10 Easy Date Ideas

Do you ever find yourself falling into the same date night routines?? I know we do! We are dinner and a movie kind of people and we end up doing that for our date nights 9 times out of 10. To change things up I've been thinking of some different things for us to do so I thought I would share them with you all.

1- Game Night: 

This can be with friends or just the two of you. We LOVE Jenga and that's totally doable with two people. We also like card games and things that are more fun with other couples. This is also an inexpensive way to do something out of the norm. Buy some snacks and drinks and invite some couples over... you'll be glad you did!

2- Bowling: 

I know what some of you are thinking... "bowling?? I haven't bowled since elementary school!" Well, we love to go bowling. Once again, inexpensive but super fun. Plus, anything that adds some friendly competition is super fun! You can make this a throwback experience even more getting getting pizza before you bowl too ;)

3- Try a winery or brewery: 

I love trying new places and any place with wine or beer sounds great to me! Since I live in San Diego, there's an abundance of breweries here and wineries just a short distance away. We've gone to a ton of them but it's always fun to try out a new place. If going out just doesn't sound exciting or maybe you have kids at home, you can do your own taste-testing at home. Just head to your local grocery store and pick up a few bottles of wine or beer that you've never tried. It's even more fun if you hide the label and you have to guess the varietal!

4- Pizza night at home: 

Once again, going out isn't always feasible so cooking at home together can be so fun. We make pizza at home every so often and it's an easy way to include both people in the kitchen. Mark can make his own pizza and then I can have one too. I buy the dough from Trader Joe's because it's seriously the best! I've posted about it before here.  Plus, if you have kids at home you can help them make their own version and when they go to bed you can make a more adult version with the Quattro Formaggio cheese, tomatoes, pine nuts, and arugula... mmm!!

5- Hike & a picnic: 

We love to be outdoors, especially since it's so beautiful here year round. Hiking is a great way to get some exercise but to also spend time together. Look up some local trails and pack a little picnic to go along with it. We haven't done this in awhile but the last time we did we packed sandwiches, chips, some cookies, and waters. It wasn't gourmet but it was delicious!

6- Make a living room picnic: 

Mark and I love to make floor forts... I talked about it on my Valentine's day post, click here to read more. It's basically a bunch of pillow and blankets on the carpet in our living room. We make a super comfy spot and then watch movies or binge watch TV shows on stormy days. You could amp this up a bit by getting various cheeses, crackers, fruit, and chocolate. Then find some wine that compliments your cheese and chocolate choices and voila you have a fancy little floor picnic that's also super romantic! P.S. Whole Foods is awesome about helping you pair cheese, wine, and chocolate!

7- Check out a local museum: 

We are super fortunate to have all kinds of museums and fun places to check out in San Diego. They also have a different free museum each Tuesday for locals, just FYI for any San Diego peeps. This is a great way to do something out of the norm and to learn something new. We've gone to different museums at Balboa Park and the Midway which is a huge aircraft carrier that has a ton of history about the Navy. We also went to an exhibit on the history or torture... I wouldn't recommend that one. It was super creepy lol!

8- Sunset walk: 

Sometimes life is just extremely busy and you don't have time to dedicate an entire night to a date. I understand that, so just make a point to take a sunset walk together. This is one of my favorite things to do and we try to go watch the sunset as often as we can. We are also super fortunate to live near the ocean, so the sunset is just that much better. :) It's a peaceful time to reconnect.

9- Go dancing: 

I love to go out and go dancing. It's so much fun to go dancing with the girls but I don't find myself going out dancing with my husband as much. We recently went to a wedding and danced a ton together. Normally, he pretty much knocks me over so this was a treat for me. Now, I want to make a point to go out and dance together more often. Hopefully, he's excited about this idea!

10- Take a cooking class together: 

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do and cooking with my hubby is even better! We took an appetizer & cocktails class at Hipcooks last year and we had a blast! I would love to do it again but the Paris themed night or another kind of class. It's a great way to learn something new and also enjoy the fruits of your labor! I've head the classes at Sur La Table are great too!

What are your favorite kind of date nights?