A Few More Fundraising Events
Posted on May 23, 2018 by Ching under Events.
We had the opportunity to attend a few super fun events over the last few weeks. Last month Brian and I attended KANSEL’s Team Trivia event. We got to attend it for the first time a few years ago and it’s been one of our favorite events since. They always have some really cool silent auction baskets.
We only got one thing from the silent auction this year, which was a good thing because Brian spent quite a bit trying to win the gun raffle. Just kidding. He only bought six tickets. That was enough, though. They ended up drawing his raffle ticket so he actually won the thing!
Besides the AR, he was also very excited about his new Boulevard glass. He got it in the beer pull. Instead of getting a random glass, you got to pick your own this year. The beers are still random so that part is still a surprise.
The artwork above the door is the one thing I got from the silent auction this year. It’s a piece by a local artist known as Johnny Freedom. He has quite well-known and has his works on display everywhere.
The following weekend, we once again got to hang out with Tammie and Leo at the East Wichita Rotary Club’s Kentucky Derby party. It’s the club’s second annual Kentucky Derby fundraiser to benefit local nonprofits. This year the beneficiaries were KETCH, Down Syndrome Society of Wichita, and CASA of Sedgwick County.
Here’s a picture of all the ladies and our beautiful hats!
The very next day was WASAC‘s annual SALSA (Supporters and Leaders Against Sexual Assault) event. I knew what to expect this time, having attended the event before. A couple of years ago, when Brian and I attended the event for the first time, I actually thought there was salsa dancing involved. LOL.
Here are a few pictures from the event.
Brian didn’t go with me because I only got one ticket from work. I offered to buy him a ticket but he opted to stay home and play video games instead. Go figure. At least he goes with me to some events.
That’s all for tonight. GNG!
1 Comment
Discovered Salsa Lessons in KC
Posted on May 19, 2018 by Ching under Hobbies, Things to Do.
One of my coworkers in Kansas City took me to a dance studio in Shawnee, Kansas last month for salsa lessons. We had been working together sometime before I realized that she loved salsa dancing as much as I do. We’d been talking about going salsa dancing for some time but never could work it into our busy work schedules. There’s not really anywhere to go salsa dancing during the week except for lessons. She told me about Viva Social Dance Studio where she used to attend salsa lessons regularly. They have an hour of social dancing immediately after the salsa lesson. I guess that’s the best we could do during the week.
The salsa lessons are on Wednesdays. We finally found a week that we could go so we put it in the calendar and I brought my special dancing shoes. My shoes are nothing compared to her shoes, though.
Here’s a picture of Denise’s fancy dance shoes. I found out that night just how “into” salsa dancing she is. Denise is semi-pro!
This next picture is kind of dark but it shows pretty much the whole studio. It’s not very big but they manage to hold five classes in it simultaneously during the hour. Each group has an assigned instructor. They pretty much just loop the music and we follow the instructor for our group. I followed Denise to the intermediate group. Since I know some basic salsa and teach Zumba classes, I was able to keep up pretty well. I guess this shouldn’t have been a surprise but I didn’t know what to expect.
At the end of the lesson there’s a showcase. Each group demonstrates the moves and combinations they learned that night to the other groups. It’s really pretty cool. I really like how they set up the classes.
Here’s a short video clip that Denise captured of me during the social dance at the end. My dance partner is one of the guys who took the lesson with us and we were practicing some of the moves we just learned.
I really enjoyed the salsa lesson that night. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to share the experience with Brian some time.
I guess that’s all for now because it’s time for bed. Until next time. GNG.
Comment on This
CASA-INO 2018
Posted on May 12, 2018 by Ching under Events.
Here are a few pictures from the CASA-INO event last month, benefitting CASA of Sedgwick County. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. The organization’s mission is to provide caring, trained volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in the community.
Brian and I have had the wonderful opportunity to attend various fundraising events around town but this was our first time attending this one. It’s pretty fun. They had food and drinks, casino games, silent and live auction, wine pull, and a photo booth. I’m really glad that my friend/coworker Sally, who is on the organization’s Board of Directors, invited us because Brian and I had a great time.
We never miss a party if we can help it. Cheers and GNG!
Comment on This
Our Final Day in Miami
Posted on May 12, 2018 by Ching under Travel.
We took advantage of our final day in Miami to do some exploring. And, because I’m always curious about public transportation, we had to check it out. In Miami they have this thing called Metromover and it’s completely free. It reminds me of the KC Streetcar but with a greater reach.
We got instructions from the concierge on how to use it to get to Bayside Marketplace and so we embarked on our little sightseeing adventure.
On our way to the Metro station, we walked by Trinity Cathedral, a beautiful church next to our hotel. It is the oldest church in the original city limits of Miami.
I thought it was a Catholic church at first because of its look and name, but it’s actually Episcopalian. The two are very similar and I didn’t know the difference and so I honestly had to look it up.
This is the Adrienne Arsht Center Metromover station, which is the closest station to our hotel. I took a picture because I’m use to trains being on street-level or underground. I guess the LRT in Manila is also elevated but I don’t remember ever taking it. This is the first one on an elevated platform that I recall ever taking.
