a bit of silliness that won't break the bank

So for our anniversary, we've decided to try out a small Italian restaurant downtown, and spend some of the evening strolling the historic district. Then we'll go home for a few hours and enjoy the evening alone. We thought about dressing up in our finest duds and jewels but my wife somehow lost her beautiful new wristwatch when we last went out for a classy stroll, so we're a bit more cautious now. We try not to carry too much jewelry with us - at least not the expensive or keepsake stuff. But that doesn't mean that she has to look plain. There's always costume jewelry and semi-precious stones that can be picked up rather cheap at online wholesale fashion jewelry stores.

And I can wear my old wingtips with a fresh shine and feel like I'm "Puttin' on the Ritz" with little reservation. Heck, I could even sport a top hat, tails and a cane if I was so inclined. I'm sure that with all of the post-Halloween clearance sales, there are some fun and silly "dress-up" costumes to be had for cheap.

It may not be luxurious and it may not be as classy as one would like. But it makes me feel much better about riding around in the back of a horse drawn carriage or walking dimly lit downtown streets where one could easily misplace one's finer jewelry or trip on a sidewalk crack and rip my suit. That's where second hand stores shine - you can get someone else's finest duds for cheap. It may have a few battle scars from weddings past, but nobody is going to notice and it leaves you with more money to spend on the meal, or on something intimate like lingerie for her.

new anniversary ideas?

On a more positive note, my wife and I have a big anniversary coming up, and I am trying to come up with some truly new ideas on how to celebrate. Sure, we could do the typical dinner and a movie, complete with roses and champagne, but its all been done before.

I could cook her a dinner myself, but I've done this before, too, and I could our dinners quite often so it wouldn't be as special. My wife had the forethought to arrange for a babysitter so at least we don't have to bring the kids along to wherever we decide to go (if we decide to go anywhere). I thought about booking a night at a fancy hotel in town, or I could use a bed and breakfast gift certificate that we had received some time back, but our babysitter is only watching the kids for a few hours, so that won't work.

Sometimes I think that I'd like to just stay at home and have a long evening of intimacy, but you know how most women will react if they hear that form their husbands..."all you want to do is have sex?" Haha.

But I do feel like we would enjoy the time alone and away from the kids. My wife gets away when she goes to work, but when it comes to alone time for just the two of us, we've only got late nights after the kids are in bed, and one (or both) of us is usually too tired to stay up at that point.

So what to do? What to do? I am open to suggestions...we could take a carriage ride in town, although it is a bit pricey. I could get her a nice gift but she doesn't need or want anything that I can think of. We've done massages before...maybe I'll look into that and see what kind of specials they may be offering.