Archive for the year 2016
Fun Saturday Afternoon with Nickira
Posted on April 13, 2016 by Ching under Things to Do.
Fun pictures from a fun Saturday afternoon with my little sister Nickira… Incidentally, these were taken a couple of weeks ago. The blog is a few weeks behind and I’m just now getting around to catching you guys up.
First stop, the ICT Pop-Up Urban Park for some ping pong.
And then we were off to Botanica.
I love the colorful shadows that this archway casts.
It was a beautiful day and we got some great photos.
Last stop, Churn & Burn.
I have a sinking feeling that I’m going to regret introducing Nickira to my all-time favorite ice cream joint. She’s probably going to want to go there all the time now. Wait, that can’t be bad because then I’ll have a reason to go all the time now too!
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New Pet ID Tags
Posted on April 13, 2016 by Ching under Babies.
We got the coolest pet ID tags for Molly and Saki from Tags for Hope recently. They’re made to look like Kansas driver’s licenses and are super cute.
Here’s how Molly’s looks on her.
No live action pic of Saki’s because she chewed hers up already. I was so bummed. I couldn’t believe it. Well, I should have known it wouldn’t last but a day.
At least the nice people at Tags for Hope are sending us a replacement. Will need to spray bitters on it so that she doesn’t chew up the second one.
If you need tags for your babies, I highly recommend getting some from Tags for Hope. The tags are high quality and look great, and every tag purchased provides an animal in need with food, treatment, and shelter. It’s a win-win for everyone!
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One Crazy, Busy Week
Posted on April 12, 2016 by Ching under Community, Events.
After spending most of the week in Madison, I came home to a private shopping party at Chic Street Boutique. It wasn’t well-attended but I was out of town the three days leading up to the event so I couldn’t really hound people to come. It was a combination of poor planning and just being super duper busy.
For those of you who are not familiar with Chic Street Boutique, they’re located at Central and Rock next to the most awesome tailor ever – Quickstitch. Chic Street has unique clothing and accessories that you can’t really find anywhere else.
They had some great clearance items the day of the party. I found a few things. I really wanted these pants but they were only available in XS. I was so bummed I couldn’t fit in them. And, then there was this one sheath dress I wanted but, again, it was not available in my size. I really wanted to buy it with the hope of eventually shrinking into it, but my friend Tammie talked sense into me and talked me out of it. Had it not been for her, I would have bought that dress and it would have been hanging in my closet, never being worn, for eternity. It’s important to have friends who will honestly tell you how it is and keep you from doing stupid stuff. Seriously.
The very next day was the Whine About Wichita YPW event at Union Station. I made Brian go with me. He was a tad overdressed because we came straight after work. Well, kind of. We had to take care of the dogs first and then had a quick bite to eat at TSK.
I had the chocolate bread pudding for dessert. It was amazing! It was probably the best bread pudding I have ever had. Hands down.
Ebony was at the Whine About as well. It should come as no surprise because she is on the YPW Board of Trustees and Advisory Council so she is at just about every YPW event. Ebony is not just involved YPW, she’s heavily involved in the community. Everywhere we go, she meets someone she knows.
She’s like a younger, prettier version of Don Sherman. LOL.
We got a really cool tour of Union Station.
Here are a few pictures that we took during the tour.
Obligatory selfie!
Brian looked really good. He looked like he was part of Mayor Longwell’s entourage.
I love that Brian humors me and goes to these events with me. I’m not sure if I would go by myself even though I did see quite a few familiar faces including our friend Cindy (@WichitaCindy). It’s crazy how we don’t see each other for years and we got to catch up and visit two days in a row!
I was looking pretty yuck because it had been a long day (more like a long week, actually). I’m glad that we went, though. We got to participate in the “whining” and “toasting” and met some cool people and we got these neat Wichita flag buttons. It was one crazy, busy week but totally worth it.
I love YPW events. YPW is definitely part of what makes Wichita great in book. Looking forward to the 2016 YPW Summit next week!
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Doolittles Woodfire Grill
Posted on April 10, 2016 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Ginger and I had a nice dinner at Doolittles Woodfire Grill while in Madison, WI a couple of weeks ago. The hotel shuttle service ends at 6 pm but the front desk rep was nice enough to pay for our cab to the restaurant.
All we had to do was pay for an Uber ride back, which didn’t cost very much because the restaurant is located pretty close to the hotel.
Here’s a picture of the huge bar at the center of the restaurant.
We had the parmesan artichoke dip as our starter. They were nice enough to provide some sliced veggies for us in addition to the grilled ciabatta bread.
We also had the kinky mango sangria, which was super delicious.
Service was a tad slow, probably because they had a few large groups that evening, but when our food finally came it was totally worth the wait.
Ginger had the rib and chicken combo. She said they were the best ribs she’d ever had.
I had the shrimp and crab stuffed tilapia, which doesn’t look like much, but it was very good. I really enjoyed everything but the kinky mango sangria was my favorite part. As sangrias go, that was probably the best sangria I’d ever had.
Doolittles kind of reminds me of Redrock Canyon Grill at Bradley Fair because of the rotisserie chicken and ribs. I wish I would have tried their specialty for comparison. There aren’t any Doolittles in Kansas. They’re only located in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. We have a lot of similar places here though.
If you’re ever in Doolittles territory, I recommend checking them out.
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Staybridge Suites Madison-East
Posted on April 10, 2016 by Ching under Reviews, Travel.
It doesn’t look like much from the outside but this hotel has probably been the best hotel I’ve stayed at this year in terms of cleanliness, customer service, and value. For perspective, the hotel I’ve stayed at this year include Hampton Inn (Fort Lauderdale, before our cruise), Hyatt Place (my second home in Topeka), Holiday Inn Express (it’s down the street from our training facility in Topeka), and Drury Plaza at the Arch (St. Louis). I may be missing some but these are the hotels I can remember off the top of my head that I’ve stayed at this year.
