KP and I have been doing the Crated With Love date night subscription boxes for the past several months. I’ve been reviewing them on the blog to help people get an idea about what one of these at-home date night box services are like.
So this past Friday night -after a long week- KP and I sat down to have our date night. Can I be honest? Both of us were exhausted, and probably would’ve preferred to veg out in front of the tv instead. But we’ve been busy and haven’t even had many nights to spend together lately, so out of commitment and obligation, we forced ourselves to set up the date box anyway.
And let’s just say our date night did not turn out as planned.
Hey, I’m pretty honest about marriage in this blog, ok? So I think it’s only fair to admit that – even though I write about marriage a lot – that my own marriage is still not immune to arguments and fighting and nights that don’t end as intended.
So here’s our unconventional review of this month’s Crated With Love subscription box.
Don’t worry though – there IS a happy ending to this post/review – we ended up finishing the date box the next night. Marriage is a journey, folks. Some days are good, some are bad…but either way, we keep going. We’ll never get to the better days if we don’t push together through the hard days.
(Please note/disclaimer: while this post was sponsored by Crated With Love, all opinions below are fully mine. As with all my date night subscription box reviews, I seek to give honest reviews and helpful feedback to anyone who might be deciding a date night subscription box service for themselves. I hope you find this post helpful!)
The theme of March’s Crated With Love Box was My Kaizen Crush. “Kaizen” being a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement”.
Here’s what the box contained:
– a color-changing plastic cup
– Yan Yan Cookies Japanese snack cup
– 2 mini watercolor sets
– some printed origami paper
– a bag of colored marble pieces
– a date calendar reminder fridge magnet
– a handful of cards: 4 Challenge cards, 2 Challenge Activity cars, 1 Date Introduction card, 1 Origami Instruction card.
After setting up our date area, we started on the first activity. It was a Sudoku challenge. Neither KP nor I have played much Sudoku before, though we understood the general concept and rules. So we dove in to the challenge.
If you don’t know much about Sudoku – it can be a bit of a challenge. It can get frustrating. You can get so far and think you’re doing awesome, only to realize that one piece won’t work and then you have to make a bunch of changes to the entire thing.
Aaand…I think, unfortunately, with the fact that we were already both mentally exhausted going into the date – um, neither of us finished the puzzle.
Instead, for those of you who’ve been married awhile, you probably know the story:
An offhand comment was made that hurt the other more than the speaker intended. Emotions got the best of us. Frustrations we’d each been silently stewing on for months finally bubbled to the surface, and we spent the next couple hours arguing instead of having our date night together.
I’d love to say that we patched it all up and didn’t go to bed angry – but while there was some reconciliation that night, we didn’t really come back together until the next day. In hindsight, it was probably good that we talked about some of the stuff that was brought up during our argument: issues we’d been needing to confront, but hadn’t.
Nice that the focus of this month’s box was “Continuous Improvement“, huh?
That’s marriage for you…a continual journey…full of ups and downs…two people always working together to improve their relationship…continually.
And it’s why we do these at-home date night subscription boxes together in the first place.
Though our first attempt didn’t go so well, we DID finish the box the next evening. And it was a much better night. 🙂 We never did finish the Sudoku puzzle, skipping straight to Challenge 2.
Challenge 2 was origami folding. The activity came with a link to video instructions if you preferred more of visual guide. The focus on the activity was how origami, like your relationship, improves the more you practice.
And true to form, the second heart we made was better than the first. (Though I’m going to assume the activity meant not that we should separate and have a second marriage/relationship, lol, but that we should keep working our current one. 🙂 )
Challenge 3 included two small paint sets and a color-changing Crated with Love cup. We had to give ourselves 5 minutes to start a painting about something that made us think about the other. At the end of 5 minutes, we had to switch paintings and finish the other person’s.
I think we did a decent job actually. And actually, I think that KP and I have discovered through these date night boxes that we really enjoying painting together. Who would’ve thought that’d be something we enjoyed? We should paint together more often.
Challenge 4 was a game with marbles. It was suggested that we play on the ground, but we improvised and played on the couch instead. 🙂
Oh, and though not directly attached to an activity, also included in the box was a Japanese snack of crackers and chocolate called Yan Yan. We snacked on this while flicking marbles at each other, ha ha.
Overall, the date night(s) box was well worth it! Though it might not have necessarily started off great – which is obviously user error and not Crated With Love’s fault, lol – because KP and I are committed to continually improving and working on our marriage, we were able to pick up again after our fight and come back together to finish our date night.
OVERALL THOUGHTS on Crated With Love:
– I like that Crated With Love offers activities in each box designed to get a couple talking about their relationship. These are more than just date night activities…but also relationship building activities.
– KP and I have done several Crated With Love boxes so far and I really like that they come up with unique ideas for a relationship-building date night. I like that I never know what to expect…but we always enjoy it.
– While Crated With Love has the lowest price point of the other date night box companies, I don’t ever feel that they skimp on quality of their dates. I assume that they’re able to offer a lower price point because they don’t include unnecessary items to try to “beef up” their boxes – their dates’ worth is in the quality of the activities planned, not the quantity of the items in the box.
– If you’re considering trying out a date night subscription box, but don’t want to break the bank when you’re not sure if it’ll be for you, I suggest trying Crated With Love.
Crated With Love General Info:
Cost/mo.: $20 – $25/mo
Shipping: FREE
Promo code: n/a, but $5 off when you use THIS LINK
Best For?: Seriously Dating, Engaged, Married
Thanks so much Crated With Love for allowing KP and I to have a fun date night at home with your My Kaizen Crush date night box!
You Might Also Enjoy my other Crated With Love reviews:
October 2017: You Complete Me
April 2017: I Love the 80s!
March 2017: My Kaizen Crush
February 2017: Stuck on You
January 2017: FounDATEions
April 2016: Tea For Two
