Life is pretty demanding and for us a sitter has been hard to come by soooo date nights have been placed on the back burner (and by burner I mean the one that needs repair). Our marriage felt like it was getting stale and it was taking a toll on us. But this year we have both agreed to be more intentional in prioritizing date nights. It seems that since we don’t get to date often we automatically think our dates need to be long, elaborate, planned out and expensive but that isn’t the case. Around two hours is just enough time for us to get out and connect for a date that can easily fit into our schedule and we don’t dread either the cost of a sitter or the burden of asking framily [family+friends]. Then came the task of what to do?
Thanks to Groupon.com there are a host of great date night ideas that fit into the sweet spot of under two hours. The other day we decided to give candle making a try. My husband’s reaction to it all seemed to be ‘just go with it to make her happy’ but I was so excited that we would be pairing our self-expression with a glass of our favorite sweet red wine. Scent and Sip, a wonderful BYOB on a suburban neighborhood strip is a place to drop-in or plan a party to enjoy making fragrances home & body products. We saved half the cost by purchasing a groupon and we chose an off-peak time slot[weekday Tuesday-Friday afternoon] it really made it exciting squeezing a date in on a weeknight when we knew the kids would be asleep when we returned and we could continue our evening alone. Lucky for us our sitter was home from college getting ready to head back within a few days so we knew we had to get out . Total amount of time was 2 hours from when we left the house to when we returned. We had a great time and enjoyed getting our scent and sip on!
Here are 5 fun, quick date night ideas brought to you [from us] by Groupon
1. Local Sports Team Game
Check out deals on sporting events
A sporting event is a great date night idea especially if you both enjoy the games and can dial it up by making a friendly wager on the game ensuring that the fun continues after the event is over. We usually pick a team and then wager a massage or dinner at a restaurant of the winner’s choice.
total amount of time: 3-4 hours (including drive time and parking)
2. Winery or Distillery Tour Package
Enjoy wine and spirits {get your booz on!} sampling great selections usually paired with a snack of some kind. Learn about the history of winery/distillery, get a tour of the grounds, see how its made and the best part tasting!. You get the total experience and some of the packages include some sort of take home souvenir.
total amount of time: 2 hours
3. Hatchet Throwing
There is a new trend that’s been taking over many of us see it on social media — friends and co-workers enjoying team building outings. Just think how great a stress relieving date night can be, friendly competition, athletic ax-throwing fun and if you two have a knack for it there are leagues and tournaments you can get involved in to take it to the next level.
total amount of time: 2 hours
4. Couples Massage
Check out couples massage deals
With a perpetually busy schedule it would be so nice to just relax and enjoy a soothing 60 minute couples massage. I don’t know about you but after the holidays, very little time off from work and with the cold weather kids spending more time indoors can really make us tense and in need of a relaxing, pampering session. Couples massages are great because they allow a couple to enjoy time together separately. This is a great laid-back date night edition.
total amount of time: 60 minutes
5. Escape Room
These are all the rage lately using wit and teamwork to solve puzzles and mysteries to escape a room before time runs out. While many would think these are best for large groups it may double the challenge [ in our case test our relationship] to have just two people in the room.
total amount of time: 60 minutes
* we aren’t receiving payment or nor are we sponsored by Groupon.com we are just a couple ‘ballin’ on a budget’ that wants to get out to enjoy couple and family time and groupon allows us to do so not to mention exposes us to experiences we may not have thought about or even tried if we didn’t come across it on the groupon app.