Friday, January 28, 2011

Reevaluating Date Night ~ I think I forgot how to do Date Night

Remember how I took a vow, well not a vow, maybe more like made a declaration to revive date night? That was about three weeks ago and I'm sort of starting to reevaluate. I think we forgot how. The first one was really great. We started off with happy hour at our favorite little neighborhood Greek restaurant and ended the evening with Bailey's and Coffee and a sweet movie at home. Week two hubs decided on Olive Garden (his fav comfort food) It was good and he surprised me by stopping by Cheesecake Factory for some fab cheesecake to take home. We both enjoyed that on the sofa with a movie. It was fun too...but not what I had imagined Date Night to be. Then...last week. Ugh!

Hubs thought he would surprise me by taking me to Red Lobster at 6:30...on Friday night. His heart was seriously in the right place because every time one of those commercials comes on with the lobster dripping with butter, I always go...."Mmmmmmmmmmm slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrp!" The thing is, have you ever been to Red Lobster at 6:30 on Friday night? It was packed!...and I dislike...really dislike crowds. And...I don't wait in line...for anything. Poor hubs. He asks me if I want to wait and I'm like, no, but anywhere else is going to be just as busy on Friday night too, so we suck it up, put our names in and stand in the middle of the waiting area. I start to look around at the benches and chairs that line the perimeter of this space and I swear...really, I mean I swear; Geeeeeez, it freakin' looks like the waiting area of the ER I spent Christmas morning in.

"Honey," I whisper in his ear "Look around. Doesn't this remind you of the ER?"

He looks around and rolls his eyes. I can tell he thinks I'm being a bit dramatic, so I turn back to him.

"Seriously," I say, "Look at everyone. No one is smiling, and they're like, all schleppy. No one is dressed up and some of them look sick. And look at all the kids."

I'm thinking this is how germs get spread but I can see his discomfort at my less than stellar attitude so I giggle. "Aren't you glad you married me?"

He chuckles....but doesn't answer. I wonder, hmmm.


So, tonight is Friday night...and yesterday he asked me if we are on for Date Night. Brave boy...I have NO idea what to do. He's like Meditative Mom's Practical Joe and the thought of spending $60 at Olive Garden or Red Lobster is a big deal. I'm thinking, back date night off to once a month and spend $200 in a quiet jazz club somewhere. Is there a happy medium? We have some really fun restaurants in our area:
Cork or DVine for example...I think people might dress up a little more...and would hire a babysitter...and not be sick...or sad. Wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes. :-) Have a great weekend! ~Blessings, Janet

12 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about Red Lobster. I love the food, but just hate the crowded atmostphere.

    My husband and I need to go out on date nights more often. He did surprise me last week suggesting going to a movie and he even let me pick (which is rare). That was the first time we went out together for months. We have our grandson on weekends a lot, so it is hard.

    I hope you have a great weekend!

    Jen

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  2. I love the date night thing, we do it too but like you we hate crowds. One thing we do in the summer is pack a picnic and go to one of our local parks. You guys could go high and low in price to even it out through the month, try movie night at the theater (some local places are doing a movie and dinner package teamed up with the local diners to promote dining out) or try taking a cooking class together at the local community education classes. We don't live in an area with a lot of cultural things but we do have a fun little museum here that is pretty inexpensive to tour, that's always fun too. My friend just blogged about her Valentines at McDonald's that was too fun, they set the table with linens and ate with knives an forks etc. they had a blast and it was cheep. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with :) Thanks for stopping by to say hi today!

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  3. I'm with you on the crowds. Maybe you could find someone to babysit at THEIR home and do a nice quiet dinner at home with just the two of you.

    Thanks for stopping by The House on the Corner ~ I'm following back!

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  4. Jen, Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get to do more date nights. Sometimes we just let the responsibilities get in the way. My grand babies are out of state so we don't get the chance to baby sit, ever. That would actually be fun once in awhile :-).

    CQ, Thanks for coming over and leaving such great ideas. I love the idea of a cooking class. Hubs and I have done lots of different classes together that I had forgotten about, ballroom dance lessons, golf lessons, and shooting lessons. I'm gonna do some research and see what we've got available here in town.

    Donna, Good of you to stop by. I love new visitors. I was talking about other patrons with their busy little ones. We are empty nesters so don't have that to worry about...unless we're talking about our two cocker spaniel puppies. :-) Thanks for following back...I'll try to keep it interesting :-).

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  5. Very fun blog! Thanks for stopping by my blog...I'm kind of new to all of this "blog hop" stuff!!! But....think I might enjoy it! I look forward to visiting your blog again!

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  6. LOL!! Have you seen Date Night? Made me think of that movie... I guess we can count our blessings!!

    My date night this week... Friday night in fact... TONIGHT for me since I'm still UP... I wore heels and there was a LOT of walking to do... MISTAKE!! So as I'm continuously making him slow down and eventually take the shoes off to ruin my panty hose over the frozen cement, I comment to him that doesn't he wish he'd have chosen XXX instead of me... He laughed and said, "NO WAY!" (This woman invited him to a wedding after his first wife passed away and apparently had been telling people they were engaged because some psople shook his hand, hugged her, and said how HAPPY they were for them! He NEVER went anywhere with her again... She kept calling and he kept brushing her off... When she heard that he and I were engaged, she wanted to TALK to him and proceeded to tell him how hurt she was that he LEAD HER ON... BAHAHAHAHA!!! We went ot the meeting and afterwards there was a social where there was a buffet... As we were hearded like cattle into this conference area... LO and BEHOLD... there SHE WAS as one of the USHERS!!! OMG!!! OF COURSE she had to run right over to him and tell him how HAPPY she was to see him!! She ignored me... LOL!! I was FINE with that and teased him about it the rest of the night! HAH!! Sorry... I think I just wrote you a BLOG POST!! You PROMPTED me!! Hehehe!!!

    ANYWAYS... Date night CAN get tricky!! Maybe you should choose a weeknight or earlier on the weekends to avoid the crowds. I hate crowds, too.

    (((HUGS))) Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. This post CRACKED me up. I love your thoughts on date night.... and I agree I HATE waiting in a crowded waiting area at a restaurant. So much so that I usually try to eat earlier than most of the crazy diners out there..... WOW, that makes me look like an elderly gal who is out for the blue plate, early bird special. ICK

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  8. It is so packed on a Friday...ahhh.

    I just found your blog through a Saturday blog hop. Have a great weekend!

    Amanda @ www.nutritionistreviews.com

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  9. Sometimes I say that same thing to my hubby...and it usually follows some long diatribe and the phrase, "ugh, sometimes I hate people," LOL!!!! Now every time I go to Red Lobster I'm going to be thinking about the ER waiting room...lol...

    New follower and happy to have found your blog on the weekend blog hop!
    Thanks for sharing your lovely life with us

    Rheanna @ Cammo Style Love
    http://www.cammostylelove.blogspot.com

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  10. I really hate the crowds too. The thought of the germs really gets to me!
    We have our date night on Saturday's..tonight..we do a drive through ride around and talk and then go to a late movie. If we want to go to a nice restaurant we try to go on a Monday or Tuesday.

    http://www.doreenmcgettigan.com

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  11. Love the post, so true about some waiting lines at restaurants. Enough to send me running into the night... hee hee! Thanks for visiting my blog and I am now a new follower of your blog!

    Cherie

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  12. aloha! thank you for visiting and following my blog. i'm following back.

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