It's officially the weekend!
The longer I am married the more I am realizing that you really have to be intentional about date nights if you want them to happen. Especially if you have kids. Otherwise it will always turn into watching a movie or getting distracted by electronics. Not that snuggling up next to a movie is bad (I really like it), but it doesn't require much interaction and sometimes it's good to just mix things up a bit, ya know?
The other day we spent date night making a special trip for my very favorite pizza. But before I give it away, let's see if you can guess. All you fellow addicts will know right away..
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If you guessed Papa John's you are right! And it's been my very favorite my whole life. Their tagline is “Better ingredients, better pizza” and I totally can tell. Our first date actually involved pizza, so maybe that's why I enjoyed making the special trip for it the other night (or maybe I really am just addicted).
Our first date involved some beautiful scenery, painting each other's self-portraits all official-like, having pizza delivered right to our picnic spot, and ending the night with s'mores using a mini stove in the middle of a busy round-about. If you're wondering how we got away with that, it's because there are trees and bushes in the roundabout and a flat spot in the middle, so you actually sit in there and traffic will buzz by without even knowing you are there.
Our second date involved parking lot bowling and eating dinner in the back of my husband's Subaru. So the other night we combined both dates and had Papa John's pizza in our Subaru 🙂 And of course we had to order two because I wanted one with tons of veggies and he wanted Philly Steak.
Why am I mentioning our first dates? Because when we were dating we seemed to put a lot more effort into our date nights, and into getting to know each other. One thing I have learned is you should never stop discovering your spouse. There is always more to find out, more to know, more to love. So…in an effort to do more with our date nights, here are some ideas we have for this summer:
Summer Date Night Ideas
Stay at Home Date Nights
For those that can't get a babysitter, do not fret! You can still get creative!
- Pizza and a movie….in the garage. Yep. You heard it. Take the night off from cooking and give the kids leftovers or something really simple. Order pizza and have a late night meal with your spouse, while watching a movie in your car, in the garage. If you are worried about the kids waking up, take the baby monitor with you.
- S'mores. We recently got an outdoor fire pit so that we can spend the summer out by the fire, roasting s'mores, hot dogs, or just enjoying each other's company. There's something so addicting and comforting about watching a campfire. Not to mention romantic 🙂
- Stargazing. Take an air mattress or inflatable pool outside, fill it with blankets and pillows, and enjoy gazing into the sky and having good quality conversation. Don't forget to leave your phones inside 🙂 If you are feeling techy, you could even project a movie onto the side of your house.
Summer Date Nights Away From Home
If you are able to score a babysitter, first off I offer my congratulations. Second, you better make it count! Do something fun!
- Go to an outdoor theatre, either a play or a drive in movie. This is one of my favorite memories, but unfortunately we don't have many drive in movies near us anymore. We do however have an outdoor theater that does plays and concerts and I love going there!
- Go for shakes and eat them sitting on the hood of your car somewhere fun. Wow. Pizza and ice cream. So sorry for those of you on special diets. I'm showing off to many of my weaknesses with these ideas! 😉
- Drive somewhere scenic. Drive somewhere beautiful, order some pizza to be delivered to your special spot, and pull out some camping chairs or enjoy your little meal from your car with the windows down or the hatch open! And if you DO get pizza, you know what I will recommend 🙂 Also, Papa John's has NO trans fats, no MSG, no BHA or BHT, no partially hydrogenated oils, and their meats have no fillers! How's that for awesome?
Need more ideas? This is just a simple list. If you want more ideas, see our other post: Date Nights At Home: Over 50 Fun and Affordable Ideas
Papa John’s has NO trans fats, no MSG, no BHA or BHT, no fillers in its meat toppings and no partially hydrogenated oils. To learn more, visit www.papajohns.com/better.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Papa John's. Papa John's provided the pizza featured in this conversation to me free-of-charge. The opinions and text are all mine.
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Laura says
I love your ideas they are so creative fun and a lot of them are quite original. Thank you for all these great ideas