Archive for the year 2018
Boulevard Brewery Tour
Posted on February 21, 2018 by Ching under Things to Do, Travel.
Brian and I meant to attend the Kansas City Brew Festival but the event sold out before we got our tickets so we ended up going to tour the Boulevard brewery instead. This was our second time doing the brewery tour.
We got there early and picked up four tickets since we were meeting a couple of my college friends there. The main difference between the tour we did last year and the tour this year is that Boulevard is now charging for the tours. They used to be free. Still, $5 is not a bad deal for an hour of entertainment and beer drinking.
I just love how friendly the Boulevard people are. I guess you would be friendly too if you were allowed to drink on the job. LOL.
If you’ve never done the brewery tour, you should. It’s a must in Kansas City!
Now that they’ve built the Beer Hall, there’s plenty of room for people to mill about while waiting for their tour to begin. I heard it used to be super crowded in the pub next to Brew-house 1.
If you do decide to go for a tour, Brian and I recommend getting there early and enjoying some snacks at the upstairs Beer Hall. Our favorite thing to get is their meat and cheese board. This way you have some food in your belly before you start drinking a bunch of beer. Then again, you could start pre-drinking which is what Brian and many others do.
This is where they used to start their tours back in the olden days.
You get to start drinking right off the bat. Much to Brian’s disappointment, I was in a beer drinking mood and actually drank my glass of Pale Ale. On our first our, he got to drink both mine and his. I actually didn’t mind the Pale Ale this time. Not sure if my tastes are changing or I’m just becoming more open-minded about beer.
It was freezing that day so we didn’t spend too much time on the terrace. Our tour guide talked while we were inside and then we just stepped outside briefly for those panoramic views and to take some photos.
Like this one.
And this one.
The tour culminates in more beer drinking. You actually get to pick two beers from the dozen or so they have on tap. The idea is to try flavors you haven’t had before but Brian always ends up getting a glass of Tank 7, which has been his favorite for a long time. Except, he discovered the Irish Ale on this trip and now that’s his most favorite of all the beers that Boulevard offers.
Again, this is a part where Brian usually gets to drink all of my beers but I decided to actually try some beers instead of just getting extra beers for him to drink. I tried Jam Band and Cranberry Orange Radler and I loved both of them! The Cranberry Orange Radler is my absolute favorite, though. It’s very un-beer-like.
As an added bonus, Brian volunteered to be the “caboose” on our tour expecting to get an extra pour at the end (which is the volunteer’s reward is usually) but they were trying to get rid of some six-packs so I ended up getting a free six-pack of Cranberry Orange Radler. They didn’t have any flavors that Brian wanted so I ended up getting the beer I liked instead. Lucky me!
I’ve never been a beer drinker but Boulevard is slowly changing my mind. There are beers out there that I can enjoy after all. Baby steps.
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Shaker Full of Wishes
Posted on February 19, 2018 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I had the opportunity to volunteer at Shaker Full of Wishes this year. It’s the third time that Make a Wish has held this event.
Thanks to my friend Bee for inviting us to volunteer at the event.
We got to partake of the delicious food, beverage, and other treats in exchange for volunteering so that was awesome.
My favorite was this cotton candy martini. Check it out.
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YMCA Annual Celebration
Posted on February 16, 2018 by Ching under Community, Events.
A few pics from the YMCA Annual Celebration a couple of weeks ago at Century II.
It was our first time being invited to the Triangle Society pre-celebration reception.
The YMCA Late Night program is only a year old but it’s one of my favorites. So glad they came up with it because it gives teenagers a safe place to go and constructive activities to do on a Saturday night.
Down below, they were getting set up for the main program and dinner.
My new friend Betty Schwahn. We met her for the first time at a Triangle Society event a couple of months ago. Super nice lady!
My name tag would not stay because of the texture of my dress so we decided to stick it to my arm instead.
I eventually gave up on the name tag altogether and just stuck it to the table next to my drink. LOL.
We also ran into Suzy at the celebration.
They recognized some very deserving people. It was a wonderful celebration altogether. We our so grateful for our local YMCA for making sure that we have the best facilities and great programs that everyone can enjoy regardless of their finances. We feel truly blessed that we can make a small contribution toward making all of it possible.
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2018 Black Light Zumba Party
Posted on February 9, 2018 by Ching under Community, Zumba.
We had a great time at the Black Light Zumba Party at South Y a couple of weeks ago. Joel sure knows how to throw an awesome party. I think this is the third year that they’ve done it. I missed the very first one but did have the opportunity to attend the one last year. This year was even bigger and better than ever.
Last year I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t glow so I decided to go all out with my outfit. Here’s a sneak peak.
The funny thing about the tutu is that when the package arrived Brian was like, “Don’t you already have a tutu?” I have several but this one lights up!
Sarah is one of our amazing Zumba instructors at the YMCA. She taught a few songs that night but was also helping with the event. She helped decorate and she also manned the glow in the dark body paint table. The glow in the dark body paint is something new they did this year and worked out really well.
