Since I want to add some variety to our dates, and because I want guaranteed time with Joe every week when he is in dental school, I decided to make date jars as a gift for Joe before school starts. The idea is that he'll pull a date every Sunday night and, based on what it is and his schedule, we'll figure out when we want to do it that week. That also gives me time to make the necessary reservations or buy the necessary ingredients/supplies/etc.
In total, there are 104 dates so we can do one a week for his first 2 years of dental school (the first 2 years are the busiest by far).
With most of the jars on Pinterest, colored sticks or papers are used to indicate how expensive a date is. While money is something we are definitely careful with, I knew that while Joe is in dental school it's more important for us to choose a date based on how much time it would take. Those weeks where he has three tests? Maybe he only has an hour to spare for an activity. Those weeks where he miraculously has some extra time? Great! A several hour date it can be.
I used green, yellow, and red to indicate how much time I expect the specific activity to take. Green is 90 minutes or less, yellow is 2-4 hours, and red is 4+ hours. Obviously, there are many more green and yellow dates than red, I'm realistic ;)
Most of the dates are pretty inexpensive, but I did throw in a few higher-cost ideas. Because of the time and money restraints, and the fact that I wanted a lot of them to be things we can do at home, many involve cooking special dinners and watching movies. Though not THE MOST creative ideas ;) given how busy Joe will be, eating dinner together and watching a movie will feel special.
One thing that really annoyed me about seeing these date jars on Pinterest is that few (if any, honestly) had a full list of the activities they included. This meant spending hours trolling blogs online trying to find lists of date ideas to get inspiration and ideas for my own. So, because I'd hate anyone to ever spend that much time coming up with ideas ever again, I'll include my list of dates here :)
All 104 of them :)
***Side Note*** You'll notice I'll use any excuse to make us put on costumes. Joe should be trilled haha ***End of Side Note***
Green Dates (90 minutes or less)
| Puzzle | Let's put on some music and put a puzzle together |
| YouTube Video Session | Let's get our laughs on with a marathon of funny YouTube videos |
| Write Bucket Lists | Let's plan the rest of our lives together |
| Paper Mache Masks | Let's cover our faces with paper mache and make some wicked cool masks |
| Thrifting | Let's go thrifting! We each get $5 to spend on the other person |
| Breakfast for Dinner - In PJs | Let's get our PJs on and have breakfast for dinner - complete with cartoons |
| Picnic in Clark Park | Let's pack a picnic basket and head to Clark Park (if the weather doesn't permit, we'll picnic on our living room floor) |
| Dance Party | Let's party like it's 1999! |
| Video Game Marathon | Let's hook up the Playstation and you can teach me some Madden |
| Game Night | Let's play some board games and pig out on pizza |
| Cookbook Dinner | Let's grab a cookbook and randomly select courses for a 4 course meal - then we gotta get busy cooking! |
| YouTube Dance Lessons | Let's prove we don't have four left feet between us. Swing? Tango? The Macarena? |
| Formal Night | Let's dress up in our finest attire and eat by candlelight - at home |
| Indoor Camping | Let's build a tent, make s'mores, and tell ghost stories |
| Photoshoot | Let's grab the camera and get some fun shots of each other |
| Tennis Match | Let's grab the rackets and hit the court |
| Wine Tasting | Let's pair wine with cheese and chocolate - yum |
| Personality Tests | Let's take some online personality tests and see how compatible we are on paper |
| Pudding Pictionary | Let's use our fingers to draw in pudding - whoever said you can't play with your food |
| Basketball | Let's play a game of HORSE and/or shoot some hoops |
| Coffee Date | Let's head to a local coffee shop for some caffeine and conversation |
| Dream Home Blueprint | Let's map out our dream house |
| Paint Portraits | Let's each try to paint a portrait of the other |
| Ice Cream Sundae Night | Let's forget dieting and make decadent ice cream sundaes |
| Beer Pong | Let's practice our pong skills - you are a college student again |
| Minute to Win It | Let's look up some Minute to Win It games and try our luck at them |
