HOLIDAY DATE NIGHT IDEAS
Kimono | Skirt | Tank | Shoes | Purse
The hustle and bustle of the holidays is really about to pick-up. Between kids events, holiday parties, holiday shopping and just the normal stress of day-to-day life it is really hard to spend some quality time with your sweetie. Date nights are a huge deal in our house and Steve and I really make a priority to try and carve out time for each other regardless of what time of year it is.
The fun thing about the holidays is that it opens up a whole slew of date ideas that are so much more fun than a dinner and a movie. Today I want to share with you some of my favorite holiday date night ideas. I know it is crazy. I know you are tired. I know you are stressed. But I promise just one night out, or even an afternoon away from the kids, will totally be worth it. I hope you find something fun for you and your sweetie to do.
HIT UP THE CHRISTMAS LIGHT DISPLAY
This is such a good one because just about every town has a local Christmas light display. Maybe it is at the zoo, maybe it is at your botanical gardens, maybe it is in your city's downtown area. Regardless of where it is, this is such a fun date night idea. I think it is so romantic to hold hands and stroll through the lights. It is also nice to be able to do it without the kids, so you can actually take your time and enjoy the lights without having to chase kiddos all throughout the display. The light display that you can not miss here in Nashville is at Cheekwood. They have over 1 million lights on display, real live reindeer, s'mores pits...and they even have hot toddies and alcohol for sale. If you are coming in town for the holiday's, then you must stop by and visit this display.
HEAD TO A CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE
And I mean a Christmas performance other than your kid's holiday program. If your husband typically balks at more cultural experiences, the holidays is a great time to get him to try something new. Head to the ballet to see the Nutcracker, hit up your local symphony to hear their Christmas concert, or check out your local community theater's holiday production. This is a great time to convince your hubby to do these kind of things if he doesn't normally like them because the performances are normally fun, the music is typically familiar, and who knows, maybe you will convince him to become a renaissance man.
EXPLORE A NEW PART OF TOWN
This is such a fun way to get out of the rut of going to the same restaurants in the same part of town. Steve and I were actually going to head to Cheekwood when I was taking these pictures. Unfortunately I didn't do my research and they had not opened their Christmas display to the public yet. It actually ended up being a happy accident though, because I was driving around looking for places to shoot and I stumbled upon the cutest neighborhood that I didn't even know existed. Even if you have lived in your town your whole life, chances are there are areas you haven't explored or don't head to frequently. The holiday's are a perfect time to try a new restaurant and then hop in the car and drive around the area looking at Christmas lights.
GIVE BACK
In this season of shopping and spending, it is sometimes easy to loose sight of the true meaning of Christmas and what is really important. In order to reconnect with not only your spouse, but your local community, you can have a date night that focuses on giving back. Pick an angel off the local angel tree and you and your spouse can go shopping for items on their wishlist. Head to your local Walmart or Target and pick a person or two and surprise them by buying the gift or gifts they had in their cart. Serve dinner at a local homeless shelter. Spend time at a local nursing home. There are so many opportunities to give back to people who may be hurting during this holiday season, so share the love you and your sweetie have for each other with everyone else.
CHRISTMAS MOVIE MARATHON
This is a great one because it is something that you can do at home if you can't get a babysitter and head out. We are huge Christmas movie lovers over here. In fact, stay tuned next week because I am going to share some of our family's favorite holiday movies. Anyways, once you get the kids down for bed, snuggle up on the couch and binge watch some of your favorite Christmas movies. You can make some hot chocolate and grab a copy of A Christmas Story and Elf and make a night of it. I found this hot chocolate recipe on Pinterest and it looks delicious if you are looking for one.
WHAT TO WEAR
Now that we have tackled what you guys are doing on your date night, now let's tackle what you need to wear. I know it will vary depending on what activity you choose for your date night, but some of these suggestions require a little more effort going in to them. I think the holiday's make a great excuse for getting a little more dressed up or putting a little extra effort into what we are wearing. I also like to use it as an excuse to maybe try something a little different that what I normally wear. That is why when I saw this velvet kimono on Sole Society's website I had to snatch it up. It is not normally something that I would wear, but I loved the dressier feel it had paired with my favorite skirt and a simple black tank. Sole Society always has the best scarfs, ponchos and kimonos. This kimono would also be perfect for a holiday party. You could dress it up or down depending on the occasion. It would look perfect paired with black jeans and black cigarette trousers.
I love a good ankle strap heel. I wear them all the time. In fact, if you recall, I loved them enough to wear them for 15 hours straight at my live show and lost feeling in my toes for almost a month. Luckily all that feeling has come back and I am back on the high heels band wagon. I love these velvet ankle strap heels from Sole Society because they are a dressier version of my classic stand-by. As you know, Sole Society has some of my favorite shoes and I have a feeling these are going to be in heavy rotation this holiday season.
Regardless of where your are going or what you are wearing, take a little time out to truly enjoy this season with your spouse or significant other. Spending that quality time together is a gift that you give to yourselves and each other. Hope I have inspired your to call that babysitter or rent those holiday movies!
WHAT I'M WEARING
Thank you to Sole Society for sponsoring this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Thank you to all of you who support the brands that help make Living with Landyn possible.