As you may have read in yesterday’s post, Brad bought me a smoothie recipe book for our Christmas in July celebrations. This afternoon’s high temperatures called for a refreshing drink, so we flew ourselves into the kitchen to whip up our very first successful smoothie. Emphasis on the successful. With just 4 simple ingredients it was pretty hard to fail and it ended up tasting great! If you have a blender at home, try the recipe below and let us know what you think!

Recipe:

1 cup strawberries, hulled

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup milk

* we also added about a tsp of honey to sweeten it up.

Blend for 1 minute and enjoy!

]]> http://thingstodofortwo.com/beat-the-heat-with-a-strawberry-blueberry-smoothie/feed/ 0 http://thingstodofortwo.com/christmas-in-july/ http://thingstodofortwo.com/christmas-in-july/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:28:59 +0000 Brad http://thingstodofortwo.com/?p=1214

As July 25 approaches so too does the 5-month mark before Christmas. Why not dream of cooler times during the summer heat and celebrate Christmas in July? Not to worry, most Christmas in July celebrations are way less stressful and costly than Christmas in December. It can be as elaborately or as simply as you please.

SHE SAID:

I’ve been trying to think of cooler things to do lately during these 30-degree days of high humidity. While sitting in our unfinished basement with my feet in a bucket of ice has been tempting, I needed something a little more stimulating and a lot less insane.

While Christmas can often be used synonymously with insanity, the idea of celebrating twice in one year may sound, well, insane to you. Not to worry, though, only the idea is insane. In practice it’s actually quite lovely and how the real Christmas ought to be – simple.

As with the normal Christmas, food is the major focal point of this celebration. We tried taking the traditional Christmas foods and putting a summer twist on them. For instance, instead of roasting a turkey, we made mini turkey sliders on the BBQ. In place of cranberries, we had sparkling cranberry and pomegranate drinks. Instead of corn as a side dish, we had corn on the cob. Okay, that last one was a little lie. We didn’t have corn on the cob because Brad hates feeling like a greasy ape after eating it, so we fried it with pepper, butter and Parmesan instead. Anyway, you get the point.

The cooling off part of this celebration comes mainly with the dessert and activities you choose. Since we don’t have very many ways to cool off in our house, save shoving our head in the freezer from time to time, our cooling off often comes in the form of food like ice cream, popsicles, or even just straight up ice (we’re desperate people!). In lieu of heating up the oven up to bake anything, we bought cookies n’ cream ice cream as a play on the milk and cookies left out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

As for activities, we couldn’t do much more than lie low and watch a Christmas movie. We opted for The Holiday, but never made it through since that movie is ridiculously long. If you have the luxury of owning a pool you can really indulge. If you’re on a slightly lower budget, you might even opt to buy a kiddie pool and create your own little patio pool party. Better, yet, you could head to the beach, lake or indoor pool at your local sportsplex.

I enjoyed celebrating Christmas in July with Brad, but I think it could be even better with friends and/or family to celebrate with, since that’s a big part of what complete Christmas for me. If you’re looking for something to do this weekend as July 25th draws near, why not plan your own celebration? Remember to tell us how it went and don’t hold back!

HE SAID:

When someone mentions Christmas, what pops into your head? I would imagine your mind goes to one of two extremes. Either you conjure up images of joy and happiness, or of pain and misery, you love it or you hate it. The beauty of Christmas in July is that you have the opportunity to do all the things you love and none of the things you hate.

If I had ever heard of Christmas in July before I married Susan, it didn’t make much of an impression. When she told me about it, I couldn’t really wrap my brain around the idea of voluntarily putting myself through the rigamarole of the holidays in the middle of the summer. But once we set out to actually try it, I discovered that there are many ways to make it quite enjoyable.

