Take Your Marriage to New Heights!

There are times when all you need to do is go up. Chicago is home to many skyscrapers, in fact, the first skyscraper was built right here in Chicago 130 years ago!  Chicago is now known for its skyscrapers and today there are 116!

The Willis Tower is a cultural landmark in our city. At one point it was the tallest building in the world, now it’s the tallest building in North America at 110 floors!  My Grandma was living in Chicago while it was under construction and she remembers the never-ending hole they dug for the foundation, you couldn’t even see all the way to the bottom!  The Willis Tower is a office building as well as an iconic tourist attraction.  On the 103^rd floor there is a Skydeck with a breathtaking view of the city, it costs $22 per person.

I proposed this date idea to my wife, it sounded like a great place to go out on date and help my wife conquer her fear of heights!  My wife really hates heights and she has a hard time conquering this fear. I have different fears, but heights are not one of them.  When I proposed this date night to her she didn’t want to do it, even just the idea of taking the elevator up 103 stories left her feeling apprehensive. I tried my best on convince her but she was not having it.  I backed off as I remembered a marriage tip about taking a break from a discussion if you cannot come to a conclusion. We tabled the discussion and we both went about our business for the rest of the night.

The next day when I got home from work my wife brought up the topic again! She said that she appreciated the fact that I was trying to help her. I offered a compromise; we could just go downtown and walk around and look at the buildings from the ground.  My wife said she was willing to face her fears with me by her side and said she would like to go inside.  By the end of the date my wife was very grateful that I pushed her to do this. She had faced a fear and I really feel that we grew closer as a couple and improved our marriage on this great date!

GameWorks

If your marriage is like mine, you might be a little bit competitive with each other. When you can find something that you are both good at, it is fun to compete. For our date night this week my wife and I went to a place in Schaumburg, IL called GameWorks. It was great to be able to enjoy some healthy competition and laugh, sweat, and run around together. We even increased the stakes on one of the racing game and who ever loss had to take the trash out when we got home! 

GameWorks has interactive video, ticket and prize games as well as a restaurant. The food was great and they even offer a discount when you purchase a game card with your meal. They also offer half offp games on Mondays.  My wife and I tried to get as many tickets as we could get so that we could exchange them for a prize at the end of the night. My favorite game was a basketball shooting game.

During our date, I tool the time to ask my wife some questions that help us get to know each other better. To make this more fun we played the game “This or That.” In this game you give 2 options and your partner has to decide which option they would prefer.  For example, would you prefer to go to a concert or the theater? This is a great opportunity to get some ideas for future dates! We took turns and found out more about each other.

At the end of our date we both felt great. We had a lot to talk about and felt closer to each other. GameWorks really was a lot of fun and we will probably come back! To my wife’s delight she won the racing game and I had to take the trash out when we got home!

Pinstripes

When my wife and I were just dating before we got married we had a pretty memorable date where we went bowling. So when we were deciding on where we want to go this week for our date, we thought it would be fun to recreate that date. We looked up some local bowling alleys and found Pinstripes. Pinstripes is a level up from that first bowling date we had, it combines classy bistro style dinning with bowling and bocce. The food is fantastic and the prices aren’t bad. They offer some discounts for bowling and bocce if you come on a weeknight or during the day as well as happy hour specials at the bistro.

Recreating a date from your past brings back a lot of fun memories. It reminded us of the time when nothing else mattered but each other. A time when the world was not as busy as it is today. We spent the night reminiscing about our past and talking about other special memories from our courtship. We talked about what we would do differently if we had a chance to do it over and then talk about our hopes and dreams for the future.

I would highly recommend recreating a date with your spouse. It felt great to take a stroll down memory lane and see where we’ve come from. We had a lot of fun together and even allowed a little competitiveness to come out! I highly recommend that you try out Pinstripes next time you are looking for a fun night out!

Outdoor Mall Adventure

If you are like me, you don’t really enjoy going to the mall, I don’t like the big crowds, the stress of finding parking, and waiting in lines. Despite my reservations about malls my wife and I decided to try out an outdoor mall for our date night this past week. We went to Oak Brook Center Mall out in the suburbs of Chicago.

When we got there we discovered that the mall has already put their Christmas lights up, it was a beautiful sight! The mall might not seem like a great place to take your spouse out on a date but with a little effort you can make it a great date. It’s a great opportunity to learn about your spouse, connect and have a little fun.

We decided to play a game where you have to finish this sentence, “If you had the money, what would you do with…?” Then fill in the blank with different endings. I learned that my wife and I have different ideas about how our bedroom should be decorated. I took her to the store PB Teen and showed her some furniture that I thought would be functional and fit our bedroom. She didn’t agree with me on this one! We did end up coming to the conclusion that we would both like a king sized bed and we agreed on the bedding we would get for it. It was a lot of fun discussing our dreams for our future home!

I also had the opportunity to learn a little more about my wife’s childhood. My wife got really excited when we got to a store called L’Occitane. This store offers natural beauty skincare products and my wife knew all about them. I had no idea that she knew all of that information or was even into natural products. I found out that my wife and her mother used to go there a lot when she was growing up. This started a great conversation about my wife’s childhood and she told me some stories I’d never heard before.

Despite my reservations we had a great date at the mall. We took the time to make the date a more intimate and meaningful experience and I’m glad we did it!

A Walk in the Park

Walking is great exercise and when you do it with your significant other it can be a lot of fun! When you take a stroll with your spouse there are so many great topics you can discuss!

