Suzanne and Simon discuss alternatives to the standard date night, we have some questions from a listener and the usual collection of romantic things that Simon has been trying.
Suzanne and Simon discuss alternatives to the standard date night, we have some questions from a listener and the usual collection of romantic things that Simon has been trying.
In this episode, we discuss alternatives to typical date night, and we have our first question from a listener.
Simon:Hi, welcome to the romantic things podcast. I'm Simon Davison, and this is my wife,
Suzanne:Suzanne Davison.
Simon:Let's start off with the app status. Uh, for this episode, things are going well. Uh, we've got all of the major bugs addressed. We are now looking at reviewing the detail view of all of the romantic things. So we changed how they were rendered. And as a result, I need to make sure that all the content fits in those containers correctly. Um, so that's one of the checks that we need to do. And we also have some questions around the reporting side of the app. Some of the labeling is not particularly informative. Um, those things need to be addressed, but
Suzanne:Really close. Right, right. You're really close.
Simon:Yeah. Uh, I'm I'm hoping that we're within, within a month of, of launch, um, at this point, uh, very pleased with the progress, uh, at this point.
Suzanne:And then this week we actually had questions yeah. From a listener. So listener Adrienne asks do either of you have any advice on good ice breaking gestures to ease couples into being romantic or how not to come off as disingenuous. Also, how would you address a partner that's disinterested in traditional romantic gestures?
Simon:Well, let's start with the icebreaking gestures and not coming off as disingenuous for the latter. I really try not to focus on this. If you're doing this to improve your relationship, the motivation is genuine and your partner's gonna see this. Uh, the most important thing is to make these gestures often for icebreaking gestures. You're really looking into romantic things that have, uh, low or no effort. These are easy things to start with and a great way to try a few things in a short period of time. Some of these examples are zero effort. Things include number 483, a kiss when entering or leaving the home. This is a nice way to show affection just before leaving the house and welcome them when they return and
Suzanne:Just like leave it to beaver.
Simon:I'd never watched leave it to beaver<laugh> they never made it to the UK.<laugh> I'll take your word for it.
Suzanne:<laugh>
Simon:Uh, and there's also number 77. Uh, tell them, you appreciate their love, patience and understanding, uh, every now and then be sure to remind your partner that you support them throughout the day, let them know which aspects of the way you show their love. You appreciate, there are many more zero effort romantic things in the app, obviously, but I mean, what are your thoughts?
Suzanne:Yeah, I mean, I, I think you talked about this, you know, the last, um, podcast where it was romance, isn't just this, these grand gestures, right? It's multiple things, you doing multiple things all the time. Yeah. Um, and I think that's what you were trying to highlight here is just a, just to start, start somewhere, you know, and even if they don't, you know, realize what's happening, but just start somewhere and these small zero effort things are really easy to do.
Simon:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And then for the last question, how would you address a partner that's disinterested in traditional romantic gestures? Uh, that that's, that's tough. Um, cuz it's hard to really guess what they're gonna respond to, but the romantic things app, I would say is probably your best bet in this situation. Um, it features hundreds of more romantic things from, uh, bats to vacations. Um, it's varied content means there's always something different being surfaced throughout the week. So I think the app when it's released is gonna be your best bet.
Suzanne:But what would you say also that to let'em know that you're trying to do romantic gestures? You know, so not, they're always a surprise, but does, I mean, I think that makes a difference. Like I know every once in a while that you're going to be doing a romantic gesture. Right,
Simon:Right. I dunno. I guess it depends. I mean, for me, I don't necessarily want to announce that I'm high I'm in a good mood and I'm, this is what I'm gonna say or Hey, I'm feeling romantic and I'm going to be romantic now. Yeah. I don't, I don't do that. So I just, I just do it kind of thing. Uh, if, if the, if the mood, if the mood takes me, then, then I do something romantic and I, I hope you are responsive to it kind of thing, unless it's whispering sweet nothing's in your ear,
Suzanne:Which is super creepy.<laugh><laugh> sorry I interrupted your thought. Come
Simon:Back. No, but it, yeah, no, the, the other thing, the other benefit is obviously that the, the app features user submitted things as well. So it will have a little extra diversity. It's not just gonna be my perspective on romance. At some point, we're gonna see a lot more influence from the users submitted content, um, which I'm really excited to see outside of the app. You're looking at ways of collaborating tasks that you're gonna find interesting together. Ultimately, you are looking for regular interactions that show how you feel. If there are sports fan, really taking interest in the teams, maybe learn a little ahead of the game. Just something to show that little extra piece of interest. Me personally, I'm a practical person. And for the long time, I wasn't particularly interested in traditional signs of affection. Um, and I tended to show my affection through acts of service. It's possible. Your partners, uh, got a similar approach. If that's the case, performing access service for your partner might well be seen as romantic AGS from their perspective.
