Bypass theater ticket lines. Buy movie tickets in advance at Fandango.com. Read reviews and find showtimes for any movie in the U.S.
Using a Housecleaning Service? Look for "green" house cleaning services or purchase eco-friendly cleaning supplies for your cleaners to use. Also supply them with your own cleaning rags that you wash yourself. (In other words, keep your own germs and let other houses keep theirs!)
Body + Mind + Spirit
Exercise! I was never one for a gym membership (hey, but if that's what it takes to get you going, go for it!), but I did find my exercise niche with yoga classes. Every Wednesday night, I spend 75 minutes on the mat with my wonderful teacher Randi and eight or so yoginis. I'm not very flexible---I'm working on it!---but I leave the class feeling healthy in body and mind. It's my blissful Om moment. I wish I had enough discipline to do it a couple of times a week on my own. However, my husband and I try to do 15 minutes of stretching while watching TV. Every little bit counts.
If you do sign up for a gym membership, find a gym that has babysitting services, a cool play structure for kids, and/or children's activities at the same time you work out, swim, take classes, or whatever.
How about a Goddess Weekend? Daisy takes a spa getaway with a bunch of friends every year. They book a block of rooms at a hotel near a spa, invite everyone they know, and sign up and bliss out for spa treatments. Think: slumber party + relaxation + indulgence. Buy SpaWish Gift Certificates and Products. Save $5 today. Click For Details.
A decade ago, some friends and I started Girls' Night Out (GNO for short). We would meet once a month at a restaurant and have dinner (and dessert!). With people moving and having children, it became difficult to continue this monthly tradition. Now GNO is back! Renee and I started a book club. We both chose other people to invite from town, people who we enjoyed or wanted to spend more time getting to know. After we had nine people signed up, we had our first meeting to pick the first two books to read. Now we meet every five weeks. (For book choices, check out the New York Times bestsellers' list. Look for book club notes at publishers' or authors' web sites to spur discussions.)
Read religiously. In third grade, my niece was required to read for 15 minutes every day. It started a good habit and sounds like a good goal to meet.
National Book Critics Circle: Check out annual awards for the best book in five categories: fiction, general nonfiction, biography/autobiography, poetry, and criticism.
If you have other suggestions for YOU time, send me an email.
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Schedule date night with help from Sittercity.com:
