We are all wondering about these whimsical summer evenings – 72 degrees some eves’, 62 others.  Does it make it hard to plana little couple-only time away? Not at all! You always deserve a date night, a relationship boost, a refreshing night of something different, unexpected or nostalgic…

While it may not always be warm enough for a hazy dreamy twilight walk and kiss, (at least this summer!) there are some lovely alternatives.  The UofM Showboat Theatre review is raving “a cut above”  for both the production and the acting talents of   ’The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’. What could be more novel than a theatre production on a floating showboat?!  It’s got date potential and will be playing all summer! Check out the other river cruises for their possibilities!

How about a bit of nostalgia?  Try Mini Golf!   The Adventure Gardens Mini Golf has 18 holes of miniature golf surrounded by attractive gardens, landscaping, waterfalls, ponds and streams.  It is located on the west edge of Veteran’s Memorial Park on 64th and Portland.

Perhaps some music outdoors at twilight will beguile you both into a summertime frame of mind?  The Music in the Zoo has tickets for many different July and August events. There is a little something for every musical taste – try the Monkey’s (for anyone who grew up in the 70′s!) to Los Lobos, or BoyzIIMen or HippieFest 2011, or Gaellic Storm! You can’t miss, it’s a guaranteed date night winner!

And if you are looking for a truly unique date, then go no further than Out Of The Box Dates.  You simply must try “Somethin’s Cooking” or “Let the Games Begin!” Check out all our dates, games, love notes or conversation cards. And then write us with your exceptional date experiences – we’d love to hear!

Dates made for Walking!

There is nothing better for relationships than walking.  You walk, you talk, your natural seratonin production puts you both in a great mood. Walking and talking is for connecting, communicating, and cultivating a great relationship. And we’ve got some great places…..

Need some fresh ideas for where to walk? You probably know some spots near you, but maybe you should try another part of town! Check out these ideas:

What could be a better romantic view than the Mississippi River Gorge and Stone Arch Bridge? Try Father Hennepin Park - 8 acres with footpaths, picnic tables and even the occasional wedding!

 Try this one in St. Paul – 160 acres located in the SW corner of Shepherd Road and 35E – Crosby Farm Park.  With about 6.7 miles of paved trails, the park provides a beautiful setting for an afternoon’s walk, run, or ride. Trails run along shady, wooded bottomlands next to the Mississippi River, along the marshes of Crosby Lake, past scenic picnic areas, and connects to the Mississippi River Boulevard parkway.

Or try the Anoka County Riverfront Park along the east side of the Mississippi River.  An excellent bicycle/walking trail connects this park to additional trails north of the park, and south to the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway trails. Two bridges in the area span the river allowing for a pleasant loop along the Mississippi River.

In South Minneapolis, you could try Roberts Bird Sanctuary.   During April and May Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary is a great location to observe spring migratory birds, especially warblers. The main entrance to the sanctuary is at the new visitors shelter that is adjacent to the Lyndale Park Gardens parking lot near the Peace Garden.  The bird sanctuary is located on Roseway Road, 1 block east of Lake Harriet Parkway.

Perhaps get a little history while you walk, at  The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, located along the north shore of the Mississippi River east of downtown Saint Paul (near corner of Commercial Street and 4th Street E.).   It was a significant site for Native Americans; Wakan Tipi (Spirit House), a cave, is located in the sandstone bluff that rims the north edge of the park.  There are walking and biking trails, and nice views of the Saint Paul skyline upriver.

The newest addition to the Minneapolis Riverfront District is a piece of land that has never before been walked by the general public.  You can experience the power of the mighty Mississippi River as it flows over St. Anthony Falls. You feel the power of the river, the spray from the falls as you stand on one of the three overlooks with the skyline of downtown Minneapolis in the back round in Water Power Park.

Overlooking St. Anthony Falls located on the upper portion of Father Hennepin Island on the Mississippi River, Water Power Park is accessible from Main Street just across from St. Anthony Main. Park in the St. Anthony Falls Ramp and take the connecting tunnel to Main St. and you will find yourself just across the street from Water Power Park.

  The possiblities are almost endless! You could turn these into summer walks as well, and and your relationship will soar!  Write comments and tell us if you try these parks or have others to tell us about!

Halloween Date Night

Need a fresh idea for date planning around Halloween?  Read on for great ideas around town!

How about the BareBones Theatre,  Friday October 29 to 31st based on Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes!  It is outdoor puppetry and performance art at it’s best. Held at the Hidden Falls Regional Park, just south of Ford Parkway and Mississippi River Blvd in St. Paul, this show features  pyrotechnics, puppetry, stilt walkers, aerial feats, and live orchestral music.  This is set up to be a stellar spooky date night!

