Dating Isn't Just for Before Marriage!

I love when we have a date night on the calendar!

I look forward to going out with my man and spending time just as his girl - titles of "mom", "teacher","house cleaner", "dinner maker", "laundry washer", etc. are put on the shelf and it's time for the boy and girl who fell in love with each over 11 years ago to enjoy some one-on-one time! With date nights out not being too frequent, and wanting to cultivate thinking about hubby more, I thought it was a good time to start thinking about date nights in! A while back I would try to plan regular date nights in. I have really been slacking over the past, say, couple of years!

So, here's what I'm doing for the year...

For Valentine's Day, two of my friends and I planned a fun scavenger hunt for our husbands. We had such a good time planning the hunt and dinner! One of my creative friends made our guys shirts that they had to wear (and the writing had to be visible!) in order to get all of their clues at the different stops along the way to finding us. Oh, what did the shirts say? "I Love My Hot Wife"! They went to QT for their favorite treats. (We had already paid for everything and their snacks were with their next clue!) Next they went to Dick's Sporting Goods and they had to go all the way to the back of the store to the fishing department where they found their next clue with a jar of gummy worms and a note saying "hooked on you"! From there, they went to La Parilla where they picked up chips and salsa (well, that's what it was supposed to be - it was actually someone else's meal!). Next they had to find their next clue "Where Shopping is a Pleasure" and then to Longhorn where my friend found out they carried her husband's favorite dessert! Their last clue led them back to one of our houses where we had a fiesta awaiting our guys - starting with a pinata, lots of yummy Mexican food, and we ended the night watching 3 Amigos. It was a blast - both the planning and actual date!

(I don't have the pictures from that evening, but he happens to be wearing the shirt right now!)

The next morning, for Steve's Valentine's gift, I made him a passport and let him know we were going to go around the world this year from the comfort of our own home. Each month I'm planning a date night in with a theme from a different country. I knew giving him this gift would help keep me from getting too distracted and actually follow through with planning a fun night in for us.

So, the beginning of the month we spent an evening in China!

He brought his passport...

He came to the restaurant "Love"...

Our meal began with egg rolls and spicy shrimp bao...

Next came our main dish of Mandarin Orange Chicken, Vegetable Fried Rice and Szechuan Style Green Beans...

With our main dish, we also had Sake for the first (and probably last) time! I used my grandmother's tea set from Okinawa. (I am aware, too, that Okinawa is in Japan, but it looked good with our set-up!)

Next came the Wonton soup...

And for dessert we enjoyed coconut ice cream and fortune cookies...

Another fun part about the meal was that it really took me no time at all to prepare. Trader Joe's did most of the work for me. The girls went shopping with me and helped me pick out everything for their daddy's and mine special evening. It was inexpensive and I was able to put it all together while he was putting the girls to bed...

I had borrowed a Mahjong game from a friend, but after spending way too long trying to figure out the rules, I had to come up with a Plan B. So, I went to The Dating Diva's website and found another idea. We played a silly game called "Wok Tok" (like Mad Gab). It was so fun just being goofy together and laughing! I already have April's date night idea and can't wait to make it happen - and I really love that Steve's already asked me what we are doing next!