Date Nights - October

It's finally baby month!! We managed to squeeze in two final date nights before our daughter arrived on October 17. Neither quite lived up to what we imagined them to be in our mind, but it was fun to spend a little more time together as a twosome before becoming a family of three!

I suggested we check out a book sale at the Columbus Metropolitan Library. We found a couple books that we took home, but overall there weren't too many great options for us. We were happy to support the library though.

Chris planned one final trip to the movies - we saw Monsters & Men. It starred my old NFL Europa pal, John David Washington. The premise was interesting, but we both agreed that it kind of played out in a weird manner. I won't say too much more in case you check it out.

What is your favorite movie genre?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - September

With September being the final month before the birth of our baby, I was feeling quite large. I still wanted to take part in all the fall fun so I planned an apple picking trip. Chris preferred to enjoy a quiet game night at home before the chaos of having a newborn became a reality.

This year, we decided to try Lynd Fruit Farm for apple picking. They also have pumpkin patches and a large country store there. We didn't spend a lot of time picking apples because we only wanted to get what we knew we'd be able to use in the next couple of weeks. We gave the pumpkin patch a shot, but it had already been really picked over so we decided to just find some pumpkins at the store. We enjoyed some hot cider and cider donuts while we looked around the store. We discovered the deliciousness of pumpkin bars as we looked around for tasty treats to take home with us. We brought back one big pumpkin for our front porch and two little ones that I planned to paint and use as a way to reveal the gender of our baby at the hospital. I was persistent that we try the corn maze before we left. Oh, boy! It was quite an adventure in there. I am surprised I didn't give birth halfway through it. Definitely not the smartest choice to do ALL that walking, but I refused to give up before we completed it. Chris had no option - he was forced to go along with his stubborn pregnant wife on this one! We had a lot of fun. I can't wait to take our little one next year!

Game night proved to be a huge hit! We had a blast. I literally peed my pants laughing so hard at one point. Not a super difficult feat for a nearly nine month pregnant lady, but playing the Ellen DeGeneres Heads Up game was THE best decision of the night. We had SO much fun...and it didn't cost a penny! Don't you just love nights like that?

What is your favorite date night in activity?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - August

In August, we did a good deal of traveling as we spent time in both Kentucky and New York for baby showers. When we weren't traveling, we were attempting to organize baby gifts and set up the nursery for our little one. We still found time for a couple of fun date nights though.

While we were in New York, we managed to catch my former improv teachers in a show. We also made time for a true NYC dinner - chicken and rice from the Halal Guys. I used to live just a couple blocks away from their midtown Manhattan carts so it was a super tasty inexpensive dinner that we enjoyed regularly. It was a lot of fun to enjoy a couple of our favorite things about the city while we were visiting!

For my date night, I suggested COSI After Dark. COSI is a science and industry museum that has fun things for both children and adults. On these COSI After Dark evenings, no children are allowed. There is often a theme and it is a really neat way to spend the evening. We hadn't ever been free for one until now. We had a blast running around and playing at all the stations. Definitely recommend taking part in one of these in you live in the Columbus area. It is an entirely different experience when there aren't hundreds of kids running around in there!

What types of museums do you enjoy visiting?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - July

July is easily the best month of the year. It's possible that I would think that even if it didn't play host to my birthday. Haha! Whether you love it or not, we sure did make the most of it this year.

Chris loves music - especially those old school smooth grooves! When he saw that the Commodores were coming to the Ohio State Fair, it was a no brainer that we'd go. We had great seats so close to the stage I could see the sweat pouring off their faces. From Easy to Brick House, it was a night full of fun and laughter. They definitely still have it going on after all these years. I was surprised how much I got into it! Chris also indulged me in trekking over to the infamous butter sculpture. It featured scenes from A Christmas Story this year. It was incredible - over 2,000 pounds of butter was used to make the creation. It was certainly a night to remember!

For my date night, we headed to a night of improv and trivia at the Nest before enjoying the Red, White, and Boom fireworks show from their patio area. It was a fun night all around! The view was perfect from their patio, and I'm so glad we had a chance to see the big firework display without having to deal with the annoying crowds.

What are your favorite summer date nights?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - June

It's hard to believe that we've been in Columbus for nearly a year now. We really started focusing on making it our new city about this time last year. It has been fun finding new places to explore. Chris selected a movie while I found a strawberry festival for us to enjoy.

