Copyright hellomagazine
For Barack and Michelle Obama, taking care of date nights and romance is part and parcel of life now after 33 years of marriage. The couple first met back in June 1989, when the future President of the United States was employed by law firm Sidley Austin, and his future wife was his advisor. After a few months of unsuccessful wooing, Barack finally convinced Michelle to go out with him, and soon after, they began dating more seriously. They tied the knot on October 3, 1992, eventually welcoming daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, together. Speaking with People in preparation for the release of her style book The Look, Michelle, 61, outlined how she and Barack, 64, keep the spice in their marriage alive more than three decades in, especially amid early rumors that they were experiencing issues, which the former first lady debunked earlier this year. "We've been married 32, 33 [years]... I always forget. Sorry, honey," she quipped at first, then sharing some insight into how they make their date nights more unconventional than most. "When we're both happy about date night, we're at home. We are not getting dressed. We just have a nice dinner, candles lit, music, we talk." "We don't talk for the whole day, because we're in the house together all day, right?" she explained. "We work from home. So when we are going to have a really special night, it's like, 'Don't talk to me. Save it for dinner.' He'll be like, 'Did you talk to the girls?' 'I did, but we're not going to talk about it until date night.'" The mom-of-two continued: "But sometimes we go out for dinners in D.C. or wherever. I am too old, I can't do dinner and a movie. I will fall asleep in the movie. So it's like, 'Let's pick one.'" The Becoming author also notes treating state dinners during their time in the White House like date nights back, which she also wrote about in The Look. "For those black tie events, that was like our wedding every time," Michelle gushed. "You felt like the belle of the ball. With each year I got a little riskier, my team and I tried different things. And you're getting all dolled up for your man. There was an unspoken ritual, he never knew, until I walked out, ready, what I was wearing." "That's the romance, those little moments in this crazy world, where we could look at each other and go, 'You're cute.' Then we walk downstairs to a barrage of press, lights and cameras, and it's like, 'Just stay in this moment. It's really just us. This is nice.'" Michelle highlights this being a new era of her life, one where she can make choices for herself rather than in service of her image as the First Lady. "I'm as vibrant as I've ever been," she says proudly of life in her 60s. "My kids are grown and launched, they are healthy and happy. My husband is doing just fine. We are the former president and first lady, and so I feel like this is the first time in my life that when I say and do something, here in this interview, writing this book, these are my choices. That is freeing."
