If you’re looking to change things up a little bit and you’re tired of the typical “Dinner and a Movie” type of date night, give Breakfast and a Movie a try. We recently went out for a morning date and really enjoyed ourselves.

SHE SAID:

You may remember from our Sunrise post that mornings aren’t exactly the favourite part of my day. However, if you have a full schedule and are trying to find time to spend with the one you love, you make the sacrifice and roll out of bed.

Luckily, we can always get our money’s worth from eating out for breakfast. For some reason we can stuff more into our traps earlier in the day (don’t stomachs shrink overnight?). Because I usually never want to put more energy into breakfast than pouring cereal into a bowl, I love going out and having someone bring delicious, warm food to me. We chose Cora’s for breakfast, where I ordered my favourite 1990’s Harvest (but I substituted yucky raisin brioche with French toast) with scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit sprinkled with icing sugar!

After breakfast we decided to head to the movie theatre. Since we were going to the Matinee it was cheaper and we practically had the theatre to ourselves, so that meant no annoying chair kicking or talking during the movie! As for the movie itself, we went to see Michael Jackson’s This Is It. I enjoyed the movie, but I’d have to say you really have to appreciate his music and enjoy watching how a huge musical production is put together to ensure its two hour runtime.

Breakfast dates are great if you work night shifts or if you have other commitments later in the day or if you need to force yourself to get up early so you get more done later on.

HE SAID:

I think I’m slowly becoming a grumpy old curmudgeon.

Let me explain.

The typical date night includes dinner and a movie. This doesn’t really work for me for several reasons. First, I tend to not enjoy going out to dinner that much because restaurants are more crowded, and I’d rather be home eating a home cooked meal. Second, I’d much rather watch a Blu Ray at home than go to the theatre and listen to other people loudly munching popcorn right behind my head, kicking my seat, and checking their phones every 5 minutes.

See, grumpy old curmudgeon.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m totally a morning person. So taking the dinner and a movie idea and turning it into breakfast and a movie works perfectly for me. The best part about going out to breakfast is that it never feels like a waste of money. We typically can eat everything on our plates, which is something we never manage to do when we go out for dinner. Not only that, we tend to be so full that we don’t eat again until dinner time, so we save money by not eating lunch. It’s fantastic!

One of our favorite places to go for breakfast is Cora’s. We hadn’t been there in several months, so it was a nice treat to go back. I usually go for the Rosemary’s Sunday which is the typical bacon, eggs, toast, and crepe breakfast. This time I went for something a little different. I got the French toast with a mountain of fresh fruit. It was really good. The best part of our breakfast came near the end. If you add an extra dollar to your bill it goes toward the Cora Foundation and they give you a mug. That pretty much made my day.

We then headed over to the theatre. It was kind of strange being some of the first people there. I was surprised how many people buy popcorn and other treats first thing in the morning. We recently tweeted about a deal with Empire Theatres where you text a certain word to a number they provide and you get a buy one ticket get one free coupon. So after using that coupon, plus the fact that it was an early show, the cost of going to the movies was much lower than usual.

I really had a lot of fun with our morning date. I would do breakfast and a movie again in a heartbeat over dinner and a movie. We got to go out and have a fun time while still having the rest of our day ahead of us. If you’re a morning person then I probably don’t have to sell you on this idea. If you’re not a morning person, take some solace in the fact that half of your morning will be spent in a cozy dark theatre that will be nearly empty. It’s kind of close to being home in bed, right?

If you have any favorite breakfast spots we would love to hear about them. Let us know in the comments.

One of the things we thought would be fun to do for this blog was themed movie nights. We recently did a retro movie night, but on Halloween we took the leap for the first time in our three years of marriage and watched a scary movie together. I survived without any claw marks in my arms, and Susan survived without succumbing to heart failure.

SHE SAID:

I try to avoid watching scary movies like I avoid the H1N1 virus. Most people can sit down in a dark room for hours and watch axe murderers, exorcists and aliens unleash their rage and walk away unscathed. Not I. As soon as the movie ends I feel like a murderer is hiding in the shadows, or worse, under my bed! I avoid mirrors for weeks. Even previews at the movie theatres can give me nightmares. I blame it on watching Rescue 911 and Unsolved Mysteries at too young an age.

It goes without saying that when Brad suggested “scary movie night” this past Halloween I was hesitant, to say the least. However, I hadn’t watched any scary movies since “The Happening” (I know, not technically a scary movie…) so I thought I’d give it another go. Our friend picked “The Others” for us to watch, starring Nicole Kidman.

As soon as the movie started with an unexpected blood-curdling scream I wanted to turn it off. I fought through it, though, despite the eerie music, horrifying camera angles and downright creepiness.

Once the movie was over, something miraculous happened. I didn’t sense any doom, I wasn’t afraid to look in a mirror (for too long), and I wasn’t crying like a fool! I believe this is due to several factors that might help you along, should you somehow have the same irrational fears as me:

• We watched with friends after much lighthearted conversation.
• No one snuck up behind me or latched on to my neck in an attempt to scare me.
• No one quoted any creepy lines from the movie – THIS ONE IS KEY.
• We continued with lighthearted conversation after it ended.
• Brad let me squeeze his hand as much as I wanted.
• I had comfort food.

As much as I can’t stand the thought of a scary movie, once in a while it is fun to scare yourself. It may even be healthy to get the ole’ heart a pumpin’. If nothing else, it definitely brought us closer together.

HE SAID:

Of all the themed movie night ideas, I never thought Susan would agree to do Scary Movie Night. I’m not the biggest fan of scary movies, but every now and then I get the urge to watch something creepy. For the last three years it hasn’t even been an option for us to watch a scary movie together.

The movie we chose would likely not be considered scary by most people’s standards. But you have to understand that we had to take it easy since I’m not really interested in becoming a widower. “The Others” was more of a loud noises and creepy children type of movie rather than the kind of movie that keeps you up at night from fear of being murdered by a strange creature of the night.

Now, I’m not going to lie. It was very tempting for me to do something to add to the scariness of the night for Susan. I could have left the room and then crept up behind her and scared her, or in the middle of an especially tense scene suddenly screamed “BOO!”. However, I value my marriage. I also value sleeping in a bed, not on a couch (although I’ve never been kicked to the couch). Both of those things combined are far more important to me than the fun of scaring her.

I tried taking videos of Susan clutching the arm of the couch and covering her eyes, but it was too dark in the room so it didn’t turn out. Here’s a picture of her first time driving across the Confederation Bridge to show you what she might have looked like had the pictures turned out. Regardless, I really enjoyed scary movie night. It’ll probably be a while before we indulge in such things again, but I’m glad she got over her fears even just once. In the end it’s just more proof that it doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, as long as you’re enjoying time with another person.

If you have a favorite scary movie we would love to hear about it. Maybe you have a fun story about watching one with someone. Let us know in the comments.

This is the first in a series of themed movie nights we have planned that are perfect for those of you who enjoy spending a night inside with someone special. On our first movie night we decided to go with a retro theme. All it took was a cheap dinner out to a 50’s style restaurant (which could easily be done at home), a few candy treats, and a classic movie.

SHE SAID:

Sometimes I feel like I was born 30 years too late and missed out on what seems like the simpler times of the 50’s, the decade filled with swing music, lollipops and poodle skirts. If someone could transport me back in time, the 50’s are the first decade I would make a stop in. Since we couldn’t figure out a way to take ourselves back to the 50’s, we went out and got the 50’s for ourselves!

If you’re going to have a retro movie night, you must first treat yourselves to a retro meal. Luckily, we live pretty close to The Chickenburger, a classic retro drive-in style restaurant complete with vintage jukebox.

I have loved visiting The Chickenburger ever since I was a little kid and couldn’t believe when I found out while dating Brad that he had never eaten there before! I love that their cheeseburgers are just the right size, made of real meat and come in a cute paper wrapper. Obviously I ordered one of these with shoestring French fries.

For those of you without a unique retro style restaurant nearby, there’s always A&W. For those of you without an A&W, we feel for you. The next time you go into town, buy yourselves some ice cream and bananas and whip up some good ole’ fashioned banana splits.

No retro movie, or any movie, is complete without candy. Before we headed home from The Chickenburger we made a pit stop at the Freak Lunchbox, a candy lover’s dream come true. Some of the treats we picked without really knowing what they were (i.e. pink elephant popcorn). While some candies are better left in the 50’s, none can compare with gummy cola bottles and candy necklaces.

Finally, we were home and ready to watch our movie. We decided on Grease because – hold your horrified gasps – we had never seen it in completion before. I liked it for the most part, but Sandy lost me when she started into her slow songs. If you’re typically not into musicals, but want to give them a try with your retro movie night, I would highly recommend Hairspray, even though it’s not technically retro. I had a great time with Retro movie night and look forward to our next themed movie night.

HE SAID:

Movie nights are always a good idea in my books. Sure I love getting outdoors and finding new and exciting things to do, but there’s just something about settling in to watch a good movie that I really enjoy. Retro movie night seemed like a simple way to put a twist on the typical night in without having to spend an arm and a leg.

As Susan mentioned, I had never been to the Chickenburger in Bedford before I met her. I’m pretty sure, even if just for a moment, she had some serious second thoughts about me when she found that out. I’m glad she showed me the light because I really enjoy it now. Sure it’s kind of greasy and is basically just fast food, but at the Chickenbuger none of that matters. I love the atmosphere, the prices are really cheap, and the food really does taste great.

I did have one problem with the Chickenburger though. I’m pretty sure the men’s washroom door weighs as much as an elephant. Let’s be honest, I’m not the biggest or strongest guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I tried four times to get that door open and I couldn’t do it. It was actually quite embarrassing. Here I was taking running leaps into the door trying to get it open, but it refused every time. Then an old man came by and pushed it open with one hand. I think he muttered something about kids these days as he passed by…I then walked away in shame as we moved on to the Freak Lunchbox to get our candy.

The thing about the Freak Lunchbox is that there are so many choices it can be overwhelming. Our biggest problem was that a lot of the candy they have is packaged to look retro, but we honestly had no idea what was and wasn’t authentic. All that aside, it’s a fun place to go with all the various treats and trinkets they sell.

Finally, we arrived home and popped in the classic John Travolta movie Grease. I had never seen it before so I was actually looking forward to watching the old musical. Although it didn’t end up in my top 10 list, it was enjoyable and suited the rest of our evening quite well.

Remember, the purpose of everything we write about is to spend time with another person and do some out of the ordinary things. Watching a movie at home may not seem very special, but when you give it a theme it gets a whole new life. It ends up being more than simply watching a movie. I had a lot of fun with retro movie night and I hope you give it a try. What are some of your favorite retro movies, candies, or restaurants? Let us know in the comments.