There are three main pillars to the holidays that I wanted to incorporate into our summer festivities:

Gifts

We aren’t the type to go spending-crazy at Christmas time. We always set a very reasonable budget and we’re usually quite good at sticking to it. Regardless, I almost always come out of the holidays feeling like we went overboard. We are by no means wealthy, but we have a good life so it sometimes seems silly to spend even the relatively small amount we spend on Christmas.

With that said, we tried to keep things as minimal as possible for Christmas in July. We kept it to one gift each, and it was great. I feel like one gift means way more than the mountain of junk that can pile up in December.

The trick is to keep it low budget and low pressure. Spend whatever you think is appropriate, but don’t obsess over giving gifts of exactly equal monetary value.

Food

I won’t go into too much detail since Susan told you about the food already, but I really enjoyed our little twist on the turkey dinner and the milk and cookies dessert. Though it was a much lighter meal than the big feast on Christmas Day, we still felt the turkey coma hit us pretty hard.

Decorations

Again, we opted to keep it simple in the decorating department. Putting up and decorating the Christmas tree is a daunting task once a year, let alone a second time in the heat of July. So we grabbed Susan’s mini Christmas tree from the basement as well as our wooden Santa. It was simple, easy, and fun. Of course, if you feel so inclined, you can spare no expense and fully decorate your house as if it were December.

I enjoyed Christmas in July quite a bit. Though it does feel odd doing Christmasy things in the summer, it’s still a fun time. If you enjoy the food, the gifts, and the fun, but hate the shopping, the crowds, and the busyness, give Christmas in July a try. You can make it as crazy or as simple as you like for a fun summer holiday.

SHE SAID:

Going into this movie I had pretty low expectations. The idea of invading people’s dreams and messing with their thoughts seemed a bit too far out there for my liking, but I knew Brad really wanted to see it so I gave it a chance, albeit a very small one.

The first half hour or so of the film lived up to my lowly expectations. As my confusion increased more and more with the plot, I sunk deeper and deeper into my seat, waiting for it to end. A couple factors played into my confusion – one, there is a ridiculous amount of time warping at the beginning and two, I hadn’t read up on the film enough before going. To avoid the latter pitfall, I highly recommend reading a brief synopsis before proceeding to the theatre.

Strangely enough, after the first half hour when Ellen Page walked onto the screen, the plot began to make a little bit of sense to me. Up until that point the acting was all that carried me through. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a convincing major role alongside the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Michael Caine and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins).

I would say that maybe this one’s a renter (so that you can rewind during the confusing parts) but the special effects should be seen on the big screen if at all possible. If you can trudge through the first half hour you won’t be disappointed and the ending will leave you satisfied.

HE SAID:

Have you ever been close to falling asleep only to be jolted awake as if you had been shocked by a defibrillator? Or how about waking up from a dream only to find out that it was a dream within a dream? These are only two of the many aspects of dreams that are explored in Christopher Nolan’s new film Inception.

Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, and Halifax’s own Ellen Page in a mind bending heist movie about dreams. If it sounds weird and intriguing, that’s because it is. The basic premise is simple enough. Cobb (played by DiCaprio) has found a way to get inside people’s dreams and extract thoughts that are hidden deep in their subconscious. Things take a turn when he is presented with the challenge of placing a thought in someone’s mind rather than taking it out, i.e. inception.

I won’t bog you down with any more plot description than that. All I can say is I loved every minute of this movie. For all the hype that surrounded Avatar, this movie deserves that and more. The visuals were amazing, and, imagine this, the story was even better.

Unfortunately there was something that I didn’t enjoy about my night at the movies. Thankfully it had nothing to do with the movie itself. We sat towards the end of a row where there were two empty seats next to the aisle and then me. The lights went down, the previews started, then in walks a couple who decide to plunk down right next to me. Maybe I’m weird, but when I have to sit next to strangers in a theatre that isn’t packed full, I try to leave at least one empty seat between us for a personal space buffer zone. Anyway, I figured maybe there were no better seats available so I got over it. That is until the grocery bag FULL of food came out. Oh my sweet stars above…I’m getting anxious just thinking about it. Not only was it a grocery bag full of food, it was full of food in noisy wrappers. They literally ate for two hours straight. They rummaged through the plastic bag a thousand times, opened at least 15 of those mini chip bags, chewed with their mouthes open, and burped out loud, through almost the entire movie, including the quiet parts. I was fit to be tied. As a result, I missed a few chunks of the plot, which is not a good thing in a movie like this. The sad part of the whole thing is that I can’t remember the last time I went to the theatre and something like this didn’t happen. Anyway, that’s the end of my rant.

