Creative Date Night Ideas to Keep the Spark in Your Relationship #KYdatenight #ad #cbias

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

Relationships take a lot of work, especially when you’re a parent and responsible for the care and well being of children. It’s easy for parents like myself to focus so much on their children that they lose sight of someone else who is just as important to them….their significant others. And when your relationship isn’t a focus at all, the intimacy between you and your love can disappear and leave you feeling lonely and unloved. And once that happens, a relationship can quickly spiral out of control, and the person once loved becomes someone you resent.

For me, I’ve already been through one marriage where things didn’t go the way I envisioned they would. I didn’t have my happily ever after. I don’t want to make the same mistakes that were made in my marriage. I want my relationship with my boyfriend and eventual husband to be a priority…to be so strong that we can weather any storm, physically and figuratively, no matter what. Neither one of us want to end up on the other side of another failed relationship.

So what do we do to keep things fresh and exciting?

What do we do to keep our love alive?

What do we do to show appreciation and love for each other?

Well, one thing that we do is plan date nights at least a couple times per month. During that time, we focus solely on each other. That is OUR time to work on us and to keep our relationship strong.

Now mind you, our date nights aren’t always easy to plan because of my boyfriend’s work schedule. You’ve got to love retail hours. But we do the best we can with the time we have available. Do we wish we had more alone time? Absolutely. But because we don’t, we appreciate the time we do have that much more.

If you’re like me, you do most of the legwork when it comes to planning date nights. I’m the one who works from home, so it’s easier for me to do most of the cooking and planning. I don’t mind, though. I love doing it. But there are some basic steps that I follow most every time, depending on the date night theme, to help insure that our night goes off without a hitch and without stress. If you follow some of the steps/suggestions below, you, too, can have a stressless, romantic date night.

1. Plan your meal ahead of time.  Make that shopping list and doublecheck all needed ingredients are there. Trying to cook your meal on top of running to the store for forgotten items is not a good way to remain free of stress.
2. Pick a movie or television series to watch together. My boyfriend and I have been watching Haven from the beginning. He began watching during season four and realized how great of a show it is, so I thought it would be fun to start back at the beginning with him, and it has been.
3. Clean the room your date night will be held in, like the dining room. If you’re planning a romantic dinner for two, the last thing you want to see is a sea of toys, papers and bills surrounding you. You want a peaceful environment without the clutter so you can focus on your love and not the chaos.
4. Break out the candles! I bought some really nice tall candles (see below) for our last date night. They last a long time and add a lovely ambiance to the date. (Don’t forget a lighter or matches. You’ll need them.)
5. Make a romantic playlist. Song suggestions include “Wanted” by Hunter Hayes, “Tonight I Wanna By Your Man” by Andy Griggs, “Drunk on You” by Luke Bryan and “I Want to Grow Old With You” by Westlife.
6. Shower! If you smell and look good, you’re going to excite more than one of your significant other’s senses.
7. Give yourself plenty of time to cook your meal. If you’re like me, and you want to have your meal done by the time your loved one gets home, plan accordingly. You don’t want to rush your meal or make mistakes because you’re under a time crunch.
8. Cook together. If you’re partner likes cooking with you, like mine does, then turn on some fun dancing music and enjoy your time in the kitchen together. Don’t be afraid to try meals you’ve never cooked before, like the ones offered through Plated.com. You may just find a new must cook meal to add to your menu.
9. Turn off your phones. I can’t express how important it is to keep outside distractions at bay on your date night. They can ruin even the best laid plans. Plus, date night is all about focusing on one another and not a text message from work.
10. Cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie or show together.
11. Head to the bedroom! I don’t need to tell you what to do once there. All I will say is put those imaginations of yours to good use and try something new and exciting, like K-Y Yours and Mine, two personal lubricants in one package for him…and her. Enjoy the fireworks that ensue.

Right now, when you purchase a box at Walmart.com, you will find a unique code found on the inside of the box.

Ordering is easy and can be done in a flash. Meals are tasty and easy to prepare as long as directions are followed.

Also included with the Plated.com offer are free credits to VUDU.com, a video steaming service for blockbuster movies that’s available on laptops and smart TVs.