First of all, thank you to Alyssa Luziach Photography, for taking my vision of an in-home session/ Sol food session come to life. I literally love every single image she took of us! Also, fun fact, she is the one that taught me how to use a camera years ago and inspired me to start my own business. Thank you, Alyssa, for being not only an amazing friend but an inspiration to me over the years! P.S. The florals on the coffee table are a dried bouquet made by Mack Floral Design. Second of all, I hope you enjoy this fun blog post on 10 thrify date ideas for the first year of marriage. Eli and I were on a strict budget for our first year of marriage so we learned to be thrifty and still have a ton of fun on dates!

1.Explore a Farmers Market together. One of my favorite things Eli and I did was go to our local farmers market and enjoy a yummy healthy meal. Some months we would share a meal (15 dollars for two of us to eat) and other times we just came to get a couple of juicy peaches or plums. Look up your local farmers market and have a blast trying new things!

2. Costco Sample Date. This might sound ridiculous but we would go to Costco shop for what we need and eat as many samples as possible. It became a fun game for us. Hope it will be for you too!

3. Picnic & walk in the park. Look up your local state or national park and go for a walk. I love going to our local Armstrong woods! We go on a bit of a hike then end up eating our picnic dinner among the trees. It’s usually a fee to park but other than that just bring leftovers or sandwiches from home to make it a bit cheaper.

4. Kayak on the water. We love to Kayak!! Yes, it can cost 25 dollars an hour so this one is not so thrify but it is one of my favorite things to do. We have Kayaked on the Russian River and in many lakes (our favorite being Lake Tahoe).

5. Ice cream date. Just go out for ice cream on a whim. We would love to do this once a month! We have a local favorite and we would make it a point to randomly go after a yummy meal at home. To make it even more fun have the other person pick your ice cream flavor for you.

6. Fort Movie Night. We make forts maybe more often than most adults should. We will make forts then watch movies under them just for fun. It is never super comfortable but it makes for some amazing memories!

7. Game Night. Bring out the board games and card games. Adjust the games so that two people can play and then make it so the winner gets his/her favorite dessert that night!

8. Local concerts. We love concerts. Eli was in a band for a long time so we got used to going to them weekly. Now we look up local concerts and make a point to go to them. We usually do not spend more than 10 to 15 a person on local concerts.

9. Cook a Meal Together. Find a recipe you both love and turn up the music (maybe even dance) while you cook together. Can you tell by this point we love food? 

10. Don’t forget to spoil yourself once a month! Put it in the budget to go out together to your favorite restaurant. Ours is Sol Food which is featured below. I cannot get enough of Pollo El Horno with Avocado!!