Despite my surroundings I really enjoyed Inception. It was very complex, but not impossible to follow. If you’re looking for a light hearted movie for a weekend date night, this may not be the best choice. But if you’re looking for something visually amazing that leaves you thinking, this is it.

If you’ve seen Inception, let us know what you thought of it. Also, if you can relate to my experience with noisy theatre neighbours, tell us about that too.

SHE SAID:

Museums are hit and miss with me, but when we found out the Museum of Natural History was opening up again in Halifax we thought we would check it out. I had never been to a natural history museum before so thought it might be fun, or at least something new to try.

I’m not sure why it didn’t register in my brain when I saw the “Venom” exhibit sign, but I didn’t clue into the fact that there would be snakes, otherwise this date would not exist. I’m not sure words can fully describe the paralyzing anxiety that sweeps over my body at the sight of a snake. The worst part was not knowing what was real or fake until it moved. Perhaps the icing on the cake was the fact that the King Cobra was nowhere to be seen in his cage and perhaps had escaped and was lurking around the stuffed pelican exhibit.

Other than the snake run in, I enjoyed our leisurely stroll through the museum. My favourite part, as always, was looking at the really old artifacts uncovered from Acadian villages and beyond. I’m always amazed with how things survive and love imagining the story behind it all. What was the house like that the key opened the door to?What kinds of meals were prepared in that bowl? What could you buy with that money? What kind of dates did people go on then? Did they even go on dates?

Once we had exhausted all of the exhibits, we made our way to the gift shop where there were all kinds of neat books related to Nova Scotian heritage, eco-friendly living, and so on. Brad almost received a new iPad when I dared him to eat the dried worms for sale, but I wasn’t willing to live up to my end of the bargain.

I wouldn’t say a visit to your local museum is for everyone (unless you live in NYC and have the MET in your backyard), especially not a first date. Since, let’s face it, museums can be boring, I would recommend following it up with something more upbeat like mini golf, bowling or a trip to the fair. Though educational dates may seem boring upon first glance, they can actually help you get to know each others’ interests, and, if nothing else, how far your date’s patience can stretch.

HE SAID:

Until this date, my most recent experience at a museum was at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Although I could appreciate many of the things I saw, it was far from the highlight of that trip. I suppose it was partly due to the immense size of that museum and the amount of walking that was required. I had already done so much walking on that trip that my feet were screaming for mercy, so I could not fully enjoy what I was seeing. For that reason I went to our local Museum of Natural History with low expectations of having fun.

Once we paid the wonderfully low admission fee of $5.00 each and were greeted by the friendly staff, we saw the first exhibit. This seemed like the first sign of trouble. There were several glass enclosures with various spiders, insects, and lizards to see. The trouble was we couldn’t tell if some of them were fake or real. I’m pretty sure the spiders and a lizard or two were fake. I thought to myself, “Oh great, a museum full of plastic animals. How fun…” Then we entered the Venom exhibit where we came face to face with very real snakes of all shapes and sizes. This is where the museum quickly became a things to do for one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Susan run away from something so fast. I really enjoyed seeing the snakes, although I was disappointed that I couldn’t find anything in the dark enclosure labelled as King Cobra.

My least favourite part of the museum in New York was walking through room upon room of depictions of animals in their natural habitat, because the animals were all fake. Thankfully our local museum kept those kind of displays to a minimum and showed off much more interactive and educational exhibits.

