It’s winter & cold outside so…

Host a Game Night!

Ingredients for a fun, successful game night:

1. All your nearest & dearest friends
2. Beer & wine (4 bottles of cheap Kroger wine = $20!)
3. Some snacks, but no need to go overboard!
4. A couple game options for everyone to chose from: charades & Settlers of Catan are two popular choices with our friends this winter:)

Happy Game Night Dating,

Jess

This week’s cheap & creative date is…

Pizza + Picnic!

What: Wintery indoor living room picnic – romantic date without leaving the house!
Where: Your home!
When: Whenever you want!
website - n/a

The ingredients to make a successful indoor picnic:

• At the grocery store, buy the ingredients for homemade pizza dough (see below) + a bottle of wine
• Cook pizzas together – a couple that cooks together, works together! {Rob’s personal favorite quote}
• Move any coffee tables out of the living room & lay a picnic blanket on the floor
• Gather all candles from around the house and light them around the picnic area
• Put on Frank Sinatra Pandora radio station (mood music per your discretion:))
• Turn off lights and let the candles illuminate your romantic indoor picnic!
• After wine & pizzas, you can also play cards by candlelight & continue to enjoy each others company at your indoor pic-a-nic!

Rob’s recipe for homemade pizza dough:
{3 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1 pkt active dry yeast, 2 tsp kosher salt, 1 1/2 cups water (110 degrees), 2 tbsp olive oil}

1. Combine flour, sugar, yeast, salt in bowl. While mixer is running, add water and oil. Beat until ball forms.
2. Remove from bowl. Knead lightly into ball.
3. Oil inside of clean bowl. Place ball inside and cover. Let sit for 1 hour.
4. When breaking dough into pieces to knead flat, keep the remaining dough covered in bowl with a moist towel.
5. Add toppings, like mozzarella & ricotta cheese, pepperoni, onions, peppers, mushroom, sauce, tomatoes – go crazy!
6. Bake individual pizzas at 425 degrees for approx. 12 minutes

Total: Pizza ingredients + wine = $20!

Happy Indoor Picnic Dating,

PocketBook Jess

{As seen on Fox28′s Good Day Columbus}
This week’s cheap & creative date is…

Gyros + Bowling!

What: Fun, affordable bowling alley + family-owned authentic Greek food
Where: North Columbus – TCL – 5860 Roche Drive & YGG – 6196 Cleveland Avenue
When: TCL- Sunday-Thursday 9p-12a = specials! YGG – M-Th 11a-9p, F 11a-10p, Sa 12p-10p, closed Sunday
website - CapriBowling.com

Top reasons why this $20Date is awesome: 

• Mondays-Thursdays, 9p-12a = 90′s at 9:00! “Bowl at 1990 prices” $2/game, $3 shoe rental
• Mondays-Thursdays, 9p-12a ALSO = College ID nights! $8 gets you 2 games, shoes, slice of pizza & a beer! What?!
• Fridays & Saturdays = Rock ‘n  Bowl! 10p-2a, $3/game, $3 shoe rental
• Yanni’s is delicious! And family owned & operated with authentic yummy food. Making this local establish and must-try! {alas, I did not have my camera at Yanni’s…no pictures of delicious greek food}

Total: $10 to bowl for 2 (which includes 1 game & shoe rental) + 2 Small Gyros $3.95 each = $20 with tax!

Not to brag, but I won;)

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

‘Tis the season of CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! My favorite time of year:) This re-post is to remind you of an awesome Christmas-themed $20Date you can do only in the month of December. Also, the Columbus Zoo has 1/2 off Wednesdays to Franklin County residents – making your trip to the Zoo to see Wildlights only $15! {+$7 for parking, making this a not-so-quite $20Date…}

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;)

**Since the light show is only about 30 minutes and Santa’s Workshop, even if you spend some time in their gift shop, takes only about another 30 minutes, we have more ideas to make this date longer! There are many huge neighborhoods around Alum Creek in Delaware County FULL of great individual light displays. If you want to expand your date night, continue driving south into whichever neighborhood of your choosing and spend some time driving around for free–oooing and ahhhing at the beautiful Christmas lights.

$15 to enter the light show + free hot chocolate & cookies = $15!

Kisses:
*Each light display is different & unique! We saw a light-up Santa grilling out in front of his RV, reindeers playing Olympic Reindeer games & even Santa driving a school bus:)
*You stay warm in the car!
*The light display is fun for all ages & provides great conversation starters.
*If you make this date a group friend date, you could split the cost of entry & still have $$ to go out for coffee by Polaris afterward!
*Partial proceeds benefit Recreation Unlimited, an organization that provides services to those with disabilities!
*This Wednesday & Thursday is just $10/car!

Misses:
*Some cars kept their lights on while driving through the campground–psh!

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

This week’s cheap & creative date is…

at the Scioto Mile!

What: Downtown Date – Scioto Mile + Milestone 229 {+live music if you go this weekend!}
Where: 229 S. Civic Center Drive {Milestone}
When: M-Th 11a-10p, F-Sa 11a-11p
Happy Hour: M-F 4p-6p – $4 Drafts, $5 Signature Cocktails, $6 Appetizers
website -milestone229.com & sciotomile.com

I absolutely love that this Downtown area has flourished over the last couple of years — thank you Mayor Coleman! The Scioto Mile winds around the Scioto River (starting at Broad Street) & with a beautiful new path and swinging benches, this is the perfect place to watch the sunset. Rob & I started our night at Milestone 229, a swanky restaurant on the Scioto Mile path, enjoyed their happy hour, and finished our evening with a stroll down the path. **ALSO** This weekend, the 28th & the 29th is WaterFire Columbus {and the Riverfront Arts Festival} making this a double-part $20Date! 7:30 live music begins, 8:30 fires are lit! Free!

Top reasons why this $20Date is awesome:

• Milestone 229′s food was delicious and their signature drinks are unique and artistically made.
• Our service was wonderful! Happy Hour is only available at the bar, but they have one inside AND one outside on their large patio.
• Milestone 229 normally has menu prices that wouldn’t fit the $20Date bill — but Happy Hour makes this possible!
• The place is popular {as it should be!} but during Happy Hour, you don’t have to wait! Worth. It.
• Meters are easy to fine around the Scioto Mile area.
• There is a sweet fountain right outside the restaurant that makes me want to be a little kid again! And yes, we did run through it;) <–you can spend a lot of time just hanging out by these cool fountains!
• Even though I already love Columbus, the newly revamped Scioto Mile makes me truly love my city even more. It’s such a neat Downtown treasure!

Total {the 1st time} = $6 Skillet Mac-n-Cheese + $6 Four Snacks + tax/tip = $20

Total {the 2nd time} = $6 Margherita Pie (big enough to share!) + $4 local brew + $5 Blueberry Hill specialty drink + tax/tip = $20

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess