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glenviewlantern.com life & arts
the glenview lantern | January 24, 2019 | 29
Glenview couple keeps
New Year’s resolution
Chris Pullam
Freelance Reporter
Justin and Sarah Breen
didn’t set out to appear
on “The Today Show” or
inspire their social media
followers to strengthen
their commitments to
their significant others.
They simply wanted to
spend more one-on-one
time together.
At the end of 2017, the
couple from Glenview
made a New Year’s resolution
for 2018: to go out
to dinner once a week, just
the two of them, without
the kids. And 52 weeks
later, they completed their
journey — but not before
picking up a few fans
along the way.
“I came up with the
idea because my wife
and I have a very good
marriage and our work
careers are great, but we
have two young kids and
life can get exhausting at
times,” Justin said. “So I
felt it would be great to go
out and eat once a week
without the kids just to reconnect.
We both put a lot
of effort into our respective
careers to be successful,
so we put that same
level of effort into this
resolution, as well.”
Justin, a Glenview resident
and Glenbrook North
graduate, owns a public/media
relations firm,
BrEpic Communications,
so it was only natural that
he documented many of
the dinners via Facebook.
Pretty soon, they had their
own fanbase, with followers
sending them encouraging
messages urging
them to accomplish the
feat, as well as a few who
Glenview couple Justin and Sarah Breen entered 2018
with a simple resolution: have a date night every week
without the kids. photo submitted
wanted to try the resolution
for themselves.
“It’s cool [to see that
people were inspired by
us],” Justin said. “Besides
connecting with my wife,
that’s been the best part,
actually seeing people doing
this, as well. I think
that after you’re married
for a certain amount of
time, it’s possible to begin
forgetting the reason you
got married in the first
place. That this adventure
led to other couples
being inspired is very
gratifying.”
With only a few weeks
remaining in 2018, the
newspapers began calling.
Then, on Jan. 4, the
Breen’s story appeared on
“The Today Show.” And
on Friday, Jan. 11, Justin
announced over Facebook
that the “Steve Harvey
Show” wanted to fly the
couple to Los Angeles for
an appearance.
“Had a great talk with
the producer,” Justin told
his followers in a post.
“She is very excited about
the possibilities. Should
know more by next week
if this gets green-lighted.
Taking epic to a new epic
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