I think my favourite part of the museum was similar to Susan’s. I loved seeing actual artifacts used by real people hundreds of years ago. The best part was that they told you where in Nova Scotia each piece was found. Growing up I often felt like these sort of things were only found in foreign places, so it was a lot of fun to see it coming from our own back yard. I also enjoyed the rock/fossils section. It brought back memories of how much I loved the Geology portion of my Science classes as a kid.

Is this a good date idea? I really think so. It’s small enough that we didn’t have to commit hours of our day to see every display, but diverse enough to keep our interest the whole way through. We went fairly early on a Saturday, which was perfect. The museum began to flood with children just as we were leaving, so if you want to avoid the crowds, go early. I’m happy to report that my expectations were exceeded and I had a good time. Museums aren’t just for kids, so check out your local museum for some educational fun for two.

If you have the itch to travel the world but your bank account won’t allow it, a destination date might be just what the doctor ordered. The idea is simple, everything you do on the date has to relate to a particular country you would like to visit. For our first destination date we chose Italy.

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SHE SAID:

Since creating our vacation box, I’ve been dreaming about ridiculously expensive trips to places like Italy, England, France, and Belarus. Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. Since my dreams cannot be realized just yet, I thought it might be fun to pretend a bit more and further delude reality by bringing those places home. Say what? Since we can’t go to any of those fancy destinations just yet, we thought we’d have a night devoted to the food and entertainment from one of our top dream destinations.

One of the hardest parts with this whole date was deciding on a destination that had both appealing food and entertainment, in our case, a movie set in Italy. Though we hope our next destination to be England, the food from Italy trumped the Queen’s and we rushed to the bookstore for more Italian food inspiration, which we thought would be an easy task. Not so, my friends, not so. It turns out Italian food is more than just pasta dishes and even those can be quite complicated when venturing beyond your standard spaghetti and meatballs. We eventually did end up finding one tortellini dish we thought we might enjoy and headed to the grocery store, where Brad almost lost the list of required ingredients. Gulp.

One thing this date does require is preparation, but don’t let that discourage you from giving it a try. You can shave off an enormous amount of time by simply ordering in Chinese or going out for sushi. If you can’t seem to find appealing forms of food and entertainment for one country, you could do an “around the world” approach that touches on several different destinations.

After we had stuffed ourselves with 5 varieties of cheese to the point of indigestion we switched to one of our favourite forms of entertainment, the movie. After reading about Only You over at Paula Jane’s ever entertaining and equally informative Best in Romantic Comedies blog, I knew that would be the perfect compliment to the evening and I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t think Brad felt like gouging his eyes out either.

HE SAID:

My favourite date ideas tend to be ones that put a twist on a typical date and are inexpensive. The destination date fits both of those requirements. I loved the idea right from the get go because there are so many possible things to do to have a fun time.

For our first destination date we chose Italy. This was largely because the night was going to revolve around a meal. Although making the meal wasn’t too difficult, choosing which dish to make proved to be a little more work than was expected. In our Indoor Picnic post, we warned against waiting until you are hungry before beginning food preparation on a date. Though we didn’t exactly wait until we were hungry, it took so long for us to decide what to make, get the groceries, and prepare the meal, that we were on the brink of disaster by the time it all came together. If you want to make your destination date easier, you could always order in from your favourite international restaurant, but we enjoy the challenge of making a new dish.

Because the meal took so long, we didn’t spend the time decorating the living room to conjure up thoughts of vacationing in Italy. However, I took a few minutes and made some mini Italian flags to put in our dinner. If you do a destination date though, feel free to decorate your house based on the country you choose.

We chose to do a destination date by having dinner and watching a movie. If that’s not up your alley, feel free to try other activities. You could play a sport that is popular in a certain country, an art form that derived from your destination of choice, or try to find new and interesting music from another part of the world. The point is to bring the culture of that country to your own home for much less money than it would take to travel.

