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Community Corner

Desperately Seeking Date Night

Aliso Viejo Town Center to the rescue.

February proved to be a chaotic month for my family.  Dealing with sick kids, multiple doctor appointments, after-school activities and birthday celebrations, I definitely needed a break.  More specifically, I needed a date night with my husband. 

Would you like to know where my husband and I spent our last date night?  Target.  Don’t get me wrong, it was nice holding hands as we walked down the paper-towel aisle.  We also went “fancy” and chose a Target that had a Starbucks inside of it.   I decided it was time to surprise my husband with a real date night.  I knew Aliso Viejo’s Town Center would be the perfect place. 

The plan:  Picnic at amphitheater and dessert from Cold Stone Creamery

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After picking up a couple of supplies from Trader Joe’s, I made one of my husband’s favorite sandwiches.  Crusty sandwich rolls were spread with a mixture of mayonnaise and pesto.  I then added a slice of provolone, roasted red peppers (from a jar), marinated artichoke hearts, spinach leaves and a few slices of Trader Joe’s Just Chicken. With a few bags of chips and bottles of sparkling water, our picnic was complete. 

The amphitheater is one of our favorite places to hang out in Aliso Viejo. My son loves running down the hill behind the concrete steps.  My daughter saves her pennies to make wishes in the water fountain.  During the summer, we all enjoy the free concerts and movie nights. 

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For our date night, we found a nice spot on the grass hill to spread out our picnic.  It was so nice to eat our dinner at a leisurely pace.  Even better, we enjoyed a real conversation that did not involve any interruptions of “Mama, Sissy is copying me!”  Although there were kids playing tag around the fountain, their shrieks of laughter did not bother us one bit.  After all, they were not our kids.

Once we finished dinner, we walked to Cold Stone Creamery and ordered our favorite ice cream dish: vanilla mixed with bananas, chocolate syrup and almonds.  We then found a bench by the fountain where we could enjoy our dessert.  As the sun set, we held hands and sat in our own peaceful silence.  It was the perfect end to a perfect date night. 

Do you have a favorite date-night spot in Aliso Viejo? I would love hear about it!  And, hey, I’ll make sure to pass it along to my husband, since he gets to plan our next date night.  Thankfully, Target has since been removed from our date-night menu.

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