I know you’ve heard the term date night; it’s a term we married adults like to use to refer to the very few moments in our lives where we get to enjoy our spouse’s company. Date night plays an important role in my life because it’s the only time where the wife and I get to test our connection. No distractions, no questions or screaming from our two daughters; we truly love them but sometimes they can be a tad too much to handle.
Ok, so a little bit about me. Well, I like to refer to myself as Father, Husband, Lover and Entrepreneur. Now, when I say lover I don’t mean it in the sexual aspect of the word but more as a lover and appreciation of all things. I’ve been married to my wife for nine years, two kids thirteen and seven and I reside in Durham Ontario. For those of you who are married with active children you are well aware of the constant moving around and shipping off with the kids as their dedicated chauffer and personal butler. Basically, there is hardly any time for us.
So, when the opportunity to have or to plan a date night comes along I’m all in. Trust me when I say that date nights don’t have to be extravagant. Sometimes the wife and I will wake up early Sunday morning and just take a moment together. We can do that now from time to time as our eldest daughter is now at the age where we can leave her alone for an hour or two. For those of you who don’t have a teenager handy, don’t worry you’ll be there soon. We’ve been waiting patiently for the moment where we can leave and make a quick jaunt to the store without having to organize the entire team to get out the door; not to brag but it makes us so happy!
So let's get to the date night, as I stated before it doesn’t have to be extravagant; however, spending a little money and effort planning the right date night is well worth it. So, let me breakdown how I got down on a well planned, organized, full of fun and exciting date night that will not break the bank.
Each year a very good friend of ours from high school has been getting everyone together to celebrate her birthday at a party that happens in the city. Sometimes it’s on New Year’s Day, the last couple of times it's moved to a new venue and new date that takes place a few days after New Year’s so this was part of the plan.
Next, a friend of mine from the gym runs a comedy night in Durham called Comedy Revival so I got tickets for the show. It was a pretty good night with a very eclectic crowd that ranges in diversity that matched the diverse range of comics that he selected.
Then it was on to the hotel that we booked through www.booking.com which is quickly becoming one of my trusted go to places to book a hotel. The only thing is that you have to pay attention to the fine print as far as cancellation policies, dates of when you can cancel, or if you can cancel at all. So after a few minutes of searching, I saw 1 King West on the site and was hooked. It was sleek, modern, clean and spacious right in the heart of the city. I couldn’t resist. But to be honest it was probably the picture that got me, I’m a professional photographer during the day so I guess it appeals to me.
Now we have a pair of comedy tickets, $40 bucks, hotel booked for a low rate of $125 tax not included (still a pretty amazing deal for the city right but they are out there, you just have to keep a six on things happening in the six!). Okay, first and last pun. Oh yah $40 for the party tickets and maybe $20 dollars in total for the Uber ride plus an additional $25 for parking near the hotel. Grand total give or take a few dollars for some drinks at the bar and the stop to the convenience store let’s say $250 so far. I’m sure there are a few more things but let me get back to the story.
We got to the hotel which was even better looking than the website. Went up to our room and started marking spots of where the end of our night would take place. Hey, we are married not dead. Love and lust are still alive or at the very least why we try and have date nights. Now it was time for food. We read through the menu, a truffle oil French fry dish caught my attention. For the wife it was a Portobello mushroom pizza that grabbed her by the stomach. Oh yeah, I forgot, the wife’s was the truffle oil French fry, she would never let me live it down if I said she liked mushrooms. We were famished so we headed to the bar to do our thing. The staff was friendly; bartender extremely friendly and we caught him providing a great experience for some of the patrons.
The drinks were creative and the standards were present. The prices were relative to downtown; you can see some things ranging from $8-$17 but don’t quote me on that. We are really not big drinkers, my wife more so than me.
Got to the club, took an Uber, (not promoting uber, caught a cab later that night and couldn’t cancel and still got charged by Uber.) Moving along, had some drinks but no dancing on the tables. Got back to the hotel and acted as though we got caught in a time warp and went back 20 years.
Then we woke up, enjoyed each other’s company some more, got famished, walked down the street to Over Easy on Yonge St, stuffed our faces, and went back to our kids zombified.
In the hustle and bustle of life it's so easy to get bogged down with school, work, and kids. There is always something to do, somewhere to go but a date night can also serve as a reminder to take a break. Every now and again you have to appreciate the one you promised forever to in order to make sure there is a forever.