Las Vegas - Round 4 (Sat/Sun)

Needless to say, we didn't get up too early on Saturday.  Two late nights at the clubs will do that to you...

Heading out for the day (Saturday afternoon)


We were, however, starving when we did manage to get up and moving.  Since we hadn't hit up a buffet yet, we decided to check out the line at Caesars.  And it was ridiculous - just like we thought.  So we walked over to Bellagio to check out theirs - which was even worse.  Stopped and looked at some other restaurants along the way - and eventually ended up right back at the buffet at Caesars.  We were hungry and impatient, so we paid an extra $15/person to skip the line.  Talk about one expensive lunch!

Worth it, though.  It was HUGE and there was every kind of food imaginable.  For real.  I never do get my money's worth out of those places, but it's still fun to do it once a trip.  I think I ate more cheese than anything else.  Well, that and desserts.

The line                                            Inside the massive buffet

Our receipt for lunch.  Holy cow.  (We justified this because we haven't really paid for any other meals - dinner Friday/Saturday were paid for!)



My plates of food.  Yum.


Again, when you sleep in that long (and wander around casinos trying to find food) and have stuff going on in the evenings, there isn't much time to do anything during the day.  (Or what's left of the day.)  But with a few minutes to kill, we decided to gamble with the free $10 Matt had from signing up for a players card.  My first time gambling in Vegas.  And what did I do?  Penny slots, of course.  It took us forever to figure out the stupid machines, but I eventually squandered away the whole $10 - even after cashing out for some change a few times, haha. 

Matt had to be down in the grooms room super early to do "guy stuff" and get ready together, so I hung out in the room and eventually got ready myself.

Waiting for the wedding

My towel. I kept it on all night.

The wedding was pretty early,, but it was still C O L D.  Apparently everyone thinks it's just warm in Vegas all the time.  I'm here to tell you it is NOT warm at night in December.  Especially in a short dress.  The pool towels, again, saved me during the wedding.

There were about 15 people there for the wedding, which was short and simple - and surprisingly didn't quite go down like they had rehearsed the night before.  There was an MC kind of announcer guy running the show, so a couple things changed.  The bride and groom wrote their own vows, and everyone was fine (ie: not crying) until the groom read his.  Wow.  They were good - and made us all break out the tissues.

Outside (waiting for pictures) and inside (waiting for more pictures)

After the wedding, all of the guests took a limo down to the bar at New York, New York for the reception at Nine Fine Irishmen pub.  The wedding party decided to walk and take pictures along the way.  