Things To Do For Two

SHE SAID:

Sundays tend to be a pretty laid back day in our household. Unlike Brad, I’m not the type of person that can be happy to stay inside all day, day after day. After 4 hours, I need out, even for just a simple drive.

Now, I know Sunday afternoon drives are an activity you’re not suppose to do until you’re at least 50, but they’re a great way to get out of the house for a bit and have a conversation, away from the distractions at home.

When Brad and I were dating we used to go for drives and he would always ask me where I wanted to go. I would secretly rage inside when he asked because I felt like I was being burdened with the pressure of deciding on a perfect destination. I know now that Brad really does mean what he says and didn’t care where we went and would’ve been happy to drive to the city dump. Alas, my inner rage was unwarranted. However, had I known about the coin toss drive then, I could’ve avoided the panicked rage altogether.

The coin toss drive is perfect for the indecisive couple especially. Literally every turn is decided for you. The only decision you have to make is when to end the game and go home. You can end up seeing streets and buildings you never knew existed, even though they’re close to home.

For our first try we decided to start flipping the coin right out of the driveway. It could be because of the luck of the flip or my less than stellar flipping technique, but we ended up on a long road to Eastern Passage with very few intersections. After coming to a dead end road, we decided to make our new starting point in the middle of the city. I thought this was a lot more fun because we were able to get into the game more.

The coin toss drive didn’t exactly rock my world, but it was a nice departure from our typical Sunday drive.

HE SAID:

When I was growing up, my family owned an RV. During the summers we would travel to various campgrounds around Canada and it was a lot of fun. One of my favourite memories of those days is when we used to set out for a day of driving with no specific destination in mind. Dad would drive until he got tired and then we would grab a map and try to find a campground near by to stay the night.

That idea of setting out on the road without a particular destination has stuck with me over the years, even when it comes to going for an afternoon drive around town. The problem with having no destination in mind is that you still need to decide to go somewhere, even if it’s turn by turn decision making. That’s why the coin toss drive seemed brilliant to me.

Before we hit the road we laid down a few ground rules, and I would suggest you do the same if you attempt this activity. First, we decided how often we would flip the coin. Would it be every time we came across a potential road to turn down, or only at major intersections? We decided that if we came to a stop sign, or a set of lights, and there was the option of going left or right, we would flip the coin. Heads we turned right, tails we turned left. In the cases where we hit an intersection that only allowed turns in one direction, we continued straight down the road. Another rule was that if a turn brought us into a parking lot or anything other than a normal road, we kept going.

There were two factors that we didn’t take into account before we left that would have been good to think through.

1. Water. We live near water, and lots of it. Any time you start driving alongside water it eliminates the option to turn in that direction. Stay away from water for maximum fun.
2. Susan cannot flip a coin to save her life. Seriously, it’s sad. Add the fact that we were in a moving vehicle and sometimes the coin flip had to be done quickly, and the result was a lot of dropped coins and panic.

I like the idea behind the coin toss drive, though in practice I was underwhelmed. I got frustrated by constantly hitting water and not being able to turn one way. The other problem was that sometimes you end up driving in circles. The key is in the starting point. If you start in a part of town far from water, with lots of intersections, it can be a lot of fun.

I think this would be a lot of fun to try in a city I’m less familiar with. Sure I’d be lost in no time, but that’s what maps and GPS are for. If you’re looking for a way to get out of the house but you don’t want to have a destination in mind, try the coin toss drive. It’s only as fun as you make it. We probably got more laughs out of Susan’s lack of coin tossing abilities than anything else, but everyone is different and will enjoy different things. Though it’s not on the top of my list of things I want to try again, I’m sure I’d give it a go if the conditions were right.

Let us know if you’ve ever tried the coin toss drive or if it seems like something you’d like to try.

Cost – The basic game costs around $30 depending on where you buy it, and expansion packs average around $20 each.

SHE SAID:

When some friends from England came home for Christmas, they mentioned getting together to play an exciting new game called Carcassonne. I’m usually up for learning a new game, so I agreed without hesitation. I had no idea what I was in for. This is the game that keeps growing and growing until you realize you’ve unleashed a monster.

The game’s playing space is made up of tiles that you lay down with each turn. It starts with a happy little river and then explodes into a booming medieval metropolis. It’s not like you’re leisurely building your own cute little city, though. No, no. That would be too easy and stress free. No, there has to be fire-breathing dragons and forts and catapults that destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to build for the past 4 hours. Oh yeah, did I mention you need a solid 4 hours at your disposal to complete this torturous escapade?

I know it sounds like I hate the game and, in part, I do, but I don’t think I hate its core concept. I think I would quite enjoy the basic game of building castles and fields and roads with my meeples (wooden playing pieces). However, there are numerous different expansion packs you can buy, such as the dragon, that wipe out everything in their path and leave you feeling bitter and angry. I’m not a very competitive person, so these add-ons did nothing good for me.

Carcassonne is great at its core for couples to waste away a rainy afternoon with and can conjure up some healthy competition. If you really get into the game you can purchase your own wooden meeples online and custom paint them (meeplepeople.com). If you have a large table, a competitive spirit and some time to waste Carcassonne is the game you’ve been waiting for.

HE SAID:

Board games are sneaky little things. They can bring people together for a fun evening, or they can tear friendships apart and lead to tears and rage. I had a bad feeling about Carcassonne right from the first time I saw it. I thought there was no way that a game built on cartoonish tiles and little wooden pieces called meeples could possibly be good. Well, I can honestly say I was equally right and wrong.

