@Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop - Date Night

I know, I know...I've been linking up A LOT lately. I promise, I have some posts that will be strictly my own, coming soon! :) But, I loved linking up with Gussy Sews last month for the Inspiration Workshop on *Shoes*, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to link up this month with the prompt...

~DATE NIGHT~

What is Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop?? Basically, it's a once a month link-up party, in which Maggie presents a prompt that is meant to inspire, connect and encourage creativity among the blogging community! Doesn't it sound awesome & fun...now you go link up too!!

So seeing as the hubby and I don't get to go on dates very often at the moment (hence the long-distance marriage we currently have going on...wait, did you hear?! It's coming to an end SOON!!!!), I thought I'd reflect on some of my favorite date night memories.

• I have a pretty good memory of our 1st Valentines Day together...ya know, the special one where he planned it all out and kept it a surprise from me. We were both living in southern IL at the time, so we were limited in terms of activities or places to go. We did a fairly typical dinner/movie type date...I've said it before on the blog, and I'll say it again...we are both MAJOR "movie buffs". Hence, our enormous collection...that has grown dramatically even since that post - now they fill up 2 leaning ladder bookshelves! So for us, going to the movies isn't just because we can't find anything else better to do - it's what we really enjoy! Anyway, he took me to this Italian restaurant that had just opened, we both ordered our own dishes...but you know, I have this thing where I always have to try what he has, I mean, I just want a taste! ;) And I proceeded to try his fettuccine, splattering it ALL over him! Bahahahaha, I was laughing so hard, and he still brings it up to this day! He won't let me live it down!!

• When we lived in Monterey, CA I suggested that we start a new tradition...where we each took turns planning a date night. So one Friday night he'd plan our date night activities...the next weekend, I'd plan it...and go on like that from week to week. It was SO much fun! I remember one of the dates I planned, was actually an all-day-long date. But it started with kayaking in the bay, which the hubby had been wanting to do ever since we moved there. It didn't end up with me in the ocean, my camera at the bottom of the ocean, and a wet purse/cell phone/etc., I promise!!! And don't ask me why I brought my purse with me...it was in the water-proof bag that they had provided me with. Unfortunately, at that precise moment (where my kayak decided to tip over), I had opened up the bag, pulled out my camera and was trying to take pics. Yeah, so after I calmed down (crying persisted because of losing my camera, and because, hello...it's scary falling into the HUGE ever-massive ocean)...we ended up really enjoying ourselves! :P Some of the dates I remember him planning involved hiking, sushi and going to local concerts. It was fun and exciting for each of us to anticipate the other's date night 'extravaganza' each week...I'd highly suggest something like that if you're wanting to try something new.

Another option, that many of you have probably seen on Pinterest is:

 Pinned HERE *Add me!!

A jar full of ideas, created by you & your significant other, that you can select out of, from time to time...can be anything from bed & breakfast, to go-cart racing, to a picnic in the park.
There are SO many ideas out there!

Various other dates we've had...

 Hiking Date

 Dinner Date - Sushi, of course! :)

Winery Date

Date @ a Blues Concert

Date Night in Omaha, NE (right before I moved to Charlotte)

So as you can see, we like to change it up and do different things on our various date nights. We always like trying new restaurants, so good food is important to us...and we do like to get dressed up from time to time, if we have the chance. Otherwise, we're okay going out in jeans and flip flops too.

Thanks for hosting this awesome Inspiration Workshop Maggie - I can't wait to check out others posts to get even more inspiration on date night ideas...seeing as pretty soon the hubby and I will be back together under the same roof and needing some new things to do in our new home of DC! :) 

@Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop - Shoes

Today...

Maggie @Gussy Sews has been traveling with Compassion International in Tanzania this past week, getting to experience the work that Compassion does and the direct effect that sponsorships have on the children living there. Not only has she been experiencing this amazing, and inspiring trip...but she and her other fellow bloggers have been blogging the entire time! Giving us at home a chance to "tag along" on some of their adventures, see some of the things that they're seeing, and feel what they're feeling along the way.

I was amazed though, because not only has Maggie been blogging about her trip, she also (1) updated her Gussy Sews store with new products, AND (2) posted a new Inspiration Workshop post! That took some dedication & major planning on her part. :)

This is my 1st time linking up with Maggie's Inspiration Workshop (a once a month link-up party, in which Maggie presents a prompt that is meant to inspire, connect and encourage creativity among the blogging community). This post's prompt is...SHOES!

And...go!

So my mind shot in a few different directions...I could use my handy-dandy Pinterest to showcase my favorite pairs of shoes out there (Lord knows, I pin so many)...I could take pictures of me wearing my favorite pairs of shoes that I own...I could talk about my TOMS ballet flats & April's One Day Without event  that I participated in (but I've already talked about it here and here)...and then I had it.

I wanted to talk about dance. Dance shoes to be exact!

These are all pairs of dance shoes that I used to wear when I was younger: soft pink ballet shoes, tap shoes, & (probably, my favorite) red-dyed toe shoes

I started taking dance classes back when I was 4 years old and didn't really stop until I was about 21. It was my LIFE! I lived and breathed dance 24/7 when I was young...I'm pretty sure my Mom had a hard time getting me to go out of the house wearing any other shoes than my dance shoes. I took classes throughout high school, while also dancing on the school's dance team. When I moved away for college, I danced with the college team for awhile and taught at a local studio...but school got in the way, life got in the way, and now it's something that I look back on with such great memories...it goes without saying that I desperately miss it! You can still occasionally find me dancing in the kitchen :), but that's about it. One thing's for sure...it will always be a part of who I am. 

I think I talked about this in my quilt post, but this past fall, my parents moved out of the house that my siblings and I grew up in. I had to go through all of my stuff that I still had stored there, leading me to find all of my old dance shoes...it was like 'taking a trip down memory lane' and I'm so thankful that I've held onto them all of these years.

I remember dying many pairs of toe shoes (red, blue, black), just so that they'd match my costume at the time. And I remember begging and begging my Mom for those tap shoes in the middle...they look like jazz shoes, but they have taps on the bottom. They were definitely the cool thing to have, back in the day!! :)

These shoes, whether kept in a closet or hung on a wall somewhere eventually, will always represent long hours of practicing my heart out, fun times had with so many good friends, and doing something that I love and that made me extremely happy <3

 I threw them on, just for kicks...please don't criticize my turnout, it has been awhile!

Thanks for hosting this awesome Inspiration Workshop Maggie! 

You got me to put on some old shoes that were just begging me to dance around in!! :P