Fight Night at the Star
Posted on November 13, 2019 by Ching under Events.
We got to have a mini reunion with our #VacayWithJayJay buds a few weeks ago.
Clockwise from left: Alicia, Kirk, Mark, Brian, Becca, Tina, Justin, me, Jay and Reniece.
This was my first live fight ever. I’ve only ever seen them on TV. I was kind of glad that we were at the Fire Club above the arena so we were far away from the ring. I don’t know how I would have handled all the fluids flying about during the fight.
Here’s a group photo we took that shows our vantage point. From left: the Shooks (Reniece and Mark), the Hunties (Justin and Tina), Becca, the Shorts (Alicia and Kirk)… I’m not quite sure who that guy is on the very right. We might have gotten introduced that night but I can’t remember. The big head front and center is Jay. Brian and I are in the upper left corner.
We might have been farther away but we had a great view.
Not only was it my first live fight, but it was also our first time at the Fire Club. It’s pretty cool up there.
It’s definitely the way to watch events at the Kansas Star Casino arena. Putting it on my list of things to consider for the next concert that comes through.
It was nice to be able to catch up with our #VacayWithJayJay group who we got to spend a lot of time with in Costa Rica earlier this year. Incidentally, we are traveling with the Hunties and the Dills again this week. Vacationing with friends is the best.
I’ll post our trip recap when we’re back stateside. Until then, GNG.
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Downtown Cocoa Dolce
Posted on November 11, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Have you been to the new Cocoa Dolce downtown yet? If not, put it on your list. The place is amazing! My friend Chris and I walked over there a few weeks ago to check it out. Here are some pics.
Something I didn’t realize is that Cocoa Dolce not only has amazing truffles, they also have amazing cheesecakes. Their hot cocoa comes in various flavors and is perfect for the cold weather. I highly recommend checking this place out specially if you work or live downtown or near the area.
Here’s the details:
Downtown ICT Cocoa Dolce
235 N St Francis
Wichita, KS 67202
PH: (316) 854-3121
info@cocoadolce.com
Store Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 7 am – 7 pm
Friday and Saturday: 7 am – 9 pm
Sunday: 12 pm – 7 pm
This is the third Cocoa Dolce location in Wichita. The other two locations are at Bradley Fair (East Wichita) and New Market Square (West Wichita).
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Second VASA Location
Posted on November 10, 2019 by Ching under News.
The second VASA location in Wichita is finally open! It’s in the old Extreme Gaming location (formerly Hobby Lobby) at Brittany Center. We held a Unity Day there (basically a special staff meeting) the evening before the doors opened at the end of October. The gym was open for about a week before the official grand opening celebration on November 2.
I thought the first VASA was absolutely perfect. This second one is even better in so many ways! The group fitness studio is laid out better with little cubbies inside at the back of the studio and they have Studio Cycle and Studio Red.
Speaking of Studio Cycle, I finally got to take the training this weekend. I tried the class for the first time during the grand opening and absolutely loved it. It got me even more pumped to take the training.
Training today was a blast. I can’t wait until I’m able to teach this format. You’ve never taken a spin class until you take Studio Cycle at VASA. It’s pretty awesome!
If you are wanting to check it out, you can find the full schedule here. Free trial passes are available online as well. Come join us!
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2019 Tallgrass Film Festival
Posted on November 8, 2019 by Ching under Events.
Jenni hooked Brian and I up with Tallgrass Film Festival tallpasses this year so Brian and I were able to attend some of the galas. All I have to say is, TFF throws the best parties at the most unique venues.
The opening night gala was at Union Station. The Dills and the Hunties happened to be doing a pumpkin carving thing at the PourHouse that same night so we went early and hung out with them for a bit before heading to the TFF gala.
Here we are at the PourHouse patio with Jay, Becca, Mama Dill, Tina and Justin.
I wish we would have known sooner that they were out there because then Brian and I could have headed downtown much earlier. We were both ready to go and just killing time at home before we had to go to the party. The parties start late because they usually follow evening movie screenings.
We didn’t get many pictures that first gala because it was outside and we were cold. We did meet this very nice lady, though.
