Dat-ed.

Never underestimate the importance of ‘the date.’ In a longterm relationship, it is easy to get comfortable: to wear the same pajamas every night to bed, to eat your dinner of pasta and jarred sauce on the couch while watching Modern Family together (Wednesday nights on ABC at 9pm. Watch it.), to spend Saturdays at Bed, Bath & Beyond looking for closet organizers. Pretty soon, all of the little normal things that were so exciting to do together in the beginning--because even doing a joint load of laundry together was fun--now are just plain normal.

The remedy to normalcy, you ask? A date.

This morning, just as I was scarfing down my half of our toasted bagel, he proposed “on va boire un coup ce soir?” For those of you who don’t speak French, no, that was not a marriage proposal (we’re not even ready to live together, remember?). Instead, “let’s go get a drink tonight?” The idea of breaking out of our normal routine of home-cooked meal, movie, sleep was invigorating.

Now, it is 3pm. And all I can dream about is a glass of Pinot at a candlelit bar hightop, snuggling up to my beau, and talking about the couples around us in French.

What did you do on your last date night? I bet it was fabulous.