When Jordan and I first start dating, we went on all sorts of fun dates — ice skating, sledding, picnics in the park, bowling, trips to the zoo, dinners downtown, glow-in-the-dark putt-putt. You name it, and we probably did it. As our relationship grew, our dates became more casual — movie nights, walks, dinner with our families. That’s only natural, I suppose. The better you get to know one another, the less you feel the need to impress each other. Fast forward 4+ years, and we’re married. Now, we have to work a little harder to plan fun dates. It’s easy to get comfortable with each other, to spend every night on the couch in our pajamas, to forget that sometimes it’s refreshing just to get out of the apartment.
It’s nice to get away from reality and have fun, just like we did in our early dating days, before we had bills to pay or “real” jobs to worry about (those were the days 
). So last night, we did just that. On a random Thursday, we decided to go to a rock concert at a nightclub. Not exactly our usual scene, but we’re only young once, right?
Since we had some time to kill after work and before the concert, we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. They have the creamiest guacamole — I could just eat it with a spoon.
After dinner, we made our way to The Vogue for the concert. It was our first time going there, so we didn’t realize that there would be a line wrapped around the building. Rookie mistake. We were thankful that we bought our tickets beforehand, because it ended up selling out!
Unfortunately, we got there a little too late to get a seat, so it was standing room only. Fortunately, we got there early enough to settle into a good spot near the stage.
The last concert that I saw was Taylor Swift, so I felt a little (okay, a lot) out of my element — but the opening bands, Midi Matilda and Oh no fiasco, were really good!
When it came time for the headlining bands, Shiny Toy Guns and The Dirty Heads, to come on stage, a lot of drunk people crowded to the front (where we were standing). I guess I’m a little claustrophobic, because I was more than happy to give them my place at the front and go to the back of the room 
.
We decided to call it an early night (but at this point it was almost 11:00 pm) and head home. Even though the music wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be, we still ended up having a good time!
At the end of the night, we decided that we need to have more date nights like this one. Less familiarity, and more stepping outside of our comfort zone. Even though we’ve only been married for 7 1/2 months, I’ve found that it’s easy to get into a date night rut. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our own hobbies, on the opposite sides of the couch (blogging and video games), and wonder where the time went. Those one-on-one date nights are what strengthen our relationship, just as they did when we first started dating. We’re young, without kids, so we don’t have any excuses!
I’d like to make date nights a once a week tradition…I’m just not sure they will always involve grunge rock bands .
What are your thoughts on the importance of date nights?
What are some of your favorite date night ideas?
This is so cute… It’s fun to do something out of your element!
This is awesome and I agree. When I was previously dating someone date nights after a while became boring and we didn’t really have them (I think that was part of the problem). In my newer relationship…I guess a year and a half is pretty “new” especially with distance…when we are together we go on random dates. Though I have to admit, not being together and doing a long distance right now makes things a lot more interesting. What I’m trying to say (I guess) is that I truly believe dates make and break a lot of relationships. I’m glad you guys had such a fun time out of your element!
I know exactly what you mean about date nights just becoming habit. Or it becoming harder to even have date nights because you’re just so comfortable at home. I find that my husband and I tend to do “different” things more often with friends than on our own date nights.
This month (I just wrote next month, I can’t believe it’s March already) I’m focusing my goals on our marriage. I’m hoping to have a greater focus on intentional date nights instead of just settling into doing whatever. It will be interesting and force us to get out of our comfort zone too.
My favorite date nights always include pizza and a good dessert, though
Ryan and I have casual date nights about once a week, but every other month one of us is in charge of a fun date night that gets us to do something we wouldn’t normally do. At times, we find it hard to justify spending money going out for fun, but we really look forward to those date nights!
what an awesome date night!
What a fun weeknight date! We always laugh when we’re out past 10am on a work night. When we were dating, that’s around the time we’d head out! lol
Night night are the best and so important! We love going to hockey games or movies, anything different and out of the ordinary.
You look so pretty in the picture from the concert!!!
I totally agree on all fronts- my boyfriend and I have been living together for 6 months, and our typical night = thai takeout and netflix….we make an effort to have “date night” every saturday, and take turns planning an evening! so far we’ve done: golfing, bowling, couples massage, comedy club, and visiting my alma mater…it definitely adds spice!
Yes! Scheduling time together is really important, just as the every day interactions are also important. I love that you’re making it a priority!
I love this idea! This is something I really want to encourage Josh and I to do once we get married. It’s always good to keep it fun and fresh!
Love the weeknight date night idea. To be honest, I’m always EXHAUSTED by Friday and the last thing I want to do is go out into some crowded environment. If Marty and I do end up doing a Friday date night, we usually hit a Happy Hour and will only stay out until 6-630. If I get home before going out, I’m usually in a worse mood and would just prefer to stay in.
I can’t help it! The weeknight date night idea really is a great idea 1) because it helps reconnect during the work week and 2) places aren’t as crowded (typically) 3) it breaks up the normal routine! I’m so glad you guys had a nice time together 
Thanks! I’m useless on Friday nights too! We never go anywhere because I usually want to get ready for bed as soon as I get home from work!!
Love this! We typically do date nights on the weekends because the work week always feels hectic but I love the idea of going out in the middle of the week!
Chips and salsa at mexican restaurants is one of my favorite things!
Mine too!
Date nights are sooo important! We have designated Fridays as date nights, but we’re flexible when we need to be. I like the spontaneous stuff a lot – we do that mostly in summer when it’s easy to be spontaneous in the warmth! One night, I came home from working out and we went on a random road trip to 5 different spots to be lotto tickets when Mega Millions was crazy high. Had no intentions of thinking we’d actually win, but it was fun to point the car in a direction on a secret mission and just got where our gut took us!
Aw, that sounds like so much fun!!
TOTALLY know what you mean. Now, especially with a baby, we RARELY have a date night. But when we have someone to watch G, we take them up every time on their offer to watch her so we can have a night out. Of course this only happens like once every two or three months…but they, we’ll take it
Love the random Thursday night date night though….sounds like fun despite the crazy drunks taking your spot!
I love fun date nights like this! It is so easy to get “comfortable” and not enjoy each other. I’m so glad you all did this!
It’s so important to have date nights, especially after you are married. Nolan and I try to have 1 date night a week where we do something just the two of us without technology competing for our attention. We have definitely fallen into a “dinner and a movie” rut, partly because of the weather. Once it warms up I’m hoping to get more creative with our dates.
Oh, I know, I can’t wait for it to warm up!!