It was the 25th anniversary of the movie Scarface this year. I'd never seen the classic film so we made our way to Marcus Crosswoods Theater for the event. We were excited to see it together. There was also supposed to be a recorded Q&A with various cast members played after the show, but for some reason that never happened. It was fun to watch it together despite a milk dud pulling out a crown on one of my molars during the previews. Fortunately (or maybe rather unfortunately), it isn't the first time this has happened so I took it in stride...at least until the movie ended!

To be honest, the strawberry festival was a last minute find via facebook. It was a fairly small festival, but packed a big punch with its desserts. They were so tasty that's really all it took to call the day a win. Sometimes the most fun things are the spontaneous ones!

Do you enjoy the traditional dinner and a movie date night? Why or why not?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - May

We only managed to stay local for one of our date nights this month, but part of the reason is that we spent a good chuck of the month out of town. Chris found a documentary festival at Gateway, a local independent theater. I had my eye on the RACE exhibit at the Chicago History Museum.

We watched two very different, but equally interesting documentaries at the Gateway festival. Our first was Big Sonia. Wow! What a lady...and what a story! She is a Holocaust survivor that owned a shop in what had over time become a dilapidated mall complex. Due to the building being destroyed, she was forced to relocate her business. All the while, she tells her story sharing with local students and national media sources alike. The second documentary was in regard to standardized testing and its essentially purposeless existence. It was interesting, but didn't quite ever come to a conclusion or final outcome. The information provided was valuable to know, but it didn't really seem to matter or make a difference. Both were interesting topics, but Big Sonia was by far most compelling.

The main purpose of our little Chicago road trip was to visit our friends, Tarra and Evan. It is always great to spend some time with them! Our secondary goal was to catch the RACE exhibit while it was still at the Chicago History Museum. The exhibit was extremely thorough and covered so many different aspects of race. It was particularly interesting because it offered a number of interactive elements throughout the space. There was a plethora of information - we spent several hours combing through each room. The exhibit was well done - and the rest of the museum was pretty neat, too. Lots of Chicago history to be seen!

Do you enjoy checking out museum exhibits or watching documentaries?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - April

We continued to find fun events in the Columbus area this month for date night. I spotted a sign advertising a Professional Bull Riding event at the Schottenstein Center. Chris found an event at the Newark OSU campus featuring Tim Wise, one of our favorite podcasters.

The PBR event was exactly like we expected yet also nothing at all like we expected. It was a really fun afternoon of watching the riders and listening to the head rodeo clown say one crazy thing after another. Riders each attempted to ride bulls before having a playoff of sorts to determine a winner for the event. We never were too clear on exactly how the scoring worked at the event nor overall, but that didn't make it any less exciting to watch. We were both surprised by how much we enjoyed the experience. Definitely recommend it if you ever have a chance to catch the PBR tour.

We had been listening to Tim Wise for a few months when Chris discovered he was going to be the keynote speaker at a conference in the greater Columbus area. We initially thought we missed our chance as registration was closed, but I reached out to the director and we were able to get in at the last minute. It was a really neat conference altogether and listening to Tim speak in person was as powerful as we imagined. If you haven't heard of Tim Wise, I'd highly recommend checking him out here. He always has insightful podcasts with a wide range of guests.

Have you ever seen professional bull riding?

What types of conferences interest you?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - March

We've been enjoying exploring our new city through our monthly date nights so far this year. This month was no different. I found a massive bookstore in German Village that was quite impressive. Chris got us tickets to see Ohio's own Gary Owen at the Funny Bone.

The Book Loft in German Village is a book lover's dream! There are SO many rooms. It is a really neat place that has a mix of old and new books to buy. We spent a couple hours there, but you could spend all day browsing around. We hope to go back and spend more time exploring in the future. Definitely a great local place to get a gift!

Chris has been a fan of Gary Owen for quite a few years. We watched his reality type TV show together a couple years ago. The man is just plain funny. We had a fun time at the show. The best part about the Funny Bone is there isn't a two drink minimum for the comedy shows. We ended up eating dinner at the show, but it was refreshing to know that we didn't have to meet a minimum amount. I hate when comedy shows have that requirement. Gary Owen is worth the price of admission if you ever have the chance to check him out. We had a fun night!

Have you ever seen any great comedians?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - February

We picked two very different, but equally fun date nights for February. I happened to see an advertisement for a couples' cupcake decorating event on Valentine's Day when I stopped in a local cupcake shop to get a couple treats to celebrate our engagement anniversary at the end of last year. Chris opted for a fun night out at an arcade in the heart of downtown Columbus.