Brian is very anti public transportation so he was kind of cranky at me for making us take the Metro. As payback, he made us take the steep stairs instead of using the elevator. The stairs reminded me of the stairs at the Downtown YMCA. It was a workout and I remember thinking to myself, no wonder all the people we’ve seen in Miami are fit! You’d have to be in order to use the public transportation.
This pretty much sums up Brian’s attitude toward taking the Metro. I considered it an adventure that didn’t cost us anything.
The trolley is another free way to get around. It runs Monday through Saturday from 6:30 AM to 11:00 PM. We didn’t get to check it out though.
After getting off at the station closest to Bayside Marketplace, it’s still a bit of a hike. Not too far, though. The walk was doable and gave us the opportunity to take some fun photos along the way like this one.
These next few photos were taken at Bayside Marketplace.
We walked around a bit before deciding on a place to eat.
There were lots of options and some with great views.
There was even a Hard Rock Cafe nearby.
After walking throughout the place, we settled on Bubba Gump Shrimp Company which was actually the first restaurant we came across before exploring the marketplace. The restaurant, which is now an international franchise, was originally inspired by the movie Forrest Gump.
Here are some pictures from inside the Bayside Marketplace location.
Here are some pictures of Brian perusing the menus.
You use these signs to signal to your server.
Here are some pictures of our food.
Leave it to Brian to order a “chicken” sandwich at a seafood place.
I found something with rice and immediately knew that’s what I wanted.
We opted to skip dessert at the restaurant so we could get the Belgian chocolate shake at the Haagen-Dazs next door. It proved to be a wise choice because this was the smoothest, most delicious chocolate shake I’d ever had. It kind of made me wish there was a Haagen-Dazs shop nearby.
Brian gave the chocolate shake his seal of approval.
We decided to hang around Bayside Marketplace to finish our chocolate shake but then it was time to make our way back to our hotel. The transit system was simple enough to navigate that I managed to talk Brian into taking it again. Plus, it’s kind of tricky to find a good spot for a Lyft or Uber pick up and the Metro is free so it was kind of a no-brainer. Anyway, it allowed us to take in more of the sights like this awesome urban graffiti wall.
Once we were back at our hotel, we discovered this small shopping center next door which is sandwiched in between our hotel and the DoubleTree.
There were several restaurants in there so we really didn’t have to venture far for food. I wish we would have known this when we first arrived. Although, we did want to hit South Beach and do some exploring. I think Brian would have been perfectly happy eating in one of the restaurants next door, though.
Speaking of exploring, I managed to convince Brian to walk down to the marina at sunset to check out some boats.
As nice as the marina is, it’s actually even more spectacular at sunrise.
Here’s the view of the port from our hotel room on checkout day. There were more cruise ships docked and ready to take on new passengers on their adventures.
That pretty much sums up this recap of the 2018 Zumba cruise. Until next year — when we hope to do it all over again. GNG.
Comment on This
Debarkation Day
Posted on May 11, 2018 by Ching under Travel, Zumba.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. We woke up on Friday morning and it was time to get off the ship. We didn’t have to fly home until the next day though, so we were able to take our time and not have to rush to the airport. The only downside is that, even though we weren’t in a hurry, they still kicked us out of our cabins by 8:30 am because they wanted to clean and prep it for the next passengers.
Speaking of our cabin, this is kind of embarrassing, but I didn’t find the hair dryer until the night before. I guess there was a drawer in the makeup vanity but the chair, which we were using to hang my dirty workout clothes, was always there and so I didn’t ever realize that drawer was there. Brian found it while checking all of the storage places when we were packing the night before.
It’s not like I had time to dry my hair, anyway. I barely had enough time to shower before dinner on most nights. LOL.
I took a picture of our SeaPass cards for the sake of memories. The DX sticker on Brian’s card signifies the deluxe drink package, which meant that he could drink an unlimited number of drinks each day. It’s a privilege that didn’t come cheaply (about $60 a day before the required gratuities). However, if you consider that drinks are about $15 each on average, then it makes sense to get the all-you-can-drink package. To save money, we didn’t get the same drink package for me. I got the next package down which got me unlimited coffee, soda, and smoothies.
Here’s a photo of me with some new friends we made from the Zumbaholics Facebook group. We were trying to find our designated staging area.
This is a summary of the artists who performed on the cruise this year. Many of them are unknown to most people who are not in the Zumba community. Heck, I didn’t know about Fuse ODG until this trip!
I heard this song for the first time during the sail away party and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s now my current pre-cooldown song.
Anyway, the debarkation process went pretty smoothly and we were back at the Marriott before long. I think the trickiest part was making sure that our Lyft driver could spot us and could find a reasonably safe spot nearby to load. The Port of Miami is pretty crazy. It’s very busy and, because people load and unload in the middle of the street, traffic barely moves.
I was getting stressed out as the passenger. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to drive in that mayhem. I was very grateful that neither Brian nor I had to do it. We were so thankful that the Lyft driver got us out of there and delivered us safely to our hotel that we tipped him $5 for a $7 ride. He earned every bit of that fare and tip, as far as Brian and I were concerned.
Check back tomorrow for how we spent our final day in Miami. Until then, GNG.
Comment on This
