Archive for "Relationship"
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!
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The Best of 2017
Posted on January 30, 2018 by Ching under Life, Relationship, Zumba.
Every year I post highlights to reflect on everything that happened — good and bad. I usually post it at the very end of the year or right at the beginning of the new year. I’m a little bit late posting this one because our weekends have been jam-packed with stuff. It’s been difficult to find a few minutes to write about an entire year.
First, here are links to past annual recaps to get you caught up:
- 2016 — Brian and I went on the first ever Zumba cruise where I met J. Perry (he sings many of my favorite Zumba songs) in person for the first time. I also got to meet Max Pizzolante at #ZINCON. I had the opportunity to tour Zumba Home Office. And I finally made 40 Under 40.
- 2015 — We hosted a Super Pi Day party. Brian and I completed Citizen Policy Academy. I got to visit New York for the first time. And we added a couple of new family members: Rex and Saki.
- 2014 — The year that I hosted my first Zumba World Party party. Brian bought a tux to attend our very first Wichita Heart Ball event. I went to both the Zumba Instructor Conference in LA and the Zumba Instructor Convention in Orlando. I actually went to both because I won a free registration for ZINCON at the LA Conference. I ended up getting pneumonia for the first time ever. This is also the year that I switched from being a die-hard Android user to my first iPhone, which I still have.
- 2013 — There was Cards for the Cure, a visit from the Orbases, a few appearances on Splurge! Mag, his and hers handguns, first time back at the Filipino ball, Leadership Elite, Brian’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary, Cards Against Humanity, my first Zumba Instructor Convention, first trip to Minneapolis and Davenport, completed group exercise instructor training and started teaching Zumba for the Greater Wichita YMCA.
- 2012 — We attended a few weddings, most notably Cousin Tracy and Jeff’s destination wedding at Coral Cove Resort in Jamaica. I attended the Gina & Tanya Rock the Stage Tour. I got my Zumba Basic 1 License and I took Brian to Nashville for his 38th birthday. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by closing on our house and then I ended the year with a thyroidectomy.
- 2011 — We started the year by getting stranded at McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas). That didn’t deter us from traveling, though. We traveled through the East Coast with the Dills that summer and had a lot of firsts. We also got to see James Taylor perform twice: once at Intrust Bank Arena and again at Tanglewood. I also had my first ER trip and my first biopsy.
- 2010 — This is the year that we spent a lot of time with the Dills. It started out when we rang in the New Year at Kansas City Power & Light with Jay, Becca, and Mama Dill. A month later, we were traveling with them again. This time to San Francisco. Lots of travelling!
- 2009 — We had a lot of firsts this year. We attended Zoobilee for the first time. Brian had his first trip to Germany. He also visited the Philippines for the first time. I completed Leadership Westar. Tita Sol adopted Molly.
- 2008 — Brian started working for Viega. I completed my MBA from Wichita State University. And, we dealt cards on a cruise ship.
So what happened last year? So much! Probably too much to condense into a single update but I’m going to give it my best effort.
We started the year off strong with a Plank Challenge and we were very optimistic about blowing our goals out of the water. However, it didn’t take long for us to succumb to life and being busy and we were back to our lazy selves in no time.
I hosted my first Zumbathon® and we raised a good chunk of money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a cause that is near and dear to me. All of the crazy fundraising we did during the “For Kids’ Sake” campaign paid off. I was the top fundraiser at our annual company “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event.
Brian and I attended more events this year than we ever have and were even inducted into the Society of 1895. I couldn’t make that luncheon but Brian attended for the both of us. Here are some of the other events we had the privilege of attending last year:
- The Wichita Art Museum’s Winter Opening Party
- 23rd Annual Heart Ball
- YMCA Annual Celebration
- Fundraising events KANSEL and Child Start
- Colors and Corks (a United Way YLA event)
- East Wichita Rotary’s Kentucky Derby Party
- Ritual and Desire exhibit opening (WAM)
- Symphony in the Flint Hills
- Andover Concert in the Park
- Zoobilee
- Ava’s Army Pub Crawl
- Home for Doc Gala
- Greater Andover Days
- Strike a Pose! (WAM)
- Haus of Brews
- Bloktoberfest
- ICT Millenial Summit
We also discovered a winery just South of Wichita. Besides selling great wine, they also host an amazing outdoor concert series every summer.
The Keeper of the Plains statue that Brian helped design was finally installed in our atrium at work. And, it’s magnificent!
I celebrated my 15th service anniversary at work. I also switched teams at this time. I’m still in Customer Care but now part of the Business Solutions team.
Brian and I traveled to two places we’d never been. First to Alaska over Memorial weekend, where we went to visit Sheryll and her family. Then, later in the year, we celebrated my 40th birthday in the Bahamas. Both trips were memorable in their own way and we feel truly blessed that we had the opportunity to go.
We hosted a couple of fun parties at the house. The one over Fourth of July weekend resulted in Brian finally completing the installation of the automatic garage door opener for our third car garage. The second one was the first Zumba World Party party that I’ve had in a long time.
Besides installing a garage door opener, Brian also installed a Nest thermostat and some smart switches.
