March Madness Pick'em! ~Group Date

Every year my husband and I fill out March Madness brackets to guess which college basketball team will come out on top!  To add a little more fun into the whole month, why not try competing as couples, against family or friends, to see who scores the highest points with their brackets!? You might even want to watch a few games together taking turns at different houses with your participating group to really get into it!  Then, after it's over, go out to dinner and the winning couple gets to have their dinner paid for by the rest of the competing group!  Brackets will need to be filled out after selection Sunday (March 11th) and before March 15th, so get ready for it!  Set up your brackets here. 

Happy loving,
Rachelle

Progressive Dinner ~Date

Since it's still the month of February, I was thinking about what other Valentine's dates I've experienced in the past.  I remember last year really stuck out to me because a group of my friends and I did a Progressive Dinner with our spouses and it was a hit!  I've also heard of families doing this as a tradition for Thanksgiving, but it is fun anytime of the year! 

A Progressive Dinner is done at a number of houses in one night, with the first house usually hosting an array of appetizers, the second house with a main course, and a third house with desserts.  When I did it with my friends, we had four houses hosting appetizers, salads, main course, and desserts.  We ended the night playing "minute to win it" games and it was a blast, and complete with humorous prizes for all the couples!  The food was amazing; just be sure not to fill up at the first house!  The entire evening lasted for about 4 hours I think, maybe longer, and I would definitely do it again! 

Minute to win it games are great for a group, I've even heard of them been done at baby showers.  If you would like to do minute to win it games at your next event, here is the link to the nbc show website with how-tos on every game: Minute to win it list .

I love food, so a Progressive Dinner is something I really enjoy with lots of food and great company!  I hope you enjoy this date too!

Happy loving,
Rachelle

OOOh baby you know what I like!!!-Date

***NEW GROUP AND SPOUSE INVITATIONS ADDED TO AT THE BOTTOM (available to download)

Wow, my husband is so clever.  He came up with this catchy date name, and what can I say, I like it! You can  make this either a group date or a couple date depending on what you want.

This date is all about making choices for your spouse and is sure to spark conversation about what you already know about each other and what you still have to learn!

1.  Pick out the outfits.  Each person picks out what they think their spouse's favorite outfit is to wear on the date.
2. Go out for dinner and order for each other.  Choose everything for your spouse and vice versa, including drinks, meals, and desserts. (If you are out with a group (and have friends like mine), can you just imagine the conversations that will spring up about each other?)
3. Play the Newly Wed Game.  After dinner, return home and play this lively game with friends or as a couple.  This game is fun whether you are newly weds or been married for a while. Instructions:  Take turns asking either husband or wives  a question, and they have to predict what they think their spouse's answer would be.  And example question for husbands could be, "How many pairs of shoes does your wife own?".  A good way to keep track of this is to have both partners write down their answer on paper so they can't change it.  To find which questions you want to use, go to these helpful links here and here. If you are playing with a group, this can be really funny and you could pick up some gag gifts at the dollar store for the winners!  If you are playing as a couple, write down a service prize that your spouse can do for you if you win, or what you will do for them if they win (30 min. back massage, foot rub, husband makes dinner, day without changing diapers, etc).  Trust me, incentives make games more competitive and fun!
 Optional:
 I've learned that surprises make everything more fun on a date, so if you want, you could just tell your spouse that you have a date planned on Friday at 6pm and lay the details on him that night.  Also, going the extra effort to make invitations to give to your spouse or friends, starts anticipation for the date and that's sometimes half the fun...and makes the fun last longer around any memorable date.  Here are some free download invitations that we created.  (Group Date Invitation) (Spouse Invite) After clicking the link, go to file and then click download original.  From there you can add information for your date and print.

 So there it is, all through this date you have learned so much about your loved one, or proved you know them best and it can be a very enriching night!

If you try this, or have any additional ideas for this date, comment and let me know! 

Happy loving,
Rachelle