Happily is a monthly subscription that delivers everything you need for a unique, creative date designed to help you reconnect with your partner as you spend quality time together.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Happily
The Subscription Box: Happily
The Cost: $39.95 a month + free shipping. Save with 3- and 6-month subscriptions.
The Products: Everything you need for a creative date night activity with your significant other.
Ships to: The US
Happily July 2020 Review
Since I started reviewing this box in May, I have been sharing a bit about my husband, Dustin, and me as a couple, and decided to continue with that tradition. To be honest, since having kids, we have really struggled to go on actual dates. In the last 7 years, I have been away from my kids overnight a total of 6 times. While pre-COVID we worked a little harder to at least get out for an evening together once and a while, now all of our dates are at home after the kids have gone to bed. We quickly discovered there is little to do inside after 8 p.m. for a date, so a movie or a game of cribbage is our go-to. A note about cribbage: this is a great couples game, but it can get quite competitive...we actually have a scorecard that we started in 2014! Dustin has since won exactly 100 games, while I am in 2nd place with 98 wins! But because one can only play so much cribbage and eat so much popcorn, I was excited to dig into this Happily box for a change of pace. How did this month fare? Keep on reading!
Our date came with a date prep card. This listed all of the materials you'll need to have on hand to make the most of your date...I'm guessing we're making ice-cream this month?!
We also received a "Welcome to Your Date" card. This card gives a bit of a summary of what to expect from your date. I like that they describe how each task will strengthen your relationship and why it was included in the box. The reverse side of the card gives information for "What's Inside," describing all of the items that have been included in this box.
Here we received the info card for our custom playlist. I went to Spotify and found the "DateBox Club July 2020 Playlist" and gave it a whirl. This playlist included artists like Counting Crows, Pearl Jam, Train, and Hootie and The Blowfish. While these are all fine musicians, after a few minutes, my husband sweetly asked if we could turn on George Strait radio instead...
Dance Class
Instead of conversation starters this month, we received a link to a personal dance class. This 16-minute salsa lesson was quite interesting! My husband really didn't want to do this, but I was able to talk him into it after a glass of wine. While the steps were easy to follow, we are terrible dancers and definitely need more lessons! It was fun though, and created a lot of laughs!
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I Bet I Know You Better Game
Yes, yes, yes to a physical game that can be played more than once! I love games and especially try to work them into our daily lives with the kids, but Dustin and I pretty much stick to cribbage. While Dustin wasn't as excited about this game as he was the escape crate from last month, he was a trooper and played 3 rounds with me! To play, you deal out 6 cards to each player. You are then given a few minutes to write your answers down on a sheet of paper about how you would answer the questions. Taking turns, you each lay down a card and read it out loud. Your partner then designates the included heart tokens on each card "betting" how well they know you. Whoever gets the most tokens wins. The questions on the cards were fun and created some really good conversations. Some of the questions were hard to answer about ourselves, but we were able to answer them for each other! Crazy!
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I have to admit, this game was pretty dang fun, and I love the fact that we get to save it and play it again! I like the direction this subscription is heading!!
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Homemade Ice Cream Kit
The next item in our box was this homemade ice cream kit. We received directions, some ingredients, bags, and toppings for homemade ice cream sundaes!
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To create our ice cream, we were given a recipe card that listed our needed ingredients and supplies, along with step by step instructions on how to make it. I was happy they chose a recipe that didn't include turning our oven on. Because it has been over 85 every day this week, I was ready to make this cool treat!
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Ice Cream Supplies
To create our ice cream we had to buy a few items (such as heavy whipping cream) at the store, but our kit did come with heavy-duty sealable bags, sugar, and rock salt.
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To create our ice cream we added our heavy whipping cream to the smaller included bag and added the sugar and some vanilla. Sealing it tightly, we added that bag into the larger bag filled with ice and rock salt. Then it was time to shake, shake, shake. Because it was a bit noisy we took it outside on our patio, and of course I dropped mine, so the ice bag sprung a leak....maybe I should have skipped that second glass of wine! Anyways, we shook our bags for about 5 minutes, then placed them in the freezer for 20 minutes.
J Hungerford Smith Chocolate Fudge Topping
To top off our sundaes, we received a variety of toppings to add. First, we received 2 packages of J. Hungerford Smith chocolate fudge topping. Now this chocolate is amazing...it is thick and gooey and can be heated or poured on as is. I went online to try and purchase more but had a heck of a time finding it for sale at a local retailer. I was able to find it on Amazon, but it was so insanely expensive that I didn't even link it, although it was probably some of the best fudge topping I have ever eaten...
Pack of Oreos - Buy an 18 count snack pack for $9.11
One of my favorite ice cream toppings ever is Oreo cookies; you just can't go wrong. I do wish they would have sent 2 separate packages of these though, because 2 cookies to share just isn't enough.
Sprinkles
We also received a small bag of sprinkles. Colorful, cute, and nostalgic, perfect for a date night!
Albanese Gummi Bears - Buy a 36 oz package for $6.88
While I have enjoyed my fair share of Haribo gummy bears in my lifetime, I have never had the pleasure of giving these Albanese ones a chance, that is until now. We received 2 packages of these cute little bears, and I think I am converting to this brand...they include 12 different flavors that are all amazing, plus the bears themselves are more chewy and tender than Haribo!
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Can you guess whose sundae belongs to who? Dustin prefers chocolate, while I went for it all! While our ice cream melted pretty fast (we should have kept it in the freezer longer, but just couldn't wait) it sure was a tasty, cool treat to end our date!
The Verdict: This was our third time receiving a box from Happily and this box was the best one yet. We received a physical game that can be played more than once, the playlist, dance lesson, and ice cream sundae kit. While I still feel the value is still not quite there (a set of sundae bowls, spoons, and more toppings would have been nice...) it was a very fun experience and a date night that my husband and I both enjoyed. As I have said in previous reviews, this box has great potential and does really help couples open up with each other and become closer, but for $39.95 I want a few more physical items in the box. As they seem to be heading in the right direction, I am hoping to be wowed next month!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. According to Happily's FAQ, boxes ship on the 10th of every month, so you'd likely receive the August box.
Read our other Happily review right here, and for more options like this, check out all of our date night boxes and the Lifestyle Subscription Box List!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
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