D is for Dressed on a Dollar and Date Night!

Today's ABC Style Challenge letter of the day is D for Dressed on a Dollar. Basically, the goal is to put together an inexpensive, stylish outfit. My interpretation of this challenge was to put together an outfit consisting of either items I bought on super sale or bought full-price, but cost me less than $20. This is what I came up with:

Target Sweater (bought on sale a long time ago)/ Madewell Shirt/ J.Crew Skirt/ Target Tights/ DSW Shoes/ Watch and Bracelet Gifted/ Necklaces from J.Crew and Ann Taylor

Also, conveniently for me, the letter D also stands for Date Night. Jesse and I have made a point of having date nights at least once a week. I know once a week may not seem like a difficult goal to meet, but work schedules get nutty, unexpected things come up, and other things, like errands, exercising, and my list of 2012 resolutions can make fitting in just one date tough some weeks. Despite the logistical challenges, date nights are super important whether they are with significant others, friends, or just some quality time alone.

Jesse and I started up our regular date nights when we were in the midst of wedding planning. We kept getting caught up in the list of things we needed to do for the wedding, work, and other stuff, and began taking our relationship for granted and losing sight of what should have been most important to us. So, to get back on track we implemented date night Thursdays. Every Thursday we would go on a date. Our dates consisted of everything from dinner at a nice restaurant and a movie or working out together, to ordering pizza at home, but regardless of where we went or what we were doing, it helped us focus all of our attention on the other person and begin enjoying the fun part of our relationship all over again.

Since then, our schedules have changed, but we still manage to fit in a date night every week and luckily enough, our date night this week falls on our regularly scheduled date night Thursdays.

Date nights don't have to equal expensive. There are plenty of things to do on a budget. They also don't have equate to going out. I have lots of friends with young kids who have date nights at home.  Finally, date nights aren't just for couples. I regularly schedule "dates" with my girlfriends and I also try to make sure I have some time to myself each week also to keep everything balanced.

Hope you all have a chance to enjoy a date night sometime soon. I'm off to enjoy my date night dressed on a dollar!