jess and the gang: 50 Date Night Ideas

With valentines being this week, I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of date night ideas...not necessarily for valentines day, but just inspiration. After doing "12 dates of Christmas" a couple times, I have learned coming up with ideas are the hardest part. And since lists of any kind help me, I ended up writing down date ideas. We certainly haven't done all the ideas on this list, but we have done a lot. So here you go, 50 date night ideas courtesy of yours truly.

The key to a date night is putting a little thought into it and planning it ahead. Having a direction rather than getting in the car and saying, "Which restaurant?" is ALWAYS better, more relaxing and fun. Great date nights come in all shapes and sizes - simple, cheap, active, fun, expensive, over-the-top, etc. Find things that you and your spouse will make memories doing together and get some bonding time in.

At Home:

Once you have kids, I feel like date nights at home become really important. It can be hard to find a sitter and can also be expensive, not to mention there may not be money in the budget for leaving the house. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun at home. They key is planning ahead and making it fun. Planning a game night? Decorate the table and have the game ready to go. Going to enjoy wine and cheese together? Change up the scenery a bit and enjoy it on the front porch.

Dessert - homemade, store bought, easy or over the top, just makes it special...it's all about presentation!
Wine & cheese
Coffee & chocolate
Game night
Smores
Do a workout together (if you don't want to get a dvd, you tube a workout and follow along to it)
Wii competition (dancing, bowling, etc.)
Picnic in the back yard
Bake cookies (or any other item) together
Pick a book and take turns reading to each other (probably not reading the whole book in one night, unless you have way better attention span than I do)
Daydream together - Plan your dream vacation, what your dream house would look like, life goals, etc.
Set a timer and take turns giving each other massages
Watch an episode of each other's favorite tv show
Wait until the kids are in bed, then make and enjoy a gourmet meal together
Watch a movie (hello. redbox!)

Cheap & Fun:

Go karts
Putt-putt golf
Go to the thrift store set a budget and choose and outfit for each other (we did this and then went out to dinner in our outfits. It was fun.)
Watch the sunset
Coffee
Dessert
Try a new restaurant
Have a picnic somewhere
DIY couple pictures - find a fun background and takes pictures together and of each other
Go garage saleing and pick out something for your home together
Breakfast date
Go to the movies
Go test drive each other's favorite car
Go to a concert
Park by the airport and watch the planes take off and land
Restaurant hop/progressive dinner - Go to a different restaurant for each course
Get super dressed up and go out to fast food together...or if you want to be taken seriously, you could go to a nice restaurant.
Go to a museum
Go berry picking
Go to the beach
Take a painting class, or just go to a painting studio and paint
Drive around your city and pick out your dream home
Be tourists in your own city...hey, even Modesto has tourist destinations, so no excuses!
Go hot tubbing (at the gym, someone's house who has a hot tub, or a hot springs where you can rent by the hour)
Go to a farmer's market. If you want to be really adventurous, go to one that isn't in your city.
Go bowling
Go to the theatre or a performance

Active:

Hike
Run a 5k together
Go on a bike ride (make the bike ride really fun by renting a tandem bike)
Play tennis at a local park
Dance lessons
Go to the local driving range and hit a bucket of balls together
Fly kites
Go to the batting cages

Sometimes all you want is something simple, like grabbing coffee, getting in the car, going for a drive and just talking. Other times it is fun to get all dolled up and head to a fancy restaurant. Whatever it is cheap or expensive, easy or difficult, small or large, the point is about connecting with your spouse and making memories.