Here’s the scene at the body painting station.
Brynden bought glow in the dark body paint also and she painted her face even before she arrived at the event.
This is Brynden’s mom, Laurie. They’re an awesome mom/daughter duo.
Here’s another dynamic duo, Andrea and Sharlie. We got light up glasses!
Another improvement from last year is the specially designated t-shirt cutting area. I pretty much got stuck there helping people cut their shirts. Brian finally had to get me out of there so I would get a somewhat decent spot in the studio. He said people were already filing in and warned me that I would get stuck at the very back if I didn’t get up there, stat. Yikes!
Here’s the scene upstairs. They doubled the black lights so everyone glowed. I should be pretty easy to spot in this photo. You can’t miss me and my light up tutu.
Still can’t find me? Let me help you out.
They were turning the lights on and off so people could test their glowy-ness. Basically, if you didn’t feel like you were lit up enough, you could go back and apply more glow in the dark body paint. I skipped the body paint because I was decked out in LED accessories from head to toe. My white gloves light up also.
Here’s a picture of me with Hannah and Charis.
Here’s some of our Zumba family.
This is an awesome panoramic photo of the whole studio.
Here’s the studio with the lights out.
Here’s a picture of people dancing after things really got going.
It was quite a sight to behold.
Here’s me and Brynden. I ended up changing into my shirt from last year halfway through. It actually glowed a lot better.
Here’s another group photo.
With and without the flash.
These guys are so fun!
These are the awesome instructors who led songs at the event (from left): Jonie, Janefer, Charis, Sarah, Joel, Todd, and Missy.
This is our Wichita Area ZINs group photo.
Here we are with the lights on, in all our goofy glory.
I love how welcoming and supportive our ZIN community is in Wichita. I have heard horror stories in other areas where instructors do not support one another at all. Wichita is not like that at all. Instructors team up and work together all the time to host events and raise money for various causes.
We actually have another event coming up. This one is at Andover YMCA on Saturday, February 17, at two o’clock in the afternoon. It is a member appreciation event so it’s a FREE Zumbathon. I’m hosting the Zumbathon along with Mandy, Charis, Francie, and Angie. Tiffany would have hosted the event with us but she has to work that day. We’re doing an 80’s theme so it should be super fun.
I hope you can join us!
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Kansas City Restaurant Week
Posted on February 6, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Restaurant Week in Kansas City is HUGE! The event even has its own web site. This year it started on January 12 and continued through January 12 so you actually had two full weekends of dining out. I had no idea until I was invited by coworkers to join them in their Restaurant Week dining adventures.
The best things about Restaurant Week are (a) you get to enjoy a great meal at a bargain ($15 for lunch or $33 for dinner) and (b) you get to support great causes because they usually donate proceeds to some nonprofit organizations. I got to try some restaurants I wouldn’t normally dine at that week.
My first Restaurant Week stop was Bristol. I’ve only eaten there a couple of times before because it’s so expensive. I remember eating there with Selena last year and, despite sharing an entrée, our bill still reached $100. They offered a heck of a deal for Restaurant Week, though — $15 for a three-course lunch.
They actually had lobster bisque on the lunch menu, which is quite a deal, considering that lobster bisque usually costs at least $15 by itself at most restaurants. The presentation is super cool. I had to capture it on video.
Several of us, myself included, ordered lobster bisque. Someone got a Caesar salad, which looked pretty good too.
Here’s the various entrees we got.
Guess which one was mine? Yup, I had the salmon. Several of us got that one.
This is another lobster bisque picture but this one is from Eddie V’s Prime Seafood. I liked the flavor and presentation of the lobster bisque at Bristol better but at Eddie V’s they practically give you an entire lobster. They include big chunks of lobster instead of just tiny little pieces.
This is Lesa’s surf and turf dinner with three huge shrimp.
They do family style sides. My steak didn’t look like much but it was delicious.
The bananas foster finale was nothing short of spectacular.
Check it out!
Lesa had a refreshing sorbet.
Here’s the Eddie V’s menu card.
There are so many delicious dishes to choose from. I can’t wait to return to the restaurant and try something new!
Gram & Dun was another one of our Restaurant Week stops.
My salad (below) was delicious!
This is Denise’s shrimp and grits.
I had the barbecue mac and cheese, which Julie highly recommended.
We finished things off with the Gram & Dun bar.
Our meal was pretty fab! Actually, all of our meals that week were very good. Denise joked that she probably gained more weight during Restaurant Week than she had the entire holiday season. She’s probably right. I skipped Monday night because it was too cold but she still went to Lydia’s.
That’s one of the reasons I came to the conclusion that Restaurant Week in Kansas City is a big deal. Despite the cold temperature and yucky weather that week, all the restaurants were packed. You could hardly get your reservation in on Open Table because all of the good restaurants were completely booked.
We figured there would be plenty of no shows too due to weather. No such luck. People made reservations and actually stuck to them. That’s how HUGE Restaurant Week is here. I’ll have to remember it for next year.
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