{d8 night} A Greek Dominion?

I'm not a Martha Stewart clone like the growing number of women that make sites like Pinterest a fun place to go. So coming up with a new theme for Dinner at Eight each month is harder and harder. We've done time travel, a veranda dinner, breakfast in bed, picnics under the stars or by the fire, and a resolutions night. This month I knew I wanted to make Greek food but had no creative inspiration beyond that. None. The night before Steven was raving about the game Dominion, and I was able to smuggle it the next day from my sisters' house. When pressed by my husband what the theme was, I came up with the first thing that came to mind: "A Greek Dominion?!?"

It turned out to be a lot of fun to buy Provinces and Duchies while eating lamb meatballs. Though I do think baklava would a much more appropriate ending than strawberry pie.









And if you have creative ideas for future {d8 nights}, comment or message me. I'm not too proud to beg.

{d8 night} New

Christmas season is over, and January is here..a month of heading back to normality, cold weather, and colds. Suffice it to say that January doesn't exactly thrill me; however, there is something to be said for the fresh start that a new year brings.

So this month's Dinner at Eight reflected that with the theme "New". To make sure it was everything that January is, I picked a frigid night and made sure I had a good, full-blown head cold. Bleck. As we dined on finger foods and cheesecake, we filled out little slips of paper with each of us writing down new things we want to eat, read, try, grow in, etc. I'm keeping the papers in a small album for us to look at through the year. The plan is to put a date next to each idea once it is completed.







Here's to a new year and to Sudafed...

{d8 night} October & November

Playing catch-up on Dinner at Eight posts over here...

October's d8 night was a picnic under what I was hoping would be the stars but ended up being the clouds. Still the candle-lit picnic of stew, lemon biscuits, and hot chocolate, was every bit as snuggly and dreamy as I had hoped. We spent a long time just laying on our backs, looking up at the sky, and analyzing life.




November's d8 night was my least imaginative yet; but if you had been around to see our November, you would have forgiven me in the same understanding way my husband did. Simple and sweet, it was an indoor picnic with some taco soup and popcorn in front of a roaring fire. And better yet, it was a needed opportunity to just sit and talk.

{d8 night} Breakfast in Bed

The September theme for Dinner at Eight was simply "Breakfast in Bed".





The above photo tells you to what depths I love my husband. Seriously. I hate bacon. In my mind it's a toxic substance that contaminates any food. My kids think it's a treat you only get on Easter morning at Uncle Dick's. But I shall now pat my own self on the back as I announce to you that I cooked bacon for my man.



As we chatted and snuggled together, we munched on cream cheese omelets, frozen grapes, asparagus, and Kahlua lattes. Ooh, and I also made some Paula Deen cinnamon rolls which I forgot to photograph. But don't worry; if you want to see them, you can just look at my thighs the next time I come around.

And that's the end of the photographs because, after all, it was breakfast in bed.

{d8 night} Summer Dinner on the Veranda

Okay, so, it's technically a balcony. But "Summer Dinner on the Veranda" sounds much more romantic than "on the Balcony". It's enough to almost make you forget that you're overlooking a condo parking lot.

Let's take a step back to why I even chose this theme. There are a few things in life that I don't enjoy, but genuinely wish I knew how to appreciate:
Tea.
Naps.
Camping....hmmm, maybe not camping.

And there are certain things in life that my husband has taught me to enjoy:
Spending money on good food.
Savoring cheese.
The sky right before sunset.

It's that last one that inspired this month's Dinner at Eight theme. I strung garden lights on the balcony veranda, cleared off the bikes, and set up dinner for two so that we could munch on summer food while watching the sky do it's thing during sunset. The menu was chili garlic corn, prosciutto and date sandwiches, fresh limeade, rosemary sweet potato fries, and personal peach cobblers. We had a lovely dinner with even better conversation and finished the night with a game of checkers. Because somehow in my mind, you're supposed to play checkers on a veranda. (I must mention that yours truly delivered a royal checkers spanking to the cute guy.)






And the sky was pink and blue.

{d8 night}

d8 Night stands for Dinner at 8:00. Steven and I try to get out when we can for a date night and once in a while we do an at home date night. (Picture children in bed and sushi on the table.) But d8 Night is something different. Let me start by telling you that it is not my original idea; I merely tweaked the name. A dear friend shared a blog with me by another mom who started this. I was so inspired that I made it my 10 year wedding anniversary gift to my husband (which seemed dull in comparison to the unbelievable vintage-inspired designer necklace he chose for me.) So first let me give some props to the originator of this. You can find her blog here.

d8 Night for us is going to look like this: it's a once a month night where I create a themed dinner at 8:00 in the evening when all the kiddos are (at least supposed to be) down for the night. Steven has no idea about any of the themes until they happen. I'm hoping it's a special time for us and one small way to show him that in the midst of all the things vying for attention in my life, he's still the most important thing next to my Savior.

I'm hoping to do posts about each of our d8 Nights. Why am I blogging this?

Here's NOT why I am blogging this:

• This in no way an attempt to draw attention to our "perfect" marriage. Our marriage, while a huge blessing, is most definitely not perfect and takes lots of hard work. If you know us well, you can vouch for the truth of this.
• This is also not to draw attention to what a great wife I am. Quite the opposite. I was convicted when I read the blog I mentioned before because I knew I need to put more effort and attention into making special memories with Steven. 

Here's why I am blogging this:

• I want a way to record these special times for Steven and I to look back on.
• I was inspired and grateful someone took the time to share this idea. I hope this can be inspiration to other wives. Not necessarily to do the exact same thing, but to get your creative juices flowing so that you can look for ways to make memories with your husbands and let them know that your marriage is worthy of your time and attention.

In the end, I'm a mom of four who's praying for 12 evenings this year that will make my husband feel loved.
........

Alright, enough of the intro. A few days before each d8 Night, I plan to give Steven a word or two that are a clue to what we might be doing. This month's clue was "time travel." 

We've talked before about what we'd do if we were handed a time machine...what historical time period or heroes we would use it to meet. And we both agreed that on our top ten list of places to go would be our wedding day. If you asked either one of us we would tell you it was the best day of our lives and the #1 day we would want to relive. So the theme this month's date night was this. And for the first time since my wedding day, I even squeezed back into my wedding dress. Painful honesty: it didn't quite zip up all the way. But as the processional music came through the speakers and I walked down the stairs in that dress, I got to watch my husband tear up again. Absolutely priceless. 

After a dance to our first song and a change back into clothes I wouldn't cry if I stained, we dined on the same chicken stir-fry that was served at our wedding. As we listened to the CD that contained the background music from our reception, we went through our guest book and cut our mini cake. It was lovely.