Date Ideas

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Women’s Network Event

Posted on December 16, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas, Projects, Things to Do.

I had the opportunity to attend the women’s network holiday event last weekend. Alex organized an outing for us at the Busted Pallet. Coincidentally, it was on the exact same day last year that the same group was at Paint the Towne painting Wichita flags. I haven’t been able to make all of the luncheons this year and so I was very grateful that the holiday outing turned out to be on a week when I’m in town so I can at least participate.

Here are some pictures from that evening…

When we arrived, they had all of our project materials ready. This is Alex’ blanket ladder.

This is Bonnie’s Wichita State Shockers porch decor.

This is Tasha’s “Have a Nice Poop” sign. I saw this option and didn’t think anyone would actually pick it. LOL. Don’t worry. It’s going in her bathroom.

When you book your workshop, you fill out an online form and you’re asked to select a project. They ask this ahead of time so they can have all of your materials (wood, stencils, etc.) ready for you on the day of the workshop.

Yuvina made a “Love Grows Here” sign.

Nykole picked “Believe There is Good in the World” which, when you see the finished product, actually contains two messages.

Shanda painted “The Luckiest.”

There were no two projects alike. Everyone picked something unique. Some even personalized their projects with their last name. It was really cool.

Not knowing who RSVP’d for the event, it was kind of fun trying to guess which project belonged to whom. As people arrived and found their workstations, it was interesting to learn what each person had picked. There was a story behind each one and you got to learn more about your coworkers. Kudos to Alex! This activity was truly a great pick for a networking event.

There were a couple of Busted Pallet people there to supervise but we pretty much followed the instructions on this board. One everyone arrived and found their stations, we got to work.

I was stationed next to Carly, who I hadn’t seen in forever. We used to work together in the contact center many years ago. I saw her every now and then when she moved to our billing group but now she works out of our new operations center so I rarely get to see her anymore. I try to keep up with her on Facebook. She recently returned from celebrating her 40th birthday in Mexico with a bunch of girl friends. It looked like such a fun trip.

This is Bonnie. She’s recently got promoted to supervisor in the contact center and is graduating from Wichita State (thus, the Shockers sign that she’s painting). She’s having quite a year, too! Congrats, Bonnie!

Here are some photos of people in deep concentration while working on their projects. Alex, and her big ladder project, had the biggest work space of all.

Here’s Kati and Kim busy with their projects. Interesting bit of trivia, Kati and I worked together many years ago when she was in the contact center. She was on my team. The contact center is kind of a springboard for people. It’s where most people start their careers before moving on to bigger and better things.

Here’s Kati reading Carly’s sign. Carly has been hanging on to this saying for a long time. She can finally put it on her wall.

Here’s Shanda and her friend.

A picture of Tisha carefully peeling of her stencil.

Tasha and Ennidh…

Alex and Yuvina… Yuvina looks so sassy in this pic.

Here’s Misty. I’m glad she was able to join us.

I took a selfie of the two of us. Full disclosure, I picked the easiest project of everyone because I wanted to make sure I had time to walk around and take pics. Also, I really wasn’t sure what I would be able to manage in the amount of time we had so I kind of underestimated my capacity. I think I was the first one finished with every step, which gave me plenty of time to go around and take photos.

Here’s a picture of Misty’s nearly finished project.

Here’s Alicia and Alex.

A photo everyone putting the finishing touches on their project.

It was a pretty good turn out.

This is Tisha’s nearly finished “HOME” sign. You can see her helping Ennidh in this photo. I think Tisha helped several people with their projects but mos specially Ennidh since they were at the same table.

This is yet another reason why the Busted Pallet makes for a great team building activity. You get to work on projects together and learn about one another.

Ennidh’s sign turned out perfect thanks in part to all the work Tisha put in. LOL. I love this sign. It’s funny and sweet.

Here’s Tasha’s finished “Have a Nice Poop” sign.

Kati posing with her finished project.

Kim made a personalized one.

Alicia made this one for her half-bath that people use when they come in to use the restroom during pool parties.

Here are the three porch signs that people made, side by side. Their projects were left at the store to be weatherproofed.

Before you ask to see pictures of my project, I have to say, I had the smallest and least ambitious project of all. I kind of wished I had picked a more challenging and bigger one after the fact but it turned out okay because someone had to take pictures at our event.

Here are some progress pics…

And the finished product…

By the way, I tagged this as a potential date activity because I do think this would make for a fun date. I’m thinking of bringing Brian over for a date night sometime.