Here’s a look at the inside where breakfast and social hour happens. This Staybridge provided breakfast daily and then also social hour, with real food and unlimited drinks, Monday through Wednesday.
Here’s a picture of what I had for breakfast one day. They would have either pancakes or French toast. They also have a waffle maker so you can make your own waffles in the morning. There’s also, toast, bagels, breakfast pastries, muffins, fruit and cereal — lots of different options basically.
Here’s a picture of the social calendar for the month that was posted on my fridge. They had a chicken fajita taco bar the night we were there and then soups and sandwiches the day we were leaving. It also appears that they partner with local restaurants to cater food in for the socials on some nights. The chicken fajita tacos looked pretty good. So on those bad weather days or other days that you just don’t feel like going anywhere, you can eat free hotel food and just stay in.
We were supposed to arrive around one o’clock on Monday afternoon but, because our flights were canceled, we didn’t arrive until midnight. The rep at the front desk, Nate, was super nice. Anyway, I think since we arrived so late all of the regular rooms were taken. Ginger and I both got upgraded to two-room suites (more on that in a minute).
Nate recognized me from talking to him to setup an airport shuttle pickup earlier that morning. “Weren’t you supposed to arrive this afternoon? I sent a shuttle to pick you up. What happened?”
I explained that our flights got canceled so we were rebooked on other flights later in the day. “I called back and canceled the shuttle. You were probably off by then. I talked to a woman and she told me there wouldn’t be shuttle service that late but that there would be lots of cabs at the airport. We just took a cab over. No worries.”
“She didn’t offer to pay for your cab?” he asked.
“No she didn’t mention it. That would have been nice though, because there weren’t any cabs waiting when we got outside. On the way here our cab driver was on the radio with home base asking to send cabs at the airport because there was a lobby full of people and no cabs to be found.” The was actually one cab when we got outside but it was already taken. I think the cab driver was going a different direction because she asked us where we were going and then told us that she couldn’t take us and that there would be other cabs coming. A guy who came out after us must have been going the same general direction she was because he was able to get in her cab. It didn’t take long for the other cab to show up. I suppose there are lots of cabs during regular hours or high traffic times but they don’t wait around at the airport until midnight. The airport in Madison is a small regional airport so that makes sense.
“She really should have offered. Next time just ask.”
Nate was very thorough. He made sure that Ginger and I both had our rewards number so we could get our hotel points. He told us about the upgraded rooms and gave us some options: whether we wanted our rooms to be on top of one another or be on the same floor on opposite sides of the building. We opted for same floor.
I got room 330. I think Ginger either got 310 or 307 on the other side because she also got a two-bedroom and two-bath suite. I was amazed at all the space I had when I first entered my room. I usually hate getting a room with two beds in it because I feel like it’s a waste. Well, guess what. This time I had three beds! And an extra bathroom that I didn’t need. Talk about waste!
I wish I would have known about this option ahead of time. We could have gotten away with reserving three rooms instead of five separate ones. LOL.
Side note, it was clearly opposite day because everything that was happening was opposite of my normal preference. For instance, I ended up getting an exit row seat on our flight to Madison. Most people like exit row seats because they have more leg room. Not me. I don’t like the pressure of having to perform in case of an emergency, which I know isn’t likely but enough to stress me out. I mean, I’m not very strong. What if the door won’t open? Those are the kinds of thoughts that go through my mind.
Anyway, we were told it was a full flight so then I was like, “At least I have an aisle seat. There’s going to be two other people who will take care of the emergency door. I shouldn’t have to worry about it.”
Guess what. The flight wasn’t full after all. The two seats next to me empty!
I could have crawled into a fetal position and taken a nap since I had so much space but I got engrossed in watching The Great Gatsby (relevant because we’re going to a 20s murder mystery party at the end of the month and I wanted some outfit ideas but also because the movie is quite entertaining). I didn’t really get to take full advantage the situation. Oh, well.
And then I get to the hotel and I have three beds, two more than I really need. It was a freaky Monday indeed. Everything that was happening seemed to opposite what I like.
My suite consisted of a common living-dining-kitchen combo and two bedrooms with each their own bathrooms. The living room area was actually quite spacious.
The kitchen was equipped with a full-sized fridge, stove, microwave, sink, coffeemaker, toaster, and dishwasher.
In the cupboards you had pots, dishes, glasses, utensils, and everything else you could possibly need for a comfortable extended stay.
Here’s a picture of one of the bedrooms with its own adjoining bathroom.
I obviously didn’t stay in this one. Here’s the bedroom I slept in. This bedroom had its own adjoining bathroom as well which was exactly like the other one.
I also took a picture of the breakfast buffet and social hour info.
Here’s a picture of the taco bar.
And the drink bar.
There’s also a really nice apartment complex next to the hotel with a great walking path. It looks like the path goes all the way around the apartment complex. I didn’t follow it all the way around because I didn’t want to creep out the residents.
I really enjoyed staying Staybridge Suites Madison-East. The location was nice and quiet. They had shuttle service to take you wherever you need to go within a two-mile radius. It was very clean. The hotel staff was nice. The free breakfasts daily and free food and drinks during social hour made for an excellent value. I liked it so much I actually looked online to see if they had a location in Topeka. I would rather stay somewhere like this than at Hyatt Place, specially if I’m going to be there all week.
There’s a Staybridge in Wichita but not one in Topeka. I guess Hyatt Place is going to be stuck with me for a while.
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