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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Pictures from Brian’s OK Trip Last Month
Posted on February 5, 2018 by Ching under Family.
Here are a few pictures from Brian’s last trip to Oklahoma when he helped lay flooring at his mom and dad’s house.
It worked out that he had to go over there to help with the flooring project because we had some presents for them that we didn’t want to put in the mail. We didn’t mind mailing their gift cards but we felt it would be best to deliver these in person.
We got them a couple of bottles of my favorite wine which they got to try when they visited over Thanksgiving. They seemed to really like it so we thought we would get some for them. We also go them some personalized stone coasters.
Brian and I had talked about driving down and back to deliver their remaining Christmas presents but then when Brian realized that he would be down there to work on flooring, he figured that he could kill two birds with one stone. It worked out because our weekends have been pretty busy so we might not have been able to drive down for another couple of months. Heck, we’ve been needing massages for a while now (Brian specially after all of that work he did laying the flooring) but we can’t seem to squeeze it into the schedule.
What a year it has been already!
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New Kicks for Me and Alex
Posted on January 31, 2018 by Ching under Shopping.
This is pretty much how our year began. Right off the bat, I had to spend almost $800 on new tires for Alex. The dealership had recommended new tires several times. I’d just been putting it off and putting it off since I don’t really drive my car that frequently (since I’m in Kansas City with one of our fleet vehicles from work most of the time). We finally pulled the trigger but I felt that we did it the smart way by getting an alternate bid.
The dealership wanted almost $1200 for the same tires that we were quoted less than $800 for by Discount Tire Store in Derby. They came highly recommended by a couple of coworkers.
The funny thing is that we are so conscientious about making sure that our credit cards are paid off at the end of the year so we start off with a zero balance on January 1. We don’t generally carry a balance from month to month but we have this crazy superstition that whatever you’re doing on January 1 sets the tone for the whole year so we never want to the start the year off with a crazy high credit card balance. On December 31 we made payments on both cards that we generally use for expenses just to be sure we started the year off on the right foot but then we turned right around and spent $800 on tires that first week. Ironic.
Alex wasn’t the only one who got new kicks that week though. My new sneakers arrived that same week. Gotta love Amazon Prime! They are Reebok Hayasu training shoes and are super popular with Zumba enthusiasts. I’d been seeing fellow Zumba instructors and Zumba-goers rave about them on Facebook for months (maybe even over a year) so I finally decided to give them a try.
Unlike Alex’ new tires, my shoes were FREE! I had banked enough points on my Amazon account that I was able get these new shoes without spending a penny. I just love Amazon. The more you shop on the site the more it pays off.
So yeah, new kicks for me and Alex in 2018!
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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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New Beanies for Grandma
Posted on January 21, 2018 by Ching under Projects.
Someone (whose first name starts with the letter B) didn’t tell me that grandma wanted new crochet beanies for Christmas. I found out on Christmas day when grandma mentioned it. I asked Brian about it that night before bed.
ME: Why didn’t you tell me?
BRIAN: I only found out on Friday. I didn’t think you would have time to make one.
Anyway, I felt really bad so I decided to get right on it during my short break from work over the holidays. Amazingly enough, I was able to complete one hat in about four hours. Not bad for a novice.
I was so impressed with myself that I decided to make another one the next day.
Here are pics of the two beanies I made.
Brian delivered the beanies to grandma while I was teaching my New Year’s Eve Zumba class and he took photos for me. He said she really liked them which makes me super happy.
I may not have gotten them done in time for Christmas but at least I got them done in time for the cold weather. It has been super cold here the last two weeks. This is the first weekend we’ve had decent weather.
Anyway, I love how the hats (which, if you notice, are two different styles — since I just make these on the fly without a pattern, no two are ever identical) turned out. This has encouraged me to pick up crocheting again. Hopefully, I’ll finally learn how to read crochet patterns and learn to make some new things this year.
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