Our Cupcakery is a cute little shop in Dublin. They have lots of neat classes and their products are quite tasty! For our Valentine's Day event, we spent most of the time working on various fondant designs at three different stations. We laughed our way through the sticky fondant fun. The second room is where we rolled out tiny roses - my favorite one! Finally, we added some shimmery dust to a couple of fondant hearts. After all our designs were created, we received some instruction on how to fill the cupcakes and then ice them. Chris and I decided to put strawberry filling in our chocolate cupcake, lemon filling in our vanilla cupcake, and stick with buttercream icing to fill our red velvet. I really enjoyed this part of the night, but Chris thought it was a mess. I think he preferred rolling and cutting the fondant. Either way, we did pretty good for a couple of fondant novices! Tasted amazing, too.

Chris found a unique spot for date night - Old North Arcade. The place has every arcade game you can imagine as well as a number of stations set up with Nintendo, Xbox, Sega, etc game consoles. We got there a little on the early side of the night which was a great idea because we had our pick of games. By the time we left a couple hours later, the place was pretty crowded. I enjoyed playing Ms. Pac Man and a new game I found called X-Bert. Chris liked the NBA and NFL games. I played those with him, but I wasn't much competition. We also found an old school Nintendo Mario Bros game open and played that for awhile. We wanted to try Mario Kart, but never could catch it when no one else was playing. It was definitely a fun night full of nostalgia and lots of laughs.

What are your favorite local date night spots?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - January

We went for a little local flavor with our date nights this month. Chris found a unique duck pin bowling alley. I found a cooking class that focused on sheet pan dinners with root vegetables. Both nights were a lot of fun!

I loved duck pin bowling. First of all, it is just so cute. Everything is small - the pins, the ball, the lanes. It also helped that I won our first two games! Chris got a bit more into the groove of things after that first round. Plus, I told him a couple of my strategies. At least that's my story. At any rate, we had a great time. I highly recommend Pins (or any duck pin bowling experience, really).

I discovered Local Matters when we met the Executive Director and her husband at a Books and Brews event at the library this past fall. She mentioned to me when we met in early January that her non-profit offered cooking classes. It has long been my intention for one of our date nights to be a cooking experience so I was thrilled. Chris and I picked one that suited our interests and made a donation to them in exchange for a great night of fun and delicious food. Chris even managed to be selected to help with the protein portion of the meal. It was a fun night - we'll definitely try to go back in the future.

What are your favorite winter date night ideas?

Andrea :)

Goals for 2018

I've always been a goal person. The more manageable and specific, the better. This year, I sprang for some Powersheets. I heard many good things about them and even had a small discount code so I jumped on board. I loved the pre-work even though I didn't get through all of it until nearly the middle of January. The pre-work phase was incredibly worthwhile so I'm glad I stuck with it. It helped me discover my word of the year - thrive.  

In an effort to keep myself accountable, here are some of my 2018 goals...

#1 - Continue my health journey through both exercise and meal planning.

I started making a conscious effort to focus on my health in late October last year. Our townhouse has a finished basement room that was perfect for at-home workouts. I knew I needed to really make my health a priority after Chris and I had signed up for a couple of races and I could barely manage the training runs. I decided to start small with the 21 Day Fix program. I already had the DVDs and portion containers. I made steady progress and managed a clean week just after Thanksgiving. That week was a turning point for me because I really focused on the meal planning aspect of healthy living. I completed another round of 21 Day Fix during the holidays and moved forward with 80 Day Obsession in mid-January. I will finish Phase 1 of that program tomorrow. I feel great. I'm really looking forward to winter going away so I can get back out there for some runs.

#2 - Read 40 books (and the Bible from cover to cover).

I love to read. Now that I have to drive everywhere, I am also really loving audiobooks. This year, I am participating in Mia's Read the Rainbow Challenge and Erin's Book Challenge 8.0 from January-April. For Erin's Challenge, I used only books that were on my shelves at home. After packing them up and moving them up and down stairs, I figure I owe it to myself to read them. Additionally, I've committed to reading the Bible from cover to cover by completing a small portion every day. I have made that commitment before, but gotten side tracked in the Spring. I am determined to make it a reality this year.

#3 - Have at least two date nights a month.

Chris and I started this tradition a couple of years ago. It is nice to have something to look forward to each month. We each pick one date night a month. It always turns out to be so much fun.