We played Carcassonne twice over the holidays, with two different groups of people. It can be played by as few as two players, but in order to learn all the complexities of the game, we joined some friends. The first time we played I got completely overwhelmed by all the rules, but by the second time I started to get the hang of it.

I get frustrated when I feel like winning or losing a game is largely out of my hands, and that is exactly how Carcassonne made me feel. At it’s most basic form, Carcassonne is about placing tiles that make up the playing surface. These tiles can be either castle, farm, or road. When you place a tile you have the option of placing a meeple on that tile and only that tile. That part of the game is fun. I like trying to complete a castle or a road and get the points before someone else takes it over. Where things go bad is when certain expansion packs get added into the game. All of a sudden there is a huge element of luck involved, which I didn’t enjoy at all.

Though I wasn’t crazy about the game, I did find one great way to enjoy it. There is a version you can buy on XBox Live (800 points) which I love. It breaks the game down to the essentials which is especially great for newbies like me.

A mixture of being confused by the rules, and frustrated by the element of luck keeps me from loving this game. But people seem to love it or hate it, so I recommend at least trying it to see what you think. You can buy the game at places like Chapters, and if you want more you can buy expansion packs online, or if you live in Halifax check out Strange Adventures.

If you’ve ever played Carcassonne we would love to hear what you think of it.

SHE SAID:

The first time Brad and I celebrated Valentine’s together he basically did all of the work. We made reservations at a nice restaurant, he arrived with a dozen red roses and later gave me an iPod. While it was all very nice and memorable, I think we’ve had just as good, if not better, Valentine’s Days and spent less.

To me, it’s all about the small things that make the day complete. One of the sweetest things Brad ever did on Valentine’s was make me a homemade card while he was recovering from laser eye surgery. It was crafted out of construction paper, had a cute little rhyming poem and he had made illustrations of his bloodshot eyes.

Giving your lady (or man) a good Valentine’s Day requires much thought, but it doesn’t mean spending lots of money necessarily. I’m a big lover of all things handmade since they require thought and are quite endearing. Whenever I’m looking for inspiration I visit Martha Stewart’s website, which usually never fails me. This year was no different. I found a cute little card that required 3-D glasses to read the secret message on the front. Perfect for my geeky little love bug. There are also tons of great homemade gift ideas on there, such as the love note wrapped chocolate bar and the candy and tulip bouquet.

We decided to make supper together this year, which can be quite a fun stay at home option. You can skip the overcrowded, overpriced restaurants and kick back at home, dressed however you like. We made a heart shaped pizza from scratch using the Crusty Pizza Dough recipe that came with my Kitchenaid mixer. We also made these delicious homemade Hershey Kisses we found over at Bakerella’s website. They look so impressive and cute, but are so easy and cheap to make. Our whole supper cost less than $20!

If I could do it again, I’d probably just make supper or dessert together, not both. By the end of the night we were both pretty exhausted from being in the kitchen. If you’re a super busy couple, making supper together will probably only frustrate you. Luckily, Boston Pizza has heart shaped pizzas during Valentine’s Day and Cold Stone Creamery has heart shaped ice cream cakes, among other love inspired treats.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a good time and make your special someone feel loved. It only cost Brad a sheet of construction paper one year.

HE SAID:

Our first Valentine’s Day together was just short of a disaster. The expensive restaurant gave us panic attacks, the gift I gave her was a dud in the long term (though she was excited when she opened it), and my wallet was screaming for mercy. Lesson learned. Since then we’ve decided to do one of two things.

1. Celebrate Valentine’s Day the weekend before or after February 14th. The flowers are WAY cheaper, the restaurants aren’t insanely full, and we both enjoy ourselves much more.
2. Throw the typical things you’re supposed to do out the window and just make Valentine’s Day whatever we want it to be.

This year we went with the second option. It was very low key and inexpensive, which was great. We had just come back from vacation so we weren’t looking to spend a lot more money. The idea was this: take all the things people usually do on the big day, and do it DIY style.

Dinner at a fancy restaurant = make dinner together

Giving a box of chocolates = make our own chocolates

Spend $50 to go to the theatre = watch a movie at home

You get the idea.

Making dinner together was interesting. We have an incredibly small kitchen, so it isn’t conducive to more than one person at a time. We made it work though, and our heart shaped pizza turned out great. We also included Himmery (our cat) in the festivities by giving him some wet food, which he loves. For dessert we made homemade (giant) Hershey Kisses. They were really easy, which is obvious since I helped make them, and they tasted great. My only complaint about making dinner together was that I felt like I was in the way more than I was helping. Susan can make an awesome homemade pizza in her sleep, so throwing me into the mix didn’t make her life any easier. We made it work though.

One thing we do a little differently on Valentine’s Day is we make sure it’s not just about one of us. Yes, I make an effort to make Susan feel extra special on that day, but she doesn’t leave me out in the cold. She usually buys me a little gift, and we both have a hand in choosing what we do each year. I think it really helps keep it fun for both of us.

In the end it doesn’t matter what you do for Valentine’s Day, as long as you and the person you’re with have fun. If going all out and spending a ton of money is your thing, go for it. If not, there is no shame in enjoying an inexpensive evening at home.

Finally, if you haven’t entered our Valentine’s Day Giveaway, check it out and enter before the deadline.