Vegas Vacation

I took Friday last week and Monday (today) off of work to venture out to Vegas with friends. Kris & I flew out Friday morning at 11 and met up with Tiffany, Hunter, Greg, Jen, and Mark in Vegas around 12:30. We had a great time walking around the city, checking out all the sights, sounds, hotels/casinos that day. It ended up with the guys gambling a hella stash of cash away and the girls sitting at the penny slots and gossiping while we waited for them to finish. Friday night Tiffany made reservations for us to eat dinner at Tao in the Venetian. The food was amazing and it was a lot of fun. My only complaint was that the food came out about 5 minutes after we ordered-a la El Fenix style. You would think that a fancy Vegas restaurant would have more of an ambiance and experience style than a wham-bam-thank-you-maam feel. But, the food was still great, so whether they unwrapped a package, microwaved it, or just prepare it hours in advance, it's working for them so far!

We went to the Beatles Love Cirque de Soleil show at the Mirage and it was AMAZING. I can't even begin to describe it, but everyone needs to see it. The acts were mind-blowing and it was another great way to start our trip.

Being Halloween weekend, everywhere was crazy busy so we opted to come back to Tao that night to go out. (If you eat dinner at the restaurant, you get stamped to come back for free.) The inside of Tao was really cool and we felt special since we got to cut in front of the line & Kim Kardashian went there for her bday-obvi. But, it was PACKED inside as well and not surprisingly, drink prices were astronomical. After 1 drink, Greg & Jen being annoyed by the crowd, Hunter being too drunk causing him and Tiffany to leave, and losing Mark, Kris and I decided that 2 of us in a pack of strangers with $15 drinks was not the optimal location so we bailed. Plus, my feet had taken a beating from the miles of walking in heels. Someone really should put out a warning that places on the strip are "walking distance in flats." So, we headed back to the hotel to hang out at some local places. Greg was adamant about eating the $5.99 steak & eggs which was sketchy to say the least. But, the comments regarding steak and eggs made me laugh.

On Saturday, we toured the strip some more, saw the lions at the MGM Grand, checked out New York New York, gambled a little, walked through the Bellagio, and went into Planet Hollywood. We got to watch the Rangers and college football games at a sports bar in Bally's. It was fun just to hang out and enjoy some time together. Saturday night we all dressed up and went to a piano bar in New York New York. Our trip had been pretty smooth--no weird stories, occurrences, or any chinks in the vacay chain.

But then there was Sunday, about 15 minutes before we're supposed to leave for the airport. I start digging through my purse, only to realize I have no clue where my car/apt keys are. I freak out (in typical 'me' fashion) and head back to the hotel to see if I left them in there. I wait in line, Kris has to come in to show an ID for the room, and we sprint up to the room to tear it apart to find the keys. No such luck. Meanwhile, Tiffany and Mark are waiting in the cab line and we were supposed to leave for the airport about 20 minutes ago. We hop in, keys not found, and head to the airport. In typical 'me' fashion, I continue to freak out for the next 6 hours on the trip. When we get back to Kris' where my car is, I dump out my suitcase, only to find my keys in the very first pocket that I unzip. Oops. The good news is, I found them! The bad news, I may have potentially scarred my friends from traveling with me :)




Cute lions!



Dinner @ Tao



Mark Senior as the "blue barracuda" from Legends of the Hidden Temple! Greatness



Right before I told him that if he didn't stop "being in character" that I wouldn't take any more pictures :) dressed as cops (or CSI as everyone called us) for Halloween.



Spandex. Superman. Enough said.