I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty impressed with myself this Valentine’s Day. I came up with a great gift idea for the mister after seeing something similar on Pinterest. What resulted was a year full of fun activities for us to do together that would be a mix of new experiences, familiar date nights and a chance to explore our surrounding cities (something we don’t do very often).
Not to mention, it’s a good reason for us to force ourselves to set a date each month and intentionally spend time together. We talk about doing this, and then 3 months go by and we still haven’t gone out. How does that happen so easily?
We don’t have family nearby so anytime we go out on a date, we have to pay a sitter. Luckily we have found some great girls who love watching our kids, but I think the fact that we have to pay a sitter and pay for our date night activity always makes us push back on planning something. Just dinner, movie and a sitter can easily reach $100 (and I’m talking dinner at Chic-Fil-A, not Maggiano’s).
So on top of this gift being a sweet sentiment for Valentine’s Day, I think it will also be an important way for us to stay connected throughout the year. And every marriage can use a little nudge in that direction!
Here’s how I put together a year full of dates for the two of us and how you can do it to…
1. Act like a tourist
I started by acting like a tourist in my own area and googling “fun things to do in Denver and Boulder.” I found some great ideas like going on a hike and having a picnic and taking dance lessons at a ballroom that offers one hour lessons on Fridays for cheap. It’s also worth googling “Free things to do in {your city}” – because paying for a babysitter is enough of an expense!
2. Groupon
I scoured Groupon to find local places for food and entertainment that we haven’t been. Lucky for me, Groupon was having a Valentine’s Day deal where they offered an additional 20% off up to 3 local deals, so I ended up scoring tickets for us to a show at the Planetarium, a gift card for a local Mexican restaurant and tickets for a history walking tour that ends with a whiskey tasting (I love Denver) – all for under $30! I NEVER would have come up with some of these ideas and I can’t wait to go try some new things in our local neighborhoods.
3. Include dates at home and dates out on the town
I wanted to keep some of our dates at home after the kids go to bed so we didn’t have to pay for a sitter every month, and I strategically planned these for months when I knew we would be busy or would already be going out another night and getting a sitter. Some are as simple as renting a classic horror film (something we are both a little scared of and never do!) or having a domino show-down while trying out a new cocktail. The key was picking something I knew we would enjoy, but adding a new twist to it so we had something to look forward to.
4. Choose things he likes
Since this was a gift for him, I decided I should probably pick some things that he enjoys (the dance lessons were mostly for me!). So I added in things like brewery hopping, attend a Dodger game at Coors Field, and play 9 holes of golf. Luckily, we have a lot of the same interests and I happen to like beer, baseball and golf. So it really wasn’t much of a stretch (I’m such a giver, aren’t I?).
After gathering my 12 ideas (which wasn’t very hard as it turns out), I decided what month would work best for each – after all, a hike wasn’t going to be too fun in December. Then I printed out a card for each month with the date details. If it included a Groupon, I printed that out too (be very careful to check the fine print on your Groupons and use them within the allotted time – ours are all going to be used in the next 3 months because they had a 90-day expiration).
Then I hand stamped each of the 12 months onto small envelopes and put the corresponding date card inside (this is where I started to feel a lot like Chris Harrison).
I stuck them all in a box and put a label on the lid and – boom. That was it. I could have made it cuter, but he’s a dude and doesn’t care.
Hopefully your husband likes surprises and this will be a gift that keeps on giving for an entire year as he opens a new envelope each month. My husband, however, hates surprises and talked me into letting him open each envelope to see what the dates were so he “had something to look forward to.” Whatever. At least now I can write this post and tell you about all the dates without fear of him reading it and spoiling the surprise.
The best part about this gift is that we not only get to spend time together this year, but we don’t have to think about what to do. Oh and we get to experience new things together, which is always awesome when you’re doing it with your best friend!
Here is a complete list of our dates, just in case you need ideas:
- Rent a classic horror film, make popcorn and cocktails and buy some candy – and don’t forget to turn out the lights! (February)
- Go to a show at the Planetarium in Boulder (March)
- Have a Mexican brunch at Si Senor (April)
- Go on a whiskey/history tour in Denver (May)
- Make a new cocktail and play dominos – best 3/5 wins (June)
- Go see a drive-in movie (July)
- Go on a hike in the Boulder Chautauqua Area & have a picnic lunch (August)
- Go to a Dodger game at Coors Field (September)
- Find somewhere to play 9 holes of golf (October)
- Take dance lessons at Booth’s Dance Denver (November)
- Pick a store, split up and spend $10 on stocking stuffers for one another, then get frozen yogurt after. (December)
- Go brewery hopping – must visit 3 breweries and come home with a full growler (January)