Bryan and I decided early in our relationship that we would designate one day of the week as “Date Night,” the most important night of the week. A night worthy of planning ahead, anticipating our time together, and a night that we celebrate our love for each other AND our love for great food and wine. It is a tradition that we have honored now for six years. For us, we do this every Saturday night.

We had decided early in the week that we were going to do Date Night on the beach. In the past, this was a simple meal that I prepared ahead, at home, and packed up in 4 cup glass Pyrex storage container while Bryan was setting up the beach blanket and beach chairs (which we bought on clearance at the end of season last year for $20 each). We learned over the years that date night doesn’t need to be expensive. However, it does require a plan – and that is when the music that was playing melodically as the background in the movie of my life came to a screeching halt. Because Bryan and I have different definitions of the word PLAN.

For Date Night, Bryan’s definition of this seemingly simple word is “a restaurant that has an Open Table reservation available at 7p.” In fact, I am pretty sure this is the definition in the Bryan-Susie Dictionary:

plan (1 of 2) noun

1: an OpenTable restaurant with a table for two available at 7pm on a Saturday. 

source: BRYAN

2: a well thought out idea, structured with time, place, experience and ambiance details vetted at least six calendar days in advance of the event date, to allow sufficient time to secure a premium reservation spot, and identify needed materials, accoutrements, and costumes to exponentially improve the probability of a great outcome.

source: SUSIE

It was 4:30p on a Saturday and I said to Bryan, we probably need more candles. Without looking up from his laptop, he said, “We probably don’t have time to run to the store.” I said, “Just for funsies, look up beach date night.” He did, and we saw incredible dining experiences on the beach, complete with real pillows, wine bottles, dishware, candles, and silverware. We both breathed a collective sigh of resignation, simultaneously thinking, well, there goes THAT idea. And then Bryan jumped up and said, “Let’s see what we have here.” And this is where the magic happens…..

We decided on a muted spa-zen color palette, because that is what we have in our home, and what makes us feel the best. Color really can have an impact on the mood – so we started by throwing a turquoise blue and black patterned beach blanket onto the floor, and we both shook our heads, in agreement that we owned NOTHING else that would go with that. Within 15 minutes, we had pulled together a beach dining ensemble of blankets, throw pillows, candles, dishes and needed accessories. It took another full 30 minutes of searching every cupboard and every bin (yes, we have a LOT of bins) in our house to find the table runner. Alas, we found it at the bottom of the first bin we looked in, hiding beneath the paint supplies, new wall plates and car window-fourth of July flags my dear husband stored in the “home décor” bin (I know, right?).

And then I needed a nap. Just a little one, but a nap nonetheless. I am loving “Committed” by Elizabeth Gilbert, so I read a few chapters and then we napped until 6p. Not to say that Elizabeth Gilbert’s writing style puts me to sleep. On the contrary, her writing is witty and engaging, funny and entertaining – and really meaningful. She goes deep on the topic of marriage, which is a topic that is of utmost interest to me. So far, it is a [4 heart] rating.

If you have taken family photos or selfies around sunset, you know there is a window of time known as “the Golden Hour.” Suffice it to say that when we awoke from our slumber at 6pm, we quickly realized we were a few minutes into the Golden Hour. Did I mention the word plan? The next 15 minutes were as if we were recording our lives on quicktime. We ran around, getting dressed for Date Night, packing up the Cabela’s All-Terrain Wagon which is HIGHLY recommended for any and all trips, day or night, here or there, near or far. But I digress…unbelievably enough, we showered, dressed, packed the rest of what we needed, and made our way to the Beach by 6:30pm.