With 3 littles at home, date night is a MUST and we do our best to schedule it regularly. If we didn’t, I’m not sure if we’d ever get any uninterrupted time together! Can you relate?! But life happens and with no family in town, we’ve had to tweak our ideal date night scenario a bit to ensure they still happen!! Lately it seems simply going out for dinner and drinks is a luxury outing, especially in the winter. It’s a whole ordeal! One way we’ve found to still be able to take time to connect with each other and have some peace and quiet is by declaring a date night IN! Today, I’m sharing our Tips for a Casual, but intentional Date Night at Home!
Content for 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.
*This post is sponsored by Drinkworks® Home Bar by Keurig®. All thoughts, opinions, ideas and photography are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make This is our Bliss possible.
You do girls night in, so why not try planning a fun date night at home for you and your spouse!
T and I are social people and love a good time, but by Friday, we find ourselves just wanting to chill! Sometimes we get together with friends and their kids, but when we’ve truly scheduled a “date night in” we keep it to just us!
We spend time with the boys doing our typical Friday pizza and movie night, but then after we put them to bed, we settle in with a drink and pick a game to play.
Date night in doesn’t have to entail preparing an elaborate, first-attempt-at-a-gourmet-meal, heck, sometimes it’s frozen pizza with the kids. But the key ingredients to our date nights in are our favorite drinks and a simple card game.
Easy enough, right?!
And since the idea is casual, simple and mindless, we found the perfect solution to simplifying our wannabe mixology attempts. You know, trying to play bartender when you don’t always know what you’re doing or don’t have the patience for doing it ha!
We’ve discovered the BEST machine to give us individual, specialty cocktails with the touch of a button. Literally.
With the Drinkworks Home Bar, we can enjoy crafting delicious, bar-quality cocktails, brews and wines at the push of a button using premium cocktail pods. Even though the machine does it, we still take credit for *crafting* it 😉
There’s no need to buy all of the expensive mixers or keep a full bar stocked to ensure you have the right ingredients for date night or hosting friends. Plus you’re paying less per drink than you would at a bar or restaurant [and you saved on the babysitter, too!]
The other nice thing about the Drinkworks Home Bar is there is little-to-no clean up since you don’t have to get out the shakers and bar jiggers to make a round of drinks.
The Drinkmaker is incredibly easy to set-up and quite similar to the set-up process when we first got our single-serve coffee machine.
After you’re set-up, it’s as easy as popping in a pod, which there are more than two dozen drinks available – from spritzers, cocktails, ciders and more on the way!
And you guys, the liquid-filled pods actually contain the alcohol already! And premium liquor, at that. 😉
We truly can’t get over how genius this machine is! And such a great deal, too. And if you use my link for this exclusive offer, you’re grabbing it at an even better price. We love it and know you will to!
You’ll save $50 off the retail price of $299 [limited time offer!] which is just $249 for the Drinkworks Home Bar by Keurig. Buy today for Free Shipping! It’s simple and easy to do, simply purchase directly through my link and the discount will be automatically applied to your cart.
Make sure to check the website to see if it’s available in your state.
OUR TIPS FOR A CASUAL, BUT INTENTIONAL DATE NIGHT AT HOME
1 || MAKE YOUR AT-HOME “RESERVATION” & ACTUALLY PUT IT IN THE CALENDAR.
Pick a date with your ideal start and end time so you have a loose game plan to stick to and then invite your significant other. If it’s on the calendar, it’s less likely you’ll forget or keep pushing it to another night.
2 || PICK A THEME.
Here are a few ideas we’ve tried in the past:
- Cards and Cocktails
- [Moscow] Mules and a Movie
- Scrabble & Sips
3 || GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY AHEAD OF TIME.
No need for tons of mixers, but make sure you have your favorite pods and garnishes!
We love making the Margarita flavor and enjoy them with salt-rimmed glasses [with added spice for a little heat!], but our other favorites are the Moscow Mule and I really love the Rose Spritzer!
Here are all of the drink varieties currently available: http://bit.ly/2SoXmF4
Not only have the drink ingredients, but the game supplies, too! There’s nothing worse than starting a game and realizing half the pieces are missing or you can’t find the deck of cards altogether! A tiny bit of prep work will help ensure a smooth transition from bedtime routine to a fun, relaxing night on auto-pilot.
4 || SET THE TONE WITH MUSIC.
Prep that playlist! Whether you’re in the mood for some old-school throwbacks or romantic tunes, having background music always makes it feel less like you’re at home [while still lounging in your sweatpants if you want!]
5 || SWITCH IT UP ONCE IN AWHILE AND INVITE FRIENDS OVER.
If you’re hosting, then they’ll get a sitter and come over after everyone’s kids are down. Next time, they can host and you’ll get a sitter. Take turns at each other’s houses when you want to be a little more social while still having adult time.
The Drinkworks Home Bar by Keurig is such an awesome solution for entertaining. You can invite people over and make them EXACTLY what they want without needing a recipe to follow.
If you live in the Midwest, then you’re probably used to adjusting plans and hanging inside a bit more. One thing a night in doesn’t have to be is boring!
A little planning, some creativity and quality time and your plans are set. And I promise you, the Drinkworks Home Bar will help your date nights and social calendar from here on out!
We love our Cocktails by Keurig. Which one do you want to try first?!
16 Things to Do While You're Stuck at Home - This is our Bliss
March 16, 2020 at 3:41 PM[…] an at-home date night after the kids go to sleep. We love doing some of the ideas I shared in my tips for date night at home, so give one of them a […]
The Friday Five - This is our Bliss
March 13, 2020 at 9:07 AM[…] We use it to make delicious spicy margaritas [mixed with sea salt to rim the glass] and have quite a bit more often after we got our new cocktail machine. […]
Sue
March 4, 2020 at 12:21 PMThe drinkworks looks amazing and super simple! I can’t wait to purchase one and try it out!!
Rachael @ This is our Bliss
March 6, 2020 at 6:37 PMYes!! You’ll love it!!