Events

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My Favorite Time of the Year

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Ching under Events, Life.

I love this time of year. Not just because of the perfect Fall weather and not just for Halloween and not just for my birthday. As you all know, I love being busy and doing stuff. Once October rolls around, every weekend brings with it some cool event or activity and we’re in constant go-go-go mode.

I don’t love it as much when we get double, triple, and quadruple booked (yes, it has happened) but I do love it when we are able to squeeze it all in to the schedule and I’m able to do everything.

We kicked October off with a bang this year by attending the Wichita State Alumni Association‘s Rockin’ the Roundhouse event. That was the day before I left for EMACS in Orlando and barely got out of there before Hurricane Matthew struck.

My flight was canceled so I rerouted through Tampa. Instead of getting home at noon as planned, I didn’t get home until midnight. Hence, I missed the blacklight Zumba fundraising event at Wheels Studio that I said I would help with. I also had to get a sub for my regular Saturday morning Zumba class because I needed the day to recover from my exciting trip and also I needed to pack for Kansas City that coming week. And then, I also had a sub for my regular Sunday afternoon Zumba class because I committed to my friend Stephanie that I would help her with the zumbathon for the Mulvane flooding victims.

These were all the Zumba instructors who helped with that effort. From left: Amy, Paula, Andrea, Ching, Pam, Stephanie, and Pat.

Stephanie organized a fantastic event and we all had a blast helping.

Here are just a few photos from the event.

We were super exhausted from 90 minutes of dancing (we did stop a few times to draw for prizes) but it was all worth it in the end. I’m so grateful that Stephanie asked me to participate and it worked out that I could.

The weekend after was Museum of the Undead (which was super fun and I totally plan on doing that again next year) and then game night at our house when we also celebrated Christina’s birthday.

One of the highlights of the evening was reconnecting Brian with a couple of his high school classmates. These are Brian’s high school classmates Donald and Devi in the picture with him below.

Initially, we were only expecting a handful of people but then we ended up with more people than we can squeeze into a game of Cards Against Humanity so we ended up with two separate groups of Cards Against Humanity games and then a few of us on the side playing Exploding Kittens. I played Exploding Kittens with Missy because she has sworn off Cards Against Humanity completely.

This is a picture of me and Missy with our ears to the bluetooth stereo because Brian refused to let us turn the volume up. He said it was because then we wouldn’t be able to have conversation but deep down I think it’s because he hates Zumba music.

The next day we joined the gang at Carlos O’Kelly’s (Missy’s favorite Mexican restaurant) for a late lunch/early supper in celebration of Glynda’s birthday.

This young lady in the sombrero. We got to know Glynda better over the last few years when she started attending my old Saturday morning Zumba class at East YMCA and then we got to hang out with her in Fort Lauderdale and throughout the first ever Zumba cruise as well.

Glynda is so fun to be around because she’s so positive and vibrant and energetic. She enjoys life to the fullest and is really a model for her age group. I want to be just like her at that age.

Birthdays (not just mine) are one of the many reasons I love this time of year. I know so many people with October birthdays that it’s a nonstop party all month long! Speaking of my birthday, Brian and I had an intimate celebration last weekend by having a nice dinner at P.F. Chang’s followed by Wicked.

We had amazing seats but more on that later.

This weekend we celebrated with friends by hiring Spot’s Party Bus to drive us around for an epic evening of drinking and Pokémon hunting. Wicked was my birthday present and the party bus was my present for my friends.

As we get busy with various events, the blog gets so far behind. I need to blog about a few more things. Anyway, I just wanted to take this moment to express how grateful I am for a fantastic month and for being another year older.

It’s great to be alive!

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Museum of the Undead

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Ching under Events.

Brian and I got to attend Museum of the Undead 4 at Exploration Place a couple of weeks ago. I tried to get rid of my tickets because it was a night that I had scheduled with Nickira. The bad news was that no one wanted my event tickets. The good news – Nickira and I finished our “hang out” time by 7:30 PM, which allowed enough time for me and Brian to attend Museum of the Undead.

