Take me out to the ballgame!

Bookies Bar & Grill before the game.

My little fan

Date 13/52
Theme: Take me out to the ball game!
Location: Detroit
Day/Time: Friday 1:10

Opening Day for the Detroit Tigers has become a favorite tradition of ours. In Michigan, you never know what the weather will be like.  One day you could be in shorts eating ice cream and the next day you could be shoveling snow. Last week, I packed up all the winter gear and of course as luck would have it - we needed it.  However, we were dumb optimistic and dressed for the promised degrees of "in the 50's".  I don't think it got above 40 and with the winds it felt even colder!!!  BUT....

We had a great time! We hung out with a bunch of friends and supported our struggling economy.  We were so cold we ended up heading out a tad early and grabbing dinner.  It was nice hanging out with my hubby, seeing the Tigers win and getting our date in before the busy weekend.

A DAY OUT!

Date 12/52

Theme: A DAY OUT!

Location: Brighton
Day/Time: Saturday 1-3pm

With Easter and two kids birthdays within a week our lives are pretty busy here - I'm pretty much addicted to party planning and am in my glory right now finishing up the details  ice cream themed party....BUT I knew we needed to use our wonderful Allison who was home for college so we signed her up for 2 hours and went into a nearby town called Brighton. 

We stopped in to a favorite little shop called Oh, My Lolli for a few last minute Easter basket treats.  Next, we went to Brighton Bar & Grill - small salad for me since they have the best dressings!  Guinness for the hubby.  Lastly, to Downtown Main - I love this place!  Actually, I love anywhere you can order a chocolate covered strawberry but their food is great and drink-e-poos taste so yummy.  I always get the Mango Martini and it tasted perfect halfway through the day!!!  We managed to do all this in under 2 hours!  It was so nice to have a little break in the middle of the day.  Most of the time when we go out on a date we come home to sleeping kids it was a nice change of pace to come home to kids so excited to see you.

A PERFECT 10!

Date 12/52
Theme: Fashion Show
Location: Our House
Day/Time: Saturday Night 7pm

For this date I spent some time shopping earlier in the day.  I gathered a bunch of things I might want for Spring and some things my husband needed too.  I tried on the different outfits and got his opinion - sometimes I listened, sometimes I didn't.  He did the same.  We made our return piles and got some laughs out of the "dad jeans" that are headed back to the store!  In addition, we ordered a few swimsuits online for me.  I felt good about the date because I got to cross a few things off my TO DO list and we chatted and laughed the whole time.  I learned that when I buy something that I wouldn't normally buy - something my husband would like I might actually like it too.  Definately a fun easy date.  To make it a little more fun I'd suggest the score cards numbered 1-10!  :)

Monday Night Movie Night

Date 11/52
Theme: Monday Night Movie Night
Location: Our House
Day/Time: Monday Night 8pm

After a super FUN but busy weekend filled with TONS of quality family time {Ann Arbor Hands on Museum and the Detroit St. Patricks Day Parade} we scheduled a last minute do-over.  We both fell asleep this weekend our our original date night so we snuck in a little Monday night date.  Dan decluttered the living room so I can relax and I ran to the library to get a movie.  Dan made poporn and I got the movie ready.  It felt like Friday already.  We rarely watch a movie on a Monday night!  So we settled in and watched Food Inc. - a movie that very much makes you THINK.  Super interesting and had it not been so late it would've been a great topic of discussion.  Highly recommend this amazing documentary. More to come on this subject!


MAKE-UP POST :)
Date 10/52

Theme: Fish Fry Friday
Location: Moose Ridge Grill
Day/Time: Friday 4:30

We ventured out together as a family to a Friday Night Fish Fry.  We got there early and had the place to ourselves!  I got a glass of wine and just after our appetizer arrived a local was singing.  Dan and I got to enjoy each other and watch our well mannered little ones enjoy a night out too.

Simon Says...

Date 9/52

Theme: Simon Says!
Location: Couch
Day/Time: Saturday 8:30 PM

Lazy date night (hubby a bit jet lagged - just got in from Japan) consisted of relaxing on the couch and catching up on American Idol episodes.  I've been a fan for awhile and Dan has been here and there.  However, last season my hubby got really into it because of the unpredictability of Adam Lambert (or maybe it was bikini girl?).  I swear what used to be considered girly gossip at friend get-togethers was dominated by the guys dishing over thier favorite contestants and why last season. So when someone jokingly suggested having a finale party - the joke became reality and yes, we did go to an American Idol Finale Party!

What can I say?  We love to watch.  Its totally entertaining to us.  Even slightly competitive...I love to try and be "right" and what I mean by that is say what Simon says.  After each performance we say what we think and what we think Simon will say...Will they like it?  Wrong song choice? Pitchy? Wrong "look"? You get the idea...Do you watch? Have a favorite Idol?  We think the season is going to have a tough time topping last season but it will still be fun to watch and see what they come up with on ........AMERICAN......IDOL!

Thin Mint Martini Please!

Date 8/52

Theme: Martini Night Out
Location: The Living Room (not ours - thats really the name of the place)!
Day/Time: Saturday at 9pm

Being that my hubby was only in town for 12 hours from last week to this week I really needed to have a drink I was pretty sure we'd be scheduling a make-up date.  BUT....my parents were at the house and I was glad Dan was up for getting out for a little while. 

So we headed to our favorite hang-out by where we used to live and frequent often pre- kids.  Its a little local hang out that serves up unique pizzas & fabulous drinks.  We met up with two other couples and were soon sipping on our favorite martini's. A thin mint martini for me (think Girl Scout cookie but in a yummy drink) & Dan's usual is the Cajun.  It was nice to get out for a few hours & only spend a little $ yet feel like a million bucks!

a trip down honeymoon lane...

Date 7/52
Theme: a trip down honeymoon lane...
Location: Our House
Day/Time: Saturday at 9pm

I was super impressed when my husband suggested that we watch our honeymoon videos & look through our picture albums for a future date night.  I mean really...I'm usually the creative one!  I thought it was a great idea and went well with Valentines!  So we did it!  We loved looking back on all the fun times and things we did!  We stayed in St.Lucia for almost two weeks!  It was paradise!

Oh, what I wouldn't do to be here right now!

Or riding horses on the beach...

Or having a nice dinner with JUST my hubby...

I'd even go deep sea fishing again if it meant...

dessert delivered to the swim up bar in the afternoon!

Super fun date!  If we would've planned a bit better we would've made the yummy drinks that we enjoyed so much down there - maybe we'll open the bar on a future date night and make our favorite drinks!  Cheers!

Breakfast OUT of bed! {Project 52 Date Night}

Date 6/52

Theme: Breakfast OUT of bed!
Location: forty-two degrees north

Day/Time: Sunday 10:30 AM

Dan and I both love to read and its one of the things we still really try to make time for. Seems like most of our dates fall in the evening so we decided to switch things up a bit and take a morning to ourselves {Thanks mom!}.

We went into the city to try out forty-two degrees north. This new dining destination provides both a feast for the eyes as well as the palate! The setting is stylishly urban and you over look the river. We brought magazines, books & of course our appetites! I think the waitress might have thought we were moving in and.....well....we were for awhile! We did the full brunch. I loved all the toppings for the oatmeal and the made-to-order omelette's & waffles were great too! We sat there for almost three hours eating, reading and chatting. We are definitely going to do this again!

Popcorn Movie Night {Project 52 Date Nights}

Date 5/52
Theme: Popcorn Movie Night

Location: Home

Day/Time: Friday 7:30

Some things just go together...salt & pepper, toast & jam, cake & ice cream, grilled cheese & tomato soup, bacon & eggs, fries & a burger, chips and salsa and......in my eyes the same is true with popcorn & movies! (I know you shouldn't grocery shop when your hungry maybe the same is true when I blog)

This may be a standard date night in some houses - pick out a movie and toss a bag of popcorn in the microwave right. Sound familiar? Not here. Given - its the snack of choice. We eat it as our evening snack all the time. We eat the real stuff - homemade on the stovetop! My hubby has making it down to a science! Nothing beats it! If you've not popped your own popcorn your in for a real treat! Give it a try on your next movie night!

This past Friday night we did exactly that! Cozied up on the couch, had the fireplace going, homemade popcorn - Heck, we even watched some previews before deciding on a romantic comedy {The Proposal}! We had a great date night & enjoyed the movie from the comfort of our own home. In case we hadn't and were at the theatre its reassuring to know that I still could've went pee without missing a thing! Check this out - what will they think of next?

Project 52 Date Nights - Sushi Night Out

Date #4

Theme: Sushi Night Out

Location: Sagano in downtown Brighton

Date/Time: Friday 6:30 pm

I had spent some time during the day looking at the menu. Okay REWIND I'll be honest. I had spent A LOT of time during the day READING the WHOLE menu. I love doing that - anticipation is half the fun!! And, this was something totally new to me so I needed to educate myself! I am the worst at deciding what to order. I often try and convince my hubby (or anyone else who will fall for it) to "split" what they are ordering with me & vise versa. I really think its a win-win. We get to try two dishes instead of one. We decided to sit at the sushi bar so I could watch and learn. I was super entertained and enjoyed watching the sushi designers (as I named them) "play with their food" - its like food art. It almost looks to pretty to eat. Key word being almost. Dinner was fun - something unique and different for us! We love dating each other again - one week at a time. Great idea Simply Modern Mom!

Project 52 Date Nights - Puzzle & Pretzels!

Every New Year I choose a challenge.

Last year I did this & was very glad I did! At times it was hard to keep up but I managed to get a lot of smiles with my little ones! If only they would've got the "say cheese" concept a little sooner. I still need to make a great collage but I've got a few of the pics already framed.
It was fun to always see and share ideas with Melissa - she is so creative too!

This year its Project 52 Date Nights and so far we are right on schedule!

Date # 3

Theme: Puzzle & Pretzels
Location: our house

Date/Time: Sunday 8pm

Since we already had dinner I wanted to have a snack for our date. We both love Auntie Anne's pretzels so I got the make you own at home kit. We started off our date by making the pretzels so we could snack on them while we chatted and worked on the 506 piece puzzle {thanks, dollar store}. I couldn't honestly tell you the last time we did a puzzle that didn't involve farm animals or the ABC's. We both grew up liking them but had never done one together. We had a great time and are looking forward to finishing the puzzle up on a future date - maybe we'll even try the homemade pretzel recipe I've had in the "To Try" recipe binder!