Chicago has great forest preserves with many trails to walk along. According to Forest Preserves of Cook County website, there are over 300 miles of trails that are in the Chicagoland area. I went to one trail located in Palos Heights, IL. It’s only about a 30 to 40 minute drive from downtown Chicago. This trail was paved with many curves. Watch out for the cyclist and runner, usually they will announce themselves as they come up behind you by saying “on your left” or ringing their bells. Watch out for wildlife as you walk, my wife and I saw a deer on our trail.

As we walked my wife and I both decided to share five things about each other that we are grateful for. It’s nice to feel appreciated. My wife mentioned to me that she is grateful that I am able to work and support our family. I mentioned to her that I am thankful that she has been able to stay at home with our daughter and teach her lots of new words.

This activity really helped bring us closer together as a couple. We were running late and in a rush to get there but as we walked and enjoyed being in nature we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. Get out there before winter comes!

For maps of the trails check out this link!

Date Night in a Box Series #1 Unbox Love

Are you ever too busy to go on a date or even plan a date? It seems like we all have become so busy that sometimes we simply forget or don't have time to plan! Well, there are some great companies out there that are willing to do 100% of the work for you! They are Date Night Subscriptions where every month they send you a dat in a box and you take part and have fun with your spouse! We are going to run a series on some of the Date Night Subscriptions and give our honest opinion on just how well we think it works and if we felt like it was worth the month that they charge!

Up First! Unbox Love My husband and I received the November box from this great company to try out! It came at a perfect time because I had just found out I was pregnant and was suffering from terrible morning sickness and did not feel like going out and spent many days in bed.
I opened the box prior to Ty coming home from work. I love that they provided me with Time Saving Tips and a recipe to try! Along with that, Unbox Love sent directions on just how to go about our date with 4 simple steps. They sent for His Eyes Only and Her Eyes only Cards as well, which you will use during the date on the Appreciation step!

It asked us to "pop" our snack and while we did this appreciate one another with various things that it told us to do in the directions. After this. we got to get competitive, who doesn't love a little competition? They sent us Tummple Time A challenging twist on Jenga. And Yes, we did have a little side competition going and I won! They encourage you to share using #unboxlove! After the game they give some wrapping up ideas.
Overall, we really loved our Unbox Love Date Box. It was so nice that everything was planned out for us and gave us ways to connect as well as ways to have some friendly competition. If you are a busy couple who needs a pre planned at home date this is a good company to go through.

There are three subscription options: Month to month, 3 months, or 6 months. The prices vary depending on which package you choose. from $39.00 to $34.00. You can also gift these boxes, but that does cost a little bit more. For the pricing click here! Shipping is free and arrives right on your door step and is all ready to go! I would recommend this Date Night Subscription Box to others based on the box we received for November!

Be sure to follow Unbox Love on Twitter! #UnboxLove


*These opinions gave are the honest opinions of Date Night Rewards. We were in no way paid for our opinion. We did receive a complimentary box to try and and review.

Trugurt

Many of you have heard about frozen yogurt, you might have even been to a place that serves it! You might even have a favorite frozen yogurt place and think that there is no better place! I challenge you to try Trugurt, this place is making all of the other self-serve yogurt places shake in their boots!

They have multiple locations in the Chicagoland area; Orland park, Crestwood, La Grange and Berwyn. The one in Orland park offers free samples so you can choose your favorite flavor.  Just like many other yogurt places, you serve yourself and then pay for it by the ounce. (49 cents per ounce)

They offer flavors like blueberry pie, caramel salted pretzel, red velvet cupcake, Hawaiian pineapple, key lime pie and many others. After you choose your flavor then you have the option of choosing toppings. They offer fresh fruit, nuts, candy and the famous Boba. They also offer smoothies and teas if you are looking for something you can drink.

They are proud to offer the first USDA Certified Organic Frozen Yogurt. They also offer flavors that are dairy free, soy free, fat free, gluten free and they are only 22 calories per ounce. Trugurt is a great place to go on a date, they have space for you to sit down and talk and the employees are very friendly and are happy to answer any questions that you may have.

PGN Fun Village

PGN Fun Village is fun place to go to and have a great time. It’s similar to Dave and Buster’s, if you’ve had the chance to go there. PNG Fun Village is located in Hickory Hills, IL, 8125 West 95th Street Hickory Hills, Illinois 60457. 

They have arcade style games, mini-golf, a driving range, inflatables and prizes! They also provide places for children to play on tubes, slides and a ball pit. If you want to make a night of it you can grab dinner there as well, drinks are only 1$ and you can get a hot dog for $1.50!

If you enjoy golfing they have a driving rage and a mini-golf course. I personally really enjoyed the mini-golf course. They have some really interesting and fun props at each hole, my favorites were the ones where it looked like you were in a cave. They have two courses and it’s only $7 dollars for one or $9 for both. When you finish with one course you can jump over to the second one for another round.

The arcade is also a lot of fun. You can get 4 tokens for a $1, 20 for $5, 45 for $10. We spent the $10 and got the 45 tokens and it lasted us a while. My wife and I enjoyed skeeball; we got a little competitive! They also have some fun driving games and my personal favorite, a basketball shooting game.

All in all, it was a pretty fun night. There weren’t too many people there so we got to play the games that we wanted and didn’t have to wait long for any of the games.  I would recommend this place for anyone that would like to play double the mini-golf and have a fun night playing arcade games!