Year: 2016

The Ugly Sweater Date Night Hunt

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Christmas is a time to get cute, cozy, and tacky. If you and your other don’t already have an ugly sweater, it’s time to go shopping! The name of this game is to find the ugliest Christmas sweater for your partner. This date night is sure to bring lots of laughs (and a little cringing too). We headed to the mall together and found a sweet little shop that definitely has some cringe-worthy sweaters. I scored “A Christmas Story” leg lamp sweater for my husband. He some how found an ugly knit with a Chihuahua and decorated cactus, paying homage to my high school years living in Southern California’s deserts. We not only had a lot of laughs, but we’ll be ready for the next ugly Christmas sweater party that comes our way. The Ugly Sweater Date Night Hunt Rules: Download and fill out the Ugly Sweater card and swap with your partner. Then head to your local thrift shops, vintage boutiques, or mall together to find the ugliest Christmas sweater for your significant other. …

The Mall Gift Swap Challenge Date Night

The Mall Gift Swap Challenge Date Night

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Around the holidays, the mall may be for gift shopping but it can also provide the backdrop to an epic date night. Get into the spirit of the holidays with this traditional and fun group game of gift swapping that can be played as a couple too! The rules for the The Mall Gift Challenge Date Night are simple: The Rules Decide on a cash amount. Put the cash in an envelope. You CAN NOT spend over that amount. Head to the mall or a local shopping center with a variety of retail stores to choose from. Split up for 30 minutes and find the best gifts possible. Bonus round: Wrap your gift before meeting. Meet at the food court or nearby restaurant for dinner and exchange your gifts. Download the free PDF printable instructions We’ve played this Christmas gift giving game with friends quite a few times before we were dating. We had so many fun memories with this game that we decided to take a throwback holiday tradition and give it a try as …

Christmas Recipes: Grandma’s Gingerbread Cookies

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The best part of marriage is creating Christmas traditions together. In a world of Christmas cookies, there are so many options to choose from. How can we possibly make a decision? We default to what we know and trust; family traditions. One of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes is my grandmother’s soft and chewy gingerbread cookies. It’s time to break out the Kitchenaid! Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.  If you are using metal cookie sheets, line with parchment paper. A candy thermometer would be useful but we have never used one. Baking is all about the love, right? Ingredients: 1 cup dark molasses ½ cup light brown sugar ½ cup white granulated sugar 4 teaspoons ground ginger 4 teaspoons ground ,cinnamon ¾ tablespoon baking soda 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp (We’ve used salted butter with no problem) 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 6 cups sifted all-purpose flour Place the molasses, sugars, ginger and cinnamon in a double boiler over medium heat. We actually don’t own a double boiler so …

Homemade Spiced Apple Cider Recipe

Homemade Apple Cider Recipe to Spice Up Your Date Night

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Get into the holiday mood with this delicious (and easy) spiced apple cider recipe. Why make it a date night activity? It takes 10 minutes to prep and while it’s cooking for three hours, you can enjoy dinner and a movie on the couch while the smells of spiced apples and oranges fill your house. More of the outdoorsy type? Go apple picking and use the apples you gather for the recipe. Homemade Apple Cider Recipe 12 cups of water 10 apples of the sweet variety (Fuji or Gala apples are great choices) 7 cinnamon sticks 1 orange 1/2 cup of maple syrup 1 tablespoon of whole all spice 1 tablespoon of whole cloves 3 tablespoons of light brown sugar 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder A package of cheese cloth to help strain the apple mixture Wash and cut your apples into eighths and cut the orange into fourths. It’s fine to keep the skin on both fruits as you will be boiling, straining, and discarding them . Put all of your sliced apples, apple …

How You Can Use Myers-Briggs to Better Your Marriage

How You Can Use Myers-Briggs to Better Your Marriage

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Have you ever taken the Myers-Brigs test before? If you haven’t, it’s time to understand you and your spouse a little better. I believe that if you can understand the cause of what makes people make the decisions they do, you can really understand how to thrive with in your relationship with them.  With this free worksheet, learn how to communicate, motivate, protect, and care for your spouse. Don’t know what the Myers-Briggs test is? In short, it’s a test to give you accurate results of your psychological indicator type (I’m an INFJ and Eric is an ESTJ). Remember that everyone is unique and with 16 categories, there may be a couple traits that might not be exactly you. But it does gives you a deep understanding of who you are and what motivates the decisions you make. This test is used by psychologists and counselors helping clients to understand their complex personality, and even large corporations helping their employees thrive in their work environment. I’m sure you’ve taken Facebook quizzes before, but this is …

