Before the world turned upside down, date night was a monthly event on our calendars. Chris and I would book a sitter and make reservations at a local restaurant. Once stay-at-home orders hit, we fell into a routine that didn’t carve out time for us as a couple. Two months into our new schedule, we were missing our date nights.

We are both calendar-driven people. We use our calendars to remind ourselves of to-dos or time block to focus on certain projects. Even though we had no where to go for date night anymore, we decided to mark our calendars every Saturday night from 8-11pm and dub this DATE NIGHT.

For our first date night in, I was brainstorming ideas. Earlier in the week I came across a game where you draw on someones back and they try and replicate what you are drawing. We ended up playing this game for HOURS. We made a cheese plate and mixed together some French75’s. It was the perfect night!

Since that date was so much fun, Chris said he would think of a theme for the next weekend. Our themed date nights were born! Ever since that Saturday night, we rotate coming up with ideas for the following week. They don’t have to be extravagant but it feels good to think that your spouse planned something for you. Here are some ideas:

Game Night

Break out the board games and get competitive. Chris’ favorite is Monopoly Deal. My favorite is good ole’ fashioned Scrabble. We both love Sushi Go!

Paint and Sip at Home

YouTube has tutorials for step-by-step acrylic painting. We painted around Memorial Day Weekend so we chose a scene with the American flag.

Ballroom Dance Class

Ballroom, Latin, whatever you want! Try out some new dance techniques.

Puzzle and Popcorn

Order a puzzle using a personal picture that has meaning to both of you. Grab a snack and bottle of wine then spend time putting the puzzle together.

Virtual Double Date

Make it a double date with another couple via zoom. Use this time as an opportunity to connect with loved ones that are long distance. Play games on jackbox!

Bake a Dessert

Find a dessert to bake together at home. (Helpful tip- make sure there are no steps that require any long wait times like having dough sit in the fridge).

Wine Tasting

Each person can grab a few bottles of wine for blind tasting. You could also horizontal taste (same vintage from different wineries) or vertical taste (same winery but different vintages–due to COVID some wineries are doing virtually scheduled zoom tastings. A coworker tipped me off to this awesome idea!) Whatever you decide, here are printable wine tasting sheets.

Spa Night

Diffuse some lavender essential oils and turn your bathroom into a spa. I recently created a spa night by grabbing face masks, eye masks, and pedicure supplies. I filled the tub with epsom salts for a foot soak. I turned on spa music and lit candles to create the perfect relaxing spa night.

Regardless of which themed date night we’ve tried, they have all been significantly cheaper than hiring a sitter, grabbing dinner and drinks, paying for parking/ubering around town. Whatever works best for your relationship, try to carve out time for you to focus on one another. Please share more ideas for at-home date nights 🙂

xxoo-
Chrissy