Uncorked and Unwined
Posted on October 2, 2019 by Ching under Community, Events.
I attended the best networking event last month hosted by BKD. It was at the New Market Square Cocoa Dolce, which I’d never been to before.
I’m so glad I was able to squeeze in the schedule because I bumped into my Leadership Wichita classmates Jennifer Wold (she organized the event), Dotty Harpool, and Jessica Dunbar. It was fun catching up.
I don’t frequently get to spend time with my Leadership Wichita classmates because we are all so busy. However, Dotty has been coming to my Aqua Zumba classes so I actually have seen her more frequently than the others the last few months. Another classmate that I bump into on a somewhat regular basis is Teresa Veazey. She couldn’t make event that night but Brian and I will sometimes run into her at events or at the nail spa.
Last week I ran into Jason Mock at the Walkway Cafe (the cafeteria in our building). I hadn’t seen him in forever. He stayed and we caught up over lunch. It was nice. I always love running into my Leadership Wichita classmates.
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Kung Fu Tea
Posted on October 1, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink.
I found a new boba tea place and it’s actually close to our house! My friend Michael from pickleball recommended it when he found out that I liked boba tea.
I went to check it out a couple of weeks ago because I had a referral promo from Michael for downloading their app.
The place is not huge but the location is perfect.
I haven’t been back since the first time because I always forget that it’s there but it is so convenient. It’s just south of Harry on Rock Road so I can actually hit it on my way home from VASA. If only I can remember that it’s there. Perhaps now that I’ve blogged about it, I’ll be able to remember better. LOL.
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Zoobilee 2019
Posted on September 26, 2019 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I attended our 11th consecutive Zoobilee event this year. Every year we say it will be our last but, when we end up getting tickets to a super fun event, it’s really hard to turn down. Even during the years that we would volunteer and have to work until late in the night we’ve had fun. In fact, those were some of our best Zoobilee memories. We have never not had any fun at Zoobilee.
I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t take more photos. Brian and I actually looked pretty good this year. Unlike other years when we either had to volunteer during the event or didn’t expect to go and ended up with last minute tickets, we actually knew we were attending at least two weeks before this time so we could plan accordingly. I even scheduled a haircut that afternoon so I wouldn’t have to do my hair myself. LOL.
We went in early and saw Sherii and her husband Brian. We got there a bit before 5:30 PM when they let the patrons in (general admission is 6:00 PM) but at least they let you in the area outside the gift shop where they actually are serving drinks so you can start drinking while you’re waiting. Brian and I learned a few years ago that we can use this entrance and skip the long line. We’ve done the long line before and it’s not that fun specially when it’s super hot outside.
We ran into my friend Michael early in the evening. Michael is one of several new friends I’ve made playing pickleball. Michael and I are actually playing in the Bob Jackson Friendship Tournamnet together on Saturday.
Here’s pic of us with Caroline, Chet and their daughter. Caroline is also a pickleball player. She isn’t playing right now but she knew about pickleball even before I did.
We also ran into Andrea and James. Andrea also goes to Zoobilee pretty much every year. We’ve ran into her there every year since we’ve known each other.
Brian wanted a picture with the tinman because it’s the name of his gaming page. Of course, I obliged. He always takes pics for me. I got to return the favor.
Ran into my friend Bill from Leadership Wichita. I always love running into my Leadership Wichita classmates. They are the most accomplished bunch of people I know. Bill is an entrepreneur extraordinaire and is involved and many very important business dealings.
We also ran into Augustine and Bianca, owners of Augustino Brewing.
Bumped into Ebony later in the evening.
We multiplied when Mercedes and her friends walked by.
With Travis, Ennidh, Evette and Jimmy. This is the only pic that shows my dress. I’m so sad. I wish I would have gotten more full body pics. It’s a great dress and my current favorite. It’s super comfortable but also nice and dressy because it’s sparkly. I might wear this dress again to another event and take full body pics next time.
Brian and I took one last selfie as we were leaving. Some people stay until midnight because the party goes on forever but Brian and I usually leave around nine thirty or ten o’clock but we are old. I’m not much of a drinker so I pretty much lose interest when all good food is gone. LOL. Besides, I have Zumba classes to teach the next day and I actually have a 10:30 AM class on Sundays now.
That pretty much sums up our 11th Zoobilee. Amazing how time flies. Brian couldn’t believe this was our 11th one. I had to remind him. We have all sorts of pictures online to prove it. In fact, I’ve posted about them every time here.
Until next time. GNG!
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Labor Day Photo Shoot
Posted on September 18, 2019 by Ching under Life.
Brian and I had a photo shoot with Hannah Nighswonger on Labor Day with our babies. Here are some highlights.
Thank you so much to Hannah. She did such an amazing job with these photos! We cannot wait to work with her again. If you’d like to book her for services, you can contact her here.
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Pickleball Events
Posted on September 11, 2019 by Ching under Hobbies.
Our little pickleball Facebook group has grown so much in the last few months. We started it in January of this year with just a handful of people and now we have over 500 members. It’s actually grown much bigger than the Wichita Zumba Facebook group that has been around for over four years. It’s pretty amazing.
Over Labor Day weekend, a bunch of pickleball peeps decided to have an impromptu cookout at Seneca Park. I was surprised by the awesome turnout.
I actually hadn’t planned on going. I had a full day of teaching Zumba classes that Sunday and then afterwards helped move exercise equipment at South YMCA for an hour. The park is on my way home so I told Brian I would just swing by to play a couple of games and see what was up.
Well, everyone came and even brought kids and spouses. It turned into a real party. I called Brian and begged him to come out. He went to the store and grabbed some hotdogs and buns and some condiments from our fridge (which we didn’t really need to bring because there were plenty of condiments there). I ended up going home to drop of my car and we rode back together (that way we only had one car and also so I could drink and not have to worry about driving home after).
There are several fun pickleball events coming up but there are two in particular that I’ve been looking forward to: the Franklin Pickleball Masters Tournament at Chicken N Pickle and the Bob Jackson Friendship Tournament at Edgemoor Park. I’ll be a spectator at the former and I’ll be a participant in the latter.
I’m so excited about the Franklin Pickleball Masters that I actually purchased a weekend VIP pass for me and Brian, complete with court-side championship seats. I also subbed out all of my Zumba classes for the weekend so that we can spend as much time as we can watching the games all weekend long.
The Franklin Pickleball Masters is an invite-only event so there will be some heavy hitters participating. I am looking forward to meeting them all and, hopefully, getting their signatures on my pickleball paddle.
Here are the match-ups for mixed doubles. There are some really amazing teams but I have to cheer for the home team: Matt and Lucy. They live in Wichita but are nationally acclaimed.
As for the women’s doubles, Simone and Lucy (two of the best in the nation, perhaps even the world) are playing together so that’s going to be really fun to watch. The Kyle and Matt team up in men’s doubles is another one that will be fun to watch as well. I am so excited for next weekend!
Then I will play in the Bob Jackson Friendship Tournament the following weekend. It’s part of a series of tournaments the group is hosting to raise money for lights at the Edgemoor Park pickleball courts. Kathy, Gregg, and the rest of the gang have been selling t-shirts like crazy (I have bought several myself, actually) to raise money for lights. We are hoping to meet this goal next year. It will be nice to finally have lights out there. It will extend our play times considerably.
Anyway, that’s all for now. I joined a pickleball league at Chicken N Pickle (my first ever) and tonight is our first night of play. Until next time. GNG.
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