All show times are 7pm and tickets are not required for admission (cheap date night!).  A free-will offering of $5 to $20 is suggested to support BareBones Productions and their future endeavors.

If you feel like bringing out your creative side, then create the best couple-combo-halloween-costume you can think of! Strut your duo-stuff at Red Carpet to Hell II at the Living Room and Prohibition  in the fabulous W Hotel, located inside the Foshy Tower, downtown Minneapolis. The event on Saturday October 30th kicks off at 9pm and you can party till closing time at 2am.

Stop by the Living room, have a cocktail and mingle with other vampires, ghouls and beasties. Then head up to Prohibition on the Foshay’s 27th floor for the Dead Celebrity Lounge. Stick around for a chance at some prizes, as thousands of dollars worth will be given away.

Dress up in your most creative or scary (but appropriate) getup for the costume contest for a chance at your piece of the prize pie. You have to be present to win, so if people are coming and going, your chances of winning may be pretty good.

This event is for 21+ and there is no cover. The Living Room is located at 821 Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, in the Foshay Tower.

Spooky date night is a great chance to be in each others arms! How is that for couples therapy? Enjoy these A+ Romantic ideas!

Perhaps it feels a little early for such crisp air, but it’s a chance to embrace the Fall with a romantic road trip.  Consider a fun fresh day-date with a search for tart apples and the beginning blending of fall colors!

Bite into Fall with an apple/leaf road trip!  If you haven’t headed SW of the Twin Cities in a while, take a spontaneous road trip down 169 south. Once  you pass the town of Jordan, just a little further on your right, you will find an amazing sunshine yellow building with multiple signs about apples, candy, and baked goods.

 They even promise 64 kinds of rootbeer and some 70+ kinds of licorice!  Pull in, and you will find 10-15 varieties of apples, which you can sample before you choose your favorite. You’ll find yummy extras from a huge variety of salsa’s to an amazing array of smoked bacon and jerky.  They always have fresh pies, strudel, and a whole room filled with candy, from old fashioned kinds you haven’t seen in years (Turkish Taffy anyone?) to European candies, to current favorites.  It’s a dream day-date guaranteed to make you giddy!

While you are in Jordan, hit a few antique stores - there are 4– one of them in an old brewery.  And maybe try the local meat market, still family owned and famous for it’s ring bologna.

Or maybe you’d like to pick your own apples?

It’s the original date!

Find your closest apple orchard by visiting Minnesota Grown‘s website. They have 108 different apple orchards to choose from!  They also have directories for Fall raspberries, pumpkins, winery’s, and farmer’s markets. Lots of possibilites for Minnesota-grown dates!

So get in the spirit (before leaf-raking time hits!) and make your own unusual date of apple picking, apple tasting and some antiques. Think of it as Couples Fall Therapy!

Don’t just let weekends fall to cleaning the garage and watching football. Spark your marriage with a weekend A+ Romantic idea!  Enrich your marriage mindfully with our Twin Cities destinations for romance and fun. What could be more romantic than heading back in time?

Take a stroll through the Renaissance Festival!  Open weeknds through Oct 1, you can spend the day or a few hours renewing your relationship. Try on a new role with each other, think “a simpler time” and join the fun at the Ale Festival this weekend!

The Royal Ale Festival will include Byggvir’s Big Beer Cup’s National Homebrew Competition, free beer tastings from Shell’s, a home brew demonstration, and much more. Byggvir’s Big Beer Cup features more than 250 beers from across the nation.

The festival is located on Hwy 169, three miles south of Shakopee.  Price of admission is $19.95 for adults.  Discount tickets are available at participating Super America and Walgreens stores.  Parking is free. 

Not in the mood for time travel? Then take your love to enjoy the end of summer at the last outdoor music festival!

The Concrete and Grass Music Festival, besides being one of the last festivals of the season, is certainly one of the most eclectic. This free outdoor event held at Mears Park, downtown Saint Paul is a unique partnership of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Ordway Center, Schubert Club and the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

On Friday the 10th and Saturday the 11th, the Concrete and Grass Festival takes to the outdoors with two stages in Mears Park. Friday night, the Main Stage gets things started with The Minnesota Opera at 5pm. Irv Williams takes the stage at 6:30, followed by the hip hop and soul stylings of Dessa at 8:30. Meanwhile on the Acoustic Stage, you can catch an acoustic set from Desdamona at 6pm, then Molly Maher at 7:30.

Saturday kicks off at noon on the Main Stage with Salsa del Sol followed by Schubert at 1:30, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at 4pm. The evening features two established local rock acts. Communist Daughter hits the stage at 6:30, then at 8:30, catch the Suicide Commandos.

