2018 November

Archive for November 2018

Radius Brewing Company

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I got to try a new place in Emporia a couple of weeks ago when Darcy and I were out there for a meeting. She suggested going to Radius Brewing Co. She’d been there before but I’d never been. It’s pretty cool. I might take Brian there.

It’s not a big place but it’s cute inside. The exposed brick walls and wood floors give it a nice atmosphere.

If Brian and I go, we’ll definitely have to get the Scottish eggs. Darcy and I had some and they were delicious!

Darcy and I both had the salad. Except she had chicken with her and I had smoked salmon with mine. Pictures of both below.

Anyway, no trip to Emporia is ever complete without stopping at the Sweet Granada. Darcy bought almost $50 worth of truffles and other treats. I spent only half that. Speaking of, I’m thinking I might have some right now… Until next time!

Here’s a short video clip of what all we got. Enjoy!

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Another Year Older

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Ching under Life, Zumba.

Made it through another revolution around the sun. We didn’t do anything exciting this year because it wasn’t a big birthday like last year. We did, however, celebrate all month long and we’re still celebrating. Yeah. I milk the heck out of birthdays.

One of my Zumba besties, Cristy, made some delicious Zumba-themed cookies.

Then a couple of my VASA girls got me presents. Eylaf made a cat shirt for our Mala Mujer song with the cat moves. Luwam gave me some workout pants and bunny costume accessories. These Zumba girls are so thoughtful!

It’s weird being the giftee because I’m usually the one giving gifts to people. For example, I had buttons and wristbands and cellphone holder thingamabobs for my Sunday class on my birthday weekend. At VASA I gave Zumba shirts to everyone who attended either all four Saturdays for Aqua Zumba or all five Mondays for Zumba. It was their reward for hanging with me during my birthday month. I couldn’t do that for my Y classes which are typically bigger than my classes at VASA so I had to settle for just little trinkets for the Y.

I got Brian a box of delicious chocolates from Sweet Granada since Darcy and I were in Emporia for a meeting a couple of weeks ago. We hit the chocolate shop before heading back to Wichita.

Brian earned it for baking the most delicious brownie cake for me to take to my VASA Fitness staff meeting on my birthday weekend, among other things. He started making it on Saturday afternoon and we ended up missing the Halloween party in Mulvane because the cake took longer to make than we originally thought. But it turned out so delicious and was such a huge hit. It was totally worth it!

Speaking of, Brian is making this brownie cake again for our annual Harvest Feast at work next week (Friday before Thanksgiving). He’s also baking me some brownies to take to my VASA Fitness staff meeting on Sunday.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it for the birthday recap. We will probably do something special next year for my second 21st birthday. This year was pretty much just another day, though. Until next time. GNG.

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Nortons with My Rotary Club

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian and I recently attended a club social with the Andover Rotary Club at Nortons Brewing Co. It was a Thursday night so I had to miss pickle ball but it was totally worth it. We got to enjoy great food and company.

Here are some pics…

This is our current president, Alison Couey.

The Harmons — they used to own Andover Veterinary Clinic.

I never think to order a salad when I’m at Nortons because there’s so much delicious, unhealthy stuff on the menu. LOL.

A couple of people ordered salads, though.

I think this is the peanut butter and jelly.

I got the corndogs, which Brian enjoyed immensely. He ate one and I was supposed to eat the other one. I didn’t get through mine though because the dough was undercooked. Brian lucked out and got the one corndog that was completely done. He said it was very good.

Brian also got the club sandwich. Neither of us can remember what it’s called on the menu. He gave me one of the sandwich halves. It was just okay for me. I still like the BLT the best. They use chicken-friend bacon. Actually, they chicken-fry just about everything in that sandwich, including the tomatoes.

I’ll have to remember to just stick to what’s tried and tested next time so I’m not disappointed. I don’t know what came over me but I decided that I wanted to be adventurous that night. It totally backfired. Oh, well. That’s all for now. GNG.

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Checking Out a New Cocktail Lounge

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Ching under Things to Do.

Went to check out a new cocktail lounge downtown with my Leadership Wichita classmates a couple of weeks ago — Vorshay’s Cocktail Lounge.

The place has a really cool, sophisticated vibe. It’s the kind of place I could see Brian and I hanging out for after dinner cocktails.

I love the high ceilings and exposed brick walls. It gives the place a lot of character.

I’m so glad Jessica picked this place when she organized a get together for us.

Here’s a better picture of our good looking group. From left: Jason Mock, Teresa Veazey, Jessica Dunbar, Michelle Stroot, and Justin Graham.

I can’t believe it has been over four years since our Leadership Wichita class. Most of us continue to keep in touch and we still get together thanks to our amazing “cruise director” Jessica. She’s really the glue that’s kept our class together.

I don’t always make the get togethers because sometimes I’m out of town when they occur but I always try to make as many as I can. I really enjoy catching up with everyone. I love these guys!

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Tallgrass Film Festival 2018

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Ching under Events, Movies.

Speaking of friends we don’t get to see very much, we had the opportunity to catch up with April a couple of weeks ago. Cory and Gavin were at scout camp and so she had a weekend to herself. We had some extra tickets to Tallgrass Film Festival and she was able to join us.

I originally only had a couple of tickets for a movie screening but some folks at work who got better tickets ended up not being able to use theirs so I got upgraded. First of all, it’s a well known fact that I rarely (if ever) turn down free event tickets. It doesn’t matter how busy or packed my weekend already is, I will make it work. And, if I can’t use them, I make sure the tickets go to someone I know who will appreciate and enjoy them. LOL.

Instead of the two movie screening tickets, I ended up with four movie screening tickets and four gala tickets. It was a tall (pun intended) order for an already busy weekend but, after careful examination of our calendar, Brian and I figured out that we could use all four tickets by giving up pickle ball on Sunday. We could watch Eleven Hundred to Lubbock and attend then gala party on Saturday and then use the remaining tickets to watch the screening of White Tide: The Legend of Culebra and attend the gala party on Sunday.

The tickets weren’t marked for specific movies or parties so I figured that we could use them for any movie or any of the four gala parties throughout the film fest.

Anyway, we had to adjust our plans when Jenni asked if she could have a set of movie/gala passes for Adam. She got a Tallpass from all of the volunteer work that she’s done for Tallgrass Film Festival so she had access to everything but she wanted to share the experience with him and he didn’t have any passes. It’s always more fun to go with people so I committed the tickets to her. That meant we had an extra set left which ended up going to April.

This actually worked out better because we got to attend the movie screening and the party on Saturday with a group of people and we didn’t have to give up Sunday night pickle ball, which I didn’t really want to miss. LOL.

Here are a few pictures from our outing:

Photo of the Eleven Hundred to Lubbock cast/crew receiving their Stubbornly Independent award.

Not the best group pic because it was dark at the party (intentionally because they had lots of glow in the dark decorations that look best in blacklight); however, Brian managed to get everyone in the photo. Clockwise around Brian’s head starting with me: Michael, Michelle, Jenni, Adam, and April.

April and I took advantage of the Glam Station, which reminded me of the free makeup stations they always have that #ZINCON during the theme parties.

Here’s a picture of me with makeup artist, Tedi Stephens, of TediFX.

April got a couple of glow in the dark flowers.

Pic of me with local producer and director, Rod Pocowatchit.

Pic of me and April as we were leaving the event.

Brian and I had participated in other TFF fundraising events (Dudegrass is super fun!) in the past but this was our first time attending the film fest itself. It’s actually a ton of fun and you get exposed to films you wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to see. This will definitely be on our list of things to do for years to come.