Date Night!!

So, many of you know that we are big "date night" enthusiasts. More often than not, our dates are just "pick-up-some-takeout-and-watch-a-movie-on-the-couch" dates, which honestly isn't that different from our regular weeknights. Throw in the occasional venture to an actual sit-down restaurant and/or movie theater and there you have about 80% of our dates. Calling them date nights makes us feel better and makes it a little more fun/special. We ALWAYS have at least one date night a week (usually on Friday) and since we have no kids we often have 2 and sometimes we'll switch off planning it every other week as a surprise to each other.

During the summer, our dates tend to get more creative partly because Brent isn't too serious about his studying yet and partly because we live in LA, people! There is always something fun to do in LA, but more so in the summer. And you don't have to have money to do lots of them! Some of my favorites: fish and chips on the beach to watch the sunset, driving along Mulholland to see all of the city lights and to watch the car hit 50,000 miles, going to the Griffith Observatory, going to tapings of Last Comic Standing and eating dinner while we stood in line, a John Williams concert at the Hollywood Bowl, wandering around Universal Citywalk waiting for our movie time, etc.

On Saturday, Brent needed to stop by his office and get an analysis running on his computer so that he would have less to do on Mon so I finally got to see where he works. I've been to the building about 1,000 times but I've never been inside. I got to see his "cube" and where the rest of his team sits and his old crappy, cramped cube. It was fun. Sad that Brent had to do work on Saturday but we were only there for about 30 minutes and now I can picture in my head where he is all day long.

Then, we headed over to Santa Monica and strolled the 3rd Street Promenade and Ocean St. We stopped and had dinner at Johnnie's NY Pizzeria. We're not big shoppers so there wasn't a whole lot to do but walk around but the weather was nice and it was something we hadn't done before. We saw a few street performers and stopped in a book shop. It was a nice evening, and we've both decided that we're glad the other isn't a clothes monger because there are certainly enough stores to spend a fortune in down there.




Yay for date night!! I know this sounds cheesy but it really has strengthened our marriage because for a few hours, we don't talk about our worries or things that are stressing us out or what we have to do tomorrow, we just have some good quality time. And it gives us something specific to look forward to during the week, not just "oh good, the weekend is coming". It's a fantastic way to learn, and connect and grow together as a couple.

Now, I hope you all go out and start having more dates. We're lucky that we get every one every week, which I know a lot of people can't do, but once a month should be easy enough. It's important!! And I don't want to hear any excuses (kids, work, too tired, etc)! Call me if you need a sitter, or if you want to double!!