An Anniversary to Remember

Gone are the days of spontanious surprise weekends at cozy little bed & breakfasts . . . gone are the days of romantic dinners for two at wonderful little out-of-the-way resturants with candlelight and the hushed conversations of other starry-eyed lovers nearby . . .

ahh, you may say, so goes the married life of parents . . . but aye! I tell you it's not the bundle of joy that joined our family nearly three years ago that has caused this monumental shift in our lives, but instead our very new, very interesting change in perspective.

When you are inindated with advertisments of the "ideal" anniversary present and/or celebration (ie: "Every kiss begins with 'k' " "diamonds are a girls best friend" and who can forget those lovely mushy, "i need a kleenex" hallmark commercials?) and you are also surrounded with every culinary option known to man . . . well, creativity seems to be a must to make an anniversary memorable. . .

Not so when you are a foreigner in China with 10 months of "experience" under your belt! A simple 25 yuan taxi ride across the city and viola! You are in the land of wonders . . . the heart-warming, mouth watering aroma hits you as soon as you walk through the door . . .


That's right folks . . . Subway . . . the land of endless sandwich opportunity (well, not exactly endless, you have to cross your fingers and hold your tongue just right to see if they will indeed have the sandwich preparations of your choice, of which they did not have for poor Jerry, no steak and cheese to celebrate this anniversary!)

A morning of exploring a previously unexplored neighborhood where we found loads of beautiful children's clothing and some wonderfully interesting people. . . top that off with an incredibly satisfying terriakyi chicken sub loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green peppers, salt, pepper, southwestern sauce (because there was no sweet onion sauce to be had) all beautifully piled onto 6 inches of the most delectable honey oat bread I may have ever tasted . . . now those are the makings of one heck of a memorable 11th anniversary celebration!