Every year I make it a new year’s resolution to go on monthly dates with my husband. Not once after over a decade of earnest attempts have we ever come close to meeting this goal… until this year. I can’t believe we actually did it! January through December we took one night out together, just the two of us. I know this post will have an overwhelming number of selfies, food, and coffee shots, but I thought it would be neat to make a list of what we did each month. Most of them are the same old same old but you never know, we might have an outing that spurs on a practical date night idea for someone else.

 

January 

At the beginning of the year we went to a worship retreat in Georgia. While the cabins were cozy we didn’t even stay in the same room so the event itself was far from romantic. However, we did manage to sneak a date in on the way home. We toured a little bit of Knoxville Tennessee and I must say we both really enjoyed the vibe of that city.

We had some very decadent desserts at the French Creperie

Yummy comfort food at Tupelo Honey

Then coffee and artisan donuts at  Status Dough

 

 

 

 

February

 

Okay, this was my favorite of all the outings we went on this year and if you are in Cincinnati I highly recommend each one of these stops.

We went to Urbana Cafe for coffee and treats.

 

We also checked out the Mercantile library which was a delightfully fascinating discovery. It was established in 1835 and they definitely have maintained a lot of the orginal attributes of the library without giving it a museum feel. I could have spent hours there. 

and I can’t say enough good things about Mazunte Taqueria if you are in the mood for Mexican food.

 

March

 

This was also a really fun date night. We did a free class at our local library about suburban micro-farming.

Afterward we went to a nearby restaurant that all our friends rave about but we had never been to despite driving past it hundreds of times. The Bite is great for organic homemade eats.

April

I have no photos of our date in April. In fact, I didn’t even have a good time. I’m just keeping it real. We squeezed a date night in the midst of a packed schedule just so that I could claim success for one date each month. We were paying for a baby sitter so we argued about how late we should stay out and how much we were spending. The whole thing was a bust. I was telling one of my friends and she said, “Well if you have 12 dates in a year there is a good chance that one will not go smoothly but at least you have all the others.” She was so right and that completely relieved the pressure I was putting on myself to have these unrealistic Bachelor status date nights.

May

This was a really simple daytime date.

We went shopping and had lunch. I talked Jeremy into getting white sneakers. It was out of his comfort zone but they look really good on him and you’ll see them in the July date night photos. Oh yeah, and we also found this neat little coffee shop called Kala.

June

For my birthday date we went to The Birch which is a restaurant my sister in law had recommended.

We walked around afterward and got some coffee we even almost got tattoos spontaneously, but they were closed.

For the record neither one of us have tattoos but we want to get permanent wedding rings.  

July

In July we saw the movie “Yesterday”. We never go to the movies and hadn’t seen anything together in YEARS, but this was really cute. We enjoyed it.  

August

We had a gift card for the Olive Garden but I worked there for several years and don’t really like their food anymore so I researched other places this Darden gift card might be valid. It turns out the Yard House is one of those places.

The food and dessert were good and we were right in the heart of the city. We could see the Ferris wheel right outside our window.

After dinner we did a little walking around downtown.

This date was another favorite of mine.

 September

This month was also tricky to squeeze in a date. I have a wonderful friend that I  bartered with and she watched Elle while Jeremy and I checked out The Main Cup. It’s a local cafe that I heard good things about. It was a quick date, but we had fun.  

October

In this month Jeremy landed a new job which was a huge answer to prayer.

 

We celebrated by going to a tapas restaurant called e+o.


I realize almost all we do is go out to eat and take pictures of food, but what can I say? We like to eat.

 

November

 

For our anniversary date we went Quan Hapa  ( a Ramen restaurant that we had been to before).

Then we had coffee and dessert at Coffee Emporium when a panhandler hit us up (not uncommon for that area). No matter how hard we tried to get her groceries or a warm meal you could tell she was only interested in money so sadly all we were able to do was get her a cup of black coffee and off she went.

December

Our final date night of the year we tried out a place called Amol that was new to us. We had Indian food and mango lassis which we both love.

We also went shopping at the Gap clearance center. I know a lot of men hate shopping and their wives have to drag them along. I’m thankful that Jeremy actually likes to shop and we are a great pair when it comes to finding good deals and being honest about what does and doesn’t look good.

So that’s all of our dates for 2019. Nothing over the top romantic or adventurous, but that was never the point. When you have four kids any minute alone is priceless. Here’s to the next 12 dates.