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Every Friday night for as long as I’ve been with Chris has been “Friday Night Date Night” in our household. We cook all week long, and Friday night is our chance to get out of the house, dress up and treat ourselves to a nice dinner (and a glass of wine!). But it hit me yesterday that our date nights are going to look a little different from now on. Since none of us will be leaving our homes anytime soon, we’ll just have to get extra creative with how we spend our date nights! And yes, it is still super important to *date* your significant other… even if you’re already married! Dates are a time to ditch your phone and really tune in to your partner. Plus, I love getting dressed up for our dates, and I’m not gonna stop just because we’re having date nights at home from now on 😉

Chris and I came up with a bunch of ideas while we were on a walk yesterday, so I thought I would share a few of them with you. If you have any other ideas, we’d love to hear them! Comment below so that we can all benefit.

1. Game Night

This one is a no-brainer… have a game night! Chris and I are very competitive and we love playing each other in board games like Monopoly, Scrabble and Life. Sometimes we have an “Olympics night” where we battle each other in multiple games and the loser has to do the bad chores that week (like cleaning the cat litter). You don’t have to limit game night to just board games… video games and card games also count!

2. Lego’s

If you don’t have some LEGO’s at your house, it’s time to order some from Amazon Prime, lol! They’re actually so much fun to build, but surprisingly complicated! Chris and I did this the other night – we both bought a LEGO set, turned on a movie and got to work. The process of following directions and building something with your hands is all-consuming and really helped to get our minds off of everything for a few hours.

3. Cocktail Making Contest

Have a contest to see who can make the best cocktail. You don’t even have to go grocery shopping for this one… see who can come up with the best concoction from the items you already have in your refrigerator. Even if you don’t come up with the *best* cocktails in the world, at least you’ll have fun, and everything tastes better when you’re a little bit tipsy! 😛

4. Backyard Picnic

If you decide to have a date during the day, I love the idea of having a backyard picnic! If you have a park near your home, that’s also a good option. Bring a large blanket to sit on, whatever snacks you have in your pantry, and a bottle of wine. You definitely don’t need it, but this picnic basket is adorable.

5. Candlelit Dinner

I love this idea, and we definitely plan to implement this one night! Save this for when you want to make a “fancier” meal, and pick out three courses (appetizer, dinner and dessert!). Put on some smooth jazz music while you cook dinner together. Then, light a bunch of candles and set them on your kitchen table. Turn off the lights, and eat dinner by the candlelight!

6. Watch Your Wedding Video

This was actually Chris’s idea, which I thought was really sweet. Spend a night reminiscing on your relationship! You can watch your wedding video together and look through your wedding photos. It’s also fun to look through old photos and videos of you and your partner from when you first started dating.

7. Chocolate Tasting

Ummm… could there even be anything better!? Buy a bunch of different chocolate bars and get to work taste testing your favorites. You could even make a scorecard with your faves!

8. Movie Marathon

Pick a theme, whether it’s a series, genre or actor, and host a movie marathon. Pretend like you’re at the movie theater by turning off all the lights, making a big bowl of popcorn and indulging in candy. If you fall asleep, you can always pick up where you left off in the morning! (Some movie/TV marathon idea starters: Stranger Things, Harry Potter, Disney movies, Quentin Tarantino films, Marvel, Mighty Ducks, etc.)

9. Breakfast in Bed

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals…. so how about breakfast in bed, but at dinnertime? Break out the TV trays and whip up some pancakes, scrambled eggs and hash browns (or whatever breakfast food you like). Stay in your pajamas and watch movies while you eat your breakfast in bed! This would also be a great time for mimosas. 😉

10. Learn a TikTok Dance

It may sound kinda lame, but some of the TikTok dances are REALLY fun to learn. You don’t even have to post it to social media, just learn the dance for fun! It helps to download the video you want to learn and play it at a slower speed while you learn the dance.

11. Around the World Date Night

This is the perfect date night idea to curb wanderlust since none of us can travel right now. Pick a country you’ve been wanting to travel to and cook dinner together inspired by that country. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Mexico: Make homemade margaritas and set up your own taco, nacho or burrito bar. Don’t forget to make guacamole!
• Italy: For an appetizer, have sourdough bread and olive oil with balsamic. For the main course, make homemade pasta or pizza and open a nice bottle of wine. If you have a stereo system, play some Italian music in the background.
• France: Dine on a cheese platter and wine (this is one of my favorite dinners!).
• Japan: Learn to make sushi together!
• Greece: Feast on a dinner of Mediterranean appetizers like Greek salad, olives, feta, hummus, and tzatziki sauce.

12. Go Camping in Your Living Room

This is another one of Chris’s ideas, haha. He suggested building a fort out of pillows and blankets in your living room (gosh I used to love to do that as a kid!) and bringing in your laptop to watch a movie. To add on to the “camping” idea, you could even make indoor S’mores! Be sure to make your fort extra comfy with lots of pillows and blankets, and maybe even a sleeping bag.

13. Pretend You’re On Chopped

Instead of just cooking dinner together like normal, turn it into a fun game by hosting your own Chopped night. Give each other a surprise ingredient and see who can incorporate it best into their dish. (This is also a great way to use up items in your fridge or pantry that will go bad soon!) Some ideas include various spices, maple syrup, Greek Yogurt, peanut butter, bacon, etc.

14. Work Out Together

Get on your gym clothes and work out together. There are lots of options for this – you can jog around your neighborhood, look up exercise videos on YouTube, or even do an at-home yoga session together. I’ve been wanting Chris to try yoga forever, so now maybe it’s finally my chance!!

15. Mini Golf Course

Use items from around your home to make a golf course – get super creative to create some obstacle courses (you can even use stairs!). Then get out the putter and golf balls and get to golfing. Winner gets to choose the movie that night!

I hope some of these were helpful… if you have more ideas, I’d love to hear them below! Chris and I are doing the “Around the World” date night tonight. We’re making guacamole, a Mexican casserole, and homemade jalapeno margaritas!

xoxo