Another Anniversary!

Wow, This has been a crazy week for Anniversaries!  First mine and William's wedding anniversary, then our one year in China and yesterday (Nov. 12) was our good friends Julie and Martin's one year Wedding Anniversary!

Last year William and I landed in Nashville airport on November 9th at about 10pm. Then we took the long drive home with my mom. 

We rested for a day and tried to figure out what time zone we were in and then got back on a plane on November 11th to fly to New York. Yes. We are crazy.

Julie has been a dear friend of mine since we lived together in college, she is also Rosie's Godmother, and she was getting married. It just so happened it worked out that the date she wanted was the day after we arrived in the US so that was super awesome. There was no way we were going to miss that wedding.  So off to New York, New York we flew.  It's not like we knew what time zone we were in any way... so what was one more flight?


We had such a wonderful time. I'm still really happy we decided to go.  It was the most fun wedding I've ever been too. And what made it really really special was the fact that Me and William and Rosie, and one other person, were the only guests. It was relaxing and fun and happy and wonderful.

We started our day with breakfast and sitting around talking and laughing. Then a limo picked us up at Julie's Manhattan apartment and took us to New York City Hall.

There was a short, simple but totally sweet ceremony where we all laughed and smiled. We also doubled as Wedding Photographers so that was fun too.  Then the Limo picked us up again and we drank the most amazing champagne while we drove to a very nice restaurant for lunch.

It was such a simple and intimate day of celebrating the love of close friends and the love of Julie and Martin. It was simple and elegant and perfect.

I think my most favorite moment was when we were all walking home from lunch and a man stopped Julie to tell her how amazing she looked, and what a wonderful dress she was wearing. (He was right. She looked totally hot) I told him that it was her wedding dress and he got all excited for her and clapped his hands, took a good long look at Martin and said "And he's CUTE TOO! I would know. I'm gay."  I said "we know" and we all had a good laugh. It was such a funny typical New York moment.

William and I really enjoy New York every time we go but this trip was extra special. We spent the rest of the weekend exploring Manhattan in the early hours of the morning (we were jet lagged)  and letting Julie show us some of her favorite places.

But it was also a wonderful trip because we got to be part of a very special day of a very special friend.

So Happy Anniversary Julie and Martin. We love you very much and we are so happy that you let us be a part of your special day and a part of your lives.

One Year

One year ago today William, Rosie and I took a one way flight from Shanghai, China back to the USA.

My mom had this block calender in our room when we arrived. It said November 9th. I've left it on that date for a year. I guess I felt like if I turned it, I would be moving farther and farther away from China.

Tomorrow I'll turn the date over. Tomorrow it will be more than a year since we left our city, our Shanghai.

If you'd like to read about my last day in China you can go HERE. If you'd like to see a picture of the van my mom had to rent to pick us up from the airport and our ridiculous luggage go HERE.

Other wise, here are some pictures of our last couple days in China...

Last family picture in China.

Visiting the Shanghai Art Museum one last time

I spent the my last day in one of my favorite hang out places, Tai Kan Lu, with my dear friend Shirin and her baby boy.

I'm so glad Rosie is such a happy baby. Her joy has gotten me to many sad and lonely times.

Shanghai is such a fun mix of modern and traditional

William went for a walk on our last day... He took some nice pictures

and got him self some street food breakfast one last time.

Here is William sitting in the airport waiting for our flight and chewing on a Cuban cigar. We knew we would not be able to get those in the US.

Thinking about who and what we're leaving behind and wondering what we're about to get our selves into.

It's been kind of a weird emotional day. I'm happy we came back to the US and I know my mom is too. I think it was the best thing for our Rosie baby, for our marriage and for our health. But that doesn't mean we don't miss it sometimes.

To commemorate our one year anniversary we went to a new "Asian Cuisine" Restaurant. Most of the staff are from China and they were wonderfully nice to us. They even brought William a plate of dried fish that wasn't on the menu because he was craving it so much. They were happy to meet an American that appreciated real Chinese food. Now if we could only find some Hot Pot.

