Last week was Aaron's week-long hiatus that he gets every spring and since I was way too pregnant to fly or, quite frankly, to even sit in a car for hours on end, we gladly spent the week enjoying our last days just the two of us here in LA. We have been married for almost four years, and up until now our date nights are usually planned last minute. One of us will say, "Hey, want to drive to Malibu for dinner and a little walk on the beach?" or "Why don't we do Pace tonight for dinner." With this little babe on the way, though, I have a feeling our on-a-whim date night mentality is about to have to get a lot more intentional. Enter HowAboutWe.
I've been checking out the HowAboutWe for Couples site since they launched in New York last January and was so thrilled when they arrived here in Los Angeles a few months ago. It's a whole site of carefully curated dates for two, so it's the first place I checked out when Aaron let me know when his hiatus would be. This cocktail lesson with a master mixologist sounds like so much fun, but I will have to save that one for a post-baby date along with this stand up paddle boarding lesson. Of course these VIP tickets to the CoolHaus anniversary party caught the eye of my insatiable sweet tooth, but in the end we ended up keeping it casual with this Taco Sampler date at Yuca's in Los Feliz, followed by a quick trip up the street to stroll around the Griffith Observatory at sunset. (I should note that every dinner ends with a post-meal stroll these days in hopes that it will coax this little one to come out into the real world!)
Growing up in Texas, I'm no stranger to mexican cuisine. In fact, when Aaron and I were dating the first meal I ever made for him was a slow-cooked beef brisket taco recipe out of Food & Wine magazine-- a recipe that's now framed and proudly displayed in our house! In a way, this little pre-baby date felt like our relationship had come full circle. Plus, I love the fact that our date forced us out of our usual go-to spots and into this eclectic little taco shack in one of our favorite neighborhoods.
Things are moving right along here in baby world and there is a very good chance we will meet her this week! Date nights will be put on the back burner for a couple of weeks as we will probably prefer baby snuggles to fancy restaurants. However, next time we do hit the town, I hope we are doing this... It's been way too long! 
If you’re looking a change of pace, click here to get $50 off your first HowAboutWe date! It’s free to join and look at dates, and membership gets you special pricing on their treasure chest of dates (they call it a “DateBook”), plus a free date every month. This taco date actually came free with our membership!
Any mamas out there with advice for date night after baby?
Photography by Aaron Pinkston
Julia Parker says
Y'all are the cutest! And thanks for the heads up on How About We!
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layla says
You could def. try some date nights bringing her with in the first month. Newborns sleep through anything! After a couple months they get to be more of a handful to try and tote along. At this point as soon as we sit down to eat, Kaia wants to get out of stroller and sit on our laps and play 😉 I also hate interrupting other peoples meals if she starts crying, so take out is our best bet on nights we don't feel like cooking. I agree about the date nights at home, although you will probably be so tired and just want to grab your pillow and catch a few minutes of sleep before she wants to eat again. I think going out now is so much more exciting! Since you don't get the freedom to go out whenever anymore and you have to plan, you look forward to it and enjoy the time together so much more!!
Jennifer Curran says
So happy for you and Aaron! You look so beautiful Jen. My advice for date night... Don't wait to long after baby girl arrives. Peter and I had our first date night one week after our baby girls arrived. We sure needed it with twins. We were gone only about an hour and a half but new they were in good hands. It was so exciting when we returned. Put your marriage first, always !!! Remember baby girl will leave the nest someday and it will be just the two of you. We made it a point to have date night ONCE A WEEK and it worked for us. We will be celebrating our 30th this year!!!
Jen Pinkston says
Love this advice! Congrats on your 30th anniversary! So exciting! Xoxo
Kay Schoening says
I love your outfit! You look like you two are really enjoying this time together!
Jen Pinkston says
We definitely enjoyed last week together!
Ashley says
I think it is fantastic you are enjoying some dates before baby arrives. In the beginning, we had dates at home, or took our guy with us! I wish someone had told me that I might not feel ready to leave baby and go on a date - I didn't want to and I felt guilty about it! Why couldn't I just be okay with leaving him with a trusted sitter so we could focus on our couple relationship too, right? Finally, I had a few chats with other mamas and decided it was best to have a little tagalong on our dates for a while or have after baby bedtime home dates 🙂 All that to say, after baby arrives take the time to honor your feelings, whatever they are! And congrats!
Jen Pinkston says
Thanks for that Ashley. I can totally see myself being reluctant to leave her for awhile. I have heard they are actually kind of dream in the very beginning to tote along since they sleep so much. We shall see 🙂
Shannon says
Our little one is 1 week TODAY! We plan to celebrate with sushi and a bit of champagne at home... our first attempt at 'date night'. I have to admit, I already can't wait for your post pregnancy outfit posts -- I was very unprepared for that part of the puzzle! Congrats again and go get 'em!
Jen Pinkston says
Congratulations, Shannon! I can't wait until our little one is one week! Sushi sounds amazing... and I am definitely counting down the days until my first margarita. I will keep you posted on the post-baby wardrobe. I have a style post going up in just two and half weeks so it will be very newly post-partum. Fingers crossed!
Chel says
Oh I am so happy for you guys and Jen you made pregnancy look so chic, however Hubby and I as of yet have children...but continue to have some couple time(even if it's putting her to bed and having a quiet evening by candlelight) sweet!
Jen Pinkston says
I love that idea! I have been reading about how important early bed times are when they are small, so it sounds like we will definitely have a couple of hours to ourselves most nights 🙂 Thanks, Chel!