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.

We’re back! It would seem that we disappeared for the month of June, and that is true. June ended up being a rather busy month in our day-to-day lives and to avoid mental (and marital) breakdown we took a break for a few weeks. We’re back now and ready to indulge in fun, summer dates that we can share with you, our faithful readers. Check back often for things to do, places to go and food to enjoy and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for even more updates. Happy Summer!

SHE SAID:

If you enjoy getting up close and personal with llamas, staring Siberian tigers in the face, and feeding reindeer handfuls of corn, the zoo is for you! Zoos and me don’t have much experience together seeing as there is only one official zoo in our province, but staring death in the face never gets old with me.

Within the first few days of summer vacation, Brad and I were already staring at each other on the couch, wondering what to do as the sun’s rays wasted away outside. The zoo seemed like a nice option since we had an afternoon to kill and a full tank of gas.

We decided to head to Aylesford, NS, home of the Oaklawn Farm Zoo, which is about an hour and twenty minutes from Halifax. This zoo is privately owned and boasts the largest display of big cats and primates in Eastern Canada. I remember going here as a kid and enjoying the monkeys who never failed to put on a good show. This visit was no different.

My least favourite animals to watch are the big cats because they rarely doing anything but hide away at the back of their cages and sleep in the sun. Sometimes I wonder if they’re even alive or real. Apparently they come to life around 7pm when the owners feed them chunks of raw meat.

I must admit I felt a little guilty going to a zoo and seeing animals all caged up for my entertainment. So I did a little research and saw both sides of the debate: one states that wild animals should be left in the wild, the other states that zoos are essential for conservation practices. I’m still working it all out in my mind, but for now a couple good sites to visit are the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Good Zoo Guide. Both provide information on zoos around the world and promote conservation and the highest standards of animal welfare. When in doubt, visit a particular zoo’s website and see if they’re associated with any conservation organizations and what their goals are.

Overall, my zoo visit was fun and leisurely and I would definitely go to another zoo in another town, but not without checking up on their standards first. Though I couldn’t find any organizations Oaklawn Farm Zoo is associated with, they do have a large number of endangered and threatened species. All of their animals seem well cared for and healthy and the grounds are kept very nice, although very sandy – don’t wear flip-flops like I did! Check for zoos in your area and get in touch with your wild side (sorry, couldn’t resist!).

HE SAID:

Although I have been to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo before, it has been a few years since my last visit. The only thing I could distinctly remember about it was what I like to call the “Whooping Monkeys” because, well, they make loud whooping sounds. Since the admission price is very affordable at $7.00 each for adults (or $4.00 for students and seniors), I figured that even if the only cool thing to see was the whooping monkeys, it was worth it.

After a beautiful drive through the country we arrived at the zoo to the familiar sounds of the monkeys. I was immediately transported to feeling like a kid again as my excitement grew. Either we aren’t good at spotting animals, or the first few exhibits were uninhabited. Thankfully that was not an indicator of how the rest of our time at the zoo would go. Honestly, as soon as we saw the Zonkey (a zebra and a donkey in one!) I knew everything would be A-Okay.

My favourite animals at the zoo were the big ones like the lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. It was actually a little nerve wracking to be in the woods and have nothing but a fence between me and a big black bear. I also enjoyed the camel, who was acting suspiciously like our cat Himmery as he rolled over on his back and frolicked in the dust. Of course, the monkeys are a must see. They are quite entertaining as they swing around and share pieces of fruit with each other.

The only minor disappointment was that we didn’t go through the reptile exhibit. After Susan’s experience with the snakes at the museum, we decided it was best to stay away from the snakes and lizards.

Overall I had a great time at the Oaklawn Farm Zoo. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren’t too big, and the animals were a lot of fun to see up close. For $20.00 plus a tank of gas to drive there and back, it was a fairly cheap way to spend a day. If you’re visiting Nova Scotia, you should check it out. If you live in Nova Scotia and have never ventured out to the zoo, this summer is the perfect time to make it happen. For those of you who live elsewhere, check out your local zoo this summer and let us know what you think.

(To see the rest of the pictures we took at the zoo check out our Flickr set)

For The Locals:

Interested in visiting a local zoo? Below are listed zoos and wildlife parks by province.

Nova Scotia

Acres of the Golden Pheasant Bird Park

Oaklawn Farm Zoo

Provincial Wildlife Park (Shubenacadie, NS)

Upper Clements Wildlife Park

New Brunswick

Aquarium and Marine Center

Cherry Brook Zoo

Ferme Aqua-Zoo

Lameque Zoo

Magnetic Hill Zoo

Reptile Ocean Inc.

Woolastook Wildlife Park

PEI

Stanley Bridge Marine Aquarium and Manor of Birds

Do Duck Inn Petting Farm

North Cape Interpretive Centre & Aquarium

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.

________________________________________________________________________________

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. –

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.

______________________________________________________________________________________

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.

SHE SAID:

Being kind is something I try to be on a regular basis. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail miserably. Kindness, I have found, has many different levels. It’s pretty easy to be polite in society, but it takes a whole new level of skill to actually approach random strangers and offer your kindness in some way.

If someone told me to walk up to a complete stranger and show them some kindness, I would probably run in the opposite direction. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to be friendly; I would just panic with the complexities of it all.

So when Brad suggested we go smother people with kindness I wasn’t completely on board. Would I be holding doors for the elderly all day? Setting up a free car wash? Throwing cash at people? I think he sensed my panic and found the perfect method for accomplishing random kindness, which was getting less random by the minute.

Making supper for our friends was the perfect stepping-stone to stranger kindness. Cooking for people can always be a little scary, but when you find a recipe that’s semi-impressive (basically anything wrapped in bacon) and easy to make, the stress is minimized. It also helps if your friends aren’t picky eaters. Seriously, I think we could have slapped raw potatoes with a side of marmite in front of them and they would have screamed for joy. We have great friends.

I really enjoyed being kind. It seems like such a simple thing, yet we don’t seem to act on it nearly enough. I’m glad we challenged ourselves to go beyond friendly smiles and manners and actually do something for someone.

HE SAID:

A few months ago Susan and I were at the mall doing some shopping. As we were minding our own business walking through a store, the lady in front of us had some money fall out of her purse. She had no idea what happened as she kept walking towards the door to go to her car. Susan ran ahead and stopped her while I picked the money up off the floor to give back to her. What happened next left me completely shocked. As I was picking up the money (it was enough money that it was worth stealing if I was the stealing type), the people passing by were literally exclaiming out loud how amazed they were that I was returning the money. I guess they just assumed most people would steal it. I don’t tell you this story to pat ourselves on the back, but because it absolutely amazed me at how shocked the other people were to see someone simply doing the right thing. It was kind of sad.

That’s why I think the random act of kindness idea is so great. Most people spend so much time “looking out for number one” (we’re all guilty from time to time) that they can forget to just be nice. The wonderful part of it all is that it doesn’t take a lot of planning and effort to be nice to someone.

Since Susan was a little nervous of approaching a stranger, we simply made as nice a dinner as we know how for some friends. One of our least favourite things to do is to try and think of supper ideas. So, we thought it would be nice to alleviate that decision-making stress for someone else, even if just for one meal. We decided to do as much of the preparation at home as possible so that we wouldn’t dirty up their kitchen. We then brought everything over to their house, set the table, finished cooking the meal, and cleaned up afterwards. The hardest part of the whole thing was knowing how much food to cook for five people since we’re used to cooking for two. It all worked out well in the end though. The meal tasted great and everyone got enough food.

To be honest, it feels weird to do something nice for someone with the right motives, and then tell the whole world about it on the internet. But if it causes you to take part in a random act of kindness, either for a friend or a stranger, it’s worth it. Don’t feel like you have to do what we did either. There is an endless amount of things you can do to make someone’s day a little nicer. You could buy coffee for the person behind you in line at Starbucks, or bring some nice homemade food to a neighbour who might need it, or simply try to be extra nice to the people you interact with throughout the day, whether they deserve it or not. If you’re looking for another date idea that helps someone in need, check out our Charity Date post.

I think you’ll likely see a “Random Act of Kindness Part 2” post around here at some point. This was a good place for us to start, but I’d really like to go out of our way to do something for someone who isn’t a close friend, especially someone in need.

For anyone who is interested in what we cooked for dinner, check out the recipe for incredibly easy to make bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. It was delicious!