It’s almost Christmas! Which means as soon as you’re finished opening presents, eating an obscene amount of food & relaxing, you’ll be ready to go out on the town! Here are some $20 (er…most of these are more than $20) Date ideas for you:

*Check out this WOSU podcast for ideas!

*First Night Columbus on NYE looks awesome! And cheap! And downtown!

*Our very own Columbus Blue Jackets are playing the Washington Capitals!

*Most Columbus area restaurants and bars will have a special deal going on– just make sure to call ahead for reservations or call ahead seating. Check out Dine Originals website for ideas of new local places to try!

*Ekoostik Hookah is playing at Newport Music Hall.

**Rob & I will be in NYC with family & at midnight, per tradition, we will go outside and bang pots & pans, along with the entire neighborhood. And even though we’re in NYC, we wouldn’t dare brave the Times Square crowd! Then on New Year’s Day, we start the year off right by joining the Polar Bear Club & jumping into the Atlantic Ocean.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

PocketBook Jess

Idea of the Week: Make a Gingerbread House!

Rob & I attempted this date recently with our good, dear friends (also recently married–congrats!) Steve & Kenzie! You can buy a Gingerbread House kit at most local grocery stores along with the bottle of wine or the 6-pack of beer you might want, to complete this stay-at-home date night.

Here are step by step directions:

1. Step One: Empty contents of kit and lay it out on table.

2. Step Two: After mixing icing, attach walls & roof with icing to make a stable home for the gingerbread family.

3. Step Three: Eat some of the icing. You know, for quality control.

4. Step Four: Start placing candy onto icing. Decorate to your heart’s desire!

5. Step Five: Support all sides to the roof with adequate icing and 90 degree angles. From the get-go. OR…yours might end up like this:

6. Step Six: Finish bottle of wine & either: eat the destroyed gingerbread house -OR- enjoy your beautifully created gingerbread house & put it on display!

Thank you Kenzie & Steve for thinking of this awesome Double-Stay-At-Home $20 Date!

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

*If you’re reading this & it’s still Wednesday, go to the Columbus Zoo Wildlights for 1/2 off admission! You can also go next Wednesday & the Wednesday after that;) Make sure to bring your ID to show that you’re a Franklin County resident!

*Saturday 12/17*

–> [10a-1p] – Winter Indoor Farmers Market @ 777 N. High Street in the Griswold Center in Downtown Worthington.

–> [7p-?] – Columbus Creative Co-op just put out another book, “Across Town, Stories of Columbus” Come to Kafe Kerouac this weekend for a reading AND to buy the book! PocketBook Jess loves the CCC & supports local authors – so should you!

–> [6p-2a] – SantaCon Bar Crawl in the Arena District. aka dress up like Santa & drink! With other Santas! Many bars are offering specials for this night as well:) Check out the above link for schedule of bars, etc.

*Friday, Saturday & Sunday*

Columbus Commons Holiday Fair! {food carts, Santa, choirs, carousel rides & more!} Definitely worth checking out! Check out their schedule/website here.
–> Friday [4p-9p]
–> Saturday [12p-9p]
–> Sunday [12p-6p]

Happy Holidays & Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

What: Drive through Light Show!
Where: Alum Creek State Park Campground- 2911 S. Old State Road, Delaware, OH 43015
When: Just during the Holiday Season until January 1
{Monday-Thursday & Sunday = 5:30p-9:30p; Friday-Saturday = 5:30p-10:30p}
Fantasy of Lights

The Fantasy of Lights is an awesome date for this time of year! Rob & I drove up north to experience this for the first time last weekend and had a great $20 Date. When you enter the campground, you pay $15/car, turn off your car lights and drive slowly into the light show. There are so many unique, and sometimes hilarious, light displays, that we found ourselves constantly doing double-takes!

Afterward, we drove down the road a bit to Santa’s Workshop, where we got free hot chocolate and cookies and debated whether or not to get our picture taken with Santa. But after getting #57 and hearing #12 called, we passed. Sorry Santa! We took our picture with the Christmas Raccoon instead;)

Merry Christmas from the Christmas Raccoon!

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The deal of the week is…

Bar Louie!

What: “casually cool neighborhood restaurant & bar features warm, upbeat surroundings”
Where: 3970 Easton Station
Happy Hour: M-F 4-7p
Featured Deal: Tuesday [5p-close] = $1 Burgers! & Wednesday [all day] = $1 Beers!

Bar Louie

“Eat. Drink. Be Happy.” is this establishment’s motto–and it fits them perfectly! We thoroughly enjoyed their happy hour appetizers (yummm!) and fancy martinis. Great deals in a classy atmosphere!

Happy Hour: $3 Drafts, $4 Wines, $5 Martinis, 1/2 priced select appetizers

Tuesday [5-close] = $1 Burgers
Wednesday [all day] = $1 Bud beers, $2 Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager
Thursday [all day] = $3 20 oz domestic drafts, $2 house liquor
Sunday [all day] = $2 PBR tall boys, $2 truffle butter popcorn

Get some Holiday shopping done at Easton mall and then finish your trip at Bar Louie! Well worth it:)

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess