Mailbox Before and After
Posted on December 22, 2020 by Ching under Life.
Brian and I aren’t really big on getting each other Christmas presents. A few years ago we made the transition to spending on experiences rather than material things so we usually save our money for trips and other things. Our “go to” gift for each other is a couples massage at home with Jamie and Michael. It’s a luxury that we both really enjoy so it’s a gift that we typically give to one another for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and Valentines… in a addition to times when we just have to schedule emergency massages because our bodies need it.
This year, in addition to our couples massage, we also got much needed tangible gift. Our next door neighbor recently moved their mailbox from our shared post to a free-standing brick one which then made our already dilapidated mailbox look completely off balance. We ended up asking the same contractor to come back the following weekend to also make us a brick mailbox. Thankfully, he was available and did a fantastic job. He also did some minor repairs on the rest of our brickwork around for just a little bit more. The darn earthquakes have been taking a toll.
Anyway, this is our big Christmas gift for each other this year — a new mailbox for our house. Doesn’t it look awesome?
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Online Virtual Mixology with On the Rocks
Posted on December 7, 2020 by Ching under Events.
I got to participate in a super fun online virtual mixology team building experience last week. I honestly didn’t even know this was a “thing,” but apparently, because everyone is isolating and social distancing because of the pandemic, people are finding creative ways to connect and experience things and now this whole industry has exploded. Here are some pictures from our fun virtual event last week.
This is Ariel Bruckner, Director of Beverage for On the Rocks. She led our cocktail seminar last week. She taught us how to make a couple of different cocktails using ingredients that they sent in a cocktail kit in advance of our event and then we all just provided our own spirits/liquor (unless we wanted non-alcoholic versions of the cocktails, which she showed us how to do as well).
We’ve had a few Hump Day Happy Hour events since most of us went remote (started working from home full time) and this one was the most well-attended happy hour we’ve had to date.
Everyone seemed to really enjoy learning how to make the cocktails.
Here are some pictures that my coworkers posted in the meeting chat.
This is my boss Kim Savage’s fancy mixology setup. Some people have very nice bar equipment and mixology tools.
Here is Tom Grace’s bar setup.
This is Jared Rudy’s mixology setup.
And here’s Jennifer Perry’s.
This is Josh Belisle’s fancy setup. You can really tell those who enjoy making fancy cocktails apart from everyone else.
This is Alicia Grissom’s finished cocktail number one. Cheers!
The first cocktail recipe Ariel showed us how to make was the “Champagne” Cocktail. Each kit came with everything you needed besides the alcohol (including detailed recipe cards) for two deliciously fun cocktails.
This is Kim Johnson’s “Champagne” Cocktail.
This is the same drink made by Jessica Fundis.
For our second drink, we made a Blood Orange Mai Tai.
This is April Coultis’ mai tai.
I’m pretty sure Emily Marquart doctored her mai tai because it looks different and a lot more plentiful than everyone else’s.
Jona Urquizo’s mai tai.
Kim Johnson’s mai tai.
Here’s Mariaha Sweany’s mai tai. I had the same problem when I made mine. It didn’t make very much either. I think I may not have shaken the mixture in my cocktail shaker vigorously or long enough. I have some other theories too.
Here are Melinda Ivey’s finished drinks and her cute cat.
Here are some pictures of my mixology setup.
I couldn’t make my drinks during the happy hour because Wednesday night is women’s competitive doubles league at Chicken N Pickle and we always play two matches. I had to wait until I came home from league to make and enjoy my drinks.
So here’s my “Champagne” Cocktail. I think it didn’t fill up my flute for a couple of reasons. I used a spoon to juice my lemon because I didn’t have a juice press so I don’t think I got as much juice out of my lemon as everyone else. Also, I didn’t want my drink to be too strong so I shorted my whiskey by an ounce, which on a skinny champagne flute can make a big difference on how far up your drink goes in the glass. I should have compensated by adding more of the sparkling apple cider to make up for the difference. I didn’t think of it that night, though.
These next two pics are of my finished mai tai. I had the same issue. I felt like it didn’t make as much. I think it was mainly because I didn’t get enough juice out of my lime because I did add the correct amounts of all the other ingredients. Also, I think that I didn’t shake my drink in the shaker long enough. And, Alicia said that I should have filled my glass with ice all the way to the brim.