Brian and I completed a couple of drink tours: the Wicked Brew Tour and the Carlos O’Kelly’s Summer Drink Tour. The former got us these cool, limited edition shirts from Visit Wichita. The latter got us really cool hand-blown glassware.
Besides the #DanceForKids Zumbathon that I hosted at the beginning of the year, I did a ton of Zumba. We had more Zumba in the Square events than ever. There was Zumba at the Relay for Life event, where we danced from Friday night into Saturday morning. I added a new class to my Zumba teaching scheduled — 5:15 AM on Fridays. And then, of course, there’s the annual Zumba Instructor Convention (aka #ZINCON), where we spend four days of nonstop Zumba.
Speaking of Zumba, I finally made Zumba Wear 3 Star Insider! My friend Missy and I made it during the same quarter.
Other firsts include visiting local sunflower fields for the first time and playing in a ping pong tournament with some friends. I have to say 2017 is the year that I saw my ping pong game truly improve.
This was a banner year for me because it’s the year that I left my 30s behind. Supposedly 40 is the new 30 so I’m looking forward to what this new year will bring!
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Fifteen Years of Marital Bliss
Posted on August 23, 2017 by Ching under Food and Drink, Life, Relationship.
We had a few trips planned this year (Alaska in May, ZINCON in July, and my 40th birthday celebration at Sandals Emerald Bay in October) so we decided to keep it pretty low key for our 15th wedding anniversary.
We started things off with a bang (pun intended) by having dinner at Bonefish Grill on Thursday, August 10, which is our actual anniversary day.
We had a fabulous dinner. Here are a couple of pics.
We continued our celebration that weekend with a quick Kansas City getaway.
We ended up taking Molly with us because of the whole fiasco at the pet boarding place during ZINCON where she got attacked by another dog at daycare, which she wasn’t even supposed to be in. Anyway, we ended up still boarding Saki because the hotel only allowed one pet and Saki loves being around other dogs. Molly, who ended up with staples on her head after the incident, had just gotten her staples removed the day before so we didn’t want to chance it.
This is what her head looked like when we arrived home from ZINCON.
This is what her head looked like when the staples were removed, right before our KC trip. It was still healing, as evidenced by the bump and scab on her head, so we didn’t want to chance her getting in another fight and making it worse.
Brian dropped Saki off at the pet boarding place while I taught my early morning Aqua Zumba class. Amy was nice enough to sub my 10:30 AM Zumba class on Saturday and Mandy covered my 2:00 PM class on Sunday so we were able to get an early start on our drive.
We stopped by Leawood to visit our friend Chad and check out his new place. His apartment is in a really posh, newly developed residential area near the Corbin Park and Prairiefire shopping centers in Overland Park. It’s a really classy apartment complex befitting the fancy neighborhood setting. It kind of reminded us of a more upscale version of Quarters at Cambridge because of the granite in the kitchen and restrooms and other nice finishes.
Anyway, we had a very nice visit but didn’t stay very long because we wanted to check in to our hotel, feed Molly dinner, and also freshen up before our own dinner plans. Speaking of which, we couldn’t get into the Melting Pot for dinner because I didn’t plan ahead and make reservations. By the time I called the restaurant on Saturday morning, the earliest we could get was nine o’clock. I called the hotel to see if the concierge could use their magic. No such luck.
We did have this super nice surprise delivered to our room that afternoon, though.
By the way, remember how we got the exact same room that we had last year at the Hyatt Regency Orlando? Well, it happened again. We ended up staying in the exact same room I was in when I stayed at the Ambassador Hotel back in April. I’m not sure if they did that intentionally but it was a very nice surprise.
After feeding Molly her dinner, I took her and Brian to the rooftop park above Cosentino’s. It’s a really nice confined space for pets; however, your dogs still can’t be off-leash. It would have been nice to be able to let Molly loose to run around but I guess it’s okay that we kept her leashed because the green space is more expansive than it looks. We probably would have had a tough time getting her to come back.
The rooftop park isn’t that far from the hotel but I think Brian and Molly were both pooped from the drive so we decided to rest a bit before dinner.
Molly felt right at home.
Since we couldn’t get into the Melting Pot for dinner, we had to improvise. Brian had been asking to try Nara, one of my favorite restaurants when I was working in Kansas City, so we ended up having dinner there instead.
Here are some pictures of our food.
They serve Tank 7 so Brian was quite happy. Literally. He drank two glasses and it doesn’t take much. LOL.
It worked out great because we took advantage of the hotel shuttle to go to Nara so neither of us were driving.
After dinner the hotel picked us up from Nara and drove us to the Melting Pot. We decided to keep our nine o’clock reservations and had chocolate fondue for dessert.
While not having the full Melting Pot experience was a bit disappointing, I think it actually saved us money. LOL. Having dinner there would have cost us at least $120. The cost of the chocolate fondue wasn’t too bad.
Dessert was about $20 (before tip) for both of us.
We were ridiculously stuffed after eating all of that sushi and chocolate fondue. Thankfully, neither of us had to drive. The hotel shuttle picked us up from the restaurant and took us back to the hotel.