The Acoustic Stage includes performances by Eve & the Apple, Tanner Taylor, Moses Oakland, and Young Relics. You can read bios for all performers online if you’re curious. For a full schedule of performances and set times, visit the schedule page.

So make it a Romance Weekend with these fresh date ideas. Improve your relationship with the unexpected. And enjoy the weekend TOGETHER! 

Summer’s Date Night!

Every summer night can be your Summer Date Night when you start looking around at the possibilities!  Dancing under the stars?  Perhaps some live music? What better way to replenish your relationship than checking out the ready-made date nights in the Twin Cities!

Thursday evenings through August 12th, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and several partners team up to turn Landmark Center Plaza into a venue for dance.

This Thursday, July 29th is Rock ‘n’ Roll night. The evening kicks off at 6pm with instruction by Arthur Murray Dance Studio, followed by live music  from the Rockin’ Holywoods from 7:30 until 10, giving you some time to practice what you learn and dance the night away.

Beer and wine is available for purchase starting at 5:30, so you can come early and mingle with other couples before class is in session.

August 5th, the schedule remains the same for Ballroom Dance night. Cinema Ballroom will provide instruction and live music is by the Jerry O’Hagan Orchestra.

But if dancing isn’t the way to your collective heart, you and your date could check out some upcoming free movies and music. Loring Park has some A+ Date Night opportunities!

 Tuesday nights starting August 3rd and wrapping up August 24th, the live music starts at 7pm followed by the movie screenings at dusk. Then you can head over to Nick and Eddie for more live music at the afterparty.

The series kicks off August 3rd with a live set from local heroes Communist Daughter followed by a showing of Raising Arizona, written, produced and directed by St. Louis Park natives Joel and Ethan Coen. Then at the afterparty, catch local electro pop outfit Estate.

What could be better than a ready-made fresh date night with no planning required!  So if you need something more spontaneous, on a date night of your choice, visit our website.  And enjoy a summer of unique romantic adventures!

Romance Always!

We went on a little journey in search of romance….and have 7 fresh unusual tidbits to entice you!  Join our tour of insights for always finding Romance.

Start a Joint Diary

 When it’s hard to communicate face-to-face, try writing in a book. Purchase a beautiful notebook or diary, and record your thoughts from the day as a message to your partner. Have your partner do the same.  Even though you can’t be physically together, you will feel a sense of unity by creating this one-of-a-kind record of correspondence. Then, when your schedules slow down and you have more time with your partner, you’ll have a special keepsake to re-read years later and cherish.

Read more at Suite101: Keeping Romance Alive: Strengthen Your Relationship Even When Schedules Keep You Apart http://dating-advice.suite101.com/article.cfm/keeping_romance_alive#ixzz0t9ZddXAo

Keep Him in the Dark
For the ultimate lights-out love nudge, fake a power outage. “Unplug the phone, computer, and TV, then turn off all the lights,” instructs Godek. “With nothing else to distract you, you have no choice but to break out the candles and cling to each other as you tell scary ghost stories…or just plain cling to each other.”

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/tips-moves/285737-3

Share a Book

Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love (Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, December 2009) is a fun read about dating, romance, love and marriage, guaranteed to inspire a renewed search for that special someone, or open your heart a little more to the one you already love.

Read fascinating stories about how couples met, when “they knew,” incredible good and bad dates, imaginative proposals, wedding day adventures, second chances, the ones that got away, and all the other ups and downs that come hand-in-hand with true love, including great examples of how to keep relationships strong.

http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Heartwarming-Humorous/dp/1935096435

Touch

Plato once said “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”  In any relationship touch is as essential as sunlight. A child who walks into this knows his mother by her touch and can recognizes her mother among thousands just with one touch. Touch is a powerful tool in romance. Hold her hand as you shop or walk down to the mall. Hug her when she brings you your bed tea. Kiss him Goodnight. Just snuggle and cuddle on the couch watching TV. Don’t limit the touch to the bedroom; bring it out– of course not outrageously but in a subtle romance reminiscent of your early days of marriage when you couldn’t get your hand off her/him.

http://hubpages.com/hub/HOW-TO-KEEP-ROMANCE–ALIVE-AFTER-MARRIAGE

Flowers

…Make a point to give your wife flowers once a month — on random days. The flowers, from hubby and children, thank Mom for being a great wife and mother.

http://sexsmart.com/article_bringing-back-the-romance.htm

Make a List

Determine what it is that makes you feel attracted to someone. What attracted you to your partner in the first place? What are the things that you find attractive that you would like to see in your spouse? What gets your attention?

