A You-On-You Holiday Date

On Monday, a friend of mine recounted a Skype conversation she had with a fellow yoga teacher who is taking a year to live and teach in Peru. This Peru-based friend told her about a weekend excursion to Bolivia where, for the first time in 5 months, she saw television. She set herself up with a hotel room, donned a robe and lounged on the bed while watching The Devil Wears Prada. It was a real treat away from her Amazonian paradise.

“I’m having a relationship with myself,” she told my friend. “It’s challenging sometimes, but right now we’re really good.”

For the yogi in Peru, this luxury hotel retreat was more than just a check-in with reality. It was a date between her and herself.

As we creep slowly along the advent trail of the holidays, suspiciously eyeing the exponentially multiplying pints and chocolate sweets, it’s easy to find that somewhere along the way some wintery cheer has been misplaced by holiday obligations. Of course, it’s The Time of the year to stop and enjoy chats and nights out with the people in your life… But what about You?

As a well-experienced self-on-self dater, I encourage you to make a date for You during the holidays. I mean it. Block off a few hours (or a whole night!) in your calendar and treat yourself the way you’d want a date to treat you. Seriously, go all the way. Wear something that makes you feel amazing, buy yourself something beautiful or delicious, tell yourself you look nice. The more you get into it, the more exciting it will be. You might even get butterflies.

Sure, it may seem silly, but this is so important to do during the hustle and bustle of the season. When you set aside a date for You, you can pamper yourself the way no one else can. It’s a way for you to check-in, de-stress, reconnect, and reassess what really makes you tick. Whenever I take myself out for some me-on-me time, I always feel 100% more ready to give the best of myself to others.

Here are a few date ideas that you could try out for your One-on-One:

For the coffee or tea drinker: I really enjoy taking a journal or a good book to a local café. It’s nice to drop into your own world while in a crowd. Some of my favourites would be Tea Gardens, CoffeeToGetHer (The Bernard Shaw’s alter ego breakfast café), Accents, Clement&Pekoe, The Fumbally, or Alchemy Juice Co. in BT2.

For the Foodie: Taking yourself to dinner might seem like a ballsy thing to do. But it’s amazing! Especially after a few glasses of wine. Eat something new and delicious, and follow it up guilt-free with dessert and a hot chocolate. No one’s there to notice, so you can unbutton your pants on the way home. It’s great.

For the theatre goer: It can be deflating to go see a holiday show or musical that you’re really excited about, but no one else wants to see. It almost defeats the purpose to drag anyone to it. Instead of feeling like you’ve pushed someone into seeing a show they don’t really like, go on your own! Enjoy every minute of it. Wear your special theatre outfit. Sing and dance the whole way home and reel to yourself about how stunning the experience was.

For the sporty person: While the pond at Stephen’s Green won’t freeze over enough for you to glide upon its surface, you can ice skating at any of Dublin’s winter rinks. There’s one in Blanchardstown, Dundrum, Dundalk, Swords, and the RDS. The best thing about skating on your own is that you can practice at your own pace.

For the person with new Christmas PJs: Making a big meal for yourself and then sitting down to enjoy it over a Christmas movie is one of the yummiest ways to treat You. There’s nothing like dozing off to an old Christmas fav in your own home after a good meal and bathing in pure self-pampering bliss.

For the believers: Sometimes you have a secret wish that only Santa can hear. Luckily he is able to be in many places at once in Dublin. There are at least 9 places where Santa will be eating his December cookies this year, including The National Botanic Gardens, Croke Park, The Chocolate Warehouse, Magical Grotto at Dublin Zoo, Dundrum, Ardgillan Castle, and more.

Now, whenever you’ve scheduled your time for yourself, make sure it happens. Treat it like a real date. If you have to rearrange plans, tread carefully by telling yourself you’re still really excited about the date and want it to be special. Pick out your favourite things and fill your date with them.

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”  Lucille Ball