Day Dreaming

I've been having trouble sleeping lately, I wake up every night at 3 AM and cannot get back to sleep.  This has been going on for a couple weeks.  I. Am. Exhausted.  So one of the things I think about in the wee small hours of the morning is my next trip to Vegas, which we are planning for my 30th birthday.  We aren't planning our usual trip, it'll be more of a grown up trip focusing on visits to the spa, fine dining, and a nice show rather than partying at a rooftop bar with our friends (which is LOVELY but we're just going to do something at a bit of a different pace this time).  So instead of our usual Hilton, where we typically get comped a suite, I want to go a bit higher end.  I'm trying to decide between the Wynn (or the Encore)....

 The Bellagio...I've always wanted to stay there but is it too old and tired now?  Has it lost its luxury quotient?

 The Cosmopolitan...this fits more of our younger partying profile for our trips to Vegas...not sure if it's really a good fit for a weekend more geared towards romance and relaxation...

Aria, is this (or the Cosmopolitan) really in the same class as the Wynn or the Bellagio?  We will probably never stay anywhere in Vegas this nice again, so I want to make it count.  The pool isn't really a factor since we'll be going in February.

I'm also contemplating the shows, I'd love to see Garth Brooks but with tickets starting at $250 a person, I think it's too rich for our blood.  Other options include LOVE, O, or Absenthe. 

What do you think?  What hotel would you stay at on your ultimate Vegas fantasy trip? 

I'm Leaving Las Vegas, Lights So Bright, Palm Sweat, Blackjack on a Saturday Night

Day 4, most of our traveling companions departed on a noon flight back to Austin. Me, being of the die hard Vegas persuasion was trying to suck the last bit of Vegas that could be had out of the weekend so Sunday we went downtown and did some gambling on Freemont Street at some of our favorite gambling haunts, Binions, The Golden Nugget, and the Golden Gate. I had my 99 cent margarita and we even got comped free shrimp cocktails ($1.99 value, woooooo, firt time to get comped!) based on our game play at the Golden Gate. We played craps for a few hours there, Wizard of Oz at the Golden Nugget, and finally blackjack at Binions. By the time 3 PM rolled around, I was broke, exhausted, and finally tapped out on Vegas, so we gathered our belongings and got out of town.

Vegas continues to be my favorite vacation spot and going with the other couples allowed me to experience it in a whole different way. When I first started planning this trip, it was just for the two of us but Darryl convinced me to get others to go. I think he was absolutely right, had a great time and I hope our next trip isn't too far in the future!

You Gotta Know When to Hold Em, No When to Fold Em...

After a night on the town we rallied to watch the Longhorns take on their arch rivals, the OU Sooners. It was a rough day all around. The hangovers were harsh and widespread and the game was brutal. We ended up watching the game in our suite, it was nice and big so there was plenty of seating and booze for those who were more stable than others. I went down to the Pizza Hut in the first half of the game, having finally loaded up on Tylenol and a nice long shower. I wished the girl ringing me up a good morning and she responded with, "It's 1:30 ma'am, it's not morning." Ef you Pizza Hut girl, we're in Vegas, I was up until 5 AM the night before drinking and eating a $43 pizza (yes, there was a shenanigan where in our drunken state we felt like it was appropriate to order a pizza from room service. Not the most sound financial decision, but it was a tasty one). So as I mentioned, some of us were in better shape than others, so after the game we split up while one couple rested and spent time at the gaming tables we went over to the Strip to check out the new City Center hotel and casino.

Here are some photos from City Center, it was very impressive. After some site seeing we went back to the hotel to dress for dinner. All of the couples had separate dinners planned Saturday night. Darryl and I chose Emeril's New Orleans Fish House. It was exciting for me because the appetizer we ordered were Emeril's New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp. I made his recipe the first time I cooked for Darryl's parents. Apparently I still have some practicing to do, my version is good but wasn't quite the same. We walked around the MGM Grand for a while and then met up with the rest of the gang to watch the fountains at the Bellagio. We spent the night walking the strip, checking out the casinos, and watching the free attractions like the fountains and the volcano at the Mirage. After a robust trek, we called it a night and went back to the Hilton. Everyone else stayed up and gambled but I turned in before 2 AM, guess Vegas was finally starting to wear me out.

