Date Nights
How was your weekend?
After a morning of music class and a day of apartment organization, Shaun and I headed out for dinner on Saturday night for a real live date night...just the two of us!
When we realized that we had a free Saturday evening, we called our babysitter and she was free at the last minute. There are so many restaurants in Jersey City that we've been wanting to try so this was the perfect opportunity! We took an Uber to downtown JC and put our name in a Porta, a new artisanal pizza place that opened recently. The space is awesome. Lofty and open, the kitchen is open to the restaurant, a large bar adorns the front, and the tables are mostly communal. Since there was a bit of a wait, which we expected, we put in our name and went across the street to another favorite, Skinner's Loft, for a drink. Cozy and warm, Shaun enjoyed a beer while I sipped on Malbec.
Once we wandered back over to Porta, our table was ready! We dined on ricotta + bread, meatball pizza, orichiette pasta w/sausage and bone marrow, along with another round of beverages. All of the food was just so good. Great music, fun atmosphere...it was really fun to have a date night, just the 2 of us!
It totally made me nostalgic for our kid-free time when we would just casually meet up for happy hour drinks and apps on a Friday night to unwind after the week. Anytime we wanted to go for dinner or try the newest restaurant, we could just pick up and go. Admittedly I do miss those times, and though we also do a lot together, it's not quite as carefree as it once was. When I was pregnant with Penelope, I continually made Shaun promise that we would still go out on our own for dates. I'm pretty sure that it got pretty annoying, but it was something that I never wanted to forget about...going on a date with my husband.
Though part of me would have been totally happy with staying in leggings and a sweater and curling up on the couch with some popcorn and a glass of wine, it also felt really fun and special to put on a cute top, high heels, big earrings and some make up for a date with my husband. It felt carefree and just really nice to go on a date! I also like the idea of Penelope seeing us go out on dates together. I think that as she grows up, it will be really important to show her that we are in love and enjoy spending time on our own and still have a life together. I hope that she also has that when she is grown and married with her own children.
It also made me really want to ensure that we continue to do this, maybe once a month, or at least every 2 months! I have a long list of restaurants that I want to try, so here's hoping we can make it work :) And I really love this idea from Cup of Jo...maybe next time!
Whether you have kids or not, do you plan date nights with your significant other? Is it a regular thing? For those of you with kids, do you ever get out alone without the kiddos?
PS: why you should have someone you can pay to watch your child.
5 Comments | February 9, 2015 | Share Article | Email Article | in At Home Print Article | Permalink 
Reader Comments (5)
Long time reader, occasional comment-er. This post struck home for me. I am engaged and we often talk about having kids and our "timeline", assuming all goes according to plan. One of my fears is that we won't go out on dates! I am constantly nagging him about maintaining our relationship after kids come along. I'm glad I'm not alone in my worries :)
I don't have kids yet, but my husband recently decided every Thursday would be date night. I can live with that! I think he knows he needs to drag me away from doing more work after getting home from work and I totally appreciate that! I can imagine it's so much harder once you have little ones!
We are in a tough spot with two kiddos and no local family to babysit. I also don't know how to go about finding a local sitter so I freeze with indecision. Fortunately, our daycare offers Parents Nights Out about once a month, and we try to take advantage of that whenever possible. Cheaper than a sitter, it gives us 5 hours of mom and dad time. Granted, it usually doesn't allow for both dinner and a movie out, but we've done a movie and takeout once the kids are home and in bed, or dinner out and a Redbox/Netflix flick. Recently, I've noticed how much I'm missing my husband and we need to make sure we spend time with just each other. I commend your efforts!
Love your topics as of late! Gary and I are very fortunate to have both of our parents live 20 minutes from us. And they really do help us out a lot. We love date nights and believe it's very healthy for a relationship! As you know, we both work from home a lot, so we try to do dinner and a movie at least once during the week- just to get out and get a change of scenery for our sanity. and here and there on a free Saturday, we will do the same, dinner and movie, or just dinner with friends, or a cooking class. those aren't cheap but we've done about two of those since Claire was born. I'm looking forward to warmer weather as we can get a little more creative then! Mini golf is always fun!
I totally miss those free times pre-baby. coming and going as you please. ahhhh life before kids. ;)
A very wise pediatrician told us that when our first (you) was a couple weeks old, we were to go out for dinner by ourselves.
We did. We did not get a family member, we got a babysitter and went out. We never stopped. And 37 years later, we still enjoy going out on dates.