Dinner and dessert were delicious but being chauffeured around town was priceless. I don’t enjoy driving so I really appreciated it. I know Brian appreciated the break because he would have had to drive us otherwise.
As for taking Molly out before bed and first thing in the morning, it wasn’t too bad because Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park is just a block over on Walnut (about halfway between our hotel and the rooftop park above the grocery store).
Speaking of morning, this was us the next day. Molly was such a good girl.
We took advantage of a late checkout and asked the hotel to take us to Succotash for breakfast before driving back to Wichita.
We’d only been there once before and that was over five years ago. I still remember how much I love it, though. I love that they have the freshest juice. Ever.
These are the all the options. I got the best lemonade.
This amazing lemonade lives up to its name for sure. If only they offered free refills!
The restaurant isn’t very big. The décor is cute and kitschy and the ambiance is pretty relaxed. We were there early enough that we got seated right away but they were quite busy. There was a steady flow of people the entire time we were there. It’s obvious that this place is popular with the locals.
Here are some pictures of our food, in case you are wondering. Brian got his usual: biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, and bacon.
I originally thought about getting the burrito of love (scrambled eggs, cheddar, and bacon wrapped burrito-style in a big, fluffy buttermilk pancake) but when I saw that the #3 omelet had bacon, feta, spinach, and artichoke hearts, I was sold.
Here’s what the inside of my omelet looked like since I added ham.
Breakfast was delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.
After breakfast, we called the hotel to pick us up and then it was time to drive back home. So that’s pretty much how our overnight trip to Kansas City went. It was a nice way to celebrate 15 years of marriage. Here’s to many more!
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Thoughts on Working in Kansas City
Posted on October 9, 2016 by Ching under Life, Relationship.
It’s hard being away from home. Luckily, we are pros at it now. Last year I was spending four days a week in Topeka. I got a short reprieve over the summer, which was nice, but then it started back up again in September. This time I’m spending four days a week in Kansas City.
Between you and me, Kansas City is a step up from Topeka so I’m not complaining. Plus, even though four days of my work week are spent away from my home base, it usually only means three nights away from home.
I do miss Brian and the girls, though. Thank heavens for FaceTime!
Of course, it’s not the same as being there and hugging and holding my babies and being able to share in the day to day activities. But I have a confession to make…
I actually LOVE working in Kansas City.
Perhaps the biggest contributing factor is the walkability of their downtown area. It’s not a secret that I hate driving. When I’m in Wichita, I have to drive to work everyday. It was nice when Brian and I were able to carpool but that stopped two years ago. Yes, I have to drive three hours to get to Kansas City but, once I’m there, I don’t have to see my car again until have to drive back to Wichita.
- I can walk to work each day. (The hotel where I stay is about a four-minute walk.)
- I can walk to the grocery store, if I need something.
- I can walk to the gym, conveniently located across from the office.
- I can walk to Power & Light for nightlife, free concerts, and a plethora of dining options.
- I can walk to the nail salon and even get my nails done over lunch if I so desire.
- I can walk to get good coffee. And I don’t mean Starbucks, though there is also a Starbucks across from the office.
- I can walk to play trivia or ping pong. (I found some ping pong tables in the park across the street from my hotel. I bought a ping pong set from Amazon a few weeks ago. Now I just need to find someone to play with.)
I just cannot get over how I can walk to EVERYTHING and I am loving it!
I also love the downtown views. Here’s a better picture…
The workspace we were given is located on the 17th floor of the tallest building in downtown Kansas City and the view is spectacular. But that isn’t even the top floor, mind you. I can’t imagine what the views are like on the 40th floor on up.
There are downsides, of course. Quite a few, actually. I will not list them all. For the time being, I’m enjoying my time working in Kansas City while it lasts.
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Anniversary Finale
Posted on September 2, 2016 by Ching under Life, Relationship.
Brian and I finished our month-long anniversary celebration with a couples massage at Sveta’s with our favorite massage therapists, Michael and Mindy. It was kind of bittersweet because I found that Michael is moving away, which means he won’t be around for my birthday massage. Michael has been my go-to massage therapist for several years now. I’m not sure how I will get by without him. On the plus side, Brian told me I could have Mindy — unless, of course, we’re getting a couples massage in which case he gets her and I will have to settle for someone else.
We decided to have lunch at Food Trucks at the Fountain after our massage. Our go-to food truck, Kamayan, was there. Predictably, Brian got ribs with sticky rice and I got porchetta with steamed rice.
Brian and I parked ourselves at the table next to the truck. They had a patio umbrella for shade but the sun had shifted and so it wasn’t really shading much of the table at this point. After we scarfed our food up, we realized that we should really adjust the umbrella. It had a very heavy base and I couldn’t move it by myself. Brian did a good deed by adjusting the patio umbrella so that it shaded the entire table, which benefitted the couple with two kids who took our place.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at home before bowling. I know it’s not idea to go bowling after a nice, relaxing massage but we have our Jack & Jill bowling league on Sunday nights. At least I didn’t have to teach Zumba that day.
Anyway, that pretty much sums up our 14th wedding anniversary. Nothing too exciting this year. Now the countdown for our 15th wedding anniversary begins!
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