Salem, MA Must Try Restaurants: Opus Review

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If you have been following our adventures here at Tonight’s Better Together, you know we took a trip to Salem, MA. While on said adventure, we happened upon the restaurant Opus. This restaurant is a mash-up of cuisines; however, it all somehow works together. When you enter Opus, you are transported into multicolor décor accented by local art. At the time of our dining experience, they happened to feature nothing but Beetlejuice inspired art. If you love Beetlejuice, then this is the place for you! So other than the peculiar décor, this restaurant is best enjoyed in leisure attire. The place kind of sprawls so this is not an intimate experience but a great choice for a Friday or Saturday night out. There is a basement level that hosts live music, a separate bar, and arcade so there is always something going on to shake up your evening. The great thing about Opus is that they can pretty much cater to any craving you might be having. After a long day of walking and exploring …

Salem Massachusetts

How to have the Perfect Day Adventure in Salem, MA

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For anyone looking for a wonderful day date, Salem, Massachusetts may fit the bill with its rich historical past. Much of it is related to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 – 1693, but there is so much more to the storied past of Salem. We just so happened to adventure through Salem around Halloween, which means that it is brimming with historical re-enactments, witch impersonators, and tons of other ghoulish fun. Salem is nestled just north of Boston along the coast and offers the adventuring couple many options to choose from. Here’s a list of recommended witchy and historical fun for you and your boo. 1. Hocus Pocus House You should definitely stop by the Hocus Pocus house on the way into town. This is the actual house featured in the film Hocus Pocus. It’s a little far away from the bustling downtown of Salem, so make sure to stop by on the way in or out of town. 2. Best parking in town For centrally located parking, head to the visitors center and …

Halloween inpsired date night: carve pumpkins and listen to spooky podcasts.

Halloween Inspired Date Night: Pumpkins and Podcasts

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Get into a spooky mood with this really fun and imaginative date night idea. Find a local PYO pumpkin patch and pick out your perfect pumpkins together. Then head home, turn down the lights, light up the candles and listen to spooky podcasts (check out the list of spooky and creative podcasts below!) while you carve pumpkins. It’s the best of both worlds for the Halloween season – scary stories and ghoulish pumpkins. What you’ll need: Pumpkin carving kit Newspapers or trash bag to cover your working area Pumpkin carving stencils Candles to create a witchy mood A podcast from the list below Recommended Rhode Island Pumpkin Patches: We have two favorites. The first one is Sweet Berry Farm in Middleton, Rhode Island. Why do we love it? Not only can you find a plethora of pumpkins to pick, they also have a store where they bake fresh pies, serve up ice cream and also have tasty cider to warm up with. Fair warning: it is a favorite for a lot of Rhode Islanders, so …

Fall roasted butternut squash recipe

Fall Date Night Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

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Our resident Chef Choi is bringing you another seasonal curation for your date night pleasure. Take some time during this season to bundle up in your favorite sweaters and enjoy some delicious butternut squash soup with your special someone. This dish makes a great date night dinner on it’s own or a perfect pairing with your main course. Ingredients: 2 pounds of butternut squash 2 tablespoons of butter 1 onion 2 celery stalks 2 medium carrots 2 quarts of vegetable stock or chicken stock Ground clove, ground cinnamon and ground ginger for garnish First, slice your butternut squash in half, lengthwise. I found that the best knife to use for this is a bread knife. The serrated teeth make it easy to saw through the tough skin and flesh of the squash. Once you have the squash cut, spoon out the seeds from the bulb. Next, you want to line a baking sheet with some parchment and lay the butternut squash flat side down. Roast both halves at 450 degrees F for about 45 minutes …

Sundae Football Date Night - Over 60 Ice Cream Topping Ideas

The Ultimate Sundae Football Date Night with Over 60 Ice Cream Topping Ideas

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Sure the fall leaves are beautiful, the hot cider warms the soul and the apple cider donuts are deliciously delightful, but the best part of fall is football season! Football is a big deal in our house. Eric is from Washington so he’s a Seattle Seahawks fan and being from the golden state of California, I’m a 49er’s fan. We’re usually “that cute couple”. However, when a football game is on – especially when our teams are playing – we are (in the most loving way) a house divided. Some call it a rivalry, we call it flirting and team pride. So in celebration of fall and football season, we’ve come up with an awesome idea if you and your boo love football. Sweeten up your football date night with creative ice cream sundaes. It’s super simple and fun too! Choose any combination of the list of ice cream toppings below and enjoy with vanilla ice cream, your honey and football.  Remember to grab your toppings in your team’s colors and waffle cone bowls! Over …