 Picture from William's tumblr account.

3 Months Ago 30/365

3 months ago today I woke up at 5:30 am in anticipation of the beginning of a new adventure and the closing of an old one.

This was moving day. But not just any moving day. This was moving to a new country day.

After stuffing some more things into a suit case I decided to take a walk. I took my usual walk, the one I took every day. I loved this walk in the morning because of the hustle and bustle of people going to work. In the evening it was fun to see every one coming home from work. Hand in hand with boy friends and girl friends. Meeting for dinner. Running home with groceries. I really enjoyed this walk.

morning walks are best

I stopped by Starbucks to pick up a Christmas gift for my friend Jenny and I was so excited to see they already had their red cups. I always look forward to the red cups as a mark that the Christmas season has arrived and I was really hoping they would show up before we left. I felt like it was a little gift to me from Starbucks.

the alley walk to our house

I walked home down the alley that is a  make shift vegetable market in the mornings and took pictures of the vendors and the children walking to school. I tried to take in every detail of this walk. The vine that had grown up past the brick wall. The smell of morning bao zi (steamed bread) mixed with... was that sewage? The old people as they walked home with their produce.

our street corner and apartment

When I got to the street corner I stopped by our favorite coffee shop, Cafe 85, and ordered our favorite drinks. We would miss these drinks. As I waited for our Sea Salt Coffee I took video of the morning traffic and tried to drink in the faces of the people who walked by the window. Some of these people I'd walked pasted almost every day for the past year and half. I would never see them again.

The rest of the morning was spent frantically packing and cleaning and putting things in a pile for our friend Shelly to take home.  Shelly came around lunch time and held the baby while I threw everything left in the fridge away and tossed what ever could not fit in our suit case and that I couldn't find a home for.

Shanghai breakfast

We finally managed to get everything into the van that Shelly had lovingly rented for us and we were off to the airport. In all the rush of trying to get out in time to make our flight, while also trying not to forget anything, I tried to say good bye to each room. To the elevator and the numbers that were in a mixed up order. To the bad fish smelling hall. To the New Year's decorations for last year, and finally to the guard at the doors that we called "yeye", Grandpa. He had been there the day the baby was born.

During the drive to the airport Shelly and William and Baby got a much needed nap while I cried and said my good byes to the city that had been our home for 3 years.  I tried to take in the colors of the buildings, the last views of the World Expo site. The bridges. The smells, and finally the farmer's fields and run down houses of Pudong.  I would miss this city and I wanted to say a proper good by. I wanted to be sad to be leaving this great city, and my wonderful friends. I let me self cry.

The rest is a blur. We checked in. Shelly made us laugh.  We promised to visit her. We went through the various security check points, 5 of them I think, and we were on a plane or in an airport for the next 20 hours.

shops setting up for the day

That was 3 months ago today. We said good bye to our home in China and became residents of the United States again. We lived in China for 3 years, 3 months, and 9 days. We loved it. We hated it. We learned a lot. We grew a lot. We changed a lot.

 

the morning commute

I treasure our time in China. We got to travel and see a lot of different things, climates and parts of China. We learned to speak some Chinese, and to understand more than we could speak. We got to experience big city life, both without a baby and with a baby. Which were to totally different experiences. We had  a lot of fun as well as a lot of frustration.  We met amazing people who touched our lives and are life long friends. It was a wonderful adventure.

Now I'm looking forward to our next adventure. Life in the Midwest United States. Or is it upper Southwest United States. I'm not sure. But I'm looking forward to figuring it out.



So what are we doing today? Today we got up early to get ready for another adventure. This one is a little smaller and a lot less stressful. We are going on  a road trip to visit some good friends and to spend some time talking about our experience in China.  I've been looking forward to this trip for 3 months. I'm so glad we don't have to go through any security checks.

I love travel adventures. Big ones and small ones.