Day 4 - Vegas and Good Bye!

Well I had a lot of fun with Shae and Lex and enjoyed my trip immensely, but Vegas isn't me. But one thing they had that is me is celebrities. Lots of celebrity sightings. Madame Toussands. :)

Plenty of celebrities. Some looked real and some looked like wax, but it was pretty fun experience. Recommend it for others!

Andi

Day 3 - Vegas!

Hmmm.... I think I am going to describe this day as an easy to read beta caps.


Convertible riding. Hoover Dam seeking. iPhone directions. Wrong exits. Hair swirling. Hair piece coming out. More hair swirling. Blue skies. Cold. Made it. Bathroom break. Gross restrooms. Glad they had antibacterial soap. Brushed out tangles for 20 minutes. Ate chocolate covered strawberries. Hoover Dam. Wow! Lets take 100 pictures. Listening to other conversations. Smile at people. They take pictures of you. Time to convice Lex. Helicopter Ride. Kicking and dragging. OK not really. Lex relented. Used google translate to help with directions for others. Helicopter. Beautiful views. Lex happy and smiling. Us thinking are we on the Bachelor. Drive back. Burger King! Buchanan Avenue. More hotels. Venetian. Valet. Less walking. Feet hurting. Why am I wearing boots? Funny story about the gondola at the Venitian. Gondola singer taking a phone call. Tired. Water massage. Room service for dinner. Shae and Lex left. Frown face. Super fun times with them. MGM Grand. Ka Cirque du Soleil. Caffeine needed. 10 pm show. Cool show. Talented people that are super acrobatic. Monorail back to hotel. Helped Asian women find their hotel not knowning language. Tempted to use Google Translate again. Super tired. Good night.

Vegas - Day 2

We were staying at Hotel Paris. Lex wanted to go to the real Paris, but she gets the hotel in Vegas instead! But it was a beautiful hotel!

So for breakfast I asked Lex if she wanted to have crepes. Bless her heart she pronounced it as "crepe-as". But then Shae and I remembered how we butchered the French language while we took it in high school and college. So we stopped in the hotel and split a crepe between the 3 of us as Shae and I enjoyed a mimosa.

We then started walking and looking and shopping. I am pretty sure I walked 50 miles that day. Could that be an exaggeration? Possibly, but doubtful! :)

List of my favorite hotels:

1. Billagio - Just a classic look and not trying to over do anything. They had a Japanese theme as well in their conservatory which I absolutely loved!

2. Caesar's - I loved the shopping in this place! The scultpures and the paintings around just made it a better experience. Vegas is expensive. I know this isn't a shock to many, but we were at Caesar's towards the end of the day and I needed caffeine from walking and walking. And everything in Vegas is Pepsi. YUCK! So I found a little stand that served cokes in a can. I went to buy one, it ws $ 4 - guess what I didn't buy it! I made mention that I could buy a 24 pack of cokes for $4 and the lady told me that I wouldn't want to carry that around with me in Vegas. Touche. I am pretty sure I called her a name in my head.

3. New York New York - Lets just say that I like the real thing much better! But they did a really good job of decorating and creating a New York experience! We rode the rollar coaster on top. Well I rode it once and I thought I was going to throw up. I know! I'm a wuss! Well Lex and Shae rode it another 10 times that morning and another 10 times that evening! They are crazy! They kept saying the next day that they were sore..... Really? Wonder why?!? :)

Lex gambling the under 18 way.... Instead of money she got stuffed animal and some other junk.



We went to other hotels that day, but they didn't make the top 3 for the day. But the Venetian was another one of my favs that I will discuss in the next post.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I need to get a scanner and scan the pic of the 3 of us that we bought there. Lex was playing the drums and Shae and I were playing the electric guitars. We were wearing our sunglasses and looked pretty cool.

Lex wanted to have a fancy dinner and made sure we all brought a fancy dress for dinner. The first night that we were there I was asking Lex where she wanted to eat. Her response was Outback Steakhouse. There were crickets chirping with Shae and I. She then said that I could get us free ice cream like I did over the summer when we went to Outback when I was visiting them in Virginia. Super sweet and super cool that she remembers our fun times, but I didn't think Outback was the place for us. So we made reservations at Mon Ami Gabi in our hotel. While we were at Caesar's we were at one of the big make up stores (forget the name) and Lex had a make over to ensure she was super fancy for her special night of turning 13! We got seats out on the patio that was directly in front of the Billagio's dancing water and music! It created a fun evening.

I found it cute and funny that I was talking to two guys that were sitting beside us and I was innocently flirting and making them feel special but not thinking anything about it. Lex told me that guy had a ring on his finger Andi you aren't suppose to flirt. Cute and true! :)

Shae went to pick up the car for tomorrow and then she came and picked Lex up for another 10 rides of that rollarcoaster at New York New York!

Day Three was super cool.... Stay tuned!

Andi

Vegas - Day 1

I was thinking at the end of January that I really needed to get away. Work had been stressful, finished grad school a month prior, completed my licensing test a few weeks before and then just life in general. Was getting stressed and testy so wanted a few days away. I started doing some research for good deals and Vegas kept on coming up as options. I have never had a desire to go to Vegas, but I kept thinking I need to know if I would like it. My oldest friend, Shae, sent me a messsage that she was taking her daughter and my god daughter to Vegas for her 13th birthday and I should come with them for my birthday as well! Isn't she great for thinking of this!!!

So I did it. I found a really cheap Southwest flight and decided to stay another day and found a pretty good deal for the hotel. I was a little bummed that Elton John and Celine Dion were not in performance when we would be there, but life goes on....

