Viva Las Vegas

The really great part of being with so many amazing ladies is that it really wouldn't have mattered where we met up - we could have been camping out in the middle of nowhere and I would have still had the time of my life. And I had the advantage of having been to Vegas multiple times so I really wouldn't have cared if we ever left our hotel room, except for that there were people who had traveled much farther than me and several of the girls had never been to Vegas. I thought it was important that they get the chance to experience some of what Sin City has to offer.

I could easily sum up this post by stating that we ate, drank, talked and laughed and then ate, drank, talked and laughed some more but we all know I much more long-winded then that.

Friday night highlight - Casual late night dining at In-N-Out. I relish the opportunity to introduce anyone to double-doubles and animal style fries! Since Laura went to college and lived in Cali, she is quite familiar, which is why she requested that it be our first stop after leaving the airport. Bridget, Beth and Lindsay however, were all introduced and I believe equally impressed. Desi - you don't know what you are missing!

Saturday highlight - we rented a cabana at the hotel pool, which was luxurious and relaxing and ironic because none of us ever set so much as a pinkie toe in the pool the whole day. And since there wasn't going to be any drama between us ladies, mother nature had to provide us some with a late afternoon thunderstorm that sent dirt in our drinks and the curtains to then be promptly shut. We holed it up in there to wait out the storm, which was fine by us because we were able to continue our theme of eating, drinking, talking and laughing.

Saturday night highlight - Rita gained us VIP access to Tao nightclub in the Venetian. At first I felt horribly out of my element. My only reprieve was how entertaining it was to people watch but eventually I just settled in, had a few drinks, swayed to the beat and despite the cigar smoke and loud music was still able to continue the theme of drinking, talking and laughing with the girls (eating had been provided earlier at Lotus of Siam, quite simply the best Thai food I have ever had).

Sunday highlight - After a wonderfully delicious brunch at Bouchon and the necessary first good-byes of Julie and Heidi heading home, a group of us did a walking tour of Vegas heading through the Wynn/Encore, Fashion Show Mall, Cesar's, Mirage and my favorite Bellagio.

The girls in front of the Mirage:

The ceiling in the main lobby of the Bellagio:

Outside the Bellagio watching the fountain show. Coincidentally this photo looks like a scene from the movie Oceans 11, which is kind of ironic being that there were 11 girls on this trip. Is that a stretch?


Paris as seen from Bellagio:


Vegas can be pretty random, like a guy on a street corner holding a snake and accepting donations from those who are brave enough to try it on like a personal shawl. I loved that it was Beth (whose hubby is apparently scared of snakes) who rose to the occasion:


Sunday night we ate dinner at Aqua Knox. It is quite simply the fanciest place I have ever dined. The food was good (I had an amazing caprese salad, grilled prawns and way too much Pinot Grigio). I purposely sat next to Rita, who I knew would help me decipher the menu and never once made me feel uncomfortable for not being familiar with such fancy fare:



Since it was our last night, at dinner Lindsay asked if there was anything else that anybody really wanted to do and the consensus besides sleep was that a few of the girls wanted to do a little gambling. I was disappointed not to have gotten more pictures of the group so before we parted ways, we had our hilarious photo session on the doughnut (thanks for taking all the pictures Tenaya). Afterwards, I went with Bridget and Lindsay to Casino Royale, one of the few remaining dives on the strip and quite frankly the best place to gamble cheap. Lindsay graciously let me accompany her at the black jack table because much to the chagrin of the rest of my family I actually don't really like to gamble. I truly enjoyed the one-on-one time with Lindsay and sitting at the table in the casino seemed a fitting way to end the weekend because it is so "essential" Vegas. And it gave me something more to say than we ate, drank, laughed and talked even though that was the majority of the trip. But honestly, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

To read some more retellings and thoughts from Vegas, here are few more of the girls recaps:

Crawford House

The M&M Show + H

Working it Out

My Life with Roundface and Mei Mei