Toast to Date Night
Josh is a Registered Nurse in the ER. His schedule flips flops back and forth between on and off days of working nights. Ya’ll…nights are the absolute worst. He goes in at 2pm and doesn’t get home until 2am or later. Even with me being at home during quarantine we don’t get to see each other on his on long weeks which are 5 shifts in a row. These weeks are when I shed the most tears and vacuum the already clean floor over and over again.
With such a crazy work schedule, Josh and I try our best to make our time spent with each other intentional. We put our phones down and turn off Netflix. We go for walks every day at sunset (or even in the rain), spend time working in our garden, and, my personal favorite, plan one night where we both get in the kitchen to cook for date night. This is the perfect setting to have intentional time because you have to spend time looking up fun recipes together, decide on where to grocery shop, divide up who will cook what and then enjoy the beauty of eating the meal together. I sat down with Josh to ask him what his favorite tips about “Cooking Date Night” were and here is what we came up with:
Date Night Tips:
It’s fun to keep learning about what your spouse likes or doesn’t like (Mayonnaise for me…onions for Josh)
Choose a grocery store that you don’t normally go to. This creates quality time you get to spend searching for fresh, beautiful produce for your meal. Plus it’s fun to explore new places together.
Cook something out of your comfort zone and get creative with the ingredients!
Go all out on the table setting. Flowers, candles, place mats, china you only use at Christmas time and maybe even cards for each other to open.
Finally, talk. Talk about anything and everything. Laugh, dream, and adventure plan together. Raise your glasses and toast to what lie ahead.
Our last “Cooking Date Night” Josh really wanted to cook steaks for us. It was fabulous. Sirloin cooked in a rosemary-garlic butter sauce, served with green beans, mashed potatoes and a cucumber-lemon salad. Heaven. What meant so much to me is that my husband took initiative AND interest in wanting to make this time intentional and special. Remember, date night doesn’t have to be elaborate or planned out in advance. It can consist of you sitting in your jammies having coffee, looking at each other and saying “hey, let’s grab a blanket and go for a drive.” Make it fun, mix it up, make it your own!
So, all of you date night planners out there, I raise my glass to you and toast to the joy of intentionality and the road that lies ahead.
From this little house wife,
xoxo,
Kaleigh Castle