FLIP + CHING

Smoky Hill Vineyard and Winery

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Ching under Shopping, Things to Do.

I’m really sad that my favorite local vineyard and winery is shutting down. My first encounter with Smoky Hill wines was on our Salina day trip with David and Donna almost five years ago. Their plan was to just go to Cozy’s. I’m kind of insane though, so I found all of these other things for us to do while in the area. The wine tasting at Smoky Hill Vineyard and Winery being one of these things.

The lady at the store told us that they would be closing when we were there in November buying some wine. I bought four bottles of Sweet Lady and four bottles of River Valley Red, my two favorites. I kept two bottles of each for myself and we gave the other four bottles to mom and dad for Christmas, since they really enjoy the sweet wines also. She told that it wouldn’t be until the end of January so we didn’t really think much of it. I did make a mental note to return and buy out all of the Sweet Lady and River Valley Red bottles they had left because I really, really like them and I know that I wouldn’t be able to get any more.

Last week I got a message from Misty that their closeout sales had already started. It started sooner than I expected. I was thinking it wouldn’t start until the beginning of next year. I really should have gone when I first got the message from Misty because by the time Brian and I got to Under the Cork (their retail store at New Market Square) on Monday they were completely out of Sweet Lady and River Valley Red; and, they weren’t getting any more. I was so sad.

However, we did get a great deal on our new wine rack as our consolation. Brian was happy that he now had somewhere to put all of his wines. Mine just go in the refrigerator because my sweet wines are supposed to be served chilled. My extra wine (those that wouldn’t fit in the fridge) and his were all stored under the sofa table behind the couch, for lack of a better storage option. LOL. Now that they have a proper home, Brian is beyond happy.

Incidentally, I found something on FourSquare while checking in at Under the Cork on Monday that I just had to share with you guys. I love finding funny places like this on FourSquare! If you find other amusing ones like this one, please be sure to share them with me. That would totally make my day!

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Christmas Day with the Brubakers

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Ching under Family.

As our annual tradition goes, we spend Christmas Eve with the Alonsos and then Christmas Day with the Brubakers. Christmas morning started out with fruit and cinnamon rolls and mimosas.

The present from Kevin and Kasey was the first thing we opened. They put together a wonderful “date night” basket with movies, wine, sausage, cheese and crackers. Thank you, Kevin and Kasey!

We got initial coasters from Cousin Tracy. Thank you, Cousin Tracy!

This is Brian checking out the Sharper Image wine aerator/preserver that we got from Mom and Dad B.

I got both Brian and David the complete Firefly series box set in blu-ray because I found a good deal on Amazon one day. That and I knew that they both really, really liked that show. Brian’s been wanting the box set for a while. I’m glad we waited to get it so that we could get it on blu-ray instead of just regular DVD.

I was so stoked to get my Boggle game. I grew up playing it! Brings back some fond memories. Thank you, Mom and Dad B!

Grandma loves getting chocolates at Christmas.

Since Donna loves sock monkeys, Brian and I got her a sock monkey hat and matching scarf. We found it at one of the booths at Holiday Galleria a few months ago.

Brian got a new dress shirt.

Donna got David Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Brian got his coffee maker that he’s been wanting all this time.

Grandma loved the embroidered shirts that she got from David and Donna.

I got my wrist weights! Woot!

Donna got a new blender and food processor combo.

Dad B is a ninja!

We got Mom and Dad B the same wedding photo book of Kevin and Kasey’s wedding in October that we made for Kevin and Kasey.

That’s all the pictures I got because my camera ran out of battery. 🙁

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My WWF Addiction has Reached New Heights

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Ching under Games.

For those of you unfamiliar with my WWF addiction, WWF doesn’t stand for World Wrestling Federation. That would be something my dad enjoys watching. My WWF addiction is Words With Friends. It’s a two player game that is similar to Scrabble that you can play on your phone. I’ve always been a Scrabble junkie so I was naturally drawn to the game. There’s no one for me to play Scrabble with here. WWF opened up a whole network of potential opponents. I like it so much that it’s the only game I play on my phone on a daily basis. Actually, I don’t play Angry Birds or any other games anymore so I can probably say it’s the only game that I play on my phone period.

Another reason I love WWF is that it’s completely passive. You can take as long as you like or as long as your schedule allows. It’s great for busy people like me. Sometimes games can span several days (sometimes even weeks, if your opponent decides to go to Mexico for vacation – LOL) and sometimes you can finish a game in just a few hours. It all depends on how much free time you and your opponent have. I find it really convenient since Brian does most of the driving (we carpool to and from work and the gym). I usually play WWF in the car on the way to work or on the way to the gym at the end of the day. Sometimes I will play during my lunch hour, if I actually take a break for lunch.

