FLIP + CHING

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

Posted on May 19, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Hobbies.

The weather decided to rain on our parade this past weekend. We were gearing up for a super awesome tournament — the first one for our Rotary club — on Saturday, May 15, but the weather report called for rain all weekend so we ended up moving Picklemania MMXXI to June 19 instead.

I was supposed to play in the afternoon group so then I had nothing to do. Thankfully my friend Seth organized mixed play at Riverside Tennis Center and invited me so I at least got some pickleball play in that day. We played inside the bubble because it was supposed to rain all day but the courts had dried for the most part and the weather was beautiful so we could have totally played outside. Looking back, I was thinking we could have totally still had the tournament and simply pushed everything back a couple of hours but we had no idea that it would be as dry as it was. The forecast for the day was scattered showers all day long so we were afraid that we would be starting and stopping games.

We should have known better than to heed the weather forecast. Brian has this joke that he should have gone to school for meteorology. He said it’s the only job in the world where you can be wrong 100% of the time and not get fired.

Anyway, here is a video from Friday play. I actually did pretty well all things considered. I lost very few games. We were doing a “winners stay and split” format so I basically had to keep playing until I lost. I still hadn’t lost when I quit playing but decided I wanted to take a break so I gave up my spot.

I worked up an appetite playing pickleball and the rainy weather that really wasn’t somehow made me crave crab legs so I asked Brian to take me to Blue Hook Cajun on 21st and Webb. I really liked it when I went with my girlfriends from Leadership Wichita and I’ve been wanting to go back. I couldn’t get crab legs that time because I didn’t want to be messy in front of my sophisticated girlfriends but I didn’t mind getting dirty with Brian so I wanted to go back and get my crab legs fix.

My food came in a big plastic bag.

Here’s what it looked like after I dumped it in the pan. So much yummy goodness!

Of course Brian got chicken tenders. Who does that? I guess I should have known because he doesn’t really like seafood. Honestly, I don’t think he wanted to go to Blue Hook but he was mostly just humoring me. I mean, I did need cheering up after we couldn’t do our tournament thing that I’d been working so hard on for the past two months (at least). When we first talked about having the tournament I was worried about getting all of the player spots filled but when it came down to it, we actually exceeded our goal by one team. Our goal was to have 32 teams (16 in the morning and 16 in the afternoon) and basically have 8 teams per bracket and we filled all of our brackets and had 33 teams ready to go.

Anyway, I wish he would have gotten the crab cakes because I really wanted to get a picture of it (and also taste it). I guess we will just have to go back.

It never fails that you run into people you know when you look like absolute crap. I figured I would get messy from eating crab legs so I didn’t even bother to change from my pickleball clothes. We just went straight to dinner. I had no makeup, messy hair, dried sweat, and now buttery crab juice all over me (the bib they gave me helped a bit but I always end up wearing my food somehow whenever I eat crab legs – I knew I would have to shower after so I didn’t bother showering and changing before going to dinner) and guess who they seated at the table behind us.

Meader sends us a Facebook message with the above picture and the caption, “Who are these people?” Hilarious. They were all dressed nice in a double date with another couple. Brian and I looked like a couple of hoodlums in sweats and I was covered in butter and crab.

Story of my life. Until next time. GNG.

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Brian’s New Hooded Robe

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Ching under Shopping.

I got Brian a new hooded robe from Me Undies. His face may not show it but he absolutely loves it. I know because he hasn’t stopped wearing it.

I got it for him because it’s a much lighter weight material than the black, terry one that he lives in AND it matches the lounge pants that I got for him a couple of months back. His favorite black robe reminds me of the one that Dude wears in The Big Lebowski except in black. It’s super comfy but I think too warm now that the weather is warmer. Now that I’ve realized that he can’t live without wearing a robe 24/7, I had to find him one that he can comfortably live in during the warm months. He can go back to the black one in the winter.

When I say he lives in a robe, it is no joke. He literally lives in it.

He wears a robe even while he naps.

I think he would wear a robe to the store if it didn’t garner him strange looks from people. He might still do it. Who knows? He’s been out and about in his house slippers a time or two. I wouldn’t put it past him to go out in his robe. Give it a few years. I feel like as we get older, the less we care about what’s acceptable and unacceptable and the more we behave as we truly are without pretense.

Anyway, if you’d like to get one of these amazing robes or any of the super comfy things that Me Undies sells (they sell more than just underwear these days — they’ve expanded to lounge wear and other things) follow this link.

Until next time, GNG.

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My Favorite Hair Tool

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Ching under Toys.

I went through a couple of years of wearing my hair completely natural and not even brushing it at times. That exercise has helped me realize that I prefer wearing my hair sleek and smooth rather than curly. Anyway, I discovered this Le Volume tool by L’ange and it is amazing. It has been my go-to hair tool ever since.

A few weeks ago the handle started overheating on me. Not sure what happened but it didn’t seem safe. I contacted L’ange and they told me to cut the cord and send them a picture and they would send me a replacement. I followed their instructions and sure enough it wasn’t long before the replacement arrived.

I was so happy finally get my replacement as I have been completely lost without it.

I was so happy with L’ange customer service and I am so in love with this tool that I ordered another. I ordered the petite 60mm version because I’ll be cutting my hair next month and my original one will be far too big to use.

Here are the pictures of the new, smaller one.

They’ve actually improved this tool since I first ordered it last year. It now ships with a protective cover (so the bristles do not get bent in storage) and also a cleaning brush. Although, I missed the cleaning brush when I got my 70mm Le Volume (because I was just so excited to finally get it after being without it for so long) and threw it away with the packaging.

Here’s a side by side of the two tools for comparison.

As someone who has never been skilled at using a roller brush, this 2-in-1 is a lifesaver. I’m so glad I have them.

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Video of Zach and Krystle’s Wedding

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Ching under Events, Family.

Posting this video for grandma so she can watch the ceremony.

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Zach and Krystle’s Wedding Celebration

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Ching under Events, Family.

Brian and I had a lovely time at Zach and Krystle’s wedding yesterday at Tanganyika Wildlife Park. They’ve actually been married a year but didn’t have the wedding until now due to the pandemic.

Several family members attended from the Brubakers and the Hyatts. It was a lovely gathering and my first time attending a wedding at the park. It was really cool that they had some animals come out and I think the kids really enjoyed it but at times I felt bad because sometimes the animals didn’t seem very happy.

I also liked that we were free to roam the park privately for a couple of hours between the ceremony and the reception. Tanganyika can be quite busy on weekends so it was very nice to have the park to ourselves. I only wish it wasn’t so chilly. I was dressed for warmer weather and so we kind of just sped through most of the exhibits so we could go back inside out of the wind.

Zach and Krystle had a beautiful wedding cake that was just as delicious as it looked. It was lemony yellow cake that was moist and perfect in every way. I think Brian was secretly hopeful it would be chocolate but I still liked it.

Rather than a traditional cake table, they had the cake set on beautifully decorated a swing. It added yet another unique element to the beautiful wedding.

Here’s a picture of the reception hall that I took while the rest of the guests were roaming the park.

Brian and I roamed around the park ourselves as well before I decided I’d had enough of the cold. We took a few pictures of the animals that were still out.