<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"If watching shows like The Bachelor and Millionaire Matchmaker have taught me nothing else (oh, how they&amp;amp;#8217;ve taught me the importance of a formfitting dress and heels), I&amp;amp;#8217;ve been inspired by every episode&amp;amp;#8217;s over-the-top dates. In fact, I think we should all take note. These crazy kids know a thing or two about adventurous dating! Or at least looking pretty while holding a surfboard... Let&amp;amp;#8217;s be honest: What&amp;amp;#8217;s the wildest date you&amp;amp;#8217;ve ever been on? A trip, a sporting event, an impromptu cross-country drive? Now I&amp;amp;#8217;m not downplaying any of those, but in reality, for most of us it&amp;amp;#8217;s usually dinner or drinks or a movie on a typical Friday or Saturday night. Over-the-top dates are pretty rare, but it&amp;amp;#8217;s stepping outside your comfort zone that helps you learn a little more about yourself and your partner. Yes, you should be happy with the day-to-day and comfortable grabbing drinks at your favorite joint. But isn&amp;amp;#8217;t it also nice to have an adventure to look forward to? That&amp;amp;#8217;s why I&amp;amp;#8217;m starting a Date Bucket List. My own personal checklist of dates I&amp;amp;#8217;ve got to try before I die. J&amp;amp;#8217;s going to add on, and we&amp;amp;#8217;ll cross them off when we&amp;amp;#8217;re scratching our heads on the weekend trying to determine, &amp;amp;#8220;well, what should we do today?&amp;amp;#8221; OK, here goes: 1. Go parasailing and do an underwater sea trek in Aruba. Both scare the bejesus out of me, but I secretly (or not-so-secretly) want to do both a day or two after we get married in Aruba in July 2014. 2. Ride elephants in Thailand. Sean and Catherine did it on The Bachelor so, yes, I want to do it one day. 3. Ziplining. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve already gone with my parents, but I&amp;amp;#8217;m dying to go with J and/or a group of friends. This is one of the most exhilarating things I&amp;#x27;ve ever done, and I&amp;#x27;m dying to take J. Remember the time I went ziplining, wore Marc Jacobs sneakers, and smiled nervously the whole time? I practically peed in my pants. 4. A romantic skiing/tubing trip PLUS time by the fire. I&amp;amp;#8217;ve never been skiing before; is 25 too old to start? 5. Explore the Guinness factory in Ireland. Umm, and all of Ireland! J&amp;amp;#8217;s done this one with his parents, and he said felt like he was in his &amp;amp;#8220;homeland.&amp;amp;#8221; Oh! And they even got to watch sheepdogs herd sheep, and J says it was the coolest thing ever. So that too. 6. Plan a whitewater rafting trip. On a scale of 1 to 10, my fear of this is a 9.5 due to the fact that my parents did this when they were just dating, their raft ripped open and my mom fell through, and my dad had to pull her up by her life vest. But I still have a weird fascination and want to try it. Weird, I know. 7. Impromptu Vegas trip. Enough said! 8. Fly in a helicopter. Hey, they do it in like every date on TV, so why can&amp;amp;#8217;t I try it once in real life? I think it&amp;amp;#8217;d be a pretty amazing way to see NYC! 9. Go winery-hopping in Napa Valley. J and I do love our wine. In fact, we will start out on the East Coast and make our way west. 10. Plant a kiss on J at Madison Square Garden when the Rangers win the Stanley Cup&amp;amp;#133; and then take off work to go to the parade together. OK, so I don&amp;amp;#8217;t have a lot of control over this one, but I&amp;amp;#8217;m only 25 and it could happen, right? (Maybe not this year, but a girl&amp;amp;#8217;s got to keep her dreams alive.) OK, that&amp;amp;#8217;s my short list for now! I want to hear your Date Bucket Lists in the comments! We can all use a little extra inspiration. ;) OH! And I need your help to plan an insane date for J&amp;amp;#8217;s 30th birthday (I already threw him a Michael Jackson-themed surprise party for his 27th, so that&amp;amp;#8217;s out, ha!). Any and all suggestions welcome! Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2013/03/do-you-have-a-date-bucket-list>