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Double Date with the Dills

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas, Food and Drink.

Brian and I took the Dills out to dinner last weekend in honor of Becca’s birthday. Neither of them had ever been to Yokohama Ramen Joint in Delano before. It’s our favorite ramen place so we wanted them to try it.

We were originally going to take them to see Illuminations (the amazing Christmas installation at Botanica) also but it was a cold and rainy night and, although I was prepared to tough it out, it didn’t seem like anyone was really keen on going. So, we decided to head over to the Dills house for after dinner drinks instead.

Here are a few pictures from our double date.

We started with the shrimp shumai and pan-fried dumplings. Above is the shrimp shumai, which I’ve had at other places before, but this was our first time ordering it at Yokohama. It was pretty good and we will likely order it again as a starter. Below is a close up photo.

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the pan-fried dumplings before we inhaled them. Those are always super popular with everyone. It’s no big deal on the lack of photo, though. We’ve ordered it numerous times before and you all know what those look like.

Brian and I always end up with leftovers so, in an effort to avoid having to take leftovers home, we decided to share the Yokohama style ramen. We added extra noodles and extra pork just to be on the safe side. The extras turned out to be a bad idea because we ended up with too much food, yet again. We’ve decided to split the ramen bowl next time without the extra noodles and pork, that way we’ll be more likely to finish it. You live and learn.

Becca got spicy dan dan noodles. I have no idea what it is actually because I always just get ramen. It is a ramen joint after all. Anyway, I think it started out really good but then the spiciness just builds. It might have gotten a tad too spicy for her toward the end. They kept wanting me to try it but I never did. I can’t handle spicy foods and try to stay away from them as much as possible.

Jay had a super combination rice bowl with all the meats (shrimp even), topped with tonkatsu chicken. He really liked it.

Here it is up close.

Afterwards, the four of us went to their place to hang out and drink some wine. We brought a couple of bottles but only finished the Sequoia Grove cab. We discovered it over the summer when we had a wine dinner at Carrabba’s. It’s the only cabernet sauvignon I’ve ever found that I liked. All other cabs taste terrible to me. But then, this cab is $50 a bottle and all other cabs I’ve tasted have cost half or less than half that so I probably just have really discerning taste in cabs and my palette is sensitive to the cheap stuff.

We had a great time catching up with the Dills last weekend. They seem to always be traveling (in fact they’re out of town again; they’re in Miami and Barbados this coming week) and we’re always so busy that we don’t have a lot of opportunity to get together. It was really nice hanging out with them.

We hope to hang out with them some more in the coming year and maybe join them for Jay’s 40th birthday trip to Costa Rica in April. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Until the next blog. GNG.

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Our Trip to the WALL

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas.

By WALL, I mean the Wichita Advanced Learning Library. It opened a few months ago but Brian and I hadn’t gotten around to checking it out until this past weekend. We’ve just been too busy. It might have been brighter inside except it was very gloomy and rainy on the day we went. The decor is very modern. Brian was particularly infatuated with these chairs.

I thought I got a picture of him in it but I guess I must have posted it on Snapchat. Bummer! He really like them. Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the new library and its very modern furnishings.

Brian was looking at this giant book trying to figure out how to turn the page.

Brian also liked these individual desks with the walls for privacy. They even have built in power outlets. Really cool!

Another cool feature is the Reverie coffee shop inside. As you know, Brian loves Reverie coffee. Anyway, the library seems like a really cool place to hang out. I wish we had more reasons to go there.

BTW, it’s technically just called Advanced Learning Library but I thought adding Wichita at the beginning made for a more clever acronym. Then you can tell people that you’re going to the WALL, which is far more mysterious and intriguing than simply saying you’re going to the library. But that’s just me.

P.S. This counts as a date, right?

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Cheap Date Idea — Mural Scavenger Hunt

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas, Things to Do.

I wanted to share something fun that Brian and I did recently. It’s absolutely perfect if you’re looking for a cheap date idea. If you’re unfamiliar with Wichita, we have this three-mile stretch on Douglas Avenue called Douglas Design District. It starts at the heart of downtown and ends just beyond Oliver. The stretch is peppered with local businesses — over 300 of them.

Something else that the District is peppered with are these amazing works of art. Everywhere you look you’ll find beautiful murals all over the place. Some of them are massive and breathtaking.