Suzanne:So like doing the dishes,
Simon:Right. And laundry and laundry, exactly
Suzanne:Things that aren't necessarily romantic, but help them in a way that exactly they know they're appreciated
Simon:And shows that you care, you, you care and you're paying attention, right. So, but ultimately when the app comes available, that's gonna be your best bet. It'll supply regular romantic suggestions, many of which are unique to the app throughout the year. So anyway, thank, thank you for the question. It's been great.
Suzanne:Yeah. Yeah, no, I, I didn't think we would get any questions. So this is good.
Simon:Yeah, exactly.
Suzanne:So many people get stuck in a routine of dates like that consist of drinks followed by dinner, then home, maybe to the kids. What are some other ideas for date night that couples could try out? Uh,
Simon:Well, one easy day out is to treat your hometown like tourists. And we've talked about this before. Yeah. Um, as locals, you tend to avoid the more touristy areas, but sometimes it's good to see what comes by. Do some people watching grab by Dew, eat, go for drinks, stay on the beaten path. Um, go to a game, uh, pick a sport, uh, and go to see a game, get it caught up on thrill of the action together. Um, set up a scavenger hunt. I mean, that's something that people don't<laugh> do don't really do, but you know, if you take the time, you can, you could do a small scale version around the house. Or if you wanna do it properly, you can do one around town and actually have a scavenger hunt going to different bars and
Suzanne:Restaurants. You know, you see those things, you know, where they're like open this, you know, and they're all tucked into different places on your body. I mean, that's kind of a scavenger hunt.
Simon:Yeah, absolutely. So there's also comedy clubs, which are kind of having a bit of a resurgence at the moment. Um, these are great places for couples old and new, um, have a couple of drinks, uh, have some giggles. There's usually something for everyone. And then you can karaoke as a couple, the local karaoke spot and impress people with your singing skills.
Suzanne:Impressum do you think that that would happen for us?
Simon:Well, not for us. Cause we're crappers well, actually I'm crapper singing. You're you're pretty good. I'm I'm awful,
Suzanne:But not always
Simon:<laugh> I dunno. You're pretty much mostly good.<laugh> so yeah. So I, I think those are some good alternatives for nights out, but once again, the app will give you plenty more suggestions. So let's get onto the romantic gestures that I've been working on for this week's episode or this episode. Should I say the first one is something that came up it's it's release butterflies together. Now this is something that, uh, we didn't do this week, but we actually did do for our wedding. The reason I'm bringing up our wedding is because as, as the husband or groomed to be ready for the wedding, I was convinced that this was all gonna go horribly, horribly wrong. And that we would end up giving people dead butterflies, and they would just be dead butterflies on the floor at our wedding.
Suzanne:Yeah. Cuz you get'em in a little packet, right. Instead. Yeah.
Simon:They
Suzanne:Envelope, they're like a little triangle and you hand them out and you just don't know they could all be dead or they could all fly away and he was convinced.
