12 Months of Dates

Kevin and I really enjoy dinner and a movie at home, and we do it often. Sometimes, though, we want to go out, but half the time we have no idea what to go do. We spend quite a bit of energy brainstorming what we could go do, searching the internet for events in town (and in our price range) and sometimes end up just watching a movie at home anyway. 

So, for Valentine's Day, I sat down and came up with a list of activities we could do on dates in the next several months. I came up with 24 - two for each month of the year. I made sure to include things we could do for free or cheap, ideas for both going out and staying in, for rainy days and sunny ones.  I then planned the details of each date and put them into an envelope, labeling them by theme (for a night out, for a sunny afternoon, and so on).

In some envelopes there were gift cards and gift certificates, in others there were brochures for places I wanted to go (winery tours, wildlife sanctuaries, etc). I even added a map with an address to a mysterious location, simply saying to bring a picnic basket. 

Now, whenever we want to go on a date, we have multiple prompts to get us started.  Simply pick an envelope and go with it! 

My year of date ideas:

Dates for a Sunny Day

1. Picnic in a local park

2. Geocaching

3. Have a Nerf gun war

4. Go fruit picking

5. Go garage sale-ing

6. Fly a kite

7. Rent a pedal boat, a Segway, or a tandem bicycle

8. Go for a hike

Dates for a Day Out (Rain or Shine)

9. Go wine, beer, or coffee tasting

10. Check out the local Antique shopping in your area

11. Laser tag

12. Mini golf

Dates for a Night Out

13. See a movie (Kevin and I rarely go to the theater, so this is a big deal for us!)

14. See a play. Check out your local high schools and see if there are any shows running. Cheaper tickets and you're supporting local schools!

15. Go to a Drive-In movie theater

16.  Go camping, build a fire, and stargaze

Dates for a Night In

17. Give each other a full body massage

18. Tie Dye something silly, like your underwear

19. Make a blanket fort and have a slumber party

20. Puzzle night or game night

21. Make art together - finger painting, paint-a-plate, whatever gets your creativity flowing

22. Get a pizza and beer and stay in to create your Bucket List (bonus: this will add even more date ideas!)

23: Have a themed movie night: Worst Movies Ever, French films with French food, eat chocolate and watch Chocolat…so many combinations here.

24. Teach each other a new skill