Year of Dates - March

 We are still going strong on our Year of Dates!  This month was a fun one - a cooking class!  Southern Season is a specialty grocery store/cooking school/restaurant from Chapel Hill, NC, and they opened up a store in Richmond this past September.  Hubby and I have been in it a few times and really enjoy walking through the isles of hot sauces, drooling over the specialty kitchen equipment, and browsing their international or specialty beer selections.

For March, our date was a cooking class in the Southern Season cooking school!  Both of us love spending time in the kitchen and eating good food, so this seemed like the perfect way to try something new!  Finding a class that appealed to both of us and worked with Hubby's travel schedule was a bit of a challenge, but we ended up agreeing on the class Cooking with Craft Beer.  Such a good choice!  :) 

Hubby and I in class

First course - Beer cheese fondue

Second course - Hunter's Stew

Main course - Beer braised beef brisket

Dessert - Chocolate Stout Cake

While a bit overpriced (I think), it was a very enjoyable hour and a half.  We got to taste amazing food created and made by a local Richmond chef, and we got to take home the recipes!  I need to find an excuse to make the fondue, Hubby made the stew this past weekend, and that cake will have to be shared at a major chocolate-lover's party.   

After the class, Hubby and I browsed the store before going over to the wine bar and enjoyed a stout and a glass of wine, respectively.  Twas a very nice way to end our date.

Sneak peek at next month...

Year of Dates - February

Oops!  So, I totally forgot to mention our February date.  Have no fear, it did happen!  :)

Wine and chocolate fondue at home on Valentine's weekend!

Unfortunately, we forgot to snap a photo of our date.  This pic was taken the first time we did a chocolate fondue at home a year ago.  This year, we had some tasty wine, a good stout, and pretzels and strawberries to go with our chocolate.  We snuggled on the couch and had a *surprisingly* quiet and child-free evening to ourselves!  Only to be woken up at midnight by Baby Thunder...  C'est la vie!

Where is spring?

Here is what my winter has looked like so far...

Yup, my coldest run to date - a 10k in 56 min in 13 degrees.  And that was the temperature after the run!  It was so cold that the water in my Camelbak tube froze!  I was so happy to get this run in though, since I spent all of it with a new running friend of mine!  There is no way I would have run that far in that weather on my own.  Praise God for best running buddies!

Yes, my sweet Baby Thunder ended up with his own nebulizer mask.  In January, he ended up with bronchiolitis, which resulted in multiple visits to the pediatrician and one late night visit to KidMed.  After a week of breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock, he finally kicked the nasty cold and has not had another one since!  Little Man and I had a touch of a stomach virus, I had strep at Thanksgiving, Hubby had the flu on our wedding anniversary, and pink eye has gone through our family three times.  

But, that's not to say we haven't had some fun this winter...

Happy Baby Thunder!

Date night with Hubby at La Parisienne before watching No BS! Brass Band play at the Richmond Symphony

Sweet snuggles with Little Man

Bring on spring!

Year of Dates - January

So a few years ago, I came across this on Pintrest - A Year of Dates!

 Turns out, it was a lot harder than I thought.  I didn't have the money to pre-pay for these dates, as is suggested (I still don't).  Instead, I wrapped up 12 mostly empty manila envelopes with each month written across the top.  I had a few ideas in the first three, but nothing after March.  As a result, we didn't follow through and our dates became hit or miss.

Having two small children and a husband who travels for work has made going out on a date very difficult.  So, I decided to give this idea another try.  I came across another blog that had the same concept, and I'm really bummed I can't find it again because there were some really good ideas!  So instead, I'll just share what I came up with!  And yes, I managed to channel my creative juices and come up with a variety date ideas for each month.

We had planned to go see the last Hobbit movie the weekend of our anniversary, but Hubby was sick with the flu.  So, we decided to fulfill January's envelope and a bit early on December 29th since that is when we found childcare.

We went all out and went to Cinebistro, a luxurious (overpriced) movie theater that serves you food and alcohol to enjoy during the movie.  The movie did not live up to Hubby's hopes or expectations and the food was only so-so, but it was lovely to return to MiddleEarth #OneLastTime! 

 What do you do for Date Night?