Several years ago I made agreements with friends and family...instead of birthday presents, we would do birthday experiences...go somewhere together, spend time loving each other up, have a shared experience...it requires more planning but the memories it creates are priceless...
Then last week I saw that a local Sacramento restaurant...Bistro Michel...that oddly, I have never visited (oddly because I love many things français)...has Wednesday happy hours that include a French lesson for a small fee...taught by French teachers from the Sacramento area, students sip a glass of wine while learning to speak the "langue française"...
Coincidentally, my best girlfriend...who also loves many things français...is having a birthday...one for which I had already planned a more elaborate experience...but I decided, agreement be damned...and included a gift note with her birthday card asking her to choose a Wednesday and saying it would be my treat...
Of course, it also said "this gift card is only good if you take me with you"...my idea of a quasi-gift...some would call this breaking the agreement...I just call it a way of aligning the "no present" rule with its spirit...
Entrance to Bistro Michel, a French restaurant and bar in downtown Sacramento...