Since Brian and I have been on Christmas vacation (neither of us have to report back to our respective jobs until January 3rd), I’ve been playing WWF like a deserted island castaway at an all you can eat buffet. I usually have no less than half a dozen games going on simultaneously. Right now I’m playing against seven unique opponents. I had to specify that they’re all different people because sometimes one of my friends and I will play two separate games concurrently. This will sometimes happen by accident when we challenge each other at the same time at the end of a game, but sometimes we’ll do it intentionally. I don’t have any of those going on right now, though. If I have made all of my moves and I’m waiting for my opponents to take their turn, I will sometimes get bored and start another game. Thus, I end up playing several games at the same time. I don’t really like playing with random strangers though, so I generally only challenge people I know in real life.

Most of the time, I play from my phone. A few weeks ago, I saw some badges on a friend’s Facebook wall and realized that you can play from Facebook too. I had no idea until then. I think that’s the only time that I’ve ever played with someone I didn’t know. I created a game and hit “random opponent” by mistake. I still make most of my moves through my phone, but I do like playing on my laptop whenever I’m home because then I can post achievements on my wall. For instance, it’s not really exciting when I bingo from my phone because I can’t share it with everyone.

Since we’ve been on vacation, I’ve been living and breathing WWF. My addiction reached new heights last night while we were in bed. I won’t say what we were doing. Just picture us in bed, doing what I can’t say, while having this conversation. Oh, and just to provide some background information, I started wearing my pure hazel Freshlook Colorblends contacts yesterday.

ME: No one even noticed my eye color today. Do you like that I have hazel eyes? We have the same eye color now.
BRIAN: My birth certificate says I have brown eyes.
ME: How come?
BRIAN: I was born with brown eyes. They changed color as I got older. Now they’re hazel.
ME: What does it say on your driver’s license?
BRIAN: Brown.
ME: Why?
BRIAN: I guess it was easier than putting hazel. My eyes change color depending on the light anyway. Sometimes they’re brown, sometimes they look more green, but most of the time they’re hazel.
ME: Hazel would be a good word to play on Words With Friends because the H and the Z are worth a lot of points. Specially if you land on a triple word square.

My last comment was so random that Brian busted up laughing. We both laughed hysterically, actually. I was laughing so hard that I cried.

Speaking of, check this out. I was playing with Cassie the other day and ended up with the crappiest set of letters. Three As, three Is and an O. Naturally, I turned to Facebook and whined. LOL.

When Anthony saw the post, he was like, “That’s nothing! I ended up with seven Is once.”

I guess it could have been worse. =P BTW, Anthony’s board looks different than mine because he plays Wordfeud. It’s similar to WWF, but the bonus squares are distributed in a different pattern and some of the letters have different point values. He likes the functionality of their phone app better. I used to have both, but had to get rid of one the last time I was cleaning out my phone. I know more people on WWF so Wordfeud got the boot. Now I just have to get Anthony to convert over.

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Favorite Pictures from Christmas Eve

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Ching under Family.

Jenni

Me and Mom

Brian and Q

Me and my “pretend” sister, JenTevs

JenTevs and Apple

Brian with Matt and Jen

Armando, JenTevs and Me

Armando, JenTevs and Brian

Mom and Apple

Eli and Logan

Me and Eli

Eli is the cutest little boy ever!

Brian and Zane

The boys with their matching shirts.

Incidentally, Logan said they had, not one, but two sets of matching shirts this Christmas. I guess Momo had the same idea. LOL. Great minds think alike! Brian and I figured that we couldn’t just give them money. The boys needed some sort of present from us to unwrap on Christmas Eve.

Eli took his shirt off and put his new shirt on. He said he liked it because it was soft and he liked the skull and pirate map printed on it. Of course, Brian and I liked the Jamaica map because it’s one of our favorite vacation destinations.

This is Armando shaking his present to try to figure out what’s inside.

Logan and Brian made a special deal that night. All in all, it was a fabulous evening. We had some great food (pictures here) and played games (Apples to Apples) and had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to next year’s celebration already!

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Falling Off the Wagon Face First

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Ching under Food and Drink.

For the first time since Woodchucks Thursday first started, Brian and I finally took up Amie’s invitation and joined. The main reason we haven’t been able to attend before is that Brian and I don’t like staying out too late on a week night because we both have to work the next day and we like to get to work early.

Most of the Thursday night Zumba crew are West-siders so they don’t have that far to drive; unlike Brian and I, who have to drive 30 minutes to come home. That, and we’re not supposed to be eating out anyway. Brian’s even supposed to limit himself to only one bottle of beer per week.

Since it’s the holidays, and Brian and I didn’t have to go to work the next day, we decided to indulge. We joined Amie, Angela and CJ, and their friend JR at the West side Buffalo Wild Wings. Raymond was there with his family also.

I skipped the Woodchucks in favor of sangria, which was good but not great. It’s not as good as the blackberry sangria at Carrabba’s or even mine. It was good enough that I asked for a second glass, though. LOL.

I also caved and ate an order of buffalo chips and one of Brian’s honey BBQ chicken wings. I was very disappointed that I didn’t have enough self control to resist, but at the same time I’ve been telling myself that it’s the holidays and you’re supposed to indulge. That’s my rationalization, anyway.