Dating in December

I loooooove date night. Love it love it love it! We don't have them very often, so when December was rolling into view, I decided to use the opportunity to think up a fun Christmas-y activity for each week of the month. Here's why. One, there's some really fun Christmas activities and when you call it a date, it makes it even more special! Two, the month of December is fraught with parties and events and activities, so having a specific date night planned makes us stop and connect amidst all the merrymaking.

We're smack dab in the middle at the moment and we've had some great fun! So I thought, if you need a little inspiration for some Christmastime dates that don't involve present shopping for your kids, here's how we're dating this month.

Week one, Dearest Carl and I built a gingerbread house! No, the house above is not the one we built. Ours is made of graham crackers and while we're quite proud of it, it doesn't photograph well. We used blue gum as siding, chocolate shredded wheat cereal as roof tiles and granola bars as a chimney! And you can't forget the shredded coconut for snow.

Week two, we had a themed movie night. Remember the pirate theme I did a while back? Our themed movie nights consists of a dinner that matches our chosen movie and eating it at the coffee table while we watch. It's not too glamorous but it's fun! For this one, we watched Miracle on 34th Street (shoutout to my mom for the suggestion!). Since this Christmas classic is set in New York City, I had to find some NYC food for dinner. I landed on chicken and waffles. Now you know me and weird food. I was really excited. We ate our chicken and waffles with syrup.... and I was pleasantly surprised! Pretty sure this is my new favorite food.

Week three is this week. Our plan is to go by Starbucks for a peppermint mocha in a red cup and then drive around town, checking out other people's Christmas lights! My family has done this since I was little so it's been kinda fun to extend the tradition into my married life. Especially now that my husband will buy me Christmas coffee. ;)

Week four is less of a Christmas-y date... We'll be going out to dinner (to be determined) and then to see the new Star Wars movie that comes out this weekend. Dearest Carl and I have both been pretty stoked for this movie so if you're already planning on a movie, why not go to dinner and make it a proper date? Maybe I'll be super nice and let Dearest Carl wear his Santa hat...

There you have it. A date for each week this month. It's been such a blast that I'm tempted to do it every month! And blog about it of course. What do you think? 2016 Date Night Challenge? Would you do it with me?

(Images via 1 // 2 // 3 // 4)