Vegas '12 B

We made our way back to Vegas this past weekend...for the third time in a year!  We clearly love that place, and decided to go all out for our 1 year anniversary. :)

Left KC Friday after work - and for the second time in my entire life, I didn't have curb-side drop off service!  We had to drive ourselves and take the shuttle bus to the airport.  Being dropped off is so much better, but logistically it just made sense to have our own car out there for the way home.

On the shuttle bus to the airport

Landed in Vegas around 8:30pm (local time) and literally danced our way through the airport.  We were just slightly excited to be there.

Spen and CC were already there and checked in to our sweet room at Palazzo, so we went straight up, dropped our stuff off, and went to dinner at Lavo, an Italian restaurant / nightclub.  The deal is if you eat dinner at the restaurant, you get in free (and no waiting in line) to the nightclub later!

Pulling up to Palazzo

I had the best 5 cheese pizza I've ever had in my life.  (In fact, I liked it so much, I ate the leftovers the next afternoon even after leaving them sitting out all night/morning!)  The meatballs, their signature dish, were also amazing.  Can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the food before we ate it all!

Our view during dinner: the pirate show at Treasure Island

What was left of dinner...

Went back up to the room to take a quick power nap (which ended up being over an hour) and then showered and got ready for the club - back to Lavo for some dancing!  That place was definitely happening that night.  It was complete madness when we walked in! And I LOVED it. :)  Loud music, flashing lights, sirens, glow sticks, foam...glorious. :)

Short, tight, and sparkly.  The only way to go in Vegas! ;)

CC, Spen, me, Matt

in the elevator

Lavo nightclub madness

Notice the foam all over!

We were there until around 3:30 and then went back to the casino for some gambling.  After the longest walk ever from Palazzo to Venetian (and some antics by Matt), we finally found a decently priced Blackjack table to play at for awhile.  It didn't take long for the boys to lose all their money, so it was a short lived night of gambling. ;)  Back to the room to pass out around 4:30...

(I won't name names, but someone had the nerve to bring a random skank he just met on the dance floor back to the hotel room in the middle of the night - the hotel room that we were ALL SHARING.  Who DOES that!?  Her name is now "Vegas Skank" - whoever she is.  Yuck.)

Got up around noon on Saturday, had some lunch at a restaurant in the casino (that had a good beer selection for Spen), and went to the pool at Palazzo for the afternoon. Snuck a peak at Tao Beach through the trees, and it looked way too insane.  I don't know how people can party all day AND all night.  Craziness.

It was 110 degrees in Vegas on Saturday (no joke), so we only lasted a couple of hours at the pool with Kyle and Cari.  It was just too hot!

Tao Beach.  Too much for me!

Reservations for dinner that night at Tao (so we could, again, get in for free/no line at the nightclub).  My food was just okay, but Matt's sea bass was the best thing ever!  Most everyone else really enjoyed their food...  I was so exhausted I was literally struggling to keep my eyes open, so after dinner, I went back to the room for a nap while everyone else went gambling for a couple of hours.  I seriously needed that power nap.  I don't know if I could have lasted all night at Tao without it.

I'm fully clothed under there...just passed out after dinner for a power nap.

Tao was pretty awesome, and my favorite DJ, DJ Vice, was playing that night.  He wasn't quite as good as I remembered from last time, but we had lots of fun.  It got a little sloppy towards the end of the night (too many drunk people on the crowded dance floor), and we left around 3.  The boys tried their hand at one more gambling run, and this one was an even quicker knock-out than the night before.  Not a good weekend at the tables for them...

Heading to Tao (after my nap)

On year later...in the same club with the same Dj!

DJ Vice

  

Somehow we managed to sleep in until 2pm on Sunday (which is 4pm Kansas time)!  That might of been a new record for me.  After lunch at Grand Lux Cafe in Venetian, Matt and Spen went to the spa to steam, and I walked to Wynn to get our tickets for the show that night: Le Reve!  Snapped some pics of Vegas along the way...  I just love that city!

Le Reve = coolest show ever.  For real.  I'm willing to bet it would beat any Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas.  It's a round theater with a round stage - half under water.  It's too hard to even explain.  Kind of acrobatic/dancing/synchronized swimming...half in the water and half on the stage that disappears and re-appears.  It's just amazing and totally worth the money to see. 

Heading to the show...

We had dinner back at Lavo again after the show (the food is really good AND the perk of getting in to the nightclub is too good to pass up).  After dinner, B and I went to check out XS, the nightclub between Wynn and Encore.  I got us on a guest list when I was over there getting tickets earlier in the day.  I had heard it's one of the longest lines ever to get in to, and when we went around 11, I wasn't sure it was going to happen.  But, of course, with our luck, we got right in. I don't even think we waited 10 minutes, and it was totally worth it.  The inside of the club was completely dead (and actually closed off) but the outside all around the pool was so cool.  Definitely not like anything I had seen or been to before!  Half the people were in swimsuits in the water, and the other half were in club clothes just dancing around it.  Awesome dj, beer pong, gambling, etc.  All outside underneath the bright lights of Vegas.  Pretty cool experience.  (By the time we left, it was beyond packed, and the line to get in was probably a couple hours wait at least.)

We only stayed an hour or two, and then met the boys to go back to Lavo.  I didn't think Sunday night would be that cool or busy, but once again, Lavo was packed.  I guess Real Madrid, the soccer team, was there.  And DJ Vice was playing again.  So what I thought was going to be an early night turned in to 3am again...

Glow sticks at Lavo

Alarms went off at 11:30am on Monday.  Even with late checkout, we still had to be out of the room by 12:30pm.  We walked across the street to the mall, had some lunch (Jamba Juice for me, Chipotle for the boys) and walked around for an hour or so until it was time to catch a cab to the airport.  Afternoon flight is SO much better than the 6am flight we did last time! 

Matt passed out on the plane (on me) for just about the entire flight back.  At least one of use got some sleep. ;)  Caught the shuttle bus back to the car, picked the other boys up, and thankfully I was still tired enough when we got home to sleep through the night.  Tuesday back at work wasn't fun (or Wednesday, for that matter) but totally worth it for another awesome weekend in Vegas! :)

We'll be back in our favorite city in December for a wedding!  4 times in 16 months?  Yes, please! ;)