The Surprise Date

My husband does the best surprises. They come out of nowhere and they are always super thoughtful and unique. Yesterday, after I picked him up from work, we drove to an art studio called Creativity. If you are curious, here is their website. Inside, we each selected a piece of pottery and sat down at one of the pottery tables to paint them! Anyone who knows me well knows that I love doing anything artsy, especially painting. I love that Dalin thought of an activity for a date that he knew I specifically would appreciate. Doing so tells me that he truly cares about my talents and interests and wants to help me develop them. 

Creativity Art Studio...located behind the University Mall by the theater

I chose to paint a bowl and Dalin chose to paint a mug. I took my sweet time finishing mine because I really wanted it to come out well. I'm hoping it's something that I will love and want to keep forever. At this point, it's hard to know because pottery paint is very unique in that the colors are not as vibrant before they are fired and some don't look anything like how the end result looks. Still, I am very excited for the final product. I don't want to tell you what I painted just yet because I want to see the final outcome first (it takes about a week for them to get the pieces fired and ready to return to you). I wish I had taken a "before" picture because I thought it looked very pretty even with the paint colors being off from what they will eventually be. But since it was a surprise date, I didn't plan for anything! 

After leaving the studio, we were famished. The baby was kicking like mad, probably trying to give me a hint that I need to eat. We took an unintentionally scenic route to the Macaroni Grill at the Riverwoods which neither of us had been to before. Can I just tell you now, that place is great. They serve Italian food and it is way fancier than the name suggests. Seriously, I thought it was awesome inside--even the bathrooms were super nice! The food was also very flavorful. I got a pasta dish, Dalin got a chicken one, and we shared some delicious stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. They were incredible! We went there only because we had a giftcard but we are both very much set on going back again. It's a little bit on the costlier side, so I would save it for a special date if you are considering trying it. It is so worth it though and they have paper down on the tabletop so you can draw on it with crayons which they provide! Dalin and I wrote little notes to each other on the paper during dinner. Hopefully our waiter read them after we left and thought they were cute. ;)

Anyhow, it was a great day and I feel very blessed to have such a genuinely thoughtful husband who encourages me to pursue my talents. He's also really, really cute. And handsome. And I love him. If you are looking for a date night idea or for something to do with children, this place was so awesome. They place soft music and it was really peaceful and meditative in there. If I hadn't been starving, I would have wanted to stay way longer. Definitely check it out if you ever can! 

Also, I will post pictures* once we pick up our pottery in like a week. 

*Well, I'll post pics of Dalin's. I'll post mine if it doesn't stink. Ok maybe even then. 

Do you have a favorite surprise date (or any date) that was extra special to you? 

What was it and why was it special?