Get Up and Shake the Glitter Off Your Clothes Now, That's What You Get For Waking Up in Vegas...

Day Two we headed over to the Stratosphere to ride some rides.  Well the rest of the crew rode rides.  I was up until 5 AM and may have had a couple drinks along the way.  Mild hangover + Spinny Ride @ Strat = Recipe for Kelly Vomming, therefore I stayed on solid ground and took pics/held everyone's gear.  Note, this is mostly other people's pics.  D  and I are lame about taking photos.  Or downloading them.

The gang at the top

Ben and Janet enjoying their post-ride Jet Fuel drinks.  It was a Bloody Mary Morning for me.

After an afternoon of gambling at the Stat we headed back down the strip where the boys discovered the famous Crazy Girls sculpture at the Riviera.

By that point we were good and hungry so we swung into the Peppermill for some grub/an acid trip back to the 1970's.  Next we strolled back to the hotel for a little disco nap.

Us ladies prepped together while the boys enjoyed some cocktails.  Next we rode the shuttle to the Rio where we went to the Voodoo Lounge.

Voodoo has a breathtaking view of the strip.

Upon our arrival we we got to cut to the front of the line and head to our corded off VIP table.  The ladies shared bottle service while the gents got an open bar package, which was not a bad deal for any of us since the cover was $30 and the drinks were $12 a pop.  The music at the Voodoo was hoppin' and it was nice to be able to migrate from taking in the breathtaking view outside to the comfort and privacy of our own table.  There was literally NO where to sit if you didn't get a table.  Vegas is expensive but thanks to some packages we got online we did well that night.

Really well...

Really really well...  Took a black Suburban home playing Jay Z, per Janet's request and our driver was from Texas!  And that was Day Two.

Bright Light City Gonna Set My Soul, Gonna Set My Soul On Fire

Spent the weekend in Vegas with friends, couldn't have been better timing.  We had an amazingly stressful couple of weeks, I worked all last weekend and was ready to lose it by the time Thursday rolled around.  I ended up randomly sitting next to our company's CEO at lunch and totally scored some Southwest drink tickets off him.  Those with ones combined with the ones Molly and Buckley brought got the party rolling on the flight out.

We landed around 9 PM, we are expert packers and everyone carried on (I still cannot believe us ladies pulled this off, what with all the liquid restrictions) and were met by our limo driver who greeted us with long stem red roses and a chilled bottle of champagne.  Here's Molly filling my glass.

Here's me saying, "Ef you work, I'm about to party my face off."  First stop was to the liquor store where the boys came up with copious quantities of liquor and mixers.

Cheers to our Couple's Retreat Weekend!

Second stop was to the Vegas sign.  You can barely see Janet and I frolicking under it.  Also, stepped out of our limo to a drunk girl vomiting next to our limo.  Oh Vegas, you never disappoint.  Pictures didn't come out but at least I FINALLY got to see the sign in person, it was so neat!

We checked into our room and Darryl and I were upgraded to an East Tower suite at the Las Vegas Hilton,  which had plenty of seating for our whole crew to pregame and a wet bar and refrigerator to store our liquor store booty.  We also had two showers.  I wanted to ask Darryl to use the one shower at the same time as I used the other shower, but then I decided that was lame.  We even had a mirrored foyer and a little doorbell thingy, though I'm not sure what purpose that served.  I shut it the first night, figured it would make our room quieter?  The beds were SO comfy.  I asked for the upgrade when I checked in, I'm entitled to one because of my Hilton Honors status, but I decided to slip the desk clerk $20 just to see how far I could push that perk.  He was young, early twenties, so I thought he'd totally bite.  His response was kinda hilarious, he got all flustered and started talking alot and then upgraded us, slipped the $20 back and told me not to worry about it.  So A) yay not having to spend $20 to get a totally decent upgrade and B) I thought all Vegas desk clerks were seasoned veterans with this kind of thing, there are whole websites dedicated to this practice, I thought it was cute he was all flustered.

