The Secret to the Perfect Night In

If there's one thing we've learned over the last eight years, it's how to properly spend a night at home, completely content and comfortable. It has little to do with who you’re with (although that certainly helps) and everything to do with creating the perfect atmoshphere.

We’re usually in for the night by 7p, either cooking something or ordering a pizza from the local pizzeria down the street. If we’re cooking, it’s usually pasta. Lately, we’ve been doing our best to eat healthier, so it’s been vegetables and some form of grilled chicken or fish. We love staying in putzing around the house, maybe picking up a little, maybe playing with the girls, maybe watching Netflix.

While the itinerary changes night to night, there’s a couple of things we do every night that we swear by to create that perfect cozy, no-place-I’d-rather-be-than-home feel:

Wine: A glass of wine (or two). We always go for a good red; either a cab or a pinot noir. Over the summer when it was almost too hot to drink anything but water, we started getting into whites, specifically chardonnay, but our go-to is always red. We’ve been obsessed with 7 Moons Red Blend lately. Have you tried it?

Music: Music is a necessity. We usually play some in the background while we’re cooking or just hanging around the house. Our favorite is Bossa Nova radio on Pandora. It instantly makes you feel like you’re in a Nancy Meyer’s movie, or some other romantic comedy where you live in a perfectly decorated NYC apartment that you could never actually afford. No matter how bad or good the day is, as soon as we turn on Bossa Nova, it’s instantly better.

Food: This doesn’t have to be anything special. It can be as simple as some grapes and cheese, or homemade guacamole and tortilla chips. Or, if you’re feeling something light and easy, try making popcorn. For as long as we can remember, we’ve been making our own popcorn and it tastes SO MUCH BETTER than the bagged kind. We like the white kernels of Jolly Time best. To make it, add one kernel to a pan/pot, pour just enough vegetable oil (or olive oil) in to cover the kernel. Make sure the heat is on high, and leave it uncovered until that kernel pops. Once it pops, you know it’s hot enough to pour in the desired amount of popcorn kernels. Then cover with a lid, but make sure a little bit of air gets out so the corn will pop. Once it’s finished popping, cover with sea salt and you’re good to go! It’s our favorite food to snack on while we’re at home and it’s not terrible for you, so there’s no feelings of guilt!

As long as you have those three things on hand, your night should be relaxing and cozy, and the perfect end to the day. What about you? What other things do you do to have a nice evening at home? We’re always looking for tips!

Do You and Your Partner Share Clothes?

Something keeps happening to us every time we leave the house...

We'll be getting ready to head out the door and we'll look down and realize: we're dressed the exact same. And if not the exact same, then pretty darn close. How do we not even realize it when we're getting ready? After being together for so long, you would think we would be better at this by now.

But maybe that's just it. Maybe we've been together for so long that we've become that cliche couple who starts dressing alike! It usually happens when we're in gym clothes, and it's usually a grey shirt and navy blue shorts. Apparently we've accumulated an embarrassing amount of those two colors over the years, so it's bound to happen from time to time, right? Sometimes we catch it before we leave the house and one of us will change, sometimes we don't catch it until we're already out, and sometimes we just don't care enough to do anything about it. We embrace it and live our truth (AKA we're too lazy to change).

We're fortunate enough to be the same size in pretty much all of the clothes we wear, so we share most everything. When we first got together, our styles were somewhat different, but over the years they've sort of blended into a hybrid to where we both feel comfortable wearing one another's clothes. Still, we do have different styles when it comes to some aspects of our wardrobe: Thomas prefers baggier, oversized shirts, while PJ likes his to be a little more snug. 

What about you? Do you and your significant other find yourselves dressing alike from time to time and/or sharing clothes? How do you feel about it? Would love to know...

Day 13: Hardworking Husbands

Hi, Thomas here today.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate all of the hardworking husbands out there. The ones who never give up, never stop doing their best, and never stop working as hard as they can. I have a husband like that and I'm proud of him. 

I came home yesterday to a loud and obnoxious noise coming from outside. I go out on the back deck and find PJ tilling up the dirt in our side yard. Enclosed by the fence he built earlier this year. Do you see where I’m going with this? How. Does. He. Do. It. Sometimes I get tired just looking at him. 

When PJ gets an idea in his mind, he wants to start it immediately, and doesn't stop until it's finished. When people ask me what I love most about PJ, I always say it's how hard he works and how much effort he puts into things. I look up to him so much in that respect and find myself, in certain situations, asking "what would PJ do in this instance?" I know it's cheesy, but I'm a cheesy person and way too sentimental, and I like talking about my husband (if you haven't noticed) so here we are. How did I get so lucky? 

He's always working on something. Always. If he's not, he feels like he should be. It's just how he is. Today I am feeling thankful for a husband who works hard to make this house a home. He's not perfect, and we disagree/argue just like the next couple, but to me, he is perfect. With all his flaws and quirks, I feel confident I married the perfect man for me. Someone who inspires me to work harder and be the best version of myself everyday.

PJ McKay, what would I do without you?

-T