For my husband’s 33rd birthday, I wanted to do something different and unique.

With a baby, going away for an overnight isn’t such a feasible thing (I trust our babysitter but overnight is a big responsibility and I’m not quite ready for that just yet). I didn’t want to get a traditional gift, and he owns everything he could ever need.

I knew the best gift we could give one another was time together.

(T-4 months til this MBA business is behind us!)

So I did some hunting online and discovered that a modern Italian restaurant in town (Zazio’s) does a monthly cooking class where, with the help of the restaurant’s executive chef, you learn how to cook and prepare a four-course meal … and then eat it, all the while, drinking wine. Sounds good to me!!

PLUS you get an embroidered Zazio’s apron and a recipe book. SOLD 🙂

We got engaged in Florence, Italy, and both love Italian cuisine so it really seemed like the perfect gift. I arranged for a babysitter, signed us up and gave him a cute card on his birthday (July 12) with the promise of attending the class August 20.

This weekend we had our class, and it did NOT disappoint!!! It was a super-fun bonding experience and for a little while, we were Lis and Luis … not Mom and Dad. And it was NICE.

Not that we didn’t think of our lil monkey … we sure did (and our wonderful babysitter texted us an adorable pic of Maya) … but it was nice to tune into just us and our relationship for a few hours. Because we do go out all the time still … but it’s usually with her. She’s an easy-going table-mate for the most part, and a great travel companion … but it’s equally important to nurture our marriage as it is our family, and our experience Saturday was a good reminder of that — that time together doesn’t just have to be once she is asleep at night.

I thoroughly enjoyed two glasses of wine while we cooked without worrying about a million things like I usually do. I was able to enjoy and zone out a bit–a first! My mommy-hat wasn’t completely off … but it also wasn’t strapped on tight. And we felt more connected than we had in a long time just from this shared, pleasurable experience. We want to do it again in the fall since the chef does this monthly and the ingredients are seasonal and local (or imported from Italy) — and are going to commit to making more date days/nights going forward now that we have a babysitter we trust and love (which is key when your family lives so far away!)

My fave was probably the flourless chocolate almond torte which I ate every. last. crumb 🙂

Here is our meal, in photos 🙂 If you drool, it’s OK. No one can see 🙂

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And if you are curious? I ate nearly everything on my plate. Special occasions like this … calorie-counting is just not welcome at. Enjoying life IS.

How about you? How do you and your significant other find time to connect? Has it gotten easier or harder with children?