Now that Anton is finally sleeping (yay!), Alex and I have been excited to go out on date nights again. So we checked out the dating and relationships company HowAboutWe, which has really fun date ideas…

We debated taking a Brooklyn food tour, BYOB pottery class and couples astrology reading, but in the end we chose a private lesson with a pool pro. We were psyched! We headed to a pool hall on the Upper East Side on a snowy Friday evening.

Our teacher was Phil Davis. At first, he seemed so young, we wondered if he was really an expert, but once he started gracefully sinking every single ball every single time, from the most impossible angles, we were totally convinced. He even brought his own $4000 pool stick! The guy was not messing around.

We are complete beginners, so first he taught us how to place our hands on the table…

…and how to control where the ball will go. Phil had actually studied physics in college, so he really understood angles/inertia/force/all those things! “Pool is a mental game, not physical,” he told us. And he was so sweet and encouraging: “You’re really good! You’re great!” he kept telling us. (Not true:)

 

We did a bunch of practice exercises, and I was surprised how quickly we were able to pick things up once we knew the basics. One interesting tip: You’re not just trying to hit the ball you’re going for, but you’re also thinking about where to place the white ball afterward, so you can set up your next shot. “The rule of thumb is to plan three balls ahead,” Phil told us.

Also, I learned Alex is a leftie when he plays sports! Who knew? It was fun to learn something new about him after four years of marriage;)

Thanks, Phil! It was such a great evening, and there’s something really fun about learning something new with your significant other. We were giddy when we left and definitely plan to take more lessons in the new year.

I’d highly recommend HowAboutWe for Couples, which has really fun, creative date ideas. You can browse their dates for free in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle, and get $50 off your first date through this link, until 3/31/14. (If you’re single, HowAboutWe also has a great dating service. You can click here and enter the promo code CUPOFJO at checkout to get 50% off all new memberships.) Thanks so much, HowAboutWe!

Have you been on any fun date nights lately? Any suggestions? I’d love to hear… xoxo

P.S. More NYC dates, including a trapeze class and fire-escape drinks.

(This post was sponsored by HowAboutWe, a dating service we truly enjoy. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make Cup of Jo possible. Photos by our friend Bekka Palmer for Cup of Jo)