"Soft Move"

Welcome to my inaugural blog post! As my boyfriend Anthony (see us below) has so affectionately coined it, Saturday the 19th of November, was my "soft move" to Shanghai, China (I know... China...). The soft move included me quitting my job at an accounting firm in New York City, my first job out of college and the place I called my employer/source of funds for three (somewhat) satisfying, always interesting, years, packing up my closet-sized living quarters, saying good-bye to the people and city I love and flying the coop on Continental flight #87, 14 hours direct from Newark to Shanghai.

Anthony documenting the move out (found this on his comp today)

How did I end up in China you ask? As luck would have it, my brief stint in NYC (just shy of one year) was one of the most exciting, challenging, exhausting and lovely years of my life. I left behind some dear old friends, made priceless new ones and will now forever hold a special place in my heart for the incredible city I called home for the better part of 2011. Something else I have to show for my time in the city just so happens to be what leads me to this blog. If you will, please oblige me a brief story time...

August 5, 2011 -- one of those perfect late-summer NYC afternoons where no activity seems more fitting other than throwing on your favorite pair of jean shorts, a neon belt and suede gladiator wedges to meet two of your best friends at The Lot at the Highline (a beer garden of sorts) http://www.thehighline.org/the-lot. Waiting in line to enter the beer garden I met Anthony (I use the term "met" loosely since his first words to me were somewhat of a sarcastic dig for cutting the line that spanned the better part of a city block), who fatefully happened to be standing in front of 2/3 of my usual trio (see Sarah and Anna below), with his friend, Kevin. 

The night it all began...

The rest, as they say, is history... the whirlwind romance that played out over the next three months included rendezvous in Chicago, Wilmington, DE (Anthony's hometown), Dallas (where Anthony lived pre-China), Dallas again, West Palm Beach, FL (my hometown, a trip Anthony made alone to meet the lovely people I call my parents) NYC, NYC again and finally, China. Anthony accepted an ex-patriot assignment here with his company beginning mid-September. So now, here I sit, 115 days into our relationship (yes, you read that right, 115 days, or just short of 4 months), fully moved into OUR (ay yi yi) 2br, 2ba, with an office, apt in Jing'an. 

Anthony and I sightseeing in Qibao

Over the course of these blog posts I hope to share a little slice of my/our new life here 7,000+ miles away from all things familiar. 


Until next time,
xoxo, 
Jess