Date Night

I'm a firm believer in the power of date night.  Scot and I have been committed to this tradition since early on in our marriage, but were immovable from it once we had a hard baby.  I won't name names, but she really solidified this tradition. ;)

In those early years we were much more strapped finically so we had to get a little creative, but even still we invested a lot of money on weekly date nights.  I remember vividly a conversation with some of our close friends, you know the friends that you analyze and discuss every aspect of life with? It was these friends that said, "Wait, you go out every Saturday night?"  We replied, "Yes."  Pay a babysitter? Dinner? Sometimes a movie?  Every Saturday night?  Again we confirmed.  They quickly did the math and said, so you could very well spend $400 a month on date night?  Scot and I looked at each other, sheepishly shrugged our shoulders, and again replied, yes.  

Over 10 years into that decision, I will still confirm that yes, that is what we do.  Every Saturday, almost without fail.  When we were younger it was because we needed a break from babies and toddlers.  Now that our kids our older, the rhythm of life has shifted and our days go from 5 am - 11 pm with little downtime throughout.  Now I realize that to some degree this is the life we have chosen.  I've chosen to work.  We've chose to have a caboose baby and as such, our youngest is up by 6 am and sometimes our oldest is coming home at 10 pm.  It makes for some long days, but we've found date night to be more crucial than ever so that we can sit down and compare notes so to speak.  Scot notices things that I might not see down in the trenches and between the two of us, we can usually find a sweet spot on most things.

Today I thought I'd round up a few of our tried and true favorite spots in the valley so you can start enjoying date night too.

SIT DOWN: 

La Grande O'range: a little off the beaten path for us, this is located in the heart of Arcadia, with the cutest gift shop at the front of it.  I always find a new book to read, or gift to tuck away for a friend.  I love their Mother Earth pizza and Scot always grabs a burger...which is arguably one of the best burgers in the Valley.  Make sure you order it on an English muffin and add cheese (they top it with shredded cheese).  If you're like us, you'll like the English muffins so much, you'll promptly buy a package and then hide them from your kids.

HopDoddy: If you're on a diet, don't go here, because not only do you need to order a burger, but fries with queso dip along with a Nutella shake.  It's so so so good.

Spinatos: A bit of a hole in the wall by ASU, this is my favorite pizza spot.  Request extra crispy on the crust and if you like to make pizza at home, buy their sauce because it's incredible.

Thai Elephant: We recently took our Thai food loving friends here and they decided that it's their favorite spot...now we just coordinate when we go so we can catch up while we enjoy.

Blanco Tacos: This is a Fox Concepts restaurant and it involves lots of tacos.  Enough said. 

The Herb Box: Plan to linger through your meal.  The ambience is off the charts and so is the food.  Save room for dessert.

North Italia: Be sure to order the grilled artichoke as an appetizer and I love love love their strozzapreti.

QUICK BITES:  Sometimes you just have time for a quicky...these are our favorite drop in spots for a quick bite.

Shake Shack: No joke, this is my favorite chicken sandwich.  Hands down.

Backyard Taco: These are my current favorite tacos...

Boca: Our go-to for a quick bite on a weekday date night

Jalepeno Bucks:  Basically a road side burrito stand, our favorite bbq by a mile.

Let me know where you're favorite go-to spot is and regardless of where you're at in life, try to make date night a habit...you won't regret it!