Date Night

Because Lee's job has him out in the evening several times during the month, including almost every Friday night, we don't often get out for a night on the town like we used to pre-parenthood.  But much to my delight, Lee will be home tonight at 5:30pm (early for him) so we'd like to do something "special."  Going out to dinner can be expensive so we've come up with a couple Date Night @ Home ideas.  I thought I'd post them here because when I Googled "date night at home" and the suggestion of scrapbooking with my husband came up (no joke) it seemed like a few fresh ideas needed to be shared.

Breakfast for dinner:  wear your pajamas, read the Sunday paper (if you've saved it) in bed, and have a nice meal on a tray.  No cereal -- I'm think frittata, waffles, fresh-squeezed OJ.  You know, the works.

Learn a card game together:  Gin Rummy, Canasta, Bridge, etc.  Can you say you know how to play all of these?  

Dinner and a movie with a theme:  we do this pretty frequently.  The meal has to correspond with the movie.  For instance, we watched Cinema Paradiso and ate Italian food.  Think outside the box -- how about a Western film with chili and cornbread?

Dress up:  I bet, if you're like me, you've got 2-3 fancy dresses in your closet that haven't seen the light of day in a while.  Dust them off and eat dinner by candlelight.

Recreate a holiday:  eat turkey and pretend it's Thanksgiving.  Have candy for dessert and daydream about Halloween.  Buy chocolates and flowers for your wife (at half the price!) and pretend it's Valentine's Day.  Wear red at your Valentine's Day dinner.

Star gaze:  Someone you know probably has a telescope stuck away in their attic or garage...borrow it & put a blanket on the lawn outside and look at the moon.  

Taste testing:  Doesn't matter what it is -- beer, wine, cola, ice cream, pizza, sushi -- sample several types of the same food and decide what your favorites are.

Do you have any other ideas you want to share?