Reasons Why We Love Where We Live
Posted on July 9, 2012 by Ching under Reviews.
Are you new to Wichita? Are you looking for a place to live? If you are, consider Quarters at Cambridge on 21st and Webb. It’s the best place to live in Wichita, hands down. Allow me to list just a few of the reasons why we love living here.
Location. QC is conveniently located within walking distance to both Bradley Fair and Waterfront. It’s also walking distance to Target, Cabela’s, and World Market. There’s lots of great shopping, dining, and walking/biking paths in the area. One of our favorite things to do in the summer time is bike to Bradley Fair (sometimes we drive if we have a big cooler full of drinks and want to bring our lawn chairs) on Thursday nights for the jazz concerts. We also enjoy walking over to Baskin Robbins or Granite City. Makes us feel better about all the calories we consumed because we’re burning some of it by walking home.
The location is close to the finest schools (both public and private), churches, and major employment centers. There are three country clubs nearby, and there’s easy access to downtown and the rest of Wichita via the Northeast expressway.
We also love the apartment community’s proximity to our eye doctor, dentist, massage therapist, hair salon, and, yes, even my gynecologist. Everything is within walking distance. Northeast Wichita, specifically this area, is pretty much our haven. We have everything we need within easy reach.
Amenities. There is a huge clubhouse on the property that is great for parties, complete with full surround sound home theater system. Every now and then, the staff hosts movie nights there. There’s also a well-equipped exercise room that is open 24 hours with special code access. There’s a corporate boardroom and business center for meetings. The mailroom is climate controlled so you don’t have to get soaked picking up your mail when it’s raining or freeze your buns off in the winter. But the best part is the salt water swimming pool, which not many apartment complexes have.
Beautiful and Serene Surroundings. The community is so peaceful and the architecturally designed landscaping is beautiful. There are three lovely ponds on the property. And the common areas are well-maintained. Even the swimming pool area and clubhouse patio has beautiful plants and landscaping.
Security. After hours access is restricted by electronically controlled gates, which helps to keep vendors and solicitors out. There are also security cameras throughout the property. Brian and I even left our front door unlocked overnight one day and didn’t have any problems.
Washer and Dryer. All of the apartments, townhomes, and garden homes are finished with washers and dryers so you don’t have to leave your house to do laundry. No lugging and trekking laundry baskets to the laundromat or community laundry center. That is a great plus.
Several Floor Plans. There are several floor plan options (3 apartment floor plans, 2 townhome floor plans, and 4 different garden home options), all with modern open plan layout so you’re not separated from everyone when you’re cooking. It’s great for entertaining. Some of the units have fireplaces, which is great for those cold winter nights. The townhomes and garden homes have garages. Car ports are also available.
Personally, I like the townhomes the best. The two bedrooms upstairs both have en-suite bathrooms so you pretty much have two master bedrooms, which is perfect for roommate situations. There’s a half bath (water closet) downstairs so your guests don’t have to go upstairs and use you private bathroom.
Great Insulation and Sound-Proofing. Unlike other apartments we’ve lived in, the walls are insulated and sound-proofed really well. Your neighbors have to be really loud in order for you to hear them. Lower utility bills are another added benefit of the good insulation. Speaking of utility bills, all units have a programmable thermostat, which can save you a lot of money when used properly.
Online Resident Portal. I love the online resident portal. You can pay rent electronically so you don’t have to mail it or drop it off at the office. You can preschedule a one-time payment or set up recurring payments. It’s really convenient. The online portal also allows you to submit maintenance requests, so you don’t have to call the office unless it’s absolutely necessary.
House Cleaning Service. They have house cleaning service on staff, so you don’t have to hire a third party cleaning service whose credentials are uncertain. The cleaning service rates are very reasonable also and they do a great job. As an added bonus, you get free carpet and house cleaning whenever you renew your lease (or annually, if you’re crazy like Brian and me and decide to sign a 30-month lease – yes, that’s how much we love this place).
Excellent Customer Service. If you don’t believe me, check the reviews. Quarters at Cambridge is the only place I know in Wichita with a 100% recommendation rating. Customer service was probably the biggest deciding factor for us when we were looking for a place to live a few years ago. All the other things I mentioned above were just icing on the cake. We chose this place based on all the wonderful reviews about how responsive and friendly the employees are, which we experienced for ourselves after moving in. Almost all maintenance issues are resolved either the same day or the next day. At least from our experience.
They’ve taken cared of raising the height of the light fixture above our dining table, replacing burned out lightbulbs, fixing a broken toilet, dusting the ceiling fan in the living room (we have vaulted ceilings), replacing the batteries on our smoke detectors, and even hanging our curtains. They even came out at 11 in the evening to fix the AC when it wasn’t working. I’ve heard horror stories at places where it routinely takes a couple of weeks to get things fixed. Not so here. They do regular preventative maintenance, and respond quickly when repairs are needed.
I used to have to nag Brian for several weeks before he’d take care fixing broken stuff around the house. Now we just pick up the phone or submit a maintenance request through the resident portal and it’s fixed almost immediately. That has really alleviated a lot of strain on our relationship. I no longer have to nag him, and he doesn’t have to resent me for it. LOL.
Did I mention that they give you a birthday card signed by all the staff members and a gift certificate redeemable at Cambridge Market every year on your birthday? The staff is really thoughtful and friendly.
This place is so awesome that most people don’t leave after moving in. They really spoil you. Many people have lived here for five years or more. I know some people who have lived here for a decade. We got to meet some of our neighbors at the pool, at community events, and at the annual summer barbecues hosted by the apartment management. The management does a good job of screening residents so it’s really a community of fabulous people. We’ve yet to meet anyone we didn’t like. Saying that this is the perfect place to live in Wichita is not an exaggeration. Check out Quarters at Cambridge. I promise, you won’t regret it.
P.S. The apartment has a great referral program so if you do decide to move in, please be sure to tell them that the Brubakers referred you. 😉
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Back at the Dentist
Posted on July 7, 2012 by Ching under Health, Invisalign.
DR. P: You sure did.
Brian’s new crown broke less than 24 hours after they were installed. I’m not sure what happened, but I noticed them while we were eating Marble Slab and walking around the Bradley Fair pond that Sunday. The very next Monday, Brian called the dentist to tell them what happened. Instead of getting an emergency appointment, he figured he would just go the same time that I was scheduled to return for new teeth impressions for my Invisalign (which was yesterday). I’m going to tell you about the Invisalign in a bit, but let me tell you about Brian’s teeth first.
Brian initially thought that they would have to take the crown off and replace it with a new one, which would take a couple of hours. As luck would have it, Dr. P was able to fix the chip by simply reshaping the crown. However, that made the tooth smaller than the one next to it so it didn’t look right. The dentist then than to shape the other tooth to make them even. On the plus side, it didn’t take two hours for them to do all of that work. Brian actually finished before I did. Here’s the end result.
As for me, I originally thought that I was completely done with the Invisalign trays for my top teeth and only had one more month left on my bottom teeth. Unfortunately, I have one stubborn bottom tooth that’s not tracking properly so they had to take new impressions and they’re going to give me new aligning trays. While they’re at it, they’ve decided that they want to tweak one of my top front teeth so it’s even straighter. Meaning, I have to keep my Invisalign braces for a few more months. Instead of being finished with my top braces (which I thought I was several weeks ago), I get new ones of those too. I’m not sure how many more, though.
On the plus side, the dentist had to remove my aligning buttons to get new dental impressions and they won’t put buttons back on until I get the new trays. That’s nice because then the trays aren’t as tight making them easier to put on and take off; and, I won’t have weird buttons on my teeth for a while. The down side is that it may be a while before I’m done with my braces.
Although, from the sounds of it, it doesn’t look like I’ll ever be completely free of these trays. The appointment before the one yesterday, when I thought I was almost done, the dentist said that I would have to wear my retainers every night for the next five years even after I’m done with my braces. This is to keep the teeth from shifting back to where they were. Just as Brian and I don’t ever want to be fat again, I don’t want my teeth to ever be crooked again, so I’m certain that I will be heeding the dentist’s advice and strictly following their instructions.
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4th of July Feast by Chef Sonnie Jay
Posted on July 6, 2012 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
My cousin Reuel’s wife Sonnie Jay, who is a trained chef in Norway, prepared a scrumptious feast for us on the 4th of July. I think this had to be the fanciest prepared meal I’ve had all year.
Sonnie Jay made ceviche with mangoes, ginger, and bass. I don’t really eat ceviche so I didn’t have any, but mom and Jenni both said it was very good. She prepared it the night before so the fish cooked in lemon juice overnight.
She also made glazed whole carrots and steamed asparagus.
The pork chops, which marinated overnight, were the most flavorful pork chops I’d ever had. I didn’t really get to eat much of it for dinner that night because I was still full from stuffing my face at Abuelo’s, but I had some for lunch the next day at work. It was even delicious microwaved. So delicious that it made me wish I could go back in time and eat two whole pork chops at dinner the night before.
Sonnie Jay also made a couple of dessert dishes, the first of which was a fruit merengue made with fruits that mom already had. Sonnie Jay was actually going to make whipped cream from scratch until she realized that mom bought pre-made whipped cream. Way to ruin it for the rest of us, mom! LOL.
The second dessert she was leche flan. It’s the Filipino version of the popular Mexican dessert. Mom didn’t have vanilla extract, so Sonnie Jay improvised by using lemon zest. She couldn’t flip it over because the glass baking dish was too big and we didn’t have anything large enough to transfer it to, but the flan turned out with perfect consistency. No bubbles or air pockets. It was dense and delicious. The lemon flavor actually worked well and gave the flan an unexpected twist. Possibly the best flan I’ve ever had, hands down.
Later that night, Brian, Reuel, and Sonnie Jay tried their hand at flying dad’s foam RC plane. Having spent some time flying RC planes with dad on this trip, Reuel was starting to get the hang of it. Sonnie Jay, on the other hand, crashed the plane several times. LOL.
When it got dark, we had an excellent view of the fireworks that everyone was blowing up. The fireworks were going off all around us, in Derby, Haysville, Mulvane, Rose Hill, Wichita, etc. We had 360 degree views. Well, almost. Mom and dad’s house and the trees beyond their house were kind of in the way. There were fireworks everywhere you looked, though. We got to enjoy watching everyone else’s fireworks and didn’t have to buy any of our own. It worked out perfect! Looking forward to doing the same thing again next. Hopefully, Sonnie Jay and Reuel can come visit again. It won’t be the same without her delicious food.
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Post Aqua Zumba Feast at Abuelo’s
Posted on July 6, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink, Zumba.
I managed to talk Brian into hanging out at the Genesis (Rock Road) pool while I took Aqua Zumba on Wednesday. Neither of us had to work since it’s the 4th of July (Independence Day here in the US).
He didn’t really feel like hanging out at the pool at first, but then he changed his mind. I think it was the cute lifeguards in skimpy bikinis that did the trick. He was like, “As much as I enjoy hanging out at our pool, the view here is so much better.” Spoken like a man. Although it’s usually just the two of us hanging out at the pool at our apartment complex, so what does that say about me? LOL.
Speaking of insecurities, I love Andrea but I absolutely hate standing next to her. She may stoop so that I don’t look like a midget, but I still feel like a heifer. I guess I should consider it motivation. Note to self: workout more and watch nutrition better.
It was fun hanging out with Hideki and Andrea. The four of us went to Abuelo’s after because I was craving a sangria and they had cheap pitchers. Much to my disappointment, I found that as of July 1 restaurants can no longer serve pitchers of mixed drinks. Blech. Bad news for me, but good news for the restaurants because they can make more money selling drinks by the glass. In this case, a glass of sangria is $7 but pitchers used to be $16 (I think at one point it was only $12, talk about cheap tasty drinks). This change was part of the whole “happy hour” thing. We were all so focused on “happy hour” that they snuck this one rule in there without anyone noticing. At least I didn’t. Otherwise, I would have protested. I want my pitchers of sangria, darn it!
The funniest part is that our server, Dale, felt bad for breaking the news to us. I bet he’s had a few unhappy customers because of the change. He had a good sense of humor about it, though. When Brian asked about bottled beer, Dale told us they pretty much had every beer. Brian asked for Stella and he was like, “Except that.” So Brian asked for Sam Adams and again Dale was like, “And that.” They only have Sam Adams on tap. No bottles. I gave Dale a hard time for batting a thousand. LOL.
Brian ended up drinking Budweiser. Thank God his tolerance has increased enough to the point that he can drink almost any beer these days. He used to only be able to safely drink Sam Adams.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure you’re expecting food pictures so here’s my Durango Burrito covered in queso with papas and rice on the side.
Hideki had Pasta La Paz.
Brian had Huevos Rancheros. Egg fried hard, of course.
Andrea got some kind of platter with a ton of food in it. Her plate was enormous. LOL. And, to top it off, she ordered margarita pie for dessert. I don’t know how she does it. Some people are just blessed with good metabolism, I guess.
So I still like Abuelo’s even though they no longer serve pitchers of sangria, which used to be my favorite drink there. It’s not as good as the blackberry sangria at Carrabba’s or the sangria at Bonefish, but the pitchers were cheap. No more pitchers, though. However, they still make good food and I really like their chips and queso. Brian and I usually add taco meat to our queso, which almost turns it into a meal in itself. I have to be careful not to get full on it, though. The proximity of the restaurant to our place is another added bonus. If we get tanked (which we’ve never ever done) but, if we did, we could always walk home.
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KEYN Summer Concert Series
Posted on July 5, 2012 by Ching under Date Ideas, Things to Do.
Tonight was the final night of the Bradley Fair concert series for the 2012 concert season but, fear not, for another one is starting. The KEYN summer concerts start tomorrow with King Midas.
These concerts are held at WaterWalk every Friday from July through mid-August. And people complain that there’s nothing to do in Wichita. Tsk. Tsk.
P.S. the judging event for the Kansas Firefighter Calendar is also happening tomorrow night at the Drury Inn Broadview. VIP tickets are $30 and general admission tickets are $10. Magic Mike‘s got nothing on these guys!
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