I have two children, one a pre-teen young man and the other an 11 month old toddler terror (j/k). My husband and I both work 10-11hrs a day and dedicate our free time to our kids and maintaining our household while keeping up with scheduled activities, and valuable one on one time. Finding time to spend with each other is becoming increasingly more and more difficult.
We usually make do with a date night at home. Once the kids are sleeping and everything is done and set for the next day, we try to find a show or a movie to watch, get some snacks and squeeze in an episode (or two, if we aren’t falling asleep during the first one). That’s usually what date night consists of.
And while we enjoy family time, we still need that quality time. Investing in your relationship and continuing to fuel the fire that brought you together in the first place is vital to ensure a happy partnership and in turn, a happy home. Thankfully, my husband’s father agreed to watch our kids this past Saturday and with our sitter situation secured, my husband went to work planning a fabulously romantic evening.
It’s a beautiful thing when your man lets you know to get cute and be ready by a certain time. It allowed me to do my hair, makeup, go through my wardrobe like a madwoman trying to find the perfect date night outfit. By 4pm, we were out the door.
Our destination? Philip Marie Restaurant in NYC, close to the Chelsea piers and Hudson River park. I can’t stress enough how gorgeous this location in the city was, tree lined streets, family friendly atmosphere and cute little shops lining the sidewalks. The walk to the restaurant from the train station really transports you to another side of NYC.
Once we got to the restaurant, we were seated at a table for two by the window, which allowed us to view the passerby. We enjoyed a beautiful view and a 3 course meal. My husband found a Groupon for this restaurant, it included a salad course, appetizer and steak dinner for two. As well as 2 complimentary glasses of wine with a choice of red or white. I choose a Pinot Noir, which is a lighter red and my husband had a Cabaret, which is a darker drier red.
We started off the evening with our crostini appetizers. We had four, 2 were coated with a creamy goat cheese and topped with a delicious mushroom saute and 2 were coated with cream cheese, smoked salmon and pico de gallo. The mushroom crostini was our favorite! So deliciously garlicky and with each bite you tasted the goat cheese and mushrooms.
We then had a delicious BLT salad, which was basically shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped pickles (surprisingly delicious) tossed in ranch dressing (which I did not gag at, I absolutely HATE ranch dressing but enjoyed it in this magical salad) and topped with crispy bacon (which you can crumble into your salad or eat whole). We both devoured that salad.
Finally, we were graced with a beautiful steak cooked to a perfect medium rare. The presentation was gorgeous with the perfectly sliced steak accompanied by a delicious horseradish and cranberry compote. It was served with whipped potatoes and seasonal veggies (asparagus and brussel sprouts).
We decided to end the evening with more wine and dessert. I had a delicious tres leches cake with fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream. My husband had a NY style cheesecake topped with fresh whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
After our romantic dinner, we decided to take a stroll towards Pier 45 and Hudson River Park (Which was only three blocks away). We were lucky enough to get there as the sun was setting which allowed us to experience a magnificent New York sunset (and also allowed us to take some amazing photos). We ended up walking the entire pier from Pier 45 to Pier 62 (30th street).
Not only was it a beautiful evening with my husband, but it allowed us to reconnect and remember that time together, no matter what you are doing, is one of the most important thing to maintaining a happy and healthy relationship. A happy family makes for a happy home and I can’t stress that enough.
If you are interested in purchasing the Groupon for Philip Marie, the link is below:
https://www.groupon.com/deals/philip-marie
Here are some of the gorgeous shots from our date night:
Delightfully & Deliciously Me 