so you may or may not have read my post a couple weeks ago mentioning how my friend owen and i usually celebrate our birthdays together because we have a common circle of friends.
well, i was just kicking around some ideas (he had mentioned hibachi) and i brought up Ichiban in the email i sent to him. he wrote back and said he'd like to look at other options because ichiban was too expensive. i said okay and then asked what we should do after. he wrote back and mentioned Osaka (has anyone been there? is it good?) and said he wants to do a houseparty either at our house or his because he's too broke to do dinner AND drinks out somewhere afterward.
i don't want to host a party because then we get stuck with the mess and the clean up (which tends to be a big big mess because everyone drinks so much and doesn't clean up after themselves).
i don't really want to do it at his place for several reasons. 1) they live in a condo and their neighbors downstairs just had a baby so i don't want to be crazy loud for hours and hours upstairs. 2) their house is always more messy than i am comfortable with. 3) they have parties all the time so this would just end up feeling like any other night. and i LOVE my birthday and like to use it as a reason to do something different/fun.
i know i sound like a giant brat but i can't come up with a solution that makes us both happy and i don't really feel like i can say "let's just do our own thing" now because i'll hurt his feelings.
any thoughts (besides suck it up?)
Re: WWYD? joint birthday related (i sound bratty)
I haven't been to Osaka but I personally think that Bennihana's is the best for hibachi. Their shrimp sauce is so good I could drink it.
Anyways, here is there current special, which isn't a bad deal at all:
http://www.benihana.com/whats-cooking
Also, you could just tell him that you want to do dinner with just your family or DH, then meet up with all your friends at the bars for drinks??
I don't think you are acting bratty at all, especially if what he wants to do for his birthday is not what you want to do for yours, plain and simple!
I was going to say the same thing as the previous poster--suggest splitting up for dinner and then going out for drinks?
I do think it is important to be sensitive, though, to the fact that he was honest enough to say that he has some budgetary constraints. That's a hard position to be in, if you feel like everyone else can spend and you can't, and good for him for saying something rather than spending more than he can afford.
I've been to Osaka a few times. Definitely not as good as Ichiban. Even Benihana is better in my opinion. I would not recommend Osaka. It's not really all that much cheaper than Ichiban anyway.
I would just suggest going out for drinks as a group. Everyone can do what they want for dinner. That sounds like a good plan. I wouldn't want the clean up of a big party (not such a good birthday present to clean up after a bunch of messy drinkers!). It's also considerate of you to take the neighbors at his condo into consideration and not want to have the party there.
Mr. Sammy Dog
they are really good friends of his/ours also. the wife was the keyboard player in owen's band. i always feel bad when owen has people over because they make no attempt to be quiet. i think that the people who live downstairs are saints. i'd be postal, especially since the husband is in his 3rd year of nursing school and is trying to study around the schedule of his newborn.
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Osaka is fine. I've had their sushi quite a bit, because it's close to my house, decent priced... but their hibachi isn't as good as hibachi at other places. Granted, you aren't a meat eater, but the meat pieces are much smaller, which is a bit deal to me - I
steak. We ordered hibachi mushrooms as a side to our sushi once and those pieces were smaller too. I don't think you'd hate it, though, I just think you'd prefer a more tried-and-true place.
I'd suggest doing dinner separately and then finding a fun place to go out to drink - or a cheap show to see.
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i told him about this and he said, "that settles dinner then!" lol. so yes, we're for sure going to benihaha for dinner. too bad you can only use 1 coupon per table. oh well. i get good food and he gets a cheap meal so we're both happy.
we haven't sorted out the after dinner plans yet but at least it's a start!
Thanks for your advice ladies!