BLING! BLING!!

So, I've been home for a couple of weeks now, but I did take a small break in October (in the middle of the term) to go to Las Vegas! There was a conference involved in all of this. I met up with my friend Tony and we got to play every night! I usually will splurge on ONE show on a trip to Vegas, but this time we got such good deals that we saw a show EVERY NIGHT we were there! It was AMAZING!!!!!

Thursday I arrived and took a taxi ride to the hotel where I got to freshen up before we went to see KA at the MGM Grand. We had such amazing seats and the show... WOW! They have this stage that rotates and even extends vertically. Cirque shows are famous for a reason. I have not been disappointed with any of them that I have seen. Tony is a Cirque FREAK! Of the 6 shows I've seen - 5 have been with him. I do believe it is his favorite activity in life :)

Friday we sat in the poncho section at Blue Man Group. Such an innovative and fun show. I feel like I learned a lot and I laughed a lot! Thankfully, no food flew our way, but the poncho kept me nice and warm. At the end of the show they have rolls and rolls of "toilet paper" that start at the back of the auditorium and everyone unrolls it and throws it forward until there is a huge pile on the stage. One of my favorite moments was when a couple of people walked in late - they stopped the ENTIRE show to focus a camera on the late-comers and sing a song about them. Once they found their seats, the show resumed. HA!

After the show we had a nice dinner at the Monte Carlo - I had fresh salmon! YUM! Then we left for a night at the Palms hotel. We splurged and bought VIP passes so we didn't have to stand in line and we got into all 5 clubs at the hotel. We made one go-round to see everything and then went back to our favorites. The Ghostbar is on the 52nd floor and they have a patio outside where we could cool off. They also have a cut out in the floor that has a clear acrylic - so you see all the way to the street. Trippy! We finished the evening at Rain where DJ Jazzy Jeff was spinning. YES!!!! THAT DJ JAZZY JEFF!!! He was GREAT! We danced til nearly 4am and I hurt for 2 days after :) Who's feeling old? That's right - ME!

CREEPY!


READY TO DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!



Saturday brought us to the newest hotel on the strip. Aria! This is where Cirque's show Viva Elvis is showing. SO FUN! We enjoyed popcorn and Elvis tunes before we went to a fancy dinner at the Palazzo.

Sunday was our last day. We had some time in the afternoon to wander around the Bellagio! I love to see how they decorate the atrium. They had these cool, funky whimsical trees made from willow branches. We also enjoyed the art exhibit "A Survey of the Human Form". There were Renoir and Picasso and Degas! All genres and all periods of art. Very cool! We also wandered into some of the galleries and saw some pretty sweet sculptures. No trip to Vegas is complete without a stop at the Jean-Phillipe chocolate shop. We got some super delicious treats. I love having a friend who likes to try everything and is willing to share. We got an opera cake, raspberry tart, chocolate dipped strawberry and dulce de leche brioche. You may notice the severe lack of pictures at this point. I had forgotten to bring my camera on our adventure :( I remembered to take a couple of pics... but the memories are vivid without the documentation, right?!

Beatles Love was the last show of the trip. It would have been perfect - except that THOSE PEOPLE sat behind us! First - they spilled beer on us! And when I was wiping it off, I turned around and shot them a dirty look and said "SERIOUSLY!? NOT COOL!" They totally ignored me! And then they TALKED THROUGH THE ENTIRE SHOW! SooooooOOOoo Annoying! At one point Tony turned around and yelled "SHUT UP!" It didn't help. Thankfully they talked a little less loudly durning the quiet parts. I think my favorite scene was "Something". It was beautifully done! Even with THOSE PEOPLE behind us, I really enjoyed the show. At one pint there is a huge silk sheet that is thrown over most of the audience. We had seats in the balcony and it looked so amazing with all the lights. It would be cool to see the scene from under the silk to see how different the experience is.

That's it! The fun stuff of Vegas in a nutshell! You wouldn't think that 2 Mormon kids could have so much fun in Sin City, with no gambling, no drinking and no "hot babes direct to your door". But we did :)