterday. How did you do?
Now that you know what to stay away from – or at least stop doing ALL. THE. TIME – here are five simple date night ideas for you.
Feel free to spice them up a little.
They are called simple for a reason.
Pick up your favorite Caribou drink and go for a walk around your favorite lake (heaven knows there is LOTS to choose from around here).
Everyone has a favorite.
Or explore Google Maps, find one that you have never been to and expand your horizons together.
So you don’t have to count your steps, share what your top three summertime memories were growing up.
Pick one of Minnesota’s famous scenic routes and go for a drive together.
Summer, winter, autumn, spring – there is magic in all of them.
While you are at it, make sure you remember that favorite CD that you both love listening to.
Also, do your research in advance, find a cute coffee shop to have tasty lunch in the destination town, and for the drive back, find a game to play.
*Extra credit for these sorts of date night ideas:
If you want to put the cherry on the top, prepare (yes, as in make at home, as in don’t run through Whole Foods or Byerly’s and pay for it) your favorite snack mix and bring that along for the ride, for you two to share.
Sweet, salty, or both.
And yes, that also includes planning ahead.
Yes, yes, I know I called these ideas SIMPLE – I never said they didn’t require some effort and preparation ahead of time 🙂
If you enjoy cooking, find a recipe that caught your attention last time you were looking through Food Network or Smitten Kitchen) and prepare the meal together.
Guess what?
You could even go and get all the ingredients together.
Over time, take turns who picks out the recipe.
*Fun Credit for these kinds of date night ideas:
If you wanted to make it even more entertaining, divide the list in half, and see who finds their items first in the grocery store and beats the other person to the checkout line.
Find a book that you both want to read.
After the kids are in bed, sit down on the couch together and take turns reading it out loud to each other.
If it’s not fiction, at the end of every chapter, talk about what you just read.
Tell each other what you thought.
What surprised you.
What you really loved or disagree with.
Go to your favorite spot in town, order your favorite drink or appetizer.
Sit in the very back so as to minimize the chances of running into a million people you know and being interrupted.
(Especially if your spouse is like my spouse – someone who knows everybody, literally everywhere.)
Bring your favorite game to play.
Think of some fun rewards for the winner.
Perhaps the winner will get their breakfast the next day, with items on the menu granted upon their special request.
Perhaps the winner ends up getting a foot massage or a back rub for the next three days.
Or – Maybe….:-) …
You get the point.
I am well aware and realist enough to know that not all of these date ideas are going to be a great fit for everyone reading this.
Yet my hope is that upon seeing these, you might be able to either spice up your perhaps once exciting, now gone boring list of things that you do together.
Maybe it will spark interest and make you come up with something completely new, something you never imagined yourselves doing as a couple together.
What ever you end up doing, as long as you do something, I hope you enjoy.
I dare you.
I dare you to pick just one of these – and let me know how it goes.
PS: Keep your eyes open – because tomorrow – we’ll have even more fun!