So Brian and I decided to go on a mural scavenger hunt last weekend. Our adventure also coincided with the District’s annual Avenue Art Days event, a tradition that started three years ago and has grown bigger and better each passing year. This year’s dates were September 21-23, culminating in a mural crawl from 12 to 5 pm on September 23 — the same day and time as Open Streets ICT. I’m not sure if they planned it that way but it was absolutely perfect.

Since I teach a Zumba class every Sunday at 2 pm, we figured we wouldn’t have much time to participate in Open Streets ICT festivities but I really wanted to check out these beautiful works of art. Brian and I decided to venture out on Saturday afternoon, the day before Open Streets ICT. It worked out fabulously because, not only did we get to see some amazing murals, we also caught some artists in the act. They were busy finishing thirteen new murals for Avenue Art Days 2018.

Here are a few more pictures of artists at work.

This mural is one that we see all the time because it’s outside our favorite breakfast/brunch spot, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co.

This one called “Wichita The Air Capital” isn’t massive but is one of my favorites from last year. You can find it at Clifton Square, where several other Avenue Art Days installations are located.

This is the one at Dempsey’s Burger Pub at Clifton Square, also from Fall 2017.

Anyway, now that we are several days removed from Avenue Art Days 2018, I can’t wait to head back out to check the finished product of the ones that were in progress last weekend.

Thank you to all of the artists and volunteers who have been working hard to beautify our city since the inception of Avenue Art Days in 2015.

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Our Anniversary Weekend

Posted on September 8, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas, Relationship.

Brian and I started our anniversary celebration this year with manis and pedis at our favorite local salon, Nails and Beyond.

I picked this one for my toenails because I liked the color. I took a picture because I thought the name was clever.

It’s sparkly but still kind of neutral, which is my style. I don’t really get into crazy nail polish colors or designs. I keep it pretty basic most of the time.

This is Brian getting an arm massage from Vanessa.

Here’s the finished product. I rarely (if at all) get my fingernails painted. We both usually as for the “buff shiny” treatment. It’s $5 more but the natural shine actually lasts a few weeks and you don’t have to worry about yucky, chipped nail polish.

We ended up going to Carrabba’s for dinner after. We were going to just eat at Taco Bell because I had this whole post planned about how you really don’t have to spend a lot of money or do anything fancy for anniversaries. I was trying to make the point that it doesn’t really matter where we are as long as we’re together. Anyway, I got derailed by a “happy hour all day” email from Carrabba’s. Of course, I would rather eat the delicious food at Carrabba’s any day. But the point is, if all we had money for was Taco Bell, that would be just fine with me too.

Love is all we need.

The next night Brian took me to a surprise anniversary dinner at Siena Tuscan Steakhouse. I figured it out as we were driving there. He said he wanted to go somewhere we’d never been before. I’d had lunch at Siena a few times before but never dinner. I guess he forgot that I’d been there. I told him dinner is different. This was my first dinner experience there. I was really proud of Brian for going out of his comfort zone.

We started with the bruschetta. It was delicious. I would totally go back just for this. The salmon had the perfect smokiness. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

Anyway, here’s a better picture.

We also both got Caesar salads.

Guess which one of us had the anchovy and which one didn’t.

Brian got the fettuccine bolognese. It doesn’t look like much but it was amazing! Next time I’m here, I’m totally getting it.

I had the grilled salmon, which you can’t really see too well in this photo. It was also very good but I really liked what Brian had.

We finished with a tiramisu, which they serve in a cute little mason jar and top with an even cuter mini macaron.

It looks even cuter next to Brian.

The one thing I found out that night that I didn’t know before is, much like the Ambassador Hotel in Kansas City, this Ambassador Hotel also offers complimentary parking and shuttle service to the shows when you dine with them. I told Brian I would make a mental note for next year. Also, posting it here on the blog in case I forget.

Traditionally, we always take anniversary selfies.

The next day, we continued the celebration by watching the Music Theatre Wichita production of the Little Mermaid.

MTW had several great shows this year but this was the first one that we’d been able to attend all season. Brian really wanted to see Pippin but we were in Orlando that weekend. Next year Chicago falls during ZINCON, which I’m a tad distraught about. I really want to see Chicago but I don’t want to miss ZINCON either. It’s quite a tough decision. I guess it will all depend if we end up with season passes.

Anyway, that’s pretty much our anniversary celebration in a nutshell. It’s quite low-key just like us. Happy 16th wedding anniversary to the two of us. Until next time!