A Little Mystery, a Date Night, and Something New I Built
Most of the things I build start with something practical. There’s information to organize, a business problem to solve, or a process I want to make easier.
This project gave me a chance to build something a little more playful.
I recently launched a Mystery Date Night Planner. The idea is simple: plan an evening around a budget, then keep the activities hidden until it’s time to reveal them. You get to discover the date as you go.
I like the anticipation in that. There’s something fun about having a plan without knowing every detail of it.
The app is now live and linked from my website’s Current Projects. Getting it there meant taking an idea through development, testing, and deployment—and finally reaching the point where someone else could open it and try it.
That last step always makes a project feel different. An idea can live in your head for a long time. Once it has a working link, you have something concrete to learn from.
Making room for something fun
Between running Blu, working on my MBA, developing business tools, and exploring research questions, I have plenty of projects that ask me to think seriously.
I’m glad this one has a different purpose.
My wife, Angie, and our kids are at the center of the life I’m building. I’ve written about wanting more control over my time so I can be present for them. This project fits into that same part of my life: making room for time together, curiosity, and a little surprise.
It also reminds me that I can use what I’m learning in different ways. The same skills that help me develop a business organizer can help me make something for an evening out.
I enjoy that freedom. I can follow an idea because it seems useful, interesting, or simply fun to try.
The next part is experience
So far, I’ve tested the planner and its surprise reveal. Taking it through a real date night is the next chapter. I want to see how the experience feels away from the screen: whether the pacing works, whether the suggestions make sense, and whether the mystery adds to the evening.
That will give me better feedback than another round of guessing what people might enjoy.
For now, I’m happy to have it out in the world. It’s one more idea I’ve turned into something people can try—and one more reason to keep learning how to build.
Try the Mystery Date Night Planner
For another story about family, learning, and the things I’m building, read Same Job, Different Wrapper.
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