| Restaurant Replicate | Let's replicate a meal from a restaurant we like - but try to do it better |
| Record a Music Video | Let's bust out the camera and record a music video |
| Record an Infomercial | Let's pretend we're on HSN and record an infomercial for a product we own |
| Record a Cooking Show | Let's pretend we are on The Next Food Network Star and record a cooking segment |
| Would You Rather? | Let's get to know each other a bit better... |
| Paint Coffee Mugs | Let's draw/paint on a coffee mug for the other person |
| Rap Contest | Let's channel our inner Snoop Dog and see who can come up with the best rap |
| Play MadLibs | Let's lie in bed and play MadLibs |
| Paint By Numbers | Let's try to stay in the lines... |
| Joe's Choice | Let's see what Joe wants to do in 90 minutes or less |
| Cookie Cook-Off | Let's see who can make the tastiest cookie |
| Play at the Playground | Let's channel our inner child and swing, slide, and monkey around |
| Make T-Shirts | Let's decorate T-Shirts for each other |
| Dollar Store Hunt | Let's go to the dollar store with $4 each, 15 minutes, and a mission: (1) Find the worst gift (2) Find the best gift (3) Find the ugliest item (4) Find the best value |
| Make a Buster Calendar | Let's grab our cute little pup and take photos of him for a Buster calendar |
| Flip a Coin | Let's let fate determine where we eat tonight. We'll get in the car and flip a coin every 30 seconds. Heads we turn right, tails we turn left. After 15 minutes we eat at the closest restaurant |
| Needlepoint | Let's make some inappropriate needlepoint |
| Kate's Choice | Let's see what Kate wants to do for 90 minutes or less |
| Card Night | Let's play some card games |
Yellow Dates (2-4 hours)
| Chopped Challenge | Let's see who can find the most oddball mystery ingredients |
| Iron Chef | Let's see which of us will be the next Iron Chef of Spruce St. |
| Mob Night | Let's dress up like mobsters and enjoy some pizza, gelato, and chianti as we watch The Godfather |
| Mini-Golf | Let's hit the links... well, the little links |
| Bowling | Let's strike! |
| Dave & Busters or Chuck-E-Cheese | Let's try to win enough tickets for something better than a temporary tattoo.. |
| Ice Skating | Let's FINALLY go ice skating |
| Go to the Zoo | Let's visit the animals at the Zoo |
| Blast From the Past - Kid | Let's pretend we are kids again - we'll eat kid foods and watch kid movies / TV shows |
| Blast From the Past - Teen | Let's pretend we are teenagers again - we'll eat pizza and watch our favorite movies / TV shows from when we were in junior high and high school |
| Sports Movie & Food | Let's watch a sports movie and eat foods you'd find at a concession stand |
| Restaurant Hop | Let's go to three restaurants tonight: one for an appetizer, one for an entree, and one for dessert |
| Theme Night - Italian | Let's go to Italy! We'll eat Italian food and watch a movie that reminds us of Italy |
| Theme Night - Western | Let's go partner! We'll eat like cowboys and watch a Western |
| Theme Night - French | Let's go to Paris! We'll eat French food and watch a movie that reminds us of France |
| Theme Night - Mexican | Let's go to Mexico! We'll eat Mexican food and watch a movie that reminds us of Mexico |
| Theme Night - 1950's | Let's pretend it's the 50's! Get in costume while we watch a 50's movie, eat 50's diner food, and maybe even have living room sock hop |
| Theme Night - 1980's | Let's pretend it's the 80's! Get in costume while we watch a Brat Pack movie |
| Theme Night - Halloween | Let's get our spooky on! Regardless of the time of year, let's put on a costume, watch a Halloween movie, and carve a pumpkin (or watermelon if pumpkin is out of season) |
| Theme Night - Christmas | Let's do Christmas in July...or March...or whenever you pull this. Christmas movies, ugly sweaters from the thrift store, and Christmas cookies |
| Theme Night - Disney | Let's watch a Disney movie and eat Monte Cristos |
| Theme Night - Hawaiian | Let's go back to the setting of our honeymoon - we'll eat some Hawaiian cuisine, watch a movie / TV show that takes place in Hawaii, and wear our swimsuits |
| Mystery Science Theater | Let's find a dumb movie and Mystery Science Theater the crap out of it |
| Penn Museum | Let's visit the Penn Museum and learn something |
| Driving Range | Let's see how far we can hit a golf ball |
| Cake Decorating | Let's make a couple of cakes and decorate them Ace of Cakes style |
| Mad Scientists | Let's look up a science experiment online and try to replicate it |
| Dueling Piano Bar | Let's have a jolly ole time at Jolly's Dueling Piano bar |
| Food Network Copycat | Let's watch a random episode of a Food Network show and make a dish that was featured |
| Italian Market - Buy Dinner Fixings | Let's go to the Philly Italian market and find the makings for dinner tonight |
| Comedy Night | Let's belly laugh tonight watching some stand-up |
| Invent a Board Game | Let's get creative and invent a board game that can be played by two people |
| Joe's Choice | Let's see what Joe wants to do for 2-4 hours |
| Shakespeare Night | Let's watch two Shakespeare movies: a classic version and a modern re-telling (eg: Taming of the Shrew and 10 Things I Hate About You, Othello and O, Romeo and Juliet and Romeo + Juliet, etc.) |
| Dive Bar | Let's go to a dive bar and play billiards and/or darts. Oh, and drink cheap beer. |
| Rocky Horror Picture Show Night | Let's do audience participation at home - bring on the toast, newspapers, and water guns. And Time-Warping is mandatory |
| Batting Cages | Let's hit a home-run |
| Scattergories Date | Let's roll a Scattergories die and then everything we do must start with that letter. |
| Double Feature | Let's see two movies in a row at the theater |
| Pat's vs. Geno's | Let's decide who makes the better cheesesteak |
| Kate's Choice | Let's see what Kate wants to do for 2-4 hours |
| Nickelodeon Night | Let's watch shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark, Rugrats, and Doug. Might we find some Legend of the Hidden Temple? |
Red Dates (4+ hours)
| TV Marathon | Let's get in our PJs, order delivery, and watch at least 5 episodes of a TV show we've been wanting to try |
| Movie Marathon | Let's get in our PJs, order delivery, and watch a trilogy. Star Wars? Back to the Future? Hangover? Toy Story? There's a lot of options... |
| Shooting Range | Let's see whose the better shot |
| Paintball | Let's get out some aggression |
| Philadelphia Museum of Art | Let's add some culture to our lives and go to an art museum... or two |
| Theater Night | Let's test the theory that "All the World's a Stage." If it's true, we shouldn't have trouble finding a play to attend... |
| Historic Walking Tour | Let's learn more about our new city! |
| Mini-Road Trip | Let's figure out a place within 2 hours of Philly that we want to visit for the day |
| Casino Night | Let's try our luck at SugarHouse |
| Join the Circus | Let's learn how to fly through the air with the greatest of ease in a trapeze class |
| Go Rock-climbing | Let's go climb a mountain - a faux mountain, that is |
| Joe's Choice | Let's see what activity Joe wants to do that will last over 4 hours |
| Comedy Club | Let's get our laugh on and go to a comedy club |
| Improv - ComedySportz | Let's see whose line it will be... |
| Brewery Tour | Let's learn how beer is made... and then drink some |
| Kate's Choice | Let's see what Kate wants to do for 4+ hours |
| Whitewater Rafting | Let's get an adrenaline rush (weather permitting) |
Any other ideas for dates out there? Leave me a comment. I can always add more for years 3 & 4 :)
Oh my goodness... that is a lot of work to put this all together! Way to go, Kate! The thrift store idea actually sounds REALLY fun! I am going to have to use some of these ideas for sure.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!!
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if you even did half of these activities. "Dance party"?... Uh, and "YouTube video session?" "TV marathon"? Are these supposed to even remotely feel like dates? Especially if you're married, which judging from your username, you are, many of these do not come close to qualifying as quality time.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to tell you that your date night jars are awesome! I made some for my husband as he is in his third week of dental school! I have a blog and I blogged about the jars today and I linked back to your new blog and this one! Thank you for sharing your awesome idea! I know that the next two years will be better because of it!
ReplyDeleteI am madly in love with this. My husband and I always have a problem finding something to do. We never think of anything cool until we don't have time to do it and then we forget and go through the circle all over again so this makes it easy. Thanks for the work you put into it!
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