Date Night Folders

I just wanted to share this simple and sweet idea for spending some quality time with your love--Date Night Folders.
When I was teaching, I got a boat load of gift cards. Barnes and Nobles, Starbucks, Half-Price Books, Cheesecake Factory, you name it. And it was absolutely wonderful, but after a while my wallet got waaay too full, and I scrambled to try and figure out how to use all of them.

That's when we came up with our date night folders. We bought a pack of small yellow envelops, and dropped a giftcard into each one, making sure to write what it was on the outside. After a little while, we began expanding our folders to include coupons we found. And when I got a card for a free cookie at Jason's Deli (I love that place btw), we stuck $15 in there with the card for a simple lunch date with dessert. :)

The folders are great because they're ready made (and ready paid!) dates for us to grab when we're out all day or are burnt out from the week and need to get away. And though I honestly feel like every night is a date, whether we're watching Hawaii Five-O eating pineapple, reading books together, or making breakfast dinner, sometimes it's wonderful to hit the town together.

So, gather up your gift cards, spare change (a couple bucks will get you a wonderful date over coffee or cocoa), coupons and freebies you find, and make a set of dates for you and yours. It might also be a wonderful Valentine's gift--dates for the year, or sweet idea for you and special time with your little one  (daddy-daughter night night? :) ).

Happy dating!