Dearest Marita,
Happy Happy Birthday!
My annual challenge of finding a gift for you is here again. I hope you like my set of gifts this year. There’s been less stress for you these days, and I’m really happy about that. But I can still sense some stress – and I guess that will always be the case. So I thought it would be good to give you something to help you manage stress more effectively.
April 30
We will have breakfast at the UN. We’ll splurge a little on some nice hot cappuccino, scrambled egges, ham and pancakes. Not exactly gourmet fare but nice and comfortable. A good way to start the day, especially since it’s expected to be just a little chilly.
Then we will have lunch at the Australian Restaurant at 20 West 38th Street. I don’t think we’ve ever had real Australian food. At least I can’t recall. So here’s our chance to have barramundi fish, kangaroo, lamb roast, sticky prawns and some Australian wine or beer. There’s even a tasting menu that we can share so we don’t get too stuffed for dinner with the family which is going to be at the Panda Restaurant.
May 2
Your next gift for your extended birthday celebration is an introductory session to Zen 
meditation at a Zen center. I know you’ve always been attracted to Buddhist philosophy, and I think you enjoyed our Dan Yoga classes. And I know you don’t particularly like to read about meditation and prefer to get live, practical instruction. So I think you’ll like this one. At this introductory session, you’ll learn about “zazen” or seated meditation, how to breathe, and a host of other basic things on Zen. It will be on Sunday at the Zen Center of New York City in Brooklyn.
The meditation session will go from about 9:30AM to 12:30PM. I think we’re going to be quite hungry after that, don’t you think? 
So after this session of relaxation and enlightenment, we have some options for lunch. We could go to Bacchus Bistrot which is not too far from the Zen Center. It is billed as one of the best authentic French bistros in the city. Alternatively, we could go to the Clinton St Baking Company. It won’t exactly be a Zen moment for us, and we will give in to some earthly pleasures. But it will definitely keep us in a relaxed mode.
In keeping with our relaxation theme, after lunch we will go for a massage at the Spring Thyme, a Chinese traditional medicine and massage place that has gotten many good reviews. Maybe you want to consider some accupuncture? The doctor in the staff is supposedly one of the best. At the very least, you should get a nice massage. It’s not like Bliss but they say it’s pretty good. BTW – Sunday services are 30% off. We can go to their Park Slope location which shouldn’t be too far from the Zen Center. Or we can go to the Nassau Street location if we eat at Clinton St Bakery.
Then we go for some real relaxation – shopping! We can go to Century 21 in downtown Manhattan. We could even drive all the way to Woodbury if you want.
I’ll give you another option – a visit to Divine Mercy on Saturday followed by the introductory session on Zen on Sunday. We could add a couple of shopping trips in between at your choice of shopping center, even Garden State Plaza!
Whatever we decide, as long as we are together, that’s all that matters. We should end the day with a nice relaxing movie. I’ll pick a couple of DVDs. Maybe another travel video? How about a video on Zen?
Happy Birthday!
I love you very, very much!
Leo
