Everyone always talks about how important date nights are once you have kids.
But the trouble is, we really just want to sit on the couch and veg out in front of the TV- me with my knitting and Guy with his internet. Our last date night consisted of going to Home Depot, eating Subway sandwiches for dinner, picking up a baby gift for a friend, and then sitting in a cafe for an hour, feeling tired and wishing we could go home. But we felt guilty for wanting to go home, and also like we'd be ripping off the babysitter if we came home so soon. That is not an unusual way for us to spend a 'date night'.
So we decided to shake things up a bit and actually do something that people who were not married/cohabitating (and therefore HAD to go on dates as a way to spend time together) would do. We went to First Thursday, an evening event that the Art Gallery of Ontario puts on in the evening on the first Thursday of every month. And guys, it was FUN. It felt like a date- I wore a nice dress and there were bars and art and quiet corners to kiss in.
The fox-print dress is a a light summer dress (a birthday gift from a friend, but I know she got it at ASOS- the link is here, but it is out of stock). To cozy it up for fall, I'm wearing it with a sheath dress underneath, and my awesome upcycled Anthropologie inspired cardigan. This was the first time I've tried the 'belted cardigan' look, but I think it works- I would do it again.
Also, this cardigan seems to go with everything, true story.
The First Thursday event actually lets you wander around the galleries (most of them, anyway) with booze and food. The food they had on offer that evening: cronuts (seen above), fish and chips in tiny personal sized boxes, deep fried mac and cheese. It wasn't healthy, but it was delicious!
There were some cool new photography exhibits, and somehow part of the fun of First Thursday involved people dressed up with weird masks wandering around and perusing the art. Oddly, it does add a little something to the fun of the evening, though!
There were loads of people there, but yet it never felt too crowded. Guy and I have agreed that this date night was the most successful of all our post-baby date nights, and we will continue to go to First Thursdays. This was actually energizing, and fun, and stimulating, and beats the pants off of errand-running and obligatory dinners that we're too tired to actually enjoy.
