FLIP + CHING

Illuminations with Mom and Dad

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Ching under Things to Do.

Brian and I were sick with COVID around this time last year so we missed Illuminations. I’m so grateful that we have both been vaccinated and have managed to avoid getting COVID (again) so we were able to go to Illuminations this year. Each year they do something slightly different so it’s always worth going. Plus, when you go, you’re supporting Botanica and helping them stay open for our community to enjoy throughout the year.

This year we shared the experience with mom and dad.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that night.

Mom and I rode the carousel (twice). Dad and Brian didn’t really care to do it. They just watched us and took pictures.

I really like how they did the one-way flow for the walking path. It made the process so much smoother and more organized. Despite being somewhat scaled back from previous years (I suspect because they were offering a walk through and drive through option), Illuminations is still a really cool experience and I highly recommend it as a “must do” for the holidays. The display will be available through January 1 and you can get tickets here.

That’s all I have for now. Until the next post. GNG.

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Birthday Happy Hour with Jenni

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.

Met up with Jenni for happy hour at O’Malley’s Irish Pub during her birthday weekend. I’d never been there before and, since she lives in Haysville, I thought it would be convenient to meet there. It’s also a favorite post-pickleball hangout spot among my friend Debbie’s pickleball crew.

I think one of the best things about O’Malley’s is their extended happy hour. Very few places have happy hour past 6 PM. Their’s is 2 to 7 PM! That means five hours of cheap drinks – FTW!

I had a couple of boozy root beer floats while we were there. Root beer floats are awesome but even better when they’re spiked.

Besides the cheap drinks, they also have half-priced pizzas during happy hour so that’s what we got. They claim to have “the best” in town, which is a tall order considering that we have some pretty great pizza places. I thought their pizza was just okay (my favorite right now is Piatto’s Neapolitan Pizzaria and I also like Il Vicino and Wichita Brewing Company and Ziggy’s and River City Brewing — okay so there’s lots of other pizzas that I like better — LOL). Their’s is just a basic pizza. Pretty good for the price but not stellar by any means.

Jenni also got some wings, which looked good, but I didn’t try them. The main draw of the place is the drinks. The drink menu is extensive and the happy hour drink prices can’t be beat.

It was really nice catching up with Jenni and hearing how her career is taking off. She’s definitely “manifesting that shit” — which is why I thought the candle I got her for her birthday was quite fitting. My little sister is finally all grown up!

Until next time. GNG.

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Snowbound Trip #3

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Ching under Things to Do.

Last Friday’s trip to the Snowbound Ski Lodge is seriously the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time. We had so much fun on our last trip that Debbie Fanning arranged for us to go back after Friday night pickleball at Nahola. Kimberly Howe got Ryan Kellenbarger to sub for Eric that night so I told Ryan about our plans and encouraged him to get a table for four and go with us.

So we were all set, sort of. I started a group message with Ryan along with Parrish Gumeringer (his long-time mixed doubles partner and usual plus one) and also Brandi and Ty Richardson to help Ryan fill his table. I messaged the four of them because they usually hang out together. By Thanksgiving Day, people were still on the fence so, even though Debbie’s group of ten was confirmed, Ryan’s foursome was still somewhat uncertain.

So I’m relaxing at home on Thanksgiving night and I decide to send a “Happy Thanksgiving” text to Patrick Smith and also, since I figured Ryan would have room at his table that is largely still vacant, I invited him to join us. I didn’t think he would actually say yes but, much to my surprise, he said he would come.

I told the gang that Patrick “might” come but I wasn’t really holding my breath because people say they will do things all the time and don’t come through. I checked with him on Friday and he was pretty nonchalant. I talked to Ryan on Friday and the only confirmed guest he had was Bryan Nguyen. Ty and Brandi didn’t really want to come out because they said our reservation time of 9:45 pm was “so late” and they had a busy Saturday planned. The thing is, we all play pickleball on the West side of Wichita from 7-9 o’clock so 9:45 pm was perfect for our group. It would give us all enough time to get from Nahola to Chicken N Pickle on the East side.

I’m thinking Ryan still had two empty seats so I asked Dan Kautz who plays with us at Nahola for open play if he would like to go. I figured Dan plus Patrick would complete Ryan’s group. But, when Ryan arrived for 7 pm pickleball, I found out that he managed to convince Ty to commit to going over beers at Twin Peaks that afternoon. I guess once you get enough drinks in someone, you can pretty much get them to do anything. Since Brandi and Ty are now in, I told Dan all the seats are taken so he is, unfortunately, out. I didn’t worry about Pat because I wasn’t really sure if he would show up and, if he did, I’m sure the Chicken N Pickle people wouldn’t care because he is a handsome pickleball celebrity who could probably do whatever he wants.

We finished playing pickleball and all head to Snowbound. Once we get there, Ryan tells me that Bryan backed out so now he has a vacancy again. I asked Dan to come and luckily he was able to make it.

Debbie’s group consisted of Debbie, her husband Dave, Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance, Karen Fox, Melissa Burgess, Greta Siemens, Kimberly Howe, Brian and me. Ryan’s table consisted of him, Dan, Brandi and Ty. We went up first because Ryan was still waiting for the rest of his party to arrive. Luckily, there was an open table for four next to our area so we asked the staff to make sure that Ryan’s group got seated there. Our group of twelve pretty much had the entire back of the room. It was perfect.

Here are some pictures from that fun night with the pickleball crew (put Pat and Jamie) at the Chicken N Pickle Snowbound Ski Lodge.

Brandi Richardson and Kimberly Howe.

Patrick Smith and Karen Fox.

This is Pat trying to keep Karen from molesting him. LOL.

Dan Kautz enjoying the Fogged Goggles peppermint martini.

Got some fun pics while goofing around with Pat. Love the look on Brian’s face.

Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance and Debbie and Dave Fanning.

We had such a great time at Snowbound that night.

Kimberly Howe and Melissa Burgess.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch shot ski.

Ryan gives the Snowbound Ski Lodge a thumbs up!

You can’t go to Snowbound and not get a gondola pic!

Our group totally shut down the Snowbound Ski Lodge that night. But the gang wasn’t done partying. All of them went to the Stop for an after party and they shut down that place too. Brian and I went home after Snowbound and called it a night because I had an early wake up the next day for my Aqua Zumba class. Besides that, Brian was such a good sport that night. I did not want to push my luck with him. We were the only two (and Greta who left Snowbound a little early) who didn’t go to the Stop. Even Brandi and Ty who originally felt like 9:45 PM was too late, went and stayed out until at least 2 AM!

I love hanging out with my pickleball friends. They are so much fun! I can’t wait until our next outing. Until next time. GNG.

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Thanksgiving 2021

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Ching under Family.

For many years I’ve been trying to convince Brian to just go to a Thanksgiving buffet for Thanksgiving lunch instead of making food at home and he never would agree. This year, I finally managed to convince him. We looked over several restaurants offering Thanksgiving buffets and finally settled on YaYa’s.

It was the best idea ever. We didn’t have to spend hours preparing or cooking food and cleaning up after. We just went and enjoyed lots of amazing food (and a pitcher of mimosa) and then went home and enjoyed some games with grandma. It was absolutely perfect since it was just the three of us.

After lunch, we taught grandma how to play Mexican train dominoes and then finished with ten rounds of Uno. Grandma was off to a great start and won three games straight. Brian and I eventually caught up and were in a three-way tie with three wins each. Brian won the final round and was the ultimate winner.

However, the real winner of the day was me because I finally got my way of simply going out to eat for Thanksgiving. We are going to YaYa’s for Thanksgiving every year from now on. LOL. Until next time. GNG.

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Meredith’s Visit

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.

Meredith Novy was in town last weekend (she’s currently working in Baltimore, MD) so her boyfriend Brian Harshman brought several people together at Chicken N Pickle on Sunday afternoon for some pickleball fun. Some people couldn’t make it (Ev Kim had volleyball and Anna Le had to stay home and watch Sophia) but we got enough players to fill three courts for a fun ladder.

Debbie and Dave Fanning, Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance, Michael Harris, Lori Below, Karen Fox, Kim Knotts, Fong Witte, Brian Harshman, and Meredith Novy (our guest of honor) came out to play. Here are some pictures that we took at the end of our play session.

But the fun didn’t end there. After our pickleball session, a bunch of us went up to the Snowbound Ski Lodge (trip #2 for me) because several people hadn’t experienced it yet. The Snowbound Ski Lodge is located at Chicken N Pickle’s rooftop and it’s the perfect place for a holiday gathering.

It was so great to have Meredith back, even just for a weekend. It’s so much fun to play with and against such a talented pickleball player. We had a great time visiting but also hearing how difficult it is to get good pickleball play in Baltimore made me realize just how special our pickleball community is in Wichita.