My husband Corey and I have been married for almost 4 years. We have been consistent in having some type of date night every week. We had the idea about a month ago to share our favorite date nights out and date nights at home.
As I write this, my local school system has shut down for the next two weeks. Coronavirus is leading to a lot of people practicing social distancing-making this the perfect time to push forward the at home ideas. I had a list of 21 ideas and Corey cut them down to the top 12-Enjoy!
Video Game Challenge
We love to throw it back to the 90s with a night of Mariokart. We used to play on a Nintendo 64 but my brother and sister-in-law got us a Nintendo Switch for Christmas, which has opened a whole new world of video games! Make it fun by having a competition-maybe the loser has to do the dishes or be the one to get up with the kids or dog the next morning!
Recreate Your Favorite Date Night
Corey and I like to go to a local place called Wine Styles for date night. My favorite thing to get there is a charcuterie board. I recreated one at home for a fraction of the price-making it a great at-home date!
Indoor Camping
You can get as simple or wild as you want with this one. Set up a tent, make a fort, or lay blankets on the floor. It’s up to you! Try having classic tinfoil dinner and indoor smores. Tell each other spooky stories or enjoy the silence.
Wine or Beer Tasting
This is a favorite in our house. We don’t have to worry about arranging a designated driver or getting home safe because we are already at home. Get a couple of mini bottles of wine or 3-5 varieties of beer at the grocery store to base your tasting. For wine, pair chocolates or sweet treats. For beer, pair savory snacks like warm pretzels, mini pigs in a blanket and burger sliders.
Theme Night
Try and pair a meal and activity together in a way that makes sense. For example, try cooking a french dish and watching Midnight in Paris. If movies are not your thing, cook Latin American food and do a little salsa dancing. The idea is to have the food and activity pair together to make you feel like your not in your living room anymore.
Redesign a Room
Sometimes all it takes is moving around a couple of chairs, a bookcase, and a lamp to make a room feel totally different. Work together to push furniture around and bring new life to the room. Maybe you have art or photos tucked away that you can bring out. Maybe you have a box of decorations down in the basement that could be put to use, depending on the season. We recently did this across our whole house and we love it!
Throwback to the Year You Met
Do a little research and figure out what was popular the year you guys met and plan a date around that. Corey and I met in 2009 so I’d probably end up serving him hummus and bacon everything (two food trends from that year). As for a movie, Twilight New Moon did come out in 2009 but for his sake, I’d probably choose Hangover instead.
Try a Meal Kit
I have a subscription to Everyplate that I love, but if you don’t want to subscribe to a meal kit you can often find kits like Hello Fresh at the grocery store. Or, try wandering the aisles of Homegoods to find fun pasta and tomato sauce to make your own meal kit.
Have a Hotel Night
This one sounds super fun to me. Get a couple of fun little lotions and oils to have at your bathroom sink. Pamper yourself and slip into your robe (don’t have one yet? Maybe it is time to splurge on one from Amazon) and slide into the sheets for an in-bed movie night. Take it up a notch with a chilled bottle of champagne in a bucket next to the bed and some chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Coffee and Book Date
If hanging out at Starbucks or Barnes and Noble is something you used to do in the early days of your relationship, this is the one for you. Perfect a fancy coffee drink and snuggle up with blankets. Read the book that has been sitting on your nightstand for years or flip through magazines.
Pizza Parlor
This is another favorite. Frozen pizza is a great staple but sometimes it’s fun to make your own pizza with fresh ingredients. Load up on all the things you might want to add to your pizza and have fun creating a dish together. You could even try making your own pizza crust!
Craft Night
I keep seeing these mesmerizing canvas painting videos on Facebook and it’s making me feel like I could do one! Try opening a bottle of wine and having your own wine and paint night. There are tons of videos on Youtube that offer step by step tutorials for painting canvas.
We hope you love these date ideas-Let us know which one you try! Also, Corey had an additional idea for each date so be sure to listen to the podcast to hear what he had to say!