#4 - Complete the outstanding photo books and/or scrapbooks.

Again, I lugged all the scrapbook stuff with me to Ohio so I better make use of it and start crafting! In all honesty, my only excuse in the past was not having the space so it's now or never. Plus, I really enjoy making them.

#5 - Build New and Strengthen Old Friendships.

Moving to a new place at any point is a difficult thing to do. I left behind some really solid friendships in New York. I am determined to continue to build memories and foster those relationships. At the same time, there is a whole new landscape full of friendly faces to discover here. And, I'm be remiss to discount all those friends in cities near and far. I really want to make a conscious effort to be a good friend as I navigate this transitional time in my life.

#6 - Stay involved in networking and volunteering opportunities.

If there is anything I learned from my year of unemployment, it is the power of networking and volunteering. I made a vow to myself that I would continue those practices when I started a new job so I don't want to loose sight of that commitment to myself. Plus, I really like volunteering and connecting with people in the process.

What are you focusing on in 2018?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - December

December is always just a busy month. It seems to fly by faster and faster each year. We spent about a week in Kentucky between Christmas and a follow-up trip for a UK-UofL basketball game that we were gifted tickets to just before the new year.

For date night, Chris found a great hibachi spot - Shi Chi in Dublin. We loved going out for hibachi in New York so we had been searching for a solid place in Columbus. We definitely found it. After dinner, we played games at Table Top Café. Remember our November date night when we met another lovely transplanted couple from NY? Well, one half of that couple owns this café. It is board game heaven with some tasty treats on the side. I love how they do snack flights - so perfect! We had a great time and highly recommend the Table Top Café in Clintonville!

I found my way back to improv by the end of the year as well. For my date night, we checked out a couple shows at The Nest Theater. My goal is to start classes in 2018. I had so much fun taking the classes in NYC that I don't want to lose momentum here. We had a great night with lots of laughs. Definitely look forward to spending more time at The Nest.

What is your favorite date night dinner spot?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - November

As winter approached, we spent more time inside continuing to organize the apartment and catching up on various TV shows on the DVR. We were starting to find our groove and really enjoying our weekends at home.

I found a Books & Brews event through Friends of the Worthington Libraries that was a perfect date night for us. We had a great night and even made some friends at the event. We sat next to a couple that moved to Columbus from New York several years ago and had really made a home here. We teamed up with them for the trivia contest. It really is a small world...

Chris found another fun sporting event for us to attend - New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets. I think we've only been to one other hockey game together. I'm a little foggy on all the rules so it was nice to get a refresher on those. We had fun even though it was quite cold in the arena!

What type of community fundraisers or sporting events do you enjoy most?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - October

By October, I had started my job as Youth Development Director at the Liberty Township/Powell YMCA and we were beginning to get settled into our new life in Columbus.

I learned about a pumpkin painting event at Park Street Cantina via our apartment complex newsletter. It sounded like fun so we signed up. We tried pumpkin carving in the past to mixed results so I thought this might be a little more our style. The event was well organized. We arrived and selected our pumpkins and found a cozy spot to start painting. I chose a white pumpkin and Chris stuck with traditional orange. It was fun to just talk and paint for an hour or so. I loved how the pumpkins looked on our porch, too.

Chris found a Columbus scavenger hunt that gave us clues electronically and we could explore on our own to find different places in the downtown area. We went one day after church and discovered a lot of fun spots. It was interesting to learn more about the history of some of the buildings and areas downtown. It probably would have been more exciting if we were competing against other people in the typical race format of scavenger hunts, but it was also nice to not have to rush despite the crazy wind and threat of rain.

Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt in your city?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - September

September was a fun month for us as we adjusted to our new city. We were both continuing to job search so we had a lot of time to check out different areas around town. We also took two big trips - one back to the Albany area of NY for a wedding and the other for some fun in Lexington.

I selected apple picking as my date night. We ended up at CherryHawk Farm a bit outside of Columbus. It was a scorcher of a day with the sun just beating down, but we had fun using the poles to pick apples from the tip top of the trees. We had a fun day, but will be sure to check the weather for an unseasonably hot days in future years!

Chris picked a local sporting event - Columbus Crew vs New York Red Bulls. We ended up with seats behind one of the goals in a family friendly area of the stadium. It was a fun experience. I like the stadium in Columbus much more than Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Red Bull Arena just seems less intimate to me. Watching soccer live is always more fun than watching it on TV so I am glad we were able to catch a game - especially when Chris' team was in town.

