Our second anniversary is coming up in just a couple of weeks, and over brunch this weekend we got to chatting about what we want to do to celebrate. Momofuku tasting menu? Weekend in Vegas? Special orthopedic neck pillows? (You think I joke, but seriously: want one.)
…And you know what we decided? That spending a ton of money on a celebration of our (very young) marriage is a complete and total waste. I suppose if there was some restaurant we had been keening and dying to try, it would be convenient and lovely to employ our anniversary as an excuse to go, but if there isn’t? What, we need to get all trussed up and take a $20 taxi (each way) to get to some hot-spot restaurant that we probably can’t afford…just because? To make…a point? What point would that be, exactly? That romance is found on the face of a hundred dollar bill, or in the folds of a perfectly pressed napkin? That’s not the kind of marriage – or, you know, life – that I want.
I’m still a girl, and I think that large, shiny rocks are very nice, but I also believe this: money’s not what you should be focusing on when it comes to romantic milestones. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t buy presents, or go to nice restaurants, or indulge your loved ones by giving them beautiful things that they’d never buy for themselves. It’s also not to say that you shouldn’t treat yourselves by going to fancier-than-usual places when you’re celebrating something, if you can afford it; it’s just to say that when caviar and Chanel start taking center stage, your problems may be bigger than your bank account.
So when this anniversary rolls around, you won’t find us lounging at the Bellagio, or splashing about in the waves in Mexico. You also won’t find us at Daniel, Masa (although the place is on my bucket list), or Nobu. We’ve decided that it would be nice to go out to dinner to spend a little one-on-one, non-MarioKart-infused time together, but we want it to be about the experience, not about the expense. I’m thinking somewhere a little more $8-a-bowl ramen, and a little less $26-a-patty hamburger.
Any suggestions? I’d especially like to hear about spots in and around Chinatown and Little Italy: there’s nothing more romantic than a long, cannoli-filled stroll down Mulberry Street at summer’s end.