Simon:Yeah. Uh, I, I thought I was really worried that on our most romantic day that it would be MARD by the death of a hundred butterflies kind of thing. But as it turned out, it worked out wonderfully. Everybody enjoyed the experience. It, it did mean a lot and I, I kind of got into the experience and I, I even dealt with Mariah Carrie's butterfly as the soundtrack as well.<laugh> um, but it was, it was good. I, I, I, I thought that was a, a very romantic gesture and uh, I'm
Suzanne:It is one thing people remember about our wedding. Yeah,
Simon:No, I, it, that was a good choice. That was your romantic gesture to me sort of thing. Mm-hmm<affirmative> so I'm I wanna thank you for that, cuz that was, that was great. And it's a great suggestion. So for all the couples out there, releasing butterflies together is a great experience. Number two. Uh, well actually let me back up to the releasing butterflies. Cause I, I, I wanted to tell you that the cost wise, that's only two out of five and effort is one out of five limited cost. It's not that expensive for what you're getting. Um, and the effort is obviously obviously pretty low. It's just a case of releasing the butterflies, but um, yeah. Great experience and uh, not much effort. Yeah. So for number two, um, put your partner's shoes on their feet, which is free and one out five for effort. I didn't get many opportunities to do this cuz you were kind of Johnny on the spot for putting your shoes on. So I only got to do this a couple of times, but how was the experience for you?
Suzanne:Yeah, I felt like Cinderella<laugh> you? It was, uh, it was good. You, you grabbed my foot flops and put'em on right before we went out to Lynch. So yeah,
Simon:It felt nice putting the shoes on your feet. Um, so yeah, let's move on to number three, which is holding hands, which is free. And one for effort, this is a classic we've been holding hands on and off for a long time. Now, uh, I like to do it holding, holding hands on the couch and while we're walking down the streets. Yep. The only, only time we don't tend to do it is when it's hot and our hands get clammy and stuff,
Suzanne:You run very hot. And so I do sometimes that's just too much to hold on to<laugh>.
Simon:Um, but yeah. So how was the hand holding experience this week?
Suzanne:Good. You grabbed my hand when we were watching a movie mm-hmm<affirmative>
Simon:Yeah, let's see. Number four. Tell them you appreciate their love, patience and understanding, which is free. No effort. What did you think about this one?
Suzanne:Well, you definitely do this all the time and I appreciate it a lot.
Simon:Yeah. I think it's important to let people know that just beyond the, I love you, which we do say tend to say, uh, often through our relationships, it's the other things that they're understanding their patients.
Suzanne:You actually think I have patience, uh,
Simon:For me. Yeah.
Suzanne:For you<laugh> okay.
Simon:So yeah, I, I think these, these are the things which, uh, I, I'm glad you have these traits as well as your, uh, your love for me as well. So yeah, I I'm I'm I'm very pleased about that.
Suzanne:Yep.
Simon:And okay,
Suzanne:Whoa. This one was a big one.
Simon:Number five, number five.
Suzanne:Yeah.
Simon:Number
Suzanne:Five, actually. Can't believe you did this.
Simon:Yeah. Get their car or bike cleaned, which is two for cost and one for effort.
Suzanne:But not only did you get it clean, you did it yourself. And so I would say effort was a little bit more than one. If you're taking it out somewhere to get it done, that's one thing. But if you did it yourself yeah, you did.
Simon:Yeah. The intention was to actually go and get it done somewhere, but I decided to clean it myself. Um, yeah. I, I rented that decision about halfway through the process, but<laugh>, it
Suzanne:Couldn't stop
Simon:By that point. I was committed. So, uh, yeah. Yeah.
Suzanne:<laugh> and I did know he, I was in working, so I did know he was out there cleaning my car, which was very nice to walk out and see the shiny car. Yeah.
Simon:I was pleased. So how do we do it in this episode? What was, what was your least favorite romantic gesture?
Suzanne:I don't think I had a least favorite this week. Cuz there wasn't any, he didn't creep me out.
Simon:Okay. That's
Suzanne:Always good. That's always good. Um, and you know, the remembrance of the butterflies is always good. Mm-hmm<affirmative> um, I mean we hold hands all the time, so I guess for out of the normal, but my favorite was that my car got cleaned, so yeah. Okay. That, that's a good thing.
Simon:Okay. Well that's fair enough.<laugh> so I think everybody should try some of the aspects we've covered in this episode with their partners and let us know how things go@romanticthingsappatgmail.com.
Suzanne:Yeah. And if you have more questions, we'll be happy to address them on the next podcast. Absolutely. And again, it's romantic things. App gmail.com.
Simon:Don't forget to share if you enjoy the show and we'll be back in the next episode
Suzanne:And don't forget to be romantic.