LUNCH-N-LADIES

Happy Weekend!  Friday lunch with the 'Lunch-n-Ladies' in Shanghai started off with fun drinks at Chelsea and Co - great bistro on Yue Yang Rd.  Thanks to Karyn Brusate for organizing a fantastic friday get-together.

BLOOM

Enjoying a lazy Sunday morning after a fun-filled weekend.   The air quality is so-so at 142 (that's absolutely not great in the US, but I'll take anything under 200 here in China).  It's a cloudy day, so I'm enjoying a little green tea and the Australian Open.

I started off the weekend at one of the most colorful spots in Pudong - the flower market.  I know most people like to go to Hongqiao, but I haven't ventured that far to see all the beautiful blooms at this point.  That would be about 45 minutes away from what I hear.  Will make it there one day.  Brought home some beautiful spring flowers to brighten up our rental and I'm especially excited about the cherry blossom branches I bought.  I'm hoping the buds bloom, but if not I'll just put fun red tassels on the branches in celebration of the Chinese New Year coming in February.

The other reason I like the flower market in Pudong is because of the children's market on the 3rd floor.  I usually call it the Baby Market, but Corley says it sounds like they sell babies, which, of course, they do not.  I do find the softest, cutest little pajamas for Lolly there, and they have a huge selection of toys and other baby needs.  BUT, my favorite most favorite part is the baby bathing room!  I cannot bring myself to take pictures as I don't think the parents would appreciate it, but it truly is the sweetest thing.  There are about 10-15 tubs in this big room and nurses showing new moms how to bathe their babies.  There are also small little pools (bigger tubs) where babies are floating around with those circular tubes around their necks.  Nothing will bring a smile faster to your face than to see these sweet, darling little Chinese babies having the time of their little lives in the pool!  One day I may just have to bite the bullet and stick Lolly in there with them.  That, will for sure be a picture moment.

Corley and I have started taking date nights on Saturdays.  Our ayi, Lily, works every saturday from 3-10:00, so we head out.  Last night, we walked across the street and had dinner at a little Italian spot called Cameo.  Good staff and always fun!  As we walked home we had a favorite spotting and got our cameras out in time.  You see these bikes all the time around the city, but so far we have just not been picture-ready, but last night we were!  This particular person had quite a large load to carry.  I still can't figure out how they do it, but I love watching them go by.

One can find bunnies, turtles, fish, etc at the flower market

gorgeous selection. so hard to choose.  also at the flower market

Home Sweet Home

When we arrived in Shanghai I was over the moon with excitement.  Immediately, I started going out to lunches and shopping trips.  Aaah, the life of a tai-tai (housewife) is a sweet one here and one I quickly grabbed a hold of the concept and went with it.  Then, IT hit just like they said it would.  About 2.5 months into our new journey I got the Shang-lows and lucky for Corley they hit right when the pregnancy/delivery hormones set in.  Talk about postpartum!  Thankfully, I expected them since I had heard so much about them, so I was able to deal fairly easy.  I let myself ride it out.  If you happened to talk with me during that time you will remember how I really felt about my new home.  Sadly, I was not very nice about my new surroundings, but I can happily report that I've come out the other side with a new set of eyes and a fresh new outlook.

When we said YES to this new job and way of life we left all our belongings in storage.  We packed up a few toys, books, pictures, the crib, and my glider and just decided to wing it.  After all, we are only here maybe 1-2 years.  What could we possibly, absolutely NEED in order to survive?  There was no way I was shipping my beautiful furniture in a container to China only to most likely be destroyed on the trip over.  Let's be honest, most of it already endured its trip to the US from China.  I'm sure it didn't want to return :)

Well, I have found that rental furniture just doesn't do the trick when trying to make a home feel homey.  Lolly's room with the little furniture we did bring feels the most warm and inviting.  Corley tells me we will be here for at least 2 years so I decided it's time to fix up for the rest of us.

There are a ton of places to find fun pieces to 'feather the nest' and one of my favorites has been Chapin House.  Truly, a decorator's dream warehouse!!  Chip and Heather Hassan own this grand place where I've been lucky enough to find beautiful lamps and fun put-arounds. Many expats come here to find comfy sofas, dining tables, and lovely Chinese inspired armoires and consoles.  I especially like their selection of garden stools to use as side tables.   I'm in search for some occasional chairs and rugs, so a weekend trip to Chapin House with Corley is on the books.  I was there yesterday picking up some new pieces and took a few pics.  If you are here in Shanghai I say RUN to see the new shipment of furniture that has arrived.  Enjoy!

http://chapinhouse.com

I want this yet I have no place to put it.  Beautiful!

Great chair.  Hoping to find the perfect place in my house for it.

Welcome to our World

I have finally decided to sit down and write our adventures here in Shanghai.  Hopefully, this will be a good way for our friends and family to see how we live day to day here in this exciting city.  Now, not every day is exciting, but each day does bring something new to see, eat, smell :), and experience.

The Farber Family of Four moved to Shanghai, China in August and by November we became a party of 5 when we welcomed Elizabeth Loughrey into our family.  Lolly, as we often call her, has proven to be a wonderful baby and the two of us have had a ton of fun exploring our new home and getting to know those around us.

I'd like to introduce you to our neighborhood.  Friends and Family, this is Pudong and within Pudong we live in Jingiao, pronounced GIN-CHOW.  This is also known to many as 'the bubble'.  Yes, you could get stuck here and not feel like you live in China at all.  We live in a compound filled with expats (mostly from Michigan, I have found). And, this compound is surrounded by other compounds filled with other expats.  We hear english being spoken everywhere we go with a few Ni-hao's (hello) thrown in here and there.  Praise the Lord, we even have a Starbucks across the street!

Lolly and I try to get out of the bubble a few times during the week.  It's important if you truly want to experience Shanghai and all it has to offer.  We head to Puxi to do a little shopping and lunching, but I'll introduce to you Puxi in other posts.   Though we venture out I have to say I have grown to love 'my bubble'.  This place is filled with the nicest people who have rallied around one another to help ease the transition of living in a foreign country far away from the people we love and from the things we find familiar.  Expat Life!  I had heard it was a fantastic way to meet people that will be life long friends, and I can tell you for certain this is what is happening for my family.  

I cannot wait to introduce you all to the people and places that are a part of our adventure here in this beautiful country.

Lolly and I wait for the school bus.  We had just bought our friday flowers and vanilla latte!

Ben enjoys his chicken pho at Pho No.9 - a favorite of ours that we find right here in  'the bubble'.