Both drinks were really yummy. I plan to make them both again because I have enough of everything besides the star anise and the cinnamon stick garnish and you can easily enjoy the drinks without these. Besides making the drinks prettier, the garnish makes the drinks more aromatic but they’re enjoyable just the same. I am going to wait to make these again when I’m better though, and can actually taste these amazing cocktails because I fell ill on Thursday and I have absolutely no taste or smell right now.. Otherwise, it will be a waste.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I didn’t even know these virtual mixology events were a “thing.” It’s definitely a unique experience. I’ve been thinking about how to share the it with friends and family. Perhaps I could host my own personal event.
They say experiences make better presents than material things. We have several friends who enjoy drinking just as much as we do and I think this type of event or online experience would make great Christmas presents for them.
Until next time. GNG.
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Thanksgiving Day Zumba
Posted on December 2, 2020 by Ching under Zumba.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Zumba class outside of my own classes. My free time is mostly spent playing pickleball these days. I had a rare opportunity to attend Zumba on Thanksgiving Day. I decided to go to South YMCA where Melissa, Todd, and Brynden were hosting the Zumba party.
It was great to see everyone. I hadn’t seen these guys in forever and I’d almost forgotten how much fun it is to take someone else’s class.
We did a “family” picture at the end and also a fun shoe pic before we all went our separate ways. I miss these guys so much. It was great to see them.
The Zumba dance party was the perfect way to start Thanksgiving Day. Besides starting the day with Zumba, there wasn’t much that was normal about this Thanksgiving. Usually we have grandma at our house for lunch and then we play ten rounds of Phase 10. With COVID and everything, she couldn’t come over. Instead Brian made food and brought it to her.
We didn’t make traditional Thanksgiving Day food either because Brian and I aren’t really turkey fans (I prefer ham). We just had some salmon and packed some up for grandma. So basically Thanksgiving Day wasn’t different than any other day. It was nice to have the break from work and we used the opportunity to get our Christmas decorations out, which is nice because we didn’t even decorate last year.
We also had time to go out Rolling Hills to play pickleball with Bruce, Ben, Jeremy, Amy, and Cathy. It was a great group and a beautiful day for pickleball. That pretty much sums up our Thanksgiving Day. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Until next time. GNG.
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Saturday Morning Pickleball Group
Posted on November 28, 2020 by Ching under Hobbies.
KaSanda Gehrke was in town last weekend and was nice enough to play with us. We had three courts for the first time ever.
Normally, we only have eight players on two courts on Saturday mornings. The winners of each court then play against each other, while the losers play against each other with the teams splitting at each rotation. Last weekend we finally got to have a “real” Queen of Courts with twelve players on three courts. Partners still split with each rotation but winners move up and losers move down.
Of course, KaSandra was at top court the entire time and we all just took turns playing with her as we moved up to the winner court. She was super nice and it was a lot of fun. Can’t wait until her next visit.
That same morning, Janelle gave me these awesome pickleball earrings. She told me it was a “belated” birthday present but Brian said it was because she hit his balls during the clinic with Lauren. I told Brian in that case, she needs to hit him again because I want the matching necklace. LOL.
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Pickleball Clinic at Chicken N Pickle
Posted on November 27, 2020 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
Brian attended his first pickleball clinic at Chicken N Pickle last week. The clinic was taught by the beautiful and talented Lauren Stratman who plays for Team Electrum with Patrick Smith and others.
Since I am a huge fan, Brian took my dud Electrum paddle that I don’t play with and got it autographed. Now I really cannot play with it because I don’t want to mess up the signature.
I would have attended the clinic myself but I had a meeting until 5:30 PM that night. I also committed to playing with Bruce at Rolling Hills Country Club and I’d been wanting to check out their new pickleball courts. The courts are beautiful but super hard to find. I actually got lost trying to get there. The courts are tucked behind an apartment complex and super hard to find if you’ve never been there and completely impossible to find at night. Thankfully, Bruce came out to the street to get me. Here are some pictures from that night.
The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful night for playing.
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