Married Mondays - Dating in Covid - Wine Tasting - Domaine de Chaberton, Langley, BC

 Welcome to another Married Mondays! Today we're going to talk about the latest date we went on - Wine Tasting during Covid at Domaine de Chaberton and how much fun it was! If you're like us, dating right now might seem complicated and romance is difficult to come by with the restrictions in place - but believe me, it just takes getting creative and leaning into things you both enjoy doing while staying safe.

This date was V who planned it. He did awesome and made arrangements with Domaine de Chaberton - a fantastic winery in South Langley - you may have heard of their famous local wine Bacchus at local restaurants. We had a private tasting room that was safely set up and spend the late afternoon sampling Domaine de Chaberton's collection and talking all things wine with Ed (ask for Ed, he's great!). We talked about sampling local wines, what makes oak and steel barrels different while dreaming of the day when we can travel again internationally to sample wines. Domaine de Chaberton grows grapes locally in the Fraser Valley and also brings in grapes from the Okanagan Valley and from Nk'Imp in Osoyoos (one of our favourite places). 

If you're looking for a covid friendly activity to do as a couple - look no further than wine tasting at Domaine de Chaberton in South Langley! Want to make it an adventure engagement session? Bring us along! Wine tasting and walk through the vines with your fiancé and we will be there to document it with engagement photos for the two of you! Have an 'adventure' couple's session with us.

In the past, we've even shot weddings in the vines at Domaine de Chaberton! They've got beautiful North to South Vines and a fantastic cellar. You can book this property for private photography. 

Photos from our date day taken on iPhone in Domaine de Chaberton Private Tasting Room

Married Mondays - Date Nights during Covid in the Lower Mainland

 Welcome back to another Married Monday! We're going 2 for 2 today - the 2nd Married Monday up on the blog. Like last week, talking about John Gottman's 8 Dates and date ideas for during Covid and lock down'ish times here in BC. 

So if you read last week's post you now know we've ventured onto Date #2 in the book - 8 Dates and let me be honest and say, I was a little nervous for this one as it was about conflict. DUN DUN DUN..... but because the book gives you the tools to handle these tough conversations, we left our date feeling more connected. It was my turn to plan our date day, and well, with Covid being a thing - it's definitely getting creative with what is available to do, or go. I opted for us to head up to Burnaby Mountain at night for the city view and I preloaded some of our favourite music onto my phone, made us both some yummy teas and blankets for the car since it's winter. 

I did get a chuckle out of how many cars with "N"'s were chilling up at the top of the mountain with steamy windows... but I digress... I kept jokingly talking to V and saying silly things like "You better not keep me out past my curfew" pretending we were teenagers sneaking out of the house.

Dating once a week sounds really daunting (at least it did to me), so today's post is about curating some date ideas for specifically during Covid. Having a date night activity is part of making it feel different than any other night, but one thing I've learned so far with the 8 Dates book is having open ended questions that can lead into deeper conversations (que the table topics cards). 

Date Ideas during Covid:

- walking one of the many trails at Goldenears Park

- Donuts in Deepcove

-Coffee from Republica in Fort Langley and a walk on the river

- Croissants from Blacksmith Bakery in Fort Langley

- Cypress Mountain Look out

- Burnaby Mountain Look out

- Campfires at closed Camp Rec Sites (Yes, you can use this for daily use)

- BBQ on the Beach (use the bbq's at the parks)

- Drive to Harrison Lake and back (Fraser Valley Residents)

- Sea to Sky Drive to View point (VCH)

- Order take out from Tacofino Vancouver and take it to Spanish Banks

- Tim Horton's Hot Chocolate and La Farge Lake

- Picnic in the park

- Picnic on the floor in the living room

- Sign up for Masterclass.com

- Check out edX

- Duolingo Language learning together

-Paint Night- I've always wanted to do this one, we randomly were watching YouTube videos and I found Bob Ross instructionals .. my plan is to pick up a couple canvas' and paints from the dollar store and do this at home one night with Verlon while enjoying cocktails. 

- Star Gazing -

I suggest somewhere not near the City: Pitt Meadows is great, or Squamish - Ultimately Manning Park top of the mountain is where it's at. We did this in the summer and watched a comet go by. 

- Drive In Movie - Aldergrove

- Restorative Yoga (search on Youtube)

- Tubing on Cypress Mt.

- DrinkTV @TheStaceyRoy can teach you how to make cool cocktails

- V and I use to play this game where we flipped a quarter and it decided left or right on a drive and see where we end up. In 8 Dates there's a game to follow a random car and see where it ends up. I can't help but think how that might freak the person in the other car out, but heh what if you ended up somewhere unknown?!

Here's a few suggestions - Happy Dating!

xoxo,

Ashley