A three-year stint in downtown Seattle was more than enough for Jean Z. Poh and Giordano Contestabile. They couldn’t wait to move to New York.

For Ms. Poh, it was a homecoming. She grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Barnard College and Cornell Law School. Mr. Contestabile, who is from Milan, had lived in cities throughout the world, but never in New York. The two met in Shanghai, where she was working in a law firm and he was employed in the video game field. They were married three years ago.

Shortly after that, Mr. Contestabile’s job took them to Seattle. Ms. Poh began working for her family’s fine jewelry business, Jean & Alex. She also started writing Deliver Me Diamonds, a jewelry blog.

The couple lived in a two-bedroom in the Olivian, a high-rise rental building with views of mountain and sea, paying a monthly rent in the high $3,000s. Bored, Ms. Poh cooked constantly. They were thrilled when Mr. Contestabile took a new job at Tilting Point Media in New York.