Vegas baby!

My husband and I just came back from our first trip to Vegas.  It was a lot to take in and we had a really good time.  I'm trying to think of the best way to write this post-I think I may just condense it a bit.

VEGAS IS ABOUT......money

More specifically, it's about separating you from your money.  And there are plenty of ways to do that.  The most obvious is the casino.  We visited quite a few casinos, mostly to look around.  We aren't huge gamblers, but we played some penny slots-won a little over $30 twice-that was good for us :)

Then there are the stores.  Alot of the stores in the resorts are high end, like Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, etc.  I don't have much interest in products like that.  The set up of some of the stores is pretty amazing.  At Caesar's Palace and Paris, their shopping areas are designed to look like streets in a villa, with storefronts, street lamps and other landmarks, and the ceilings are painted to look like the sky, complete with clouds.  The Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood go around in a circle and have some more down to earth shops.  The Linq Resort has it's own side street dedicated to shops, restaurants, and even a bowling alley!  There's a little of something for everyone.  We bought a few souvenirs for ourselves and our kids.

VEGAS IS ABOUT......walking

If you are going to Las Vegas, make sure you have a good pair of walking shoes, because you're going to need 'em!  Just to get from the check in counter to your room is a haul.  Most resorts are designed to make you walk through the whole casino to get to the elevators to your rooms.  We were very fortunate-we stayed at the Signature Towers at MGM Grand, which we booked through a third party, Airbnb.  I had read horror stories about people waiting up to an hour to check in, then trek through the casino to the elevators.  The Signature Tower is connected to MGM, but we didn't have to go through all that rigamarole.  Took less than 5 minutes to check in, the elevators were right near the front desk, and we went right up to our room.  We witnessed many people going through the long check in process though.

Many of the resorts on the Las Vegas Strip are connected by walkways, with bridges stretching over the streets.  There are escalators and moving walkways to speed things along.  The resorts themselves are pretty spread out, with casino areas, bars, clubs, sports bars, restaurants, food courts, and event arenas contained in each resort.  We walked through many of them.  Luxor was very interesting inside-kind of dark, and you felt like you were in a pyramid with the slanted walls.  Caesar's Palace was very opulent, the Aria was very modern looking.  My favorite was the Cosmopolitan.  All of the ceiling and light fixtures were made of crystals and glass and everything just glittered.  

VEGAS IS ABOUT......food

Let's face it-Americans have a love affair with food.  In Las Vegas, the choices are overwhelming.  There are places to eat everywhere-from fast food to fine dining.  There are plenty of buffets-we ate at the Wicked Spoon in the Cosmopolitan.  We chose it because we had seen it on the Travel Channel before booking our trip.  It cost $41 per person.  Even though I thought the stations could have had a few more choices, the food was very high quality.  I would go back just for the dessert station!  We also ate at Hash House A Go-Go, which has a few locations in different resorts.  We went to the one at the Linq, after one of the shows.  Hash House is known for their breakfast and their portions.  My husband and I both decided to get the chicken and waffles.  

We should have gotten one and split it!

We also ate at Guy Fieri's restaurant at the Linq.  The food was very good-just huge.

There were, of course, plenty of places to drink as well.  At Fat Tuesday in the Mandalay Bay Shops, we got a 32oz margarita slush for $15, which I thought was pretty good.  You could refill it for $11, which we did :)

VEGAS IS ABOUT......entertainment

There is a plethora of shows to keep you entertained in Las Vegas-concerts, musicals, burlesque, comedians, magic, etc.  We saw something each night.  The first night we were there we saw Guster in concert at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay.  The concert was general admission, which means you had to stand.  Doors opened at 7pm, which we thought meant when the concert would start.  The warm up act didn't get on the stage until 8:15 and Guster didn't get onstage till after 9pm.  Needless to say, I was not a happy camper having to stand that long.  The irritating thing was that there were tables scattered around the concert area-which you could sit at IF you paid a $100 upcharge and agreed to a $100 bar tab!  and my husband had to pull this information out of someone-it wasn't readily given.  Needless to say, I don't think I'll go to another concert at the House of Blues again.  However, Guster was fantastic-they are definitely one of my favorite bands to see in concert.

The next night, we saw Elton John at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace.  The concert was simply fantastic.  Elton is a great performer, playing a lot of his hits.  He was very engaging with the crowd, telling stories and jokes.  There was a video show that went with the performance which was pretty good.  His band is incredible, especially percussionist Ray Cooper, who at 72 years old, is full of energy and a true professional-look him up.  The venue itself was huge, very nice.

My husband is a big fan of Penn and Teller and he really wanted to see them perform, so that's what we did the following night at the Rio complex, which is off the Las Vegas Strip.  The venue itself was pretty well laid out and the seats were very comfortable.  Penn and Teller are true performers and their magic is pretty amazing.  However, they tend to push their rhetoric a bit much at times in the act.  (They seem to be Libertarian atheists, if I understood them correctly.)