The backstory they developed for this year’s event was actually really cool. I also like that the ZMB1 virus spells Zumba without the vowels.

We watched a short film in the Dome Theater, which explained everything. We also got the game sheet for us to put stickers on to complete the genome. Once the sheet was complete, you bring it to the gift shop for a special prize.

You earned stickers by completing various activities such as this one.

Who doesn’t enjoy a fun round of Twister?

Then there was Pathogen Pong…

Here’s Brian getting his participation sticker…

Then there was this thing with the buckets, which Brian and I nailed.

There were creepy zombies walking around everywhere.

None of them broke character; not even for a second.

This is Brian playing Human Cell Mini Golf…

This is the Mutangen Jenga. They had several sets.

Ran into Jocelyn!

They also had caged zombies in addition to the free-roaming ones.

Here’s a picture of my completed game sheet.

My gift was a little shotglass, which I do not have a picture of unfortunately.

I feel so grateful that we were able to attend this event because it was such a blast. Thanks, KMUW! Besides running into Jocelyn, I also ran into one of my coworkers. I’m totally making a mental note to attend this event again next year!

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Pictures from April’s Birthday Dinner

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.

We had a blast celebrating April’s birthday at Bonefish a couple of weeks ago. Here are some pictures from that evening.

Here are some pictures of food…

Because you can’t go to Bonefish and not get bang bang shrimp, we ordered several of these, which we promptly annihilated.

The lump crab corn chowder is also one of my faves.

And, because Brian loves the bang bang shrimp so much, he ordered bang bang tacos for dinner. He just can’t get enough. LOL.

I got the imperial tilapia stuffed with crab and a bunch of other deliciousness. And, because I like crab so much, I also got the crab fried rice. It was just okay. Everything else was delicious, though.

We had a fabulous dinner overall. The only downside for me was that I ate so much with bang bang shrimp and lump crab corn chowder that I was too full to enjoy my entrée. Brian and I need to remember to just split a meal next time. It will save us some money too because dinner at Bonefish is not cheap. LOL.

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Wine Night at Allison’s

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.

These are pictures from wine night at Allison’s a few weeks ago. Check out the view from her apartment. I’m just a tad bit envious.

You can see the Sprint Center from her living room.

And KC LIVE! The proximity to the stage is probably not the greatest on concert nights but the view sure looks amazing.

Here’s the view from her bedroom.

This is Rahima, consultant extraordinaire…

And our jolly band of misfits…

Allison was a fabulous host. Even if she did make Andrew bring his own barstool down from his apartment one floor above. LOL. Don’t worry. They have an elevator.

Since Allison fed us that evening, this was our contribution.

It’s zebra cake consisting of layers of white, cream filling, and chocolate cake infused with Kahlúa. Gotta love Cosentino’s!

We got a brief tour of the building afterwards.

Here’s a quick selfie of me and our wonderful host, Allison.

This is the movie room.

The movie room also has a pool table in it.

Just one floor above is a very nice common area.

When you step outside, there’s a very nice rooftop patio.

And an amazing pool that’s lit up at night.

They also have some green space with fake grass.

The space is perfect for yard games like bag toss.

They actually have a branded set.

Here’s what the high-rise apartment complex looks like from the street.

The Onelife gym is conveniently located next door. Check out the video on the One Light web site to get a sense of what it’s like to live here. Brian and I saw this video and were like, “Wow!” Not bad. Not bad at all.

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Pictures from Zoobilee 2016

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Ching under Events.

Here are some fun pictures from Zoobilee over the weekend…

Me and Mindy (Brian’s favorite massage therapist) with Michael (my favorite massage therapist) and Sveta in the background. Speaking of Sveta, she actually gave me my very first ever full-body massage almost 20 years ago.