I really enjoyed our destination date. We’ll definitely be doing it again with a different country because there are so many fun options for things to do. If you dream of travelling the world but don’t have the cash to do it, I would definitely recommend you try a destination date. If you try it, let us know how it goes. We’re always interested in hearing about your experiences.

SHE SAID:

There are times in a couple’s relationship when a sweet idea turns sour. This was one of those times and it came out of nowhere. The scene was set for a lovely dessert date to a local waterfront restaurant where we had enjoyed several lovely desserts before.We decided not to risk it and wander somewhere new with a “don’t fix what’s not broken” kind of philosophy.

However, by the end of the date there were definitely things in need of repair, such as our self-esteem.

It all started with the waitress. She obviously didn’t approve of us skipping the appies and entrées and going straight for the sweet stuff. She even went so far as to mention that they usually “put people in the bar” who are just getting dessert. My heart dropped to the floor and was repeatedly slapped around as she ignored our table and brought us a less than stellar fondue. I mean, come on, a fondue without strawberries? I’m usually pretty good at not letting a rude person or even a disappointing meal ruin my evening, but when you’re talking dessert you’re messing with a dangerous thing.

Even though the horrible service put a damper on our date, I would still try this date idea again simply because I love any good excuse to enjoy my two favourite things in life – my husband and sugar. We’ll have to break the mould and try somewhere new because something is broken and needs a good fixin’. If you have any suggestions for good dessert spots, let us know!

HE SAID:

Sometimes the ol’ wallet shakes it’s head in disapproval when we head to a local restaurant for a fine dining date night. So we thought a Dessert Date might be a fun and cheaper alternative. We were right about it being cheaper, but the fun was debatable. Since this is not a review of the restaurant we chose, I won’t go into detail except to say it wasn’t our most rage-free evening out.

I actually love the idea of having a home cooked dinner and then hitting the town for a nice dessert because you get to experience the best of both worlds. I don’t get buyer’s remorse when the bill comes, and I don’t get eater’s remorse from stuffing my face with a huge meal.

Here are a few tips that will hopefully keep you from the less than stellar evening we had:

1) Plan to get to your restaurant of choice a bit later in the evening. That way the dinner rush is mostly over and you won’t be surrounded by chaos as you try to unwind.

2) Tell the person seating you that you are there for dessert. This will help you avoid any awkward lectures when your server finds out you’re not spending the big bucks, and therefore should have been seated elsewhere.

3) If your restaurant of choice has a view, request a window seat. If not, try to get a table around the perimeter of the room. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re being watched by everyone because your table is in the middle of the room.

Even though it wasn’t the perfect date night, we still made the best of it. Coffee and dessert is the perfect way to end the day (actually, it’s perfect for ANY time of day). So if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to eating out, try having the main course at home and hitting the town for dessert.

– Speaking of desserts, we have a very special treat coming soon. That’s right, our next giveaway is just around the corner! We’ll let you know more details soon. –

SHE SAID:

Every year around this time when summer is on the horizon, I get the itch to plan a vacation. I absolutely LOVE searching out hotels and attractions and planning a whole trip itinerary, even if I don’t have the money to bring it to fruition. Brad is the complete opposite. The man would be perfectly content to have 5 minutes notice to go anywhere in the world.

That being said, it is nice to take an evening to talk and research any and all the places you’ve ever thought of visiting. You may surprise each other with the places you suggest. Keep the list of locations handy to refer back to in the future when you’re getting the itch to get away.

Since we already went on a little winter escape this year, the vacation funds are a little low. However, to keep the hope alive, we decided to make a vacation box where we could throw loose change and make more significant contributions once in a while. Once summer hits, we’ll open the box and see where our savings can take us. Here’s hoping we make it farther than the next town over. I only wish we had started saving sooner…

HE SAID:

Having a place to throw spare change is nothing new for me. Up until now I have always kept it in an empty jam jar tucked away in the closet of my office. I love the feeling of emptying out the jar full of coins and being pleasantly surprised at how much it all adds up to.

So why mess with a good thing? Well, I personally believe that a husband and wife should not keep secrets from each other unless Christmas or a birthday is involved. Until recently, I thought my wonderful wife felt the same way. Then she revealed to me that she has been secretly dipping into my jam jar fund in order to buy snacks at work. The nerve! From the ashes of my disappointment in her stealing ways came the idea for a new spare change savings system (say that 5 times fast!), one that we both contribute to but neither of us can dip into until vacation time.

We had some fun making a little cover for the shoebox that is now our Vacation Box. We found pictures of four places we’d like to visit, or in one case revisit, both to inspire us to keep adding to the box, but also to keep from stealing from it. But we didn’t stop there, oh no. Once the cover was on the box, I took some masking tape and taped the you-know-what out of it. There were also holes in the bottom of the box, so I taped those up too so no coins could fall out. There is no way anyone is getting at that money without it being very obvious.

Though this isn’t much of a date idea in itself, it was a lot of fun to put together, and to dream up ideas of where we’d love to go someday. It’s a great way to plan for some fun dates in other parts of the world, whether in a different country, or just a few hours from home.

Date Night stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as Phil and Claire Foster, a married couple whose relationship has fallen into a predictable, unexciting rut. One night, while trying to spice up the usual date night, they find themselves caught up in some unexpected trouble through a case of mistaken identity. Through a series of hilarious and crazy events, the Fosters learn what is truly important to them, each other.

HE SAID:

When I first heard that Steve Carell and Tina Fey were doing a movie together called Date Night, I got very excited. How could it be anything less than hilarious? Then I saw a trailer and my hopes came crashing down. However, since the very title of the movie fit so well with this blog, I knew I had to check it out for a Movie Monday. Thankfully my disappointment with the trailer was unwarranted.

I found Date Night hilarious and fun from beginning to end. It changes from a comedy based on real, every day situations, into a zany Action/Comedy about half way through. I would have preferred the movie to stay with the low key style of the first half, but I think they pulled it off regardless. I can’t remember laughing this much at movie in a very long time.

A lot of people complain that Steve Carell plays the same character all the time. On the surface that may appear to be true, but being an avid fan of The Office and all things Michael Scott, I can definitely see the uniqueness in the characters he plays. Phil Foster is no Michael Scott. That being said, if you’re a fan of The Office or 30 Rock, the humour in Date Night will likely be right up your alley.

There’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable for an hour and a half because you aren’t sure if your date objects to the content of a movie. So if you’re going on a first date with someone, read up on the movie first so that your night won’t be ruined by any surprises.

As the name suggests, Date Night is a great choice for a fun, laugh filled night out with someone special.

He turned the gun sideways! That’s a kill shot! – Phil Foster

SHE SAID:

These days, Brad and I rarely cough up the money to catch a new movie at the theatre. However, we recently cashed in some Air Miles for a few BOGO movie tickets that needed to be spent. Since we both love Steve Carell, his new movie with Tina Fey, Date Night, was an easy choice.

Thankfully, Date Night was not one of those movies where all of the funny scenes are in the trailer. This movie is generously doused with knee slapping funnies throughout its 88 minutes, right through to the very last scene.

Though most couples will have a good chuckle, those who are married or have been together for a while will especially appreciate and relate to the story and its comedy, as a lot of the humour plays on the day to day exchanges between man and wife.

Brad and I aren’t overly prudish when it comes to movie content, but if you refuse to watch anything you couldn’t view with your 5 year old niece, you may want to go refill your popcorn during the club scene or one of the 50 million times Mark Wahlberg has his shirt off.

I’m pretty fussy when it comes to comedies, but Date Night is a definite winner. If money’s tight don’t rush to the theatre, but be sure to rent it when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray.

For the locals:

- Empire Theatres recently announced their “Reel Deal Tuesdays” discount night. Enjoy a date night of your own for just 5.99 each.