Our last night in Las Vegas, we decided to go with our favorite genre, comedy.  Carrot Top's show had gotten great reviews, and though I wouldn't have thought we would see his show, that's just what we ended up doing.  His show was at the Luxor-nice small theater.  His comedy is very prop oriented and fast paced.  He uses music and video quite a bit.  Some people might be put off by the language and some of the content, but overall, we enjoyed his show.  He is very self-effacing and seems to crack himself up the most :)

We also saw the fountain show at the Bellagio, which I highly recommend.


and lastly.....

VEGAS IS ABOUT.......people

Oh, the people!  Every nationality, color, creed, every walk of life, male, female, short, tall, old, young, all mashed together in such a small area.  I saw 5 bridal parties.  We saw parents pushing their children in strollers; we saw children pushing their parents in wheelchairs.  We saw a convention of hairdressers and a mini high school reunion.  We saw people, like us, dressed comfortably, and people dressed to the nines.  Las Vegas is heaven for people watchers.

On the strip and in the casinos there are people constantly trying to shove tickets in your hands for something.  There are the people on the strip who try to hand you escort trading cards with pictures of naked women.  There are the street performers dressed as various characters who want money for a picture with them (and some of the costumes were pretty shabby).  And there are the panhandlers that hang out on the strip and on all the connecting bridges between the resorts.  There are very few places you can go in Vegas without bumping into someone wanting something.  But then again, it is Vegas.

All in all, we had a really good time.  There was a lot we didn't get to see, but that's what another trip is for :)

2015 Reading Challenge

Around New Year's Day, someone posted a reading challenge on Facebook.  52 categories of books to read.  Now that's my kind of challenge!  I thought it would be a good idea to blog about the books I chose to read as well; hopefully others will take this challenge and share what they've read.

I decided that one book can fill a few categories.  Here is the list that was posted on Facebook:










My first entry is a trifecta-a book my mom loves, a book that can be read in a day, and a book that made me cry.  That book is The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.

I first read this book a little over 10 years ago.  My mom was visiting at the time and she knew I would love this book.  I knew Mitch Albom as a sports reporter and I knew he had written Tuesdays with Morrie, although I have never read that book.  This is a short book, perfect for those who want a quick read.  But don't let it's simplicity fool you-it packs an emotional wallop-it did for me, at least.  It's the story of a carnival handyman who dies and the five people he meets in heaven.  It's a story that makes you think about life and everyone you come into contact with during your life.  I would definitely recommend it, and if you're like me, have the tissues handy-I needed them halfway through the book!

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!  I did not write much in 2014.  I am hoping, once again, to change that.  Starting today :)

Looking back on the year gone by, I had much to be happy about.  I got to travel a bit, going to Dallas in January and Denver in September.  It had been 16 years since we had last been in Dallas.  We got to visit my wonderful friend Gretchen and her husband Clay and see their beautiful new home.  It was so nice to see Gretchen-hoping another 10 years doesn't go by before we get to visit again!  While in Dallas, we got to see the Bruins play the Dallas Stars at American Airlines area, which was phenomenal!  We also got to tour AT&T Stadium, which was a lot of fun.  Dallas certainly knows how to do sports!

We had been to the Denver area in 1996, but all I really remember is having a hard time adjusting to the altitude.  I had no problems this time.  We stayed north of Denver, towards Boulder.  I really fell in love with this area of Colorado. It was so clean and beautiful.  The scenery was gorgeous and the people were very friendly.  We went to a Colorado Rapids game, walked the Colorado State campus, shopped and ate in Boulder.  If I could survive a winter, I think I could live out there!.

There were a couple of low points as well, most notably the death of my father. The hardest thing about it for me has been the finality-knowing that I can't just pick up the phone and call my dad anymore.  My father used to drive me crazy, but he was still my dad.  The fact that I have to refer to him in the past tense is still odd to me.

I was also officially diagnosed with diabetes this spring.  I take Metformin for it, which I hate.  One of my major goals is to get off this medication.  If I have learned anything from my father's example, it's to take care of my health.  My dad had heart disease and diabetes, and he mismanaged his conditions terribly; there is no doubt in my mind that caused his death.  His ill health was entirely his own doing-getting well was very much in his hands.  I know the same is true for me and it's something that needs my full attention.

Many people make resolutions on January 1st-they usually are forgotten by January 10th.  Mine is fairly simple.  I resolve to love myself.  Over the years, I have hated myself for various reasons and my life has reflected that.  The times that I have loved myself have been very rare.  That is just so wrong.  When you love yourself, you treat yourself with respect.  You build yourself up and surround yourself with good people and good situations.  You leave the past behind and feel no need to dwell on it.  When you love yourself, that love radiates outward.  There is no need to criticize or judge people; you are too busy living your life and seeing the beauty in your surroundings to worry about what others are doing or what they think of you.  When you love yourself, you savor life, live in the moment; there is no need to rush through anything.

So that is my resolution-to love myself.  And I hope that 2015 is a positive year for everyone!