Oberlin Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, RI Must Try Restaurants: Oberlin Review

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If you have ever been to downtown Providence, you know there are many restaurants to choose from. With so many choices, it’s hard to make a decision. We had heard from a friend about the restaurant Oberlin and put it on our ever growing must-try list. Do yourself a favor and put Oberlin at the top of your list. To begin, this restaurant does not take any reservations so show up at least a half hour early as you will be waiting. Even if you don’t like waiting, trust us. The food is worth it! Oberlin has a casual atmosphere and Mediterranean inspired décor. The area is small and softly lit, making it the perfect intimate place for a date night. Walking into the restaurant, there are Italian lights on the ceiling but to add a creative element, they played Quentin Tarantino’s Deathproof on the wall for those waiting. If your wait is a little long, step up to the bar where a sampling of unusual and original cocktails, amazing wine list and oddly, a …

Date night ideas with baby

Date Night Ideas with Baby

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We love supporting local businesses and bloggers. That’s why we’re excited to have Kristina Lough from the blog, “Loughs in Love” and local business, “Painted by the Shore“. You can find her beautiful hand painted totes, glasses and other goodies in shops across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. We hope you enjoy her fun (and honest) perspective of motherhood and date nights. Make sure to leave her a comment if you’ve enjoyed her post!     About a year before baby, my husband Eric and I instituted Friday date nights. Each week we take turns planning something fun to do together. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just a chance to set aside everything else and enjoy time with one another. Cue baby Cooper. Our first date night after Coops was born consisted of Chinese food and bedtime for the both of us at 7:30pm. We were exhausted and actually getting that quality time back seemed seriously far fetched. Especially when the next couple of weeks passed with the same, take out food and early to …

Holiday donation ideas you can do together

Date Night with a Purpose: 5 Easy Holiday Donation Ideas You Can Do Together

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With the rush of the holidays, we tend to get wrapped up in our own agendas and needs that we forget about the needs of others that might not be in our circle of family and friends. Helping and giving to others feels great. Helping and giving to others as a couple is even better. My husband and I have had many great memories of volunteering together or doing something for community members in need. In fact, volunteering at church is how we met and it even led to our marriage. I fell in love with some Christmas cookies he baked for a production at our church and it was all downhill from there. We’ve put together some holiday specific activities to help members in need in your community that you and your spouse can do together, anytime and anywhere. All of these can be done within a couple of hours, are stress free and easy to do. Choose one (or more if you’d like!), download the available PDF’s and have fun getting generous together. …

Classic fettuccine carbonara recipe

Easy Date Night Recipe: Classic Fettuccine Carbonara

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Sometimes we just want to stay in for a date night and that means curating our own experience. If you’ve been dating for about two seconds then you are well aware of how daunting a date night in can be. We strive to bring recipes and experiences that lend themselves to low pressure date nights that foster communication and relaxation. With that, we are happy to announce that the Tonight’s Better Together team is growing! We have the distinct pleasure to announce the arrival of Chef Joseph Choi to our team. Chef Choi’s professional training and field experience will add much more depth and insight into Tonight’s Better Together’s recipe portfolio. Before we get to the recipe, let’s look a little deeper into the man, the myth, the legend: Joseph Choi. He was born and raised in Spokane,WA and began his career in the food industry at the age of 16. He initially studied Biochemistry at Washington State University while continuing to work in a kitchen in Pullman, Washington. In late 2010, he made the …

Worcester, MA Must Try Restaurants: Deadhorse Hill

Worcester, MA Must Try Restaurants: Deadhorse Hill

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We recently adventured away from our usual stomping grounds of Providence, RI and found ourselves in Worcester, MA. We had no preconceived notions about Worcester so looking for a place to eat offered us quite the dilemma. There are so many options to choose from in Worcester so picking our first place to eat was a nail biter. However some friends of ours recommended Deadhorse Hill in the downtown area, so we figured that was a good place to start our culinary story in Worcester. Deadhorse Hill offers a myriad of experiences. As you enter, you are confronted with an espresso bar that separates the lunch and dinner dining room from the breakfast dining room. We were here for dinner so we can’t speak to the breakfast date experience here, but if you have we’d love to hear about it. In the dining room there is a well manned bar front and center for those that would like to watch the excellent bar tenders practice their craft. We opted for the table as date nights …