How to Elevate Date Nights at Home

 

Content for 21+ Please enjoy responsibly. Date nights at-home are absolutely the move right now and, if you're here reading this, you're likely looking for ways to keep things interesting and fun. As a homebody, I'm all about making great memories within the comfort of my own space so this is right up my alley. As we spend more time at home, it's increasingly important to find interesting ways to connect, both from afar and with our partners at home. I've partnered with Drinkworks® Home Bar by Keurig® to talk about exactly how to take your next at-home date night to the next level, including specific date ideas, helpful hints, and the perfect cocktails. Let's get into the grown and sexy details.

Quick Tips for At-Home Date Nights

• Get dressed. Dating from home is still dating, which means putting effort into your appearance to show up for your partner. Depending on what you'll be doing, that could mean anything from a little black dress to those jeans.
• Set the tone. Block off this time in your calendars and silence your phones.
• Have fun. Date night should be something to look forward to and nothing breeds excitement like a new element. So, experiment and change things up! Below are specific scenarios to keep your date nights at home fresh.

Ideas for Date Nights at Home

Make a "cooking show" together. This is the perfect time to try a new recipe together. Depending on your personalities and experience levels, you can play chef and sous chef to cook one dish collaboratively or perhaps one person does dinner and the other does dessert. If you're a competitive couple, make it more interesting by picking each other's recipes then judging the dishes! Here are a few romantic recipe ideas for your menu.

• Dinner: Tomato Basil Chicken | Brown Butter Cod with Capers | Garlic Butter Shrimp & Scallops
• Dessert: Apple Crisps for Two | Red Wine Sorbet

Create your own happy hour. Get dressed up like you're meeting for drinks at a fancy bar. Once you arrive, "order" each other's drinks then make them together. This is a fun activity and so simple that it doesn't take any concentration away from your conversation. Put together an easy cheese board to enjoy with your Cocktails by Keurig. Cocktails make anything more of an occasion and I love that the Drinkworks Home Bar makes it easier than ever to try new ones at home in just minutes! Lastly, to create the perfect ambience for sipping and talking, put on a vibe-y playlist and light some candles.

Pamper each other. I've talked about how to set up an at-home spa day for your girls before but with bae, you'll want to take a different approach. Light candles and play soothing music (which could be zen instrumentals, soulful jazz, or whatever relaxes you two). Then take care of each other with face masks, scrubs, and more.

Have a swanky movie night. Pop popcorn, set up all your favorite cinema snacks on a tray, turn off all the lights (don't forget to silence your phones), and cuddle up under your coziest blanket with a classic film. Having a set film or lineup of films is a bit more mindful than a streaming binge. If you want to step it up even more, take it outdoors with a projector.

With each of these at-home date night options, you will want a delicious drink in hand, right? Well, if you know me, you know that I'm a whiskey girl. I love a good OldFashioned, made the right way. And my Drinkworks Home Bar makes it as simple as possible to make an OldFashioned. I just place the Old Fashioned pod into my Drinkmaker and grab the garnishes while the magic happens. Add a large ice cube, orange peel, and cocktail cherry--and that's it! Making two of these for date night takes under two minutes and each pod is filled with premium alcohol and real cocktail ingredients so the taste is spot on. These are real drinks, y'all.

I love connecting over cocktails after a long day but going out for happy hour every week certainly adds up. This Drinkworks Home Bar is already a great price but when you use my affiliate link, it becomes a deal. You'll save $50 off retail price of $299 and get free shipping! And you don't even need a promo code. It's simple and easy to do, simply purchase directly through my link and the discount will be automatically applied to your cart. I'm so excited that Drinkworks Home Bar just became available in my hometown, Houston, Texas. Check the website to see if it's available in your state.

As an experienced hostess, I can also tell you that drinks are usually the bottleneck of any big party. I usually do a DIY bar or big batch punch to keep from having to play bartender all night, but the Drinkworks Home Bar is now my entertaining hero. With more than 20 drinks available, I can serve all my people their favorite ice-cold spritzers, cocktails, ciders, and more in just seconds! I feel that it's especially helpful if you're new to hosting or getting set up in a new space because everyone can enjoy their favorite drinks without you needing to fully stock a bar with expensive mixers and such. And the Drinkworks Home Bar just looks so sleek and sexy. It effortlessly gives your home bar that grownup feel. I hope you've found some inspiration here to make your date nights at home more memorable. Thanks for reading!

This post is sponsored by Drinkworks Home Bar by Keurig. As always, all opinions are my own.Content for 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.