What are some of your favorite fall activities?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - August

We split time between Ohio and New York in August as well. We officially moved into our new place in mid-August, but decided to drive back to New York and spend one last week before we packed up our brand new Toyota Rav 4 with the very last of our things and officially said see you later to the Big Apple.

Chris wanted to check out the Columbus Food Truck Festival while we were in town. It was really nice to walk around and see some of the area closer to downtown while trying treat after treat. It was lots of fun especially when the alternative was unpacking boxes!

Back in NYC, we finally completed the Cupcake Crawl that had been one of our wedding gifts from my super fun bridal shower. Chris doesn't have the same affinity for cupcakes as I do, but he was a real trooper trying them and grading them with me as we trekked all over the city. Our day had an added bonus when we saw Chris Rock strolling the streets of the Upper West Side just after we left our first cupcake shop, Magnolia. What are the odds?  It's hard for me to find a cupcake place that I don't love, but my favorite of this bunch was the strawberry cupcake at Georgetown Cupcake.

What is your favorite treat to enjoy with your sweetie?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - July

As we prepared for our big move to Columbus, we split our date nights this month between the old and the new. It was nice to build in some fun while we were in Columbus looking for a place to live and doing a little networking. At the same time, it was great to be able to fit in a bucket list style date night in New York City.

In Columbus, we had a blast mini-golfing at Olentangy Mini-Golf. We played two courses and each won a round. Afterward, we had delicious Mexican food at El Acapulco. It was a fun way to spend some free time as we checking out our new city. I can definitely see us revisiting these two spots in the coming months.

In New York, our bucket list style date night included dinner at Sylvia's in Harlem before heading over to the Apollo Theater for Amateur Night. The food was amazing!! I definitely recommend it regardless of how long you have to wait. Fortunately, we were there at a good time and had just a short wait before chowing down on some tasty chicken. Apollo Amateur Night was quite the experience. I can't imagine getting up in front of a crowd of New Yorkers and performing - truly a vulnerable spot! We enjoyed all of the acts, but it is tradition there to boo acts off the stage so that happened a couple times. We actually felt bad for those performers. Honestly, no one really stood out head and shoulders above the rest. There were some pretty talented acts. All in all, I highly recommend this combo to anyone. It was a super fun night!

Do you have any bucket list places or activities you'd like to experience in your city?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - June

Chris and I found a good mix of new entertainment and old favorite restaurants this month. It was fun to try something new, but also have something reliable to depend on.

Chris found an independent comedy show that was quite a trip. It was a little more exotic than we anticipated, but we definitely had some solid laughs. Not sure if we were laughing with them or at them, but we laughed. We ate dinner at one of our Hell's Kitchen favorites, Bangkok House. I love their pineapple chicken fried rice - so good!

I was super excited for us to go see The End of Longing - written by and starring Matthew Perry. If you haven't read my post about the time I met Chandler (aka Matthew Perry), check it out here. It was certainly a night to remember! I wasn't quite as extreme this time, but I did let him know that I love his work. There was a talk back after the show so we enjoyed hearing more about how and why he wrote this show. Honestly, his answers and demeanor were exactly like what you see from Chandler on Friends reruns. It was awesome. Of course, I waited (in the rain) to meet him and get my playbill signed. He was friendly enough, but kind of just kept it moving. Definitely not Tom Hanks or Bryan Cranston level, but I was happy to meet him in a more traditional manner. Pommes Frites was simply the exclamation point on an already fantastic night. You can't really go wrong with fries by the cone full!

Do you have any go to restaurants for date night?

Andrea :)

Date Nights - May

There was never a lack of things to do or places to visit living in New York City. We tried to make the best of exploring Long Island City locally as well as finding fun things to do in other parts of the city as well.

Chris saw a new bowling alley called The Gutter LIC pop up in the area so we checked it out. We had fun even though Chris smoked me in both games. It definitely got crowded in there as the night went on so I'd suggest going early if you don't want to wait around for a lane to open up.

Governor's Island was on my NYC bucket list so we made the trek downtown and caught the ferry over Memorial Day weekend. The whole experience was nice. The island has a fort that can be toured as well as fun play areas and bike paths. There was a food court area on the island as well. It was a beautiful day full of lots of walking. If you've never taken the time to visit Governor's Island, I highly recommend it. It is a peaceful and relaxing escape from the busy nature of the city.

Do you play tourist in your own city or town?

Andrea :)