Staycation 2018: Date Nights

Oh it's so hard to be back at work after having such a lovely staycation last week!

I have quite a bit of vacation time banked at work so I try to take off at least two full weeks a year (along with other random days throughout the year) in order to not lose time. Since we just went to Disney back in September and are trying to save money and be responsible adults we opted to just take a staycation! 

Tim's job is seasonal so he has a few months off each winter which is nice for both of us since when I can take time off he's already home and waiting for me! 

I thought I'd share a couple of date nights we had while I was off since we had a great time and they are definitely places to visit if you come to Rhode Island!

One of our date nights was at Dave and Busters. This is a bar and a huge arcade that is geared towards both adults and kids. Early on in our relationship (almost three years ago!) we went there and had a blast but were both still in the nervous stage so we probably spent more time worrying about embarrassing ourselves then we did actually playing the games. Tim actually commented on how it would be more fun this time because he didn't have to worry about me thinking he was a nerdy gamer.

We started with dinner which was pretty good. We ordered tater tots as an appetizer which ended up showing up at the same time as our dinner (a burger for Tim and mac and cheese for me) so the manager came over and apologized and offered us unlimited blue light games (games that don't give out tickets). We weren't even planning on complaining about this they just went above and beyond which was great! We also were given our appetizer for free which was an amazing added bonus.

After we finished eating we headed into the arcade to play a ton of games.

There are traditional games there such as skeeball, basketball, racing games, etc... There are also virtual reality games and casino-like games. I love playing the Deal or No Deal game even though I never win at it. We played a Walking Dead game which was fun and then a Jurassic Park game which was amazing! It was such a fun night roaming around the arcade and the best part is we spent only $25 on a game pass and had hours of fun! (The free blue light games definitely helped with that)

I still had the card with our tickets from the last time we went to Dave and Busters years ago so now we have a ton of tickets waiting to be spent in the gift shop. We decided to hold off getting any of the gimmicky items and will just keep saving for a bigger priced item in the future.

Our second date night took place in South Kingstown at a pizza restaurant.

We had heard great things about Pasquales and from the moment we walked in it did not disappoint! The restaurant had a great Italian feel and we chose to sit at the bar where we could watch the wood fire pizzas be cooked right in front of us. Above is the wood fire which cooked pizza in just a few minutes.

While Tim opted for the Arturo pizza I of course went for the Alla Vodka.

Tim ordered a Whaler's Rise which is a beer from a local brewery that we have visited a few times.

We enjoyed hanging out together and watching everyones food get cooked right in front of us. Soon it was time to eat!

I opted to have no prosciutto on my pasta since I'm not a huge meat person and prefer to just eat all the pasta I can. The vodka sauce was amazing and I would've been happy to eat it out of a jar with a spoon. I commented to Tim that I wanted a jar to take home and eat.

Tim couldn't say enough good things about his pizza. In fact, he asked if I would judge him for licking the plate. I didn't have any of it but I can tell you that it was a thin crust and looked delicious! He also said that he would never eat any other meal out again if we could go there once a week and eat a pizza.

If you are ever in RI definitely head down to South Kingstown for a great meal at Pasquales-it's totally worth it!

Life Lately: Quick Trip to Vermont

Just a little Life Lately update for you guys to brighten up your Monday morning!

Lately I've been working a ton of hours and am always super thankful when my little friend Emma comes to meet us Brittni and I for lunch. 

Having a sweet lunch date gives me so much to look forward to and helps me go into work every day #truth. Although I love having lunch with just Brittni too :)

On Friday night Tim and I headed into Target, we went in thinking about buying an air mattress for our weekend trip to Vermont but ended up passing on buying one since they are pretty expensive. We decided we would rather just drive home and sleep in our own bed anyways so we picked up a few more things for a gift, some Halloween decorations (because who can pass up decor?!) and then checked out some Halloween costumes...

Tim LOVES pizza, I mean loooooooooooves pizza. I think it would be an extremely difficult decision if he had to choose between anything else important to him and pizza. To prove my point I just asked him to choose between pizza and football and he told me that it is impossible. I asked him to choose between me and pizza and he said "nothing, I mean you, you!" Nice save buddy.

Anyways, we both thought this was hilarious and would be a PERFECT Halloween costume for Tim. We didn't purchase it but it's a definite contender.

Saturday morning started pretty early as we got up and got ready to head up to Vermont. We had Kate and Mike's baby shower to attend! They have chosen to not find out if it's a boy or girl so they have been calling him/her McBaby for the time being.

We played McBaby Bingo while they opened their gifts..

They were asked to write their answers on whiteboards and turn around at the same time. This question was "Mike hopes the baby is a..." Kate wrote "boy" and Mike wrote "live" as in alive. There were some interesting answers that caused us all to laugh and laugh. Especially when they revealed that when they found out they were pregnant Mike wouldn't stop pacing and Kate was sitting at the top of the stairs completely paralyzed. Sounds like appropriate reactions to me!

We had a great time eating the delicious food, particularly the pizzas Mike made. One of my favorite parts of the party was when we sat around the fire outside playing a game called salad bowl.

It was a game I'd never heard of before but it was so fun and I can't wait to play it again. 

Everyone writes down four words or phrases on to pieces of paper and places them in a bowl. Then you go around the circle pulling papers out and trying to describe what's on your paper while your team guesses what the paper says discarding the papers that they get right. There is a timer and when it goes off you pass the bowl to the next person and it keeps going until all the papers are completed. Then you do a second round where you have to act them out. Then a third round where you can only describe it with one word. It was a blast!

We left around 7:30 so we could head home since it was a four hour trip back! 

Sunday was spent mostly on the couch watching football which was a perfect relaxing day before heading back into the week. 

Have a great day everybody!