The party on the next night was at Shift Auto Society, which was right up Brian’s alley. It’s a brand new place that opened downtown a couple of months ago. It seems like a men’s club of sorts. Anyway, Brian really enjoy looking at and taking pictures of all of the fancy vehicles.
Jenni was in charge of all the volunteers this year. The extra tallpasses were one of the perks of her gig.
If you ask Brian, he will probably tell you that the party at Shift on Thursday night was his favorite. Tallgrass Film Fest is an event that goes from Wednesday through Sunday with movie screenings throughout the day at various locations downtown and then each night there is a gala party. We had things going on over the weekend so we could only attend the parties on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
It worked out well because Jenni’s fiance Adam wanted to attend the party on Saturday night so we attended our final party on Friday night and gave Jenni back her tallpasses before we left.
The party on Friday night was pretty fun too. It was at an old Greyhound bus station, which they did a great job transforming.
I drive by this place on my way to work each morning and it does not look like this. LOL. It’s empty and run down.
We ran into one of my Leadership Wichita besties Teresa Veazey at the party. She is artsy so TFF is right up her alley.
We had a blast at all three parties we attended but we came to the realization that we are both entirely too old to party in the middle of the week, and we definitely are not hip enough to hang with this crowd.
While I enjoy some indie films, Brian is not a huge fan so he could pretty much take or leave this event. I like it but I think in order to do it right, you really need to take some days off work so you can watch the movies and not just attend the parties like we did. That way you can make the post of your tallpass.
I was able to catch one of the movies screening in my building after work on Friday, so that was nice. Then Brian and I watched some horror shorts before the gala party on Friday. Though indie films are not his thing, Brian was a good sport about it.
Anyway, I am not sure if Jenni will be involved with TFF again next year but if she does, I will definitely try to take time off work so I can watch more movies next time around. That way I can make the most of the tallpass.
You live and learn. Until next time, GNG.
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League Recap
Posted on November 6, 2019 by Ching under Hobbies.
I normally would have pickleball league tonight but the season is, unfortunately, over. I am so sad. It went by so quickly. Anyway, I had such a great time playing with my partner Renee (pictured below) in my first league experience ever that we decided to play together again next season.
I wasn’t too sure about being in the Intermediate level at first but it was the one that Renee had signed up for already and I was simply joining to be her partner. I thought, even though I’d never been in a pickleball league before, I can pretty much hold my own with my pickleball friends who have been playing longer than me and I wanted to be challenged so I didn’t really mind being in Intermediate. This season proved to me that I’m in the correct level of competition.
Renee and I actually had a pretty good track record going into the tournament on the final night of our league. Our team, Heavy Dinkers, played against 12 different teams and only had 3 losses. Two of those losses were when I had a sub fill in for Renee so in all actuality we really only had 1 loss while playing together.
I felt really good about our chances until she told me that she had to be out of town for work during the week of our tournament night. You can’t get a sub who is better than your partner and we’d been playing really well together so I was super bummed. However, I did find someone to fill in who I felt complemented my style and would have a good chance with. We were all set for Wednesday when a work emergency cut Renee’s trip short. She would be back in time for the tournament after all. I felt bad about canceling on my sub but I was happy to have Renee back. I really wanted to see how well we could do together.
So, what happened last week? Well, we didn’t win it but I was happy with the way we played over all. We won our first match but were in the same pool as my friends Becci and Bev (BeBe Picklers) who are both very good. I think we had a good chance against them but we made some mistakes and ended up getting eliminated from the main bracket early. We didn’t do too bad in the consolation bracket. We won our first few matches and were steadily clawing our way back up until we ran into team Haylo. Both players were leaps and bounds more competitive than the rest of the field and Renee and I struggled to get it together. We lost that match and that was the end of our tournament journey.
I think Haylo ended up winning the tournament so I don’t feel too shabby about being eliminated by them. I feel like we had a really strong team and lost to the only two teams better than us (by my extremely biased calculation, anyway).
I improve each time I play so I’m really looking forward to this next season coming up. Now that we’ve had some games together, I think my partnership with Renee is only going to get stronger. They better be ready for us next season because we will be in it to win it! Until then, GNG.
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