As I was flying to Vegas, Southwest pilots were great and tilted the plane just so over the Grand Canyon and this was such a beautiful sight.

Shae and Lex weren't coming in on Monday until really late so I had a few hours to look around. I get overwhelmed pretty easily and it was overwhelming to say the least. I found a free Elvis concert a few days before I left and decided that I wanted to experience something related to Elvis while I was there. I walked into the casino where the "concert" was being held and realized that every smoker in America was in Las Vegas! The stage was empty as I was a little early so they had a video montage of Elvis and his some pics of him. This waitress that should not have been wearing the skimpy outfit that she had on was smoking a cigarette with the ash not knocked off asked if I wanted a drink. Gross and I said no thanks. I was seriously afraid that the ashes would show up in my drink. Then Elvis' assistant showed up and said that Elvis had left the building and that he was visiting Graceland and wasn't avaiable to perform for the evening. Bummer! But the question is was it the real Elvis or an impersonator?!? What are you thoughts? Dead or alive?

Then I walked down the strip to get something to eat. If I had one more guy that was passing out naked pictures of prostitutes attempt to give me the paperwork I was going to slap them and tell them that they were crude. I gave one of the guys a look and then he started talking about my butt, but in a crass way. I decided right then that I wasn't a fan of Vegas. But I was going to have fun!

After dinner, I went back to the hotel to "gamble". I have bought maybe 3 lottery tickets my entire life and this is what consisted of my gambling experience. I am pretty sure Ocean Eleven the penny slot people had a bucket of change. So I went looking for the place for a bucket of change. Well, they laughed at me and said it doesn't work that way anymore. They gave me a card and expected to know what I was doing. I sat at the nickel slot for 15 minutes trying to figure things out. Then some lady decided to help me. I refused to spend more than $20 and I quickly went down to $15 but then went to $30 and then back to $15. I stopped!!! I cashed out and then went to a piano bar until Shae and Lex arrived. I found it amusing that there were signs everywhere telling gamblers that they should call a 1-800 number if they are struggling. They are in a casino!!!! Of course they are struggling if they have an addiction!

Shae and Lex arrived. Lex made shirts for all three of us. She quickly said, I am pretty sure there is sarcasm in your voice when I was thanking her for he shirt. She is quick! :) We walked around the hotel some. They were tired as they were coming from the East Coast.

More to come shortly!

Andi

Kudos to my brother...

I have a pretty awesome brother. For multiple reasons, but this blog post is because he thought of others on Valentine's Day. He took Kristin out for Valentine's Day over the weekend. Tuesday I was at the office and I figured I would work late and curse men and couples instead of watching sappy television shows about Valentine's Day as I cursed men and couples! ;-)

Shane called and asked if I wanted to have dinner. He wanted to make sure I felt special and loved on Valentine's Day even though some guys haven't figured out how fabulous I am yet. So he is so awesome he gets his own post on the blog.

Love my brother!

Andi

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I had another great birthday and another group of friends and family that made it AMAZING!!! So here is a run down of what I did:

• Vegas!!!! Celebrated a trip to Las Vegas - 1st time I have been. I went with my friend Shae and her daughter, Lex. More posts regarding this in the future!
• Drinks with Martiza and Tater! Then spur of the moment MAVS game! A friend that showed up for drinks after "girl talk" had a pair of tickets that he wasn't using and his roommate was at the game. I decided to go and enjoy me some Dirk! 2 games in 2 weeks was fun times!
• Tamara drove through Dallas in the early part of February so we had a quick lunch at Gloria's to catch up!
• My family took me to Uncle Julio's for dinner on Thursday night. It was good times! Lacey was the center of attention of course! She had the restaurant patrons watching her throughout the night. Goof ball!
• Work people took me to lunch on Friday afternoon at Chuy's and then they had a cupcake "surprise" party at the office. They tried hard with keeping it a secret but I am pretty perceptive and had everything figured out! Very nice of them!
• Got a phone call from a florist that they were trying to get into my place so I had to go home early and I was surprised with some festive flowers from a great friend!
• Michelle, Kimberly and Natalie took me to Terrilli's for dinner. It was the first time I have been. They had $2 dollar off martini's. I had 2 Champagne Dreams. They were delicious and amazing. Not usually a martini fan, but these were great. Loved the music playing and the food was great! I had some lasagna. Michelle brought a Gigi cupcake which was YUMMY of course! We checked out the roof and then we checked out a design store across the street.
• I got a random call from my friend, Bryan, that night. I haven't seen him in over a year. He came by after dinner and we walked over to Three Sheets for a drink to catch up .
• Tons of Facebook messages, phone calls, and text messages from friends wishing me a great day!

I hope that I make my friends and family feel special like they did me on my day!

Andi

Dallas Mavericks!!!

My friend, Elizabeth, and her husband have season tix for the Dallas Mavericks. He had a bachelor party this Friday night so Elizabeth asked if I wanted to go to the game with her. Ummm... YES! Love the Mavericks! They were playing the Pacers. They have some amazing seats! The game was fun, but unfortunately they lost. :(

This is the first shot of the game and the first points by the MAVS!

The MAVS had a problem with turnovers throughout the game. We were across the court from Khloe Kardashian so it was easy for me to get distracted. She had a beautiful red purse that I liked a lot! She was actually paying attention to the game and clapping for Lamar and others. She played with her hair constantly. The pink arrow is pointing at her!

The game was tons of fun and ended the week off in a positive way! Elizabeth and I both were talking about having a bad week and a super busy week. So it was nice to end the week with celebrity watching and basketball. :) Until next time!

Andi