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage/daily_living/keeping_romance_alive.aspx

Date Night

Well, no matter how many articles you look for regarding romance, you will find advice to go out on a date night. Look no further! Out of the Box Dates give you variety, simplicity, plan-free freedom!

There is a guy in New York who decided to outfit his car with a sleeping space, and then hit the road to achieve 100 random acts of kindness for strangers.  We applaud his values, his goal setting, and his sense of fun!   And then we had another idea. What about 100 random acts of kindness for your spouse? 

If helping strangers makes the world a better place, what about helping those closest to you, whom we all admit, are sometimes the people we show our worst side?  And what if you incorporate some fun around the Twin Cities  in your random acts? Intrigued?

When Tyler Kellogg, a chronic do-gooder, drove 1600 miles, he found plenty of possibilites for random acts of kindness, according to Readers Digest.  What Tyler realized after achieving 115 acts of kindness in 55 days, is that you don’t have to be a philanthropist to do good. You just have to ask people “how can I help?”

Maybe we can start a trend right at home. Suprise your spouse with “How can I help?  You have to admit -it could be an interesting conversation!  And it doesn’t hurt to have some fun while you try this new effort.  How about a Twin Cities destination? For example, you could suggest a date night to the Twin Cities Improv Festival now through Sunday at the “Brave New Workshop.  For only $12 a ticket, the two of you could look at life completely differently!  It might give you some ideas for your own improv version of “How can I help you?”

Suprise him/her with a summertime fun Waterfall Windchime.  Sit outside at sunset, listening to the chimes, and ask “is there soemthing that I could do that would make you happy right now?”  Call it a zen couple-moment for relationship renewal!

 Walking alongside each other might also offer an opportunity to simply ask, ”lets go out tonight–where would you like to go? ” If you are both stumped for a fresh date idea, and enjoying the summertime outdoors when you can, then try Steven’s Square Park on June 30.

They are offering a free movie showing of  “Dr. Strangelove.” And as a bonus, while you are waiting for it to get dark, there will also be live music performances by Phantom Tails and Rogue Citizen, and free mini cupcakes from Whole Foods. Also, bring a dish to share for the community potluck. They are actually offering movies every Wednesday night…check out Cinema and Civics.

See? it’s easy to find random ways to be kind, and have fun doing it together!  Send us your stories of random acts of kindness for each other — and things to do in Minnesota!  We’d love to hear!

Is it all the recent rain – or is it your relationship that needs some sunshine?

Sometimes, rain or shine, you just need to get out on a date! Maybe it is time to do something different.  There are lots of fun activities in the summer in the Twin Cities.  You can do some web searches, talk to friends, or just log on here and look for some fresh date ideas…this week with an emphasis on MUSIC!

Coming soon….

Check out the Twin Cities Jazz Festival June 17 -19 at Mears Park in St. Paul

You could enjoy a relaxing date with a sit and stroll while listening to fabulous music.  Friday afternoon, the music starts at 4 p.m. on the Main Stage with Story City. There will be an additional stage, the Sixth Street Stage, with more live music on Friday night as well, featuring Pete Whitman’s X-tet and Aakash Mittal. The Main Stage headliner for the evening is Joe Lovano with Us Five starting at 8:30. 

Mears Park

Saturday the 19th includes a concert at noon on the Main Stage. Highlights for Saturday include such giants as saxophonist Bobby Watson at 4 p.m., John Ellis & Double-Wide at 6, then the main attraction at 8:30 featuring guitar virtuoso John Scofield.

Also on Saturday, a third stage is added, presented by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education. This stage features the BFGS Quartet, and a number of student jazz groups from the area.

Or flip the memorable possibilities and try a new style together – Country!

Check out Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar & Grill for a little country fun! The vibrant atmosphere would shake off the cloudiest blues. The website shows their upcoming event, including Accoustic guitar with Tim Siegler on June 21^st!  You’ll find it in the newly reborn “West End” of St. Louis Park – if you haven’t been recently you’ll find the area looking quite different! 

For those die hard rock fans who like their relationship renewal in a comfort zone, a good date night can be found between First Avenue and Hard Rock Café downtown Minneapolis .  Check out the live music on June 18^th with Big City.

Revist First  Avenue if it has been awhile. It’s been the Twin Cities Danceteria since 1970!

Check out Delta Spirit, Lookbook, or Fujun on Friday; or  the JayHawks, Haunted House, or HollyGoLightly and the BrokeOff’s on Saturday.  Or visit their full June Calendar to find your perfect date! 

Can’t you just feel the fresh sunshine of new experiences creating a new Date Night like you’ve never had before?  Of course – you also need to remember that you can find your own unique Romantic Adventure with Out of The Box Dates.  That makes for an exciting and fun date night any time – with no waiting lines!  Enjoy!