It’s funny because during high school and college years, we were trying to squeeze every minute we could out of the time we had to see each other, even for mere seconds. In between classes, on weekends, during Christmas and spring breaks. And the moments we went without seeing each other, we were constantly scrambling to get home on AIM (God, remember instant messenger days?), google chat, whatever, just to talk to each other. And then when we got cell phones, we were constantly texting til we ran out of texts for the month.

Now that we’re married, we see each other every day and yet still don’t see each other every day. What I mean is we work opposite schedules. By the time he gets home from work, I’m gone and getting ready to start my shift. And when I get home, we’re getting ready for bed to lather, rinse and repeat the next day. We see each other in the minutes in between but we really don’t have time with each other. It’s not to say we take being able to fall asleep and wake up with each other for granted - which is funny, because I remember in high school, this is what we talked about that we wanted in the future; simply being able to fall asleep and wake up with each other instead of saying goodbye through AIM message and racing to be the first to log on and say good morning, lol, how lame of us - but that we don’t meaningful enough time to actually spend with each other. We don’t share the same days off together; in fact we only align days off together twice a month nowadays.

But with quarantine pandemic times and reduced traveling comes with it increased PTO. And since we have to “use it or lose it,” I figured I’d start using it more often this summer to spend more time with the boy. Last week, was the start of our summer days off together.

We didn’t do anything crazy, we just went on local dates trying some new restaurants and visited some old venues but still had a great time. It reminded me of how much I used to love doing stupid, mindless stuff like this when we were younger. Just discovering new things and places or even just a quick trip to the mall. It’s the little things he does that I really love. Like holding my bag for me, just holding hands, reaching for me when he’s driving, running to me and lifting me up to the sky and kissing me. Taking me to all the places I want to explore. It reminds me of the summer of Pokemon Go when I wanted to go to every hotspot to catch Pokemon in hopes of finding a Pikachu or a Charizard. And he would. He would huff and puff sometimes but eventually, he’d do everything I wanted to do on my list. I really miss this. I miss it being just the two of us doing stupid stuff together. So I took off even more time later this summer to spend with the hubby. And I’m hoping I can continue it in the fall.

There’s something about it that I really can’t explain. There’s a magic that happens when you spend time with your other. Quality time. Fun time. Even if it’s doing nothing crazy or spectacular. I need to make more time for it because it is definitely important. It’s crucial. It’s necessary and it’s healthy.

Make time for your other. Make the time for you.

List of the places we visited in case you’re interested for your own date nights:

1. Lavender by the Bay

   • If you’re interested in visiting, hurry. The bloom is lasting up til July 22 at this time. There are two locations but I recommend the East Marion one even though it’s a farther drive. You won’t be disappointed, that is, unless you wait too long and miss the bloom.

2. Pindar Vineyards

   • They currently have a big field of sunflowers in bloom and costs nothing to visit and view. And if wineries are your thing, that's available too. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't attest to this since I've never tried their wine experience here but on weekends I always see big parties here with live music having a great time. They have a giant chair to take cute pics in as well as the vineyards you can walk through. I believe the sunflowers are available too to be cut at $2 a stem and they provide shears inside the building.

3. The Big Duck

   • A quick stop alongside the road on the way to Lavender by the Bay with very limited parking hence the “quick” stop part. Plus there’s not really much to do other than take a quick pic with the duck, shop for souvenirs inside the teeny tiny shop inside, and sit at the picnic tables behind it if you need an area to just chill and eat your lunch for a minute. It’s just a cute quick stop for the gram.

4. Montauk Lighthouse

   • Lavender marks the North side of the Long Island fishtail, while Montauk marks the Southern tip of the fishtail. It’s funny how I traveled to both ends on these dates. I didn’t do it purposely, it just ended up that way when we decided to venture out on separate days as we made our plans up the day of. Parking is $8, while access to the lighthouse is an additional ticket. But walking around the beach area is not so that’s what we did. You used to be able to climb the rocks surrounding the lighthouse but currently the area is fenced up and closed due to construction. It IS a long drive out to here and traffic is insane because one lane road and well, it’s the Hamptons, so be forewarned if you choose to head out this way. There’s a lot of cute shops along the way on the Main streets you pass through though so if you have time, park and take a walk around them.

5. Central Park

   • You’ll never explore all of Central Park in a day. But that’s what’s so great about it. There’s always a new area to explore and uncover. There’s running trails, walking paths, meadows, ponds, lakes, a boathouse with rental boats, a zoo, a small castle, gardens, fountains, beautiful bridges, everything. There are beautiful views to be seen from every angle and perspective. It’s also nearby two of my favorite museums. The Met on the East side and the Museum of Natural History on the West side. Just go explore!

Restaurants/Ice Cream Stops

1. Lunch

   • The hot lobster roll comes with the lobster and bread separate so you can put it together yourself with the cole slaw in a separate cup. Everything comes hot and fresh. It’s a cute little spot on the way to and from Montauk. Our waiter was cute and friendly.

2. Jerry & The Mermaid

   • I’m clearly still on a journey to try every lobster roll on Long Island, and this one was pretty decent. I’d recommend the straight cut fries over the waffle fries. I find them more plentiful portion wise, as well as perfectly crispy. It’s also next to a pier, which is nice to walk alongside after you finish your meal. Also next to an aquarium if you’re looking for more things to do.

3. Puglia

   • Second time here and the portions and prices are great. Dinner comes with entertainment if that’s your sort of thing, but be foreworned, they come begging table to table afterwards and if you don’t have cash to tip, they peddle their venmo, lol. Not that I didn’t want to tip but it felt very awkward as you were trying to finish your dinner. It felt like when you’re at church and they come around collecting money towards the end of the service, except pushier.

4. Olive Branch

   • A cute little spot in Greenport with the most adorable outdoor seating covered in umbrellas above you to help shade you from the sun. It reminds me of the cute little spots I see in people’s international travels. Oh how I miss traveling. Anyways, the food was fresh and the chef came out to check on us which I thought was nice.

5. Snowflake

   • Famous ice cream spot in Riverhead with tons of flavors. This was my second time stopping here.

6. Magic Fountain

   • Cute little ice cream shop on the North Fork with cute ice cream murals. I had the Summer Sunset which was mango with a strawberry ribbon and it was absolutely amazing. Would love to come back and get a quart of this if I could keep it cold long enough to get home.

7. Taiyaki NYC

   • They’re currently doing a collaboration with Rilakkuma and it’s the freaking cutest thing. Totally grammable and the mango strawberry swirl is delicious. Currently that flavor is found at the NYC location only, not the Queens location.

I can’t wait to explore some more new places the next time we have off together soon for date days. ^_^