Smoother Animation from Surrounding Element [SOLVED]

Smoother Animation from Surrounding Element [SOLVED]

When clicking on the 'Contact' button, a box slides into view. When 'Click to hide' is cliked, it fades out but the box beneath it just 'snaps' back up.

gmjones.org/MEETINGS/index.html

The code below only applies to the top box entitled 'contact_strip'.

<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {

  $("div#contact_strip").hide();

  $(".contactbutton").click(function() {
    $("div#contact_strip").show(1200);
  });


 
  $("#a_button").click(function() {
    $("#contact_strip").fadeOut('2000','linear');
  });

});
</script>

The other element I want to affect, 'adrbox', has no jquery code applied.

Is there a way to make an adjacent element animate smoothly when the main element is 'jqueried'?