- Costco has an Empire Entertainment Pack. Get two general admission tickets, 2 regular popcorn and 2 soft drinks for $25!

If you’re looking for a nice evening at home but are bored with the usual routine, why not try an Art Date? You can go all out and buy all the supplies you need to become the next Picasso, or keep it simple and free by using what you already have around the house.

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HE SAID:

I’ve been looking forward to this Art Date for quite a while. Sometimes Susan’s art supplies call my name when I pass by her office. I have successfully resisted the urge to make an absolute mess on the canvas, but I was more than happy to finally try my hand at this painting business.

Before we got out the paint brushes we discussed whether to paint a picture together, or to do two separate paintings. I could not see any possible way that painting on the same canvas together would end well, so we opted to do two small paintings. There’s only room for one in this guy’s creative vision! I kid, I kid.

Since this was my first time painting with proper supplies on a proper canvas, I wanted to do something relatively simple so I wouldn’t get frustrated. I found this image of a Goomba from Super Mario Bros. on my iPhone and used that as a starting point. I’m sure this is considered cheating, but before any paint hit the canvas I drew the outline of the Goomba in pencil. I think that really helped me end up with a decent looking painting. If you’re not that great at painting something right the first time without making mistakes, you might want to try this method.

Once the image was drawn onto the canvas I began painting. I think Susan got a kick out of my lack of technique. I was pretty much just bashing the canvas with a brush full of paint and hoping for the best. After getting a few pointers from my loving wife, my painting started to take shape. I was especially impressed with myself when it came to the mouth of the Goomba. I have to admit it happened by accident, but the way the different shades of brown came together made the mouth look quite realistic, without me just drawing a black line for the mouth.

The problem with using real painting supplies is that it takes forever for the paint to dry, so we weren’t able to finish our paintings in one sitting. I’m really looking forward to our next Art Date when we have the chance to finish our works of art. The pictures you see are just the first stage, so we’ll be sure to post pictures of the final products.

Our Art Date was great fun, and I can’t wait to do it again. Even after buying a few supplies, it was cheaper than most evenings out of the house. I think Susan enjoyed teaching me about painting, and I enjoyed trying something new.

Be sure to properly dispose of any hazardous materials, including old rags that you might have used while painting. You wouldn’t want your house going up in flames for the sake of a fantastic painting of a video game character.

SHE SAID:

A couple of years ago my cute husband bought me everything I needed to try my hand at oil painting after a qualified friend offered to give me lessons. After dishing out more than a Sir Robert Borden (that’s the Canadian equivalent of a Benjamin Franklin, thank you) on arts supplies, plus a really nice easel, I painted for a summer and then it went by the wayside. I do enjoy painting, but I rarely can commit the time it takes for a proper painting session.

Recently we had the time to sit down and unleash our inner Picassos and ended up having a really nice evening. I was a bit concerned that Brad might get frustrated and tear a knife through his canvas, but he ended up painting a really impressive Goomba from Super Mario. I opted for a silhouette painting of Himmery, our mad feline.

To enjoy your own evening of fine art, you’ll need clothes you don’t mind getting paint on, newspapers to spread out, canvases, brushes, something to mix your paint on, such as a plastic cover or old meat tray, and of course, paint. If you decide to paint with oil paints, you will also need a painting medium and a little dish to put that in. We used linseed oil mixed with Taltine (an odorless paint thinner). Be warned that oil paint takes longer to dry, a good week in most cases.

If you’re not up for dishing out a ton of money, you could simply try sketching portraits of one another with charcoal or pencil on sketchbook paper and then frame them with an inexpensive dollar store frame.

If your significant other is art hesitant or not overly creative, it is imperative that you brainstorm idea together instead of just winging it. Brad did a quick search beforehand and I attribute his success to that wholeheartedly. Since we painted with oil paints we couldn’t complete our masterpieces in one session but as soon as they’re perfected we’ll be sure to post them in all their glory.

