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Valentine’s Day is exactly one week away. Although Jake and I will be celebrating toward the end of the month due to his schedule, I’ve been brainstorming some fun date night ideas. When Jake is super busy, planning future dates keeps me from getting down. I’ve mentioned it before, but Jake and I did pre-marriage counseling and one of our big goals was to always make time for a weekly date. With his crazy schedule right now, it can be hard to stick with this goal. We have been pretty successful though and I wanted to share some fun Valentine’s date ideas I’ve come up with so far. We’ve been married for over 4.5 years, and our marriage has taught us that dates don’t need to be elaborate; it’s all about the quality time together. I suggest putting your phone away and enjoying one of these dates below.
The cutest dog photo bombed my photo.
Valentine’s Day Date Night Ideas
- Wine Tasting at Home: Jake and I are both winos, but unfortunately the only winery in our area is about 40 minutes away and wine bars can get very expensive quick. Why not have your own wine tasting in the comfort of your home? I suggest going to Trader Joe’s or Sam’s Club and picking up a few bottles to try. Jake and I are both primarily red wine drinkers (and rosé in the summer), but we do enjoy champagne and an occasional white wine too. To make the night really special, you could even do cheese pairings as well. I also suggest Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods to make a cheese board. If you wanted to get really creative, you could do a blind taste test to identify wines and see who can guess them correctly. I think this is something we will have to do soon. Some of our favorite wines are Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon, Apothic Red Blend and Mumm Rosé Sparking Wine. Would y’all be interested in a blog post about my favorite wines? I have a big list of ones we love.
- Do A Class Together: One of my favorite dates is to do a wine and painting class. I haven’t done one in a while, but this is something you could easily do at home too. One of our local hotels has a wine blending class and also offers cooking classes. These are two things I’ve been dying to do in Birmingham.
- Cook Dinner Together: I am usually the one that cooks all meals, but it’s always so special when Jake and I cook together. He usually grills while I make the side dishes. Eating at restaurants can be very expensive, so I suggest sharing a nice meal at home. When you cook at home, you can do something a little fancier for a fraction of the restaurant price.
- Netflix Night: Jake and I are both obsessed with Netflix. We get into watching a show and end up binge watching the whole thing. To make a Netflix night special, I suggest getting take out and having a variety of your favorite snacks/drinks. I love saving certain shows to watch with Jake.
- Staycation/Be A Tourist In Your Own City: While Jake and I love to travel, it is nice to be a tourist in your own city. It’s fun to explore museums and big attractions that you would visit as a tourist. I have an eternally growing bucket list of local Birmingham things we want to do while living here.
- Go Out For Dessert/Appetizers or Bake At Home: I have the hugest sweet tooth, but usually when we go out to dinner I have no room for dessert. I suggest splitting appetizers and going out for dessert. This saves room and is cheaper than two entrees. If you’re a good baker, you could always bake at home, or if you have a fire pit like we do, make s’mores at home.
- Try A New Restaurant: Birmingham has so many amazing restaurants, but we do get into a routine of going to the same ones over and over. It’s always nice to branch out and try something new.
- Game Night: Recently I went to a ladies game night and thought it would be so fun to play games with Jake. If you have any fun game suggestions, let me know.
- Map Out Your Next Trip: When you’re not able to travel for a while, one of the most fun things to do is plan out future trips. We’re going to Paris/London in the spring, so I think a planning night with macaroons would be fun.
- Do A Hobby/Common Interest Together: Jake and I both love cats, so a trip to the cat adoption center would be right up our alley. Also, things like dates to Top Golf or the golf course are always fun. This will have to happen in the spring.
About The Outfit:
I’ve been wanting a lip tee for Valentine’s Day for a while and this one is way better quality than I expected. It runs true to size. I’ve had this pleated maxi skirt for years and loved dressing the tee up.
What are your Valentine’s Day plans?
I love all of your date ideas! PLEASE share your favorite wines, that is such a fun post idea. We are huge “tour your own city” people, we’re actually doing that this weekend for Cole’s birthday, I can’t wait. I also love the apps & dessert idea, I have the world’s largest sweet tooth but often have the same problem with being full. We will definitely be doing that date soon! And of course, you know I love planning a trip 🙂 it’s more fun when you have someone to share it with and I love the idea of sampling treats from the area you’re planning to visit. When are you going to London and Paris? My mom and I leave on April 12!! We’re going to both cities, too.
