Hand knitted socks from mom.
Caramel apple cider from Starbucks.
A tiny baby sleeping on your chest.
Some things in this world are too comfy for their own good. Things that make you go "aaaaaaaaaahhhhh" and relax in a melted puddle of bones and contentment. Everyone has their own favorite comfies. Their routines. Their safe zones.
But what about the whole wide world outside the coziness?
For Valentines Day I wanted to try something different for our date and my gift to husband. Usually we go out for dinner at a restaurant and maybe a movie and then exchange gifts. My gifts to him are usually returned or exchanged because I never know what to get him.
This year I talked with my mom and sister and got the idea to paint him a picture. Soooo I did.
(Not exactly Van Gogh)
I'm not a painter, obviously, and this project took a lot of reassurance from a lot of people for me to even try. This was 110% out of my comfort zone. Even so, I finished and concocted scenarios in my head to be prepared for any reaction.
My favorite was presenting the picture to him and he stares at it, gaping in amazement before proclaiming, "YOU made this? It's AMAZING!!"
More realistic scenario being me sheepishly handing him the canvas where he studies it while stuttering, "you must have worked hard on this....it's...........interesting."
The reaction I got was somewhere in between. I mean he didn't slam it down in the closet of forgotten junk, but he didn't book me wall space at the Louvre either.
The other part of our date was a picnic at the park with a playlist of romantic songs, martinellis, and candles. Well, I forgot the bottle opener so we had to pry the bottle open with a fork. I also forgot a lighter soooo we just had unlit candles in the center of our picnic. I felt kind of stupid for not just going to Red Robin or PF Changs where everything would be perfect.
I also planned to go rock climbing.
FUN FACT: I'm terrified of heights. We went on a skyride thing at the zoo once and I almost passed out.
Rock climbing was ridiculously out of my comfort zone, but I knew it was something husband enjoyed and he would be surprised I had planned something so out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, I forgot he hurt his shoulder so we ended up at the mall shopping instead.
FUN FACT: shopping is 9000% inside my comfort zone and 9000% outside of husband's.
Even with a wrench thrown in our plans, we had a great Valentine's Day date. We both wiggled a pinky toe outside our comfort zones and it was more memorable than just another restaurant and movie date. The rock climbing groupons are good until May...so there's still an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone for a memorable date. Hopefully my harness doesn't fail as I'm climbing up and my hand slips off the grip and I hurtle downward toward ultimate doom while horrified patrons look on helplessly.
Seriously, heights are a problem.
