Date Night: Downtown at Sundown at MCASD

Living Downtown definitely has its benefits but you don't have to live here to join in on the fun! For instance, every third Thursday of the month from 5-8pm, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Downtown has their Downtown at Sundown event which offers free admission to the museum as well as some live entertainment. There is usually a food truck there and drink specials at Stone Brewing Company and The Flight Path. With it being summer, it's the perfect time to treat yourself and your significant other to some "us" time. MCASD Downtown is only a few blocks away from Little Italy so you grab some drinks, enjoy the museum and then head to Little Italy for a late dinner.

We've been to two Downtown at Sundown events and have enjoyed it very much. The photographs below are from the first time we went to the event.

Apparently there were different scents for the different sacks (hehehe) so you can 

clearly see people sniffing them in the above picture. 

After the museum, we usually head over to Stone Brewery and enjoy a drink out on the patio. 

It's a great way to catch up and wind down from a long week

(and a tad romantic if I do say so myself :D).

Hope you enjoyed this post and feel free to leave some date night ideas in the comments! 

We'd love to hear what you guys do on your date nights!

Date Night: Netflix & Chill

Based on some of our posts, it might seem like we are an adventurous pair. We are for the most part but sometimes when we've both had a particularly rough week, we'll just stay home and watch Netflix. What we are, however is indecisive, so sometimes we'll spend 10-15 minutes just looking for something to watch. If you're in the same boat, we're here to help! Here are some of our favorite things to watch on Netflix and Hulu (and some you'll have to find elsewhere).

Movies: Zootopia, Beyond the Lights, Chef, Stardust, Moonrise Kingdom

When it comes to movies, it's pretty hard to get the both of us to sit down for a movie that we would both enjoy. All of the aforementioned movies are some of our favorites, some of which are highly underrated.  

Zootopia is a great movie not only for kids but for adults too. It totally deserves a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. The story line screams Disney and I think it's one of the best Disney movies that has come out in awhile. In my Disney movie rating scale (Pixar movies included), I would put it on the same level as Wall-E and Tangled (yet another underrated Disney princess movie). 

If you are a music lover, I'd highly recommend Beyond the Lights. I discovered some great music while watching it and would compare it to other music centered movies like Wicker Park and Cruel Intentions. I would compare it to a modern day "The Bodyguard". 

I've been a fan of Jon Favreau since Elf and his days on Friends so Chef seemed to be a given for us to watch. The cover for the movie isn't too eye-catching but the movie itself is good. It shows just how powerful social media is these days and also makes me want to be a chef at the same time haha. 

If you are looking for a true hidden gem, look no further than Stardust. Another one of those movies where the cover does not do it justice. With an all-star cast, I was surprised that I had not come across it but it's definitely worth a watch. The main actor currently plays Daredevil in the Netflix original in case that sways you in any way ;). 

Lastly, there's Moonrise Kingdom. It has an indie feel and is a little strange at first but it's a wonderful movie. I don't usually like Wes Anderson films but this one really pulled at my heartstrings. 

Shows: Master of None, Fresh Off the Boat, Daredevil, Girl Meets World, Fuller House, Person of Interest, Blacklist, Elementary, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead

Not all of these shows will be your cup of tea but we really enjoyed watching Master of None and we can't wait until the new seasons starts. Both Master of None and Fresh Off the Boat are relatable especially for those of us who have parents who were immigrants. If you're looking for some action, Daredevil is my go-to show. On days when work causes me to be completely brain dead, we watch Girl Meets World or Fuller House and all seems right with the world. It also reminds me of the good ole days of watching T.G.I.F. Even though we try to watch shows together, there are some shows we enjoy on our own. For Tony, he enjoys the zombie variety like The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead. I, on the other hand, enjoy shows like Person of Interest, Blacklist, Criminal Minds and Elementary. Most recently, I started watching The Bachelorette and it's a great brain dump show as well.

Comedy: Ali Wong Baby Cobra, Aziz Ansari Live at Madison Square Garden, Iliza Shlesinger Freezing Hot, Trevor Noah That's Racist

A few weeks ago Tony started watching Baby Cobra and made me watch it because it reminded him of me. He could not be more correct lol. It was so relatable and hilarious! Check out some of the other comedy specials above as well. We've watched all of them and they are all hilarious! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and found some shows to add to your queues!

We'll see you around for the next date night!

Date Night: Museums on Us

Since moving to San Diego, I haven't really had a chance to go to any of the museums here. I had the weekend off so we decided to take advantage of Bank of America's Museums on Us program. The program offers free admission to over 150 museums on the first full weekend of every month just for showing your Bank of America debit or credit card and a photo ID. There are 3 museums in San Diego that are participants in the program: Birch Aquarium at Scripps, Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA), and The San Diego Museum of Arts.

I've always had a love for the ocean and all sea creatures so we decided to check out the Birch Aquarium.

  

The views outside are to die for! They remind me of the views at the top of Diamond Head. Make sure you touch the anemones! I freaked out because it felt so tingly and one of the volunteers laughed at me lol. Overall, you can make your time at the museum go as fast or slow as you want. It's a fairly small museum so you can probably get thru it in a couple of hours. It's a great place to go with kids as well.

Hopefully you can find a museum near you to enjoy with your loved ones! Happy dating!

Adventures: The Book of Mormon

One of the musicals I've always wanted to see is The Book of Mormon and we were lucky enough to scoop up some last minute tickets. One thing you'll come to understand about San Diego is that people get crazy about going out. Whenever there is an event, you can bet that it will be people mountain people sea. Not only will there be tons of people, there will also be people who plan to be there. For instance, San Diego Restaurant Week happens twice a year. It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to make a reservation online for any of the restaurants on the list for dinner. You have to call and maybe they'll be able to squeeze you in OR you have to make the reservations WAYYYY in advance. Same went for The Book of Mormon tickets. I looked for tickets at the beginning on January which was a good 2 months before the show and there were "NOT MANY TICKETS" left. The only tickets that were available were for the last row of the theatre. Keep in mind I was also looking for 5 tickets all together. There were a lot of single seats available all over the theater but I didn't want all of us to have to sit by ourselves. At last, we just decided that maybe we'll catch it the next time it would be at the Pantages or if it comes back to San Diego again.

I like to let fate choose a lot of the time and so after getting out of work, I decided to check to see if there were any tickets left. Maybe, just maybe, someone decided not to go last minute. Luck was in my favor and I ended up finding 2 seats in the Orchestra Row M seats 2-4 which was almost at the center of the theatre. It was a bit of a splurge but we haven't seen a musical together since seeing the Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages in Los Angeles back in June. I figured it was probably going to be a once a year event and it was a perk of living in Little Italy to be able to just walk over the to the Civic Theatre.

Overall, I think next to Phantom of the Opera, The Book of Mormon would be my second favorite musical. It's very easy to follow, it's freaking hilarious, and the songs are absolute genius! I would highly recommend it to anyone who isn't easily offended by stuff. I think it's a great musical to start someone off on their musical journey. For this particular show, I think you can sit anywhere and still enjoy the show. For Phantom, I would recommend sitting in the orchestra if you can because there's so much to see on stage. Have any recommendations for musicals or shows we should watch? Leave them in the comments below!