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Thank you so much, Amanda! Okay, I will share my wine post after Valentine’s Day is over. I still have a few on my list that i’m dying to try 😉 We love to your our own city too. Jake has an amazing schedule in March, so after our trip in early March we will be dedicating weekends to doing fun activities in Bham. Trip planning really is more fun when you get to do it together. I am so excited for you. I really need to get my planning done. I’ve been so busy, so it’s been hard.
Love these ideas! I have a feeling our Valentine’s Day this year will be very laid back, either waiting for baby or snuggling with him/her ☺️ Hope you have a great one! Also loving that skirt!
Taylor | http://www.livingtaylored.com
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Thank you so much, Taylor! Oh I bet, ours next year will hopefully be similar to your Valentine’s Day 😉 I am so excited for you.
LOVE this outfit Courtney!! PS y’all should plan a trip to Charlottesville where I live- we have TONS of wineries, I think 30+ just in my county alone!
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
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You are too sweet. Thank you for your kind words. Ahhh I would love to. That sounds amazing! I didn’t know y’all had so many wineries.
So fun! I actually think we’ve done all of these ideas! They are so awesome! Great outfit for V-Day too 🙂 Love everything here! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful weekend.
Katherine | http://www.oneswainkycouple.com
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Thank you soo much! <3 I am glad you think these are good date ideas. What are y'alls V-Day plans?
Your date ideas are all amazing! I’m currently putting 3 of them into practice right now, haha. We’re planning a vacation together today, and we just made a date night reservation to try a restaurant we’ve always meant to try. But tomorrow night, we’re ordering takeout and watching Netflix (no phones allowed!) I love all of these – especially the game night. We need to do that! And your outfit is the cutest! That skirt is incredible, and you styled it to perfection. (I love your photobomber as well, haha.)
Author
Thank you so much, Lindsey! I am so glad that you agree. Ahhh that sounds so fun. Takeout and Netflix sounds perfect. We need to do a gamenight soon too. I need to get some good games. I am so glad you like this outfit. The dog was sooo cute. The owner didn’t realize he was photobombing it until it was too late, but I thought those shots were so cute, so I didn’t mind 🙂
Aww Courtney I love that you are always thinking of great date ideas for you and Jake ! With his crazy workload it keeps you occupied when you ar e not working yourself. I Love the wine tasting idea, we both love wine also and the blind test is one I never thought of! I would love to see a wines faves post! We have netflix but I rarely get a chance to see it! It is busy with 4 kids and I am sleepy at the end of the day , but I will look for a good series . We do staycations a lot , and like to get exploring when we have a babysitter. Game nights are so fun , I will send you a list of great adult /late teen games ,ok? We are going to Omaha for Spring break to visit friends , so that will be a fun trip. One of our favorite hobbies is going to a winery. We bought a gift card at Christmas to a local winery for my Brother-in-law and his wife (my Sister-in-law!) We will go there when they come visit. It is a way to force them to visit right!?
I love the lip tee , so so cute !! Also such a pretty maxi skirt , great for the cooler days in Birmingham im guessing . WE had a date night on Friday so we celebrated Valentines 6 days early . It is hard to do stuff on a Thursday night so maybe a little cosying on the couch watching some show will be our celebration! Thanks for the post Courtney, Have a lovely Sunday, Terri xo.
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Hey Terri! Yes, that is what keeps me going. 🙂 I have to always keep myself motivated with fun ideas. I will have to share a wine post soon. I am still trying a few more to see if they’ll make the list. I bet you don’t get much tv time with your kiddos. I am so glad you get to explore and have a babysitter. That is sooo important. Yes, please send me your favorite games. I need some ideas. I am so glad you are getting to go on a family spring break trip. That is always so fun. Wineries are sooo fun.
Yes, we are still a little cool here, but not too bad. I am so glad you got a date night in. We will celebrate after V-day this year.
It is good to keep busy Courtney! I am looking forward to the wine post
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Thanks, Terri! Hopefully soon 🙂
Haha I hit send on accident after writing about the wine post! I will try and get the list of games to you later today or tomorrow morning. Our little trip will be something to look forward to . Your Valentine’s Day celebration will be something for you to look forward too. Take care Dear, Terri xo.
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Thank you for sending the email, Terri! I am excited to try your suggestions. I am happy for you that you have a trip to look forward to.
Uno attack is another game that is fun for a couple or bigger group Courtney, we played with the kids last night. Take care Terri xo.
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Ohh i need to try that. Sounds so fun. I love Uno