ShareThisQ: My husband's 50th birthday is coming up. I want to invite about 20 people to a dinner party at his favorite restaurant, but given the economy, I can't afford to foot the bill. How do I word the invitation so everyone knows they need to pay their own way?
A: How about something like this?
Please come to my husband's
50th-birthday party
At Swanky Restaurant
However
Despite my expensive taste
I am horribly cheap
So if you come
You'd better bring your wallet
Harsh, I know, but no matter how nicely you attempt to phrase it, this is how it's going to sound to your guests. If you were hosting a dinner party at your home, you wouldn't make your guests pay for their meals, right? (FYI, the correct answer here is "Of course not -- I wouldn't dream of being so rude.")
Well, when you move the party to a restaurant, you're still the host. Which means you still have to pay, whether you're at Chuck E. Cheese's or Le Bernardin.
I understand that you want to throw a nice party for your husband, but if you can't afford to foot the bill yourself, you need to change your plans. Invite fewer people. Go for lunch instead of dinner. See if the restaurant can cater a cocktail party at your house. Or just go somewhere less pricey. I guarantee your guests will enjoy a scaled-back party much more than a lavish one they have to pay for themselves. After all, the economy's affecting them, too.
Q: I went to a spa in Miami last week that had a sauna in the ladies' lounge. I was all excited to use it, but then I saw totally naked people in there! Is that really the norm?
A: I'm not quite sure why this is, but the more expensive the spa, the more likely you'll find naked people milling about. But that doesn't mean you have to strip down and join them. It's perfectly fine to wear a bathing suit in the sauna.
Q: OK, so last week you said not to cut your nails at the pool. But can I paint my nails on an airplane? It strikes me as an ideal place to do it -- you're pretty much just stuck in your seat.
A: Sure, as long as you're the only person on the plane. The passengers around you are stuck in their seats, too, and I doubt they'll enjoy inhaling your toxic nail-polish fumes.
(E-mail travel-etiquette questions to Lesley Carlin at deartripadvisor(at)tripadvisor.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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