Mr. Peony and I will have been together 4 years next month. I know this is practically nothing compared to some other couples but I do admit that sometimes it’s a bit difficult to keep the romance, excitement, and that certain element of je ne sais quois going in our relationship.
So to keep the romance alive, one of the things we started to do was to implement date nights. Once a month, we both get dressed up and go out for a night on the town. Whether it’s trying a new restaurant, visiting a museum, or going to the theater, we find that it really helps us unwind and enjoy each other’s company.
And to add the requisite geeky element, we often ask each other out for these date nights via Google Calendar. Since we have each other’s calendars shared, we check to see if the other person is free, and send them an invite. Here’s one I received last month:
The best part of our date nights has to be when Mr. Peony first sees me for the first time that night. Because you see, Mr. Peony has the gift of making me feel truly special. His eyes light up as I enter his view and everything else fades away. Although we see each other almost every day, he looks at me as if he hasn’t seen me in ages. He smiles and tells me that I’m the most beautiful and sexiest woman alive, and envelops me in a bear hug.
How do you keep the romance alive?
Aw what a cute way to have Date nights.
Ya well my fiancé isnt that romantic… apart from the “I walk in a room and his eyes light up”
We try to do night outs as well… but we mainly cuddle and whats home movies…
Too sweet! I love his invite. We also do date nights, but I do most of the planning. We try new restaurants, go to plays (we have one this Sunday) or just walk around NYC on a nice evening. It’s really important to keep up the romance… We also like to dress up and make an extra look really nice on these special nights :).
We have a shared google calendar that has all of our “to do’s”, appts, plans on it. We are not as creative as sending invites for date nights (very cute idea I might implement!) but will book something on our calendar and it usually reads as a surprise for the other person. 
Since we only have weekends together, long distance relationship, we tend to have a lot of friends in both cities that want to hang out with us as well. We make sure that at least one of our nights or days during the weekend is free from other appts just be alone with each other and do something fun.
I love the little invite! We try to do date nights too, mostly little things (we try to do it weekly) like walking around the North End or going out for dessert.
We do date nights too… not on any particular schedule, but every once in awhile one of us will suggest it. I think once you have been living together for awhile, it’s easy to fall into a routine so it’s important to go out on a date outside the house sometimes, just the two of you. Otherwise you end up settling into a rut where you do laundry or zone out in front of the computer or watching TV, and you don’t really have much fun over the long run. I find when I get into that sort of rut it’s time for a night out to reconnect with my fiance.
that’s so cute!! i love the invite. what a great way to keep the romance alive. =)
We do date nights once a week or so, depending on other social engagements. We don’t live together, so our weekends are our time together. Friday we usually play racquetball and go out to dinner. Saturday we might cook together and then go to a fun bar or the symphony or to hear a live band somewhere else. Date nights do get expensive though, and after we’re married, we might only do them once a month.
Every Friday night is our date night. We will be together 9 years on 11/20 but it feels like just yesterday when I first saw him. We don’t live together so this has really helped keep the sparks alive…since we each have our own space and own group of friends….we don’t have enough time to keep our hands off each other.
A mix of planned dates and spontonaity keep us happy. Nothing like dancing in the rain or driving somewhere on a whim to make you smile.
my bf and i are long distance so we make it a point to spend quality time together. this has taken the form of weekly date night [his idea!]. so on saturday nights we both pick a movie and watch it at the same time while talking on the phone.
we both look forward to that since we tend to get busy during the week and don’t always have a chance to sit and talk [we're also on opposite coasts so the time difference is a huge pain].
Cute! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that schedules romantic things via Google Calendar
We do date nights as well although it’s not as easy now that I am in Chicago and he is in NYC ( we used to be in NYC together). We have been together for almost 7 yrs and Fridays were our “date nights” - we would have dinner together, or dinner and the movie, walked around NYC, had cupcake at Magnolia bakery or crashed on the couch with take out sushi. We simply didn’t plan anything with other people (that’s what the rest of the weekend was for - brunch with friends, etc).
We also pick each other up at the airport . No matter whether it’s a small trip or a big one, the other one is always there, because, as my bf said some very long time ago “nobody should arrive and have no one waiting for them”. I think it’s sweet.
this post makes me sick. what, are we in high school? why don’t you pass some notes between classes?
Hahahaha…why yes, I pass notes to my husband.
um, I pass notes to my hubs, too. And we’re both grad students, so it’s inevitably “between classes”. Hee hee.
…And we do a weekly date night, usually dinner out together somewhere, or takeout and a DVD if the weather’s bad and/or we’re both tired. Considering our current schedules, this is really important for us, and we both look forward to the time alone together each week.
I agree with “annoyed.” I know most of the posts seem to agree with miss p, but the whole thing seems very contrived and a little forced. if this much effort needs to be made before the marriage i can only wonder what the google calendar will look like when they are actually married…
Hanna, I appreciate your sharing your opinion with us. However, Mr P and I don’t see these date nights as being forced at all - we enjoy them very much! We enjoy the every day things like watching TV, cuddling, talking to each other about our days, etc. But we also love to dress up and go out and so it’s worth the extra effort. And since we’re both geeks and love Google Calendar we think it’s a cute way to ask each other out.
making an effort to spend time together like this is a great thing! it’s going to get harder once you’re married, so this is a fun way to get excited about spending quality time together.
i think it’s awesome. 
And I agree! While our “date nights” are normally pretty spur-of-the-moment, every one means a lot to me because it’s time together doing activities we love to do, with the person we love. I would say that the method of scheduling that time together is really irrelevant — it’s the time spent that really matters, and any couple that does so really benefits from it.
i know from my married friends that life gets a little mundane and not so romantic, so i know that these date nights allow them to focus on one another and their relationship in order to rekindle the passion so to speak. i can imagine that it’s a little harder to keep the mystery alive after you’ve seen each other doing chores around the house and in the grubbiest clothes. so i think it’s really cute how mr. peony’s eyes can still light up at the first sight of ms. peony all gussied up for a night on the town. and the google calendar, honestly, for very busy people, it’s genius! if it wasn’t that, i could see myself using evite! i’ve personally scheduled some dinners even through restaurant.com’s invitation feature.
Mrs. Peony, New York
Age and Occupation: 27, Marketing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, QA Engineer
Engagement Date: June 28, 2007
Wedding Date: April 18, 2008
Venue: The Fountainhead
Blogging Since: August 7, 2007
About Me: Both Mr. Peony and I are huge computer nerds, and our conversations usually consist of the latest gadgets, programming languages, and video games. At the same time, I can also be very girly with an obsession with handbags, makeup, and high heels. And art! I've studied studio art extensively, almost majored in art history, and freelance as a web and graphics designer. Mr. Peony and I are having a ball of a time planning a wedding for 250(!) guests, doing our best to infuse our personalities (geeky chic) with the wishes of our very traditional Asian parents.
that’s so cute miss P! i love it!
we try to do date nights as well. we tried to do it once a month but we’re so busy we just do it spur of the moment whenever either one of us feel spontaneous. =)