For the locals: If you want to check out an art gallery but don’t know where to start, here are a few links to help you on your way:

• Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
• Argyle Fine Art
• Page & Strange

Cost – Ranges from FREE to $50 depending if you rent, buy, or go to the library.

If you’re short on money, time, or both, watching your favourite TV shows on DVD can be a fun way to spend time with another person. Since the initial purchase price may seem steep, you can always rent a disc at a time from Netflix, Zip, or Blockbuster.

HE SAID:

I remember when TV shows first started being released on DVD. I could not understand why someone would buy such a thing. Then I was introduced to a little show called 24 and everything changed. We burned through the first four seasons of 24 embarrassingly quickly so that we could be caught up when the fifth season aired that year.

Since then, we have acquired a healthy collection of our favourite shows on DVD. We have the first five seasons of 24, every season so far of The Office, a few seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and our current work in progress — the cherry on top of our TV collection sunday — the entire series of Full House.

There are two major benefits to owning your favourite TV shows. The first is that I find most shows much more enjoyable simply because of the lack of commercials. Especially for a show like 24 where the suspense and action are what make it exciting, the commercials can really let the air out of a fun episode. The other benefit is that the episodes are short. Even shows that are an hour long when they air with commercials are only about 45 minutes without them. So if you are a busy person and rarely have time to sit down and watch a two hour movie, a (roughly) 22 minute episode of your favourite show is much more manageable.

If you don’t like the idea of having to buy a season of a TV show, you can always rent instead. We use a service called Zip. So far we have only rented movies from them, but they have the option to rent TV shows. The best part is you can keep each disc as long as you want so there is no rush to speed through the shows, plus if you end up not loving the show, you won’t feel like you wasted $40 on something you’ll never watch again.

The key to TV dates is to make sure they don’t replace activities where we interact with each other a little more. It’s true that we watch our favourite shows while eating dinner instead of sitting at the table, but that will change when kids come along. We make sure to spend enough quality time together that it isn’t a replacement for that quality time. We have a lot of fun going through shows and finding favourite episodes to watch again later.

For a fun challenge, see how quickly you can get through a season of your favourite show. Something I’ve always wanted to do is watch an entire season of 24 in one day, since the premise of the show is that it spans a 24 hour period.

Buying or renting your favourite shows is a great option for anyone who wants to save money. Instead of paying a big monthly fee for cable or satellite, get the shows you really love on DVD.

SHE SAID:

As a kid, I never understood why all of the new episodes of my favourite TV shows were on during the school year when homework always competed with free time. On the other hand, reruns dominated the screen when I had copious amounts of time to waste in front of the boob tube during summer break. Thanks to the magic of DVD’s that problem no longer exists.

Now, instead of trying to follow all of our favourite TV shows as they change time slots and compete with day-to-day life, it’s not as big a deal when we miss one. If it’s a show we both love, we just buy the complete season and watch it at our leisure, as quickly or as slowly as we like.

When we bought our first season of The Office to watch over the summer, I wondered if we would ever watch it again. I thought perhaps we had just wasted some money. I was so wrong. Not only did we watch it again, but we now watch an episode every night with our supper. Yes, we eat supper in front of the TV. No, our relationship is not doomed because of it.

I ended up liking this idea so much that I went out on a limb and bought a random TV show for Brad for Christmas last year called Mad Men. We finished the first season in a month and its second season is a good contender for our summer picks.

I really love scouting out new and old TV shows to watch throughout the summer when the airwaves become a little stagnant. It’s a fun little tradition we have going that takes away the summer TV blahs.

We’re always looking for a new series to start watching, so now it’s your turn to tell us what your favourite shows are to watch on DVD. What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone through a whole season? Let us know in the comments!

–UPDATE —

So, we made a glaring oversight when we posted this date idea today. While browsing our local library tonight we happened across the second season of Mad Men on DVD. Of course, how could we have forgotten about the library?? So if you want to save money, don’t rent or buy your favourite show, head to the library and see what’s available.