date night, girls' night

Being able to stay at home with my kids is such a blessing to me. I am grateful that there isn't a moment during the day where they don't have me if they need me but it also makes the days really long sometimes and some of those times I miss adult interaction and connection. Thankfully I have made some of the best friends here and sister-in-laws to do play dates all the time with so I can fill my cup too when I need it. And then there are some of my favorite special occasions ... date nights and girls' nights! Two to remember from January ...

We had such a good time at the sledding hill in town when we went on Christmas Eve that I knew I wanted to squeeze it in for a date night too! It was so much fun to go at night after dark and it kept us feeling young, bold, and brave being surrounded by a million teenagers for a night . ;) haha We dove on our tubes like penguins without a care in the world! I love my time alone with this guy so much! After sledding down the hill as many times as possible during our allowed window, we finally used some gifts cards that Edie sweetly gave us as prizes from our family Halloween party (2 years ago haha) to a small coffee shop. Those strawberry smoothies were well worth the wait let me tell you! 

Speaking from someone who's love language is quality time ... I think "experience" gifts are the very best kind of gifts to get! My mom surprised me with a ticket to see the Broadway performance of Fiddler on the Roof with her girlfriends while it was in town. She has the best group of friends that are all so sweet to me. We car pooled with several of them downtown and all met for dinner at a new-to-me restaurant called "Bonefish" for bang bang shrimp from the happy hour menu. TO DIE FOR!

The show was so so incredible! The main actor who played Tevye deserved every minute of his standing ovation at the end of the performance. I had the soundtrack playing on my Pandora station for my kids to hear for days following. It was such a fun gift (thanks mom!) and girls night!