Get Creative with a Night In

I rarely have time alone with my husband. Not on a typical day anyway and certainly not time that we spend focused on each other. It’s hard. Once the kids are in bed we both float off to take care of the million things we couldn’t get to during the day (work and photos for him, Instagram for me- I didn’t say they were all important things;). Do we try to focus on each other? Sure. It’s just hard. Especially now that we’ve been married almost 10 years (no, no we haven’t, I’m not old enough to have been married 10 years). But, seriously, we have. The longer we’re together, the more responsibilities we’ve cultivated as a couple. With those responsibilities come more tugs on our time and less attention to devote to one another. 
Usually, when we get a minute to ourselves we take a child-free date…to Costco. Oh the hours we have spent wandering those oversized grocery stocked aisles. I’m totally not giving that up- I mean come on, at our age it doesn’t get much better than independent Costco strolling. Sometimes, though, you’ve got to stop and just do nothing. Well, not nothing nothing because who wants to do that (seriously, I have lost the ability to sit still- thanks iPhone7 plus)? 

Hello, Night In Box. When I first saw the advertisement on Facebook, I knew I needed them in my life- heck we both did. Sometimes you just need a moment to sit and reconnect with no interruptions. So, we tried to do this twice. The first time, we could not get the kids to settle so I got through my live unboxing (check it out HERE) before being ambushed by children- lots of them (who decided to have so many any way…I’m blaming him;). We decided to pack it up for another, quieter night. This time, we thought instead of doing our usual run out on a grandparents’ day, we’d stay in and relax without having to listen for a baby or get water for a sleepy toddler…again. I have to say, it was heaven. 

We are not strangers to the idea of sending the kids off to enjoy our home in peace, but we do have that curse of the responsible adult that when at home, it’s a chore to, well, ignore the chores. But, we did just that, thanks to our Date Night In Box. We received the Art of Love Date, otherwise known as the painting date (so originally named by moi). When I first opened it, I was a little worried that it wasn’t going to be for me. I’m not artistic. Crafty, yes. Visually coordinated, yes. Good at drawing? No and really no. I thought, what the heck lets give it a try. 

The Review. Here’s the quick version: it was a fun bonding experience and we ended the night with a momento of our time alone. Maybe seeing it on the wall will remind us to do it again. We can hope! 

Here’s the longer one. Our box came with everything we would need to paint two canvases plus a little snack. Here’s what I would recommend grabbing before you snag this box. Extra white paint (we have lots of craft stuff so it wasn’t a problem but we ended up using quite a bit more than was sent. Acrylic paint is 99 cents at Walmart so no biggie). A hair dryer- there are several times you need to wait for the paint to dry and the hair dryer sped up the process. An alternative would be to do the first half, break for drinks, and finish up. If you do that, be sure to google “conversation starters for couples” (or just click HERE) and spark some interesting conversation. But, if, like us, you’re pressed for time (we were trying to fit in a fondue dinner, grocery shopping- what can I say we’re an exciting couple, and some blog catch up- we’re ambitious), the hair dryer works. And, maybe just maybe a cocktail. 

We grabbed our Margaritas and paintbrushes and went to the website (www.paintingparties.com) on the included card. There were two options for the canvas tutorials. We (well by we I mean me, J was working on the fondue- he spoils me) chose “the First Date” because it included a lot of grey, one of our favorite colors, and looked like something I would hang in my home. 

The tutorial by Painting Parties was awesome, detailed, and guided us through each brush stroke. We had a lot of fun laughing over each others’ techniques and admiring our progress. I loved that the activity involved us working on two separate pieces that together create a united picture yet are beautifully unique apart. I’m sure there’s whole metaphor about marriage right there. 

Date night in was a success and I don’t know about J, but I can’t wait to do it again! 

I received Date Night In Box as part of a collaboration but all pictures, thoughts, and opinions are my own. We never guarantee good reviews for products however we do give good products good reviews and that’s what happened here. Think you’ll like date night in as much as we did? Please CLICK HERE to subscribe and don’t ever miss an opportunity to get creative with your spouse! Use the code “freeshipping” to get your box shipped free!