Painting the Town Red...and a Little Blue

Our dating adventures have been going very well this year. Shall I bring you up to speed on the months we have done so far?

November - Temple
December - Eating Exotic
January - Murder Mystery
February - Museum (Ice Museum in our case)
March - Puzzle
April - Painting

I haven't blogged about the most recent two, so I'm here to fill you in today.

March was puzzle month and I admit that we waited until the last minute to do that one. (Sometimes even parents get busy.) Tyler found what looked like a fun, interesting, easy puzzle online. Five hundred pieces, and the patterns were whimsical and easy to piece together. Look at our finished masterpiece.

There are many puzzles you don't want to do again, but this one we have done multiple times. The kids have all contributed and put together some of the owls on their own. All in all, a good choice, Cazier.

Now for our April date. I scheduled this back in March because I wanted to make sure we signed up for a painting we liked. If you haven't done Paint Nite before, I would recommend it. You find a location near you and choose a painting you like. Then you pay (get a groupon deal because it is pricey) and show up. They provide all the supplies, like apron, paint, canvas, etc. You follow the steps and leave with an original piece of art, because even though you are all making the same painting, I promise they all look different in the end.

The only down side that I can see, besides price, is that the evening is associated with drinking. Most venues are restaurants with a bar so people can buy alcohol throughout the event. Not being a drinker myself, and not enjoying the smell, I was not excited about that part. But low and behold, we somehow signed up for one of the ONLY non-drinking nights. How serendipitous.

We painted at a Pier 49 Pizza place. It was a little squished. We had upstairs seating and the light wasn't great, but they were doing the best with the space they had. (But remember...no drinking. Totally worth the cramped space.) Here is a panoramic view of the loft area.

A blank canvas has so much potential.

There was some instruction, but not as detailed or quick as we would have liked. The beginning steps were well outlined, but then there were long pauses as they waited for everyone to catch up. When we reached the tree, the instructions were basically 1) Paint a tree. 2) Add leaves. You can see why everyone's was different. There was an example that everyone could view, and it was meant to be free expression.

Here I am working on the moon-like background.

Tyler was astute enough to remember to take some pictures. He put them together so you can see us in action.

Here are the finished products. I think they both turned out very well.

It is funny, because when we left, I thought mine looked more like the example and I was sure that I had done a better job. But the more I looked at Tyler's, the more I liked his best. It just goes to show that there is beauty in many styles and you should let the artist inside you express her/himself. We had a really good time and I think there may be another paint night in our future.

p.s. I have the hottest husband. It is so great to hang out with him and go try new activities. Always delightful to spend time with my best friend.