Date Night: Second Edition

By Mike Gervais

Date Night

As always, the subscription company provides a Spotify playlist of themed tunes to set the mood for the evening, and an instruction card to guide us through the evening.

New season, next edition of Date Night

As a newly engaged couple starting our lives together during a pandemic, Kat and I are determined to keep having fun together and never forget to embrace the joys of dating. Subscribing to a mail-order date in a box service was one idea we had to ensure we could continue to find creative date ideas and ensure we have fun one-on-one time together despite COVID-19 restrictions. Our January date box delivered in a big way, giving us an opportunity to come up with fun date ideas for an entire calendar year. To kick off our date night, we opened the subscription box and took an inventory of what was in store. We found a dream candle, two keepsake books, a snack of gourmet popcorn, a decorative 2021 calendar and a sticker book with ideas for creative dates. As always, the subscription company provides a Spotify playlist of themed tunes to set the mood for the evening, and an instruction card to guide us through the evening. First, we were instructed to talk about our goals and dreams for the coming year and light the dream candle. We had snuck a look at the calendar and sticker book as we unpacked the box, and agreed that our goal for the year would be to stick to the plan we were about to make and be sure to do each one of the dates we were being asked to plan, no matter how busy our schedules get, or what the coming year throws at us. It may sound like we were shooting from the hip on our goal, but a lot of the date ideas provided for the calendar were unique and simply sounded too fun to pass up. Before we got to the calendar, we were directed to take some time together to talk about some of the things we love most about each other. For this activity, the service sent us both a keepsake book that gave us 50 prompts to write about the things we love about each other. The book works as a fill in the blanks template. And it was a fun example of our differences and our similarities. For example, when the prompt says, “I wish I had known you when …” I was at a total loss. I’ve “known” Kat since we were in high school, though we didn’t grow close until recent years. So my response reflected that. She, on the other hand, wrote a heartfelt note reflecting on times in her life when she would have

been comforted or strengthened by some of the qualities she loves about me. It was a moving answer. And I felt like a bit of a dummy for drawing such a blank on that prompt. On the other side of the coin, our books delivered the prompt: “You’ve taught me …” Kat has taught me that communication isn’t necessarily about voicing your feelings on X, Y or Z. Rather, it is an important foundation of a relationship that can and should provide comfort and affirmation to your partner on a regular basis. While it’s easy – especially when you’re so comfortable with your partner – to assume your affection is apparent, the necessity to voice those feelings will never go away. As it turns out, I have taught Kat “A LOT” (yes, she did underline and capitalize “a lot”) about Ark: Survival Evolved, a video game I play with a friend. A video game Kat doesn’t play. A video game Kat has no interest in. A video game that she may now – through no fault of her own – excel at in the unlikely event she develops a desire to play video games. But that’s what was fun about the exercise. There was no malice in her answer. It was a fact. And it was an honest, funny answer to the question. We shared a few heart-felt, sentimental feelings, a few fun pokes at the others quarks, and more than a little snark and sarcasm when the prompts were a little too leading or artificially sentimental.

While reading through the books we exchanged, we laughed, we smiled and we grew closer. That’s the idea, right?

We were each directed to plan a couple dates for each month of the year. The calendar provided came with two slots for each month and while the instructions did not specify that we should each pick one date for each month, we agreed that we would each get a pick. While we did have the option of writing in our own ideas, a sticker book of potential date nights was provided, and it came with some fantastic suggestions that we are truly looking forward to.

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Kat Jones and Mike Gervais

Again, our personalities shine through with our date ideas. For example, in April, we are going to sit down together and complete a puzzle. It will be a fun evening of snacks and music and great conversation. But Kat knows I don’t much care for puzzles – the picture I’m assembling is on the box … I’ve seen it. Why do we have to spend hours recreating it? My choice for April is to go axe throwing. Probably not something she would do on her own. But again, we are both excited about both our selections for the month. We are looking forward to the quality time together. The date nights we selected for the year cover the entire spectrum of dating, from a movie night to a cooking contest, from a home scavenger hunt to a picnic by the lake. And we decided together that one of our date nights in December will be to sit down together and create a photo album or scrap book chronicling all the adventures we enjoyed in 2021. Adventures that we may not have planned if we weren’t given a box that prompted us to make a plan. And adventures that we are both looking forward to. n