Date Night Jar

My best friend is getting married and I am SO excited. They are an amazing couple. And after a decade of courtship, they're finally tying the knot. They are a couple that I admire so much. Though there are tons of things they do that I hope to adopt when I am in a relationship, one thing stands out - weekly date nights.

Yes, I know that everyone is on a budget. I know that when you're married and have a family, it's hard to take time to focus on just the two of you. But it's not impossible. In fact, it's absolutely necessary. If you can't do it every week, find out what works best for your schedule. And to keep things interesting, try to never have the same date twice! 

Face it, dinner and a movie can get old, not to mention expensive. While pinning, I found the most adorable idea - A Date Night Jar. For this example, We're going to assume that you are a couple who has decided to have bi-weekly dates. Take a little time with your partner one night over dinner or before bed and make a list of date night ideas and put them into three categories: at home dates, inexpensive nights out with little planning, more expensive nights out with that require more planning. For the 26 dates for the year, decide how many dates you want to fall in each category. Let's say we're going to do 12 at home dates, 10 inexpensive nights out, and 4 expensive nights out. 

For the Date Jar, you'll need:

• A mason jar
• A pack of large popsicle sticks
• Paint (it can be spray paint, to make the job go by faster) in 4 colors of your choice, one of them being a filler color
• A Sharpie or any fine tipped permanent marker
• Ribbons or raffia to decorate the jar

Fill the jar with popsicle sticks, leaving enough room to be able to pull one stick out at a time. Pull out 26 sticks and set them aside. Paint the rest the filler color. Paint the other sticks (12 one color, 10 the second, 4 the third color) and allow them to dry. For the "at home date" sticks, write a date on each one. Dates could include things making your own take out, putting on robes and watching the travel channel, board games and pizza, etc. For the "inexpensive dates" think of things you could do that are out of the ordinary, like go to a museum, head to an arcade, go bowling, paint pottery, play laser tag, go on a food truck date, take a dance class, etc. For the "expensive dates" think of things you don't often get to do, like go to sporting events, stay a night at a bed and breakfast, take a cooking class, a spa day for two, etc.

Come up with dates that fit your personality as a couple. The idea is to have fun and deepen the bond between you and your significant other. If the future Whites have been able to do it for the past 10 years and counting, you can too!

- The Sassy Gal