Next we mixed up a few roadies and hit the monorail to go hang out on the Strip.

The guys went to the craps and blackjack tables while us ladies hit the slots at Bill's Gambling Hall.  The boys leaving us unattended was apparently a critical error.  We were getting hit on constantly by what looked to be rejects from a Jersey Shore casting call.  We all were wearing rings, really?  Total creepsters. 

Here's Janet and I at the slot machines.  We discovered this trip that we love slots that spin.  Wheel of Fortune was a big hit.  Wizard of Oz was also a hit, hello flying monkey bonus and chair that vibrates and plays music?  We all agreed that we didn't know what the frack was happening in that game, but it sure made a lot of pretty noises and sounds.

This machine was my favorite, what else screams retired cat lady other than a Kitty Glitter slot machine!  Molly with Kitty Glitter.  After a long night of drinking and gambling, we called it a night around 4 or 5 AM.  And that was just day one...

Vegas Tip of the Week!

(Me in Vegas circa 2005)

Since we're prepping for my 5th trip to Vegas in a mere 30 days (squeeeeel 30 days!) I'm going to throw out a few of my favorite travel tips to my very favorite city in the USA!  Also, it seems like we will have a friend or loved one in that glorious city every weekend in September so I've been fielding a lot of requests for trip advice.

1) Listen to Vegas travel podcasts while you're doing mindless tasks at your desk or in your car on your daily commute.  Two of my favorites are The Vegas Tourist and Five Hundy By Midnight.

2)  Download a helpful app to your iPhone.  I highly recommend Vegas Mate, it's an absolute lifesaver for trying to navigate the strip, tells you where you are, where you're trying to go and if the restaurant you're trying to find is even open. 

3) And my personal favorite tip, be sure to carry nose spray and hand sanitizer.  I find that it's so dry I get nosebleeds.  All the slot machines and table games are teeming with bacteria, it's like gambling on a toilet seat.  Stopping to disinfect your hands when you're done playing.  Also, if you keep your mucus membranes moist and not cracked, it's harder for those little germies to wiggle their way in (I have no scientific proof of this, but it seems logical?).

Dog Days of Summer

(not one of my pups, random interwebs pup, but he's cute!)

To be honest, I feel pretty guilty about writing this post.  I'm a big fan of living in the moment and my favorite time of the year is summer.  But for some reason, I am SO READY FOR THIS SUMMER TO END.  For many reasons, this summer has been a frustrating one.  Our kitchen renovation was a bit stressful/involved combined with minimal free time since we were invited to one million weddings, baby showers, wedding showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, reunions, etc.  Now, I guess that means that people like us and we're blessed to have all these friends, which I am grateful, but after a while not being the master of your own weekends, well, they just start to feel like another form of WORK.  I was off doing something fun most weekends but after a while, constant social obligations stop feeling fun, which is something I didn't realize until this summer.  I am definitely suffering from social burnout.  I was so concerned with being there for my friends and not wanting to miss any of the fun, that I forgot how much I need down time.

Combine that with a bit of a bumpy patch in my actual work and weather forecasts all next week of up to 104, kind of makes me just want to fast forward through the rest of this month.  So here's what I'm looking forward to in September.

Gardening-I have been out working in the garden beds as often as possible, but it's one million degrees.  I've been prepping the beds for the fall planting and getting my seedlings in the ground so we have good production when it cools off.  Combine that with having to be extra vigilant with the watering schedule so the seedlings don't scorch and shrivel, let's just say I'm looking forward to reaping some of those rewards.  Planted string beans, flowers and will be adding broccoli and cauliflower transplants in Sept.

Getting Back On a Regular Workout Schedule-Summer's social calendar has kept me busy or out of town (or hung over) most weekends.  I have had to double time my home chores in the week/been so drained after work that I have been spending most of my weeknights doing crap around the house.  However, with some recent changes at work and having my weekends back, I'm looking forward to getting my life back in balance.

Some Welcome Pampering-I've recently discovered Groupon and Living Social so I've booked a nice facial and eye treatment as well as planned some lovely meals out for me and the hubs.  Plus I'm looking forward to buying some fall clothes.  With some recent weight fluctuations (see lack of working out above) and financial strain from renovations, I've had to cut shopping and some restaurant dining out of my usual routine.  It'll be nice to buy a couple new pieces for fall.

One More Wedding-Yes, I've been complaining about having too much crap to do on weekends so this may be a contradiction, but C&P's wedding weekend will be fun if I can avoid letting work get in the way.  I'm doing my darnedest to get ahead at work so I can relax and celebrate their nuptials.

Vegas!!!!!!-I'd be lying if I said the promise of this trip isn't what's keeping me from sticking my head in the oven right now (okay, I know, I'm being so dramatic).  We're going at the end of the month with 2 other super fun couples.  The weather in Vegas that time of the year is ideal and I know we're going to have such a good time.  I am a big believer in weekend getaways and Vegas is my favorite spot, can't wait!

FINALLY The Bachelorette Weekend Recap!

Step 1: Photograph Room Number So You Can Locate it Later When You're Drunk

I briefly considered titling this post "Not Being In Vegas Right Now is Such a Beating". I'm supposed to be addressing wedding invitations, instead I can't stop reliving my last nights of glory as a single lady.

I plan out every detail of every trip I take to Vegas with spreadsheets and everything. Inevitably, that plan goes out the window within the first 30 minutes of the trip. This trip was no exception, in fact, our game plan got turned upside down before I even got my luggage off the baggage carousel because we started getting approached by club promoters. After about 12 hours in Vegas, I had VIP wrist bands or had us on the guest list to all of the hot clubs. My cell phone is currently full of texts from club promoters for places like Tao or Blush offering us free entry and free open bar if we come to their clubs. Being a group of women in Vegas is a kind of magic I've never experienced before.

Step 2: If You Get In a Skybox @ Tao on Worship Thursday, Take Photos of the Little People

So Thursday night, the biggest night of the week for Tao, we end up cruising through sans cover or wait, up to a sky box overlooking the club. Our Tao escort was a friend of a friend who told me that those boxes typically go for $5k a night. Once we got tired of the bustle at Tao, we headed over to LAVO which was pretty dead, but we wanted to see it nonetheless. We ended the night with me winning $80 on Star Wars penny slots and then buying a round of drinks for the gals around 4 AM, at which point we realized the sun was coming up in Texas at that time and we should probably head to bed.

Step 3: In Case You Lose All Your Money Gambling, Come Up With A Backup Plan

Friday we did Stripper 101 at the Planet Hollywood (which I like to call the PHo). The class was really entertaining (the teacher was a real stripper, hilarious, and could do things on a pole that are probably illegal in several counties) and I learned lots of neat tricks on the pole. It was one of the best work outs I've had, I was so sore in the sholders the next day! Friday night we went to see Thunder From Down Under, which I initially regretted because it started out pretty cheesy, but once we got into the show, it was the undisputed highlight of our trip, I think we'll all be talking about it until we're very old ladies. I highly recommend it and will be going back any and every time I can drag another female to go with me.

Step 4: I You're Just Going to Have To Use Your Imagination, What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas, but May or May Not Involve a Man Thong and A Bottle Of Beer Poured Over the Head of a Beautiful Australian...

We rounded out the night by heading to Tabu for some "warm up drinks" but we never ended up making it to our second destination, the music there was pretty awesome. After a few drinks at the bar, we were escorted to the VIP section, where we danced on the tables until the wee hours of the morning, at which point I believe there was a drunk dial to Darryl regarding a need for a fireman's costume for him and a pole for me so I could continue my training as a pole dancer. He was thankfully too sleepy to recall this sloppy conversation...(ooooh, or is he saving it for the honeymoon? I hope so!)

Step 5: Get Invited to the VIP Room, Drink Vodka, Dance On Table, Repeat.

Saturday was a bit of a rough start considering the sore muscles and hangovers, but my gals are professionals so we saddled up and hit the Strip, paying a visit to the new Encore and enjoying a bottle of wine on the terrace. We headed to Trader Vic's for dinner and then rounded out the evening at Moon and the Playboy Club. Once again, being a woman in Vegas is magic. We couldn't take more than 2 steps without guys coming up to us and introducing us or inviting us to help ourselves to their bottle service. Christine of course got me a cigar and I gambled a bit before we headed down to play the slots at the Palms.

Step 6: When You Roll Into the Playboy Club Like the Red Dress Mafia, Remember You Can Sleep When You're Dead...Or Back in Texas...

I really hope I get to take another all girls trip to Vegas some day. I thought I could never have as much fun as I do with D there, but it turns out I can. I think the ultimate would be to go in a big mixed group so us gals can go have our fun, but still meet up with the guys. Thanks to all my awesome friends who made this trip the bachelorette party of my dreams!!!!!!!!!!!

Confession Monday

While I have tons of fodder for my Confession Monday, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Sorry my pretties :). Some edited photos coming soon....

I will share this nugget with you. So I had to go through my checking statement to figure out what kind of damage I did in Vegas (I will be honest, I didn't exactly keep track of my finances). I withdrew $240 from the ATM (and apparently paid $11.25 in ATM fees at the Playboy club, WTF? Good thing my bank reimburses for those...). There is $110 dollars in my wallet. I recall paying for a ton of taxis and my airport parking, all in cash and I recall winning roughly $235 in penny slots (yes, I continue to be awesome with the slots). So I guess I'm just wondering, what the ef? How'd I come home with so much money?

Kelly Has Left the Building...

They're gonna give daddy the Rainman Suite, we're gonna be up five hundy by midnight!

Vegas Baby, VEGASSSSS!!! Yaaaay bachelorette party!

Rapid Fire Random Musings

• Jillers, I will email you soon, so busy as of late. I never understood how people are too busy to email, but now I know.
• I feel really overwhelmed with work, getting in shape, Vegas, and visiting Marion this weekend.
• Vegas is INSANE. I thought it was crazy to get a room at the Vegas Hilton for $50 a night, you can book a room at the Sahara for $25 a night. Vegas is such a great value right now.
• I watched W. tonight (in all my free time). It was a weird movie and it left me all confusey inside. Do I continue to hate Bush? Do I feel sorry for him? And then I felt bored? I think this is why the movie was kind of a flop.
• Vicky Christina Barcelona premiers on OnDemand TOMORROW! I have no time to watch it, hopefully I can somehow convince Marion to watch it with me this weekend?

Word of the Day = Soffit

Today I learned a new word, soffit. It's basically the underbelly of the eaves of your house. How did I learn it? I came home and said, "Oh shit, 15 feet of the soffit on the front of my house fell down." Darryl is out of the country, along with most of his male buddies whom I would typically call on in this situation. It seems like I should tack it back up so moisture and critters stay out of there. However, my mother talked me out of getting up on a ladder so close to my bachelorette party. No one needs to be on crutches for their last night of singleness. T-minus 9 days! I've sent out an APB to all the dudes I know that are still in Austin to see if they can come over and help.

In other news, now is a great time to go to Vegas. I checked hotel prices and they'd dropped by more than 50% since when I booked, so I cancelled my reservation and then rebooked at the cheaper rate. Hilton Las Vegas, strip view, $50 a night on a WEEKEND (usually $200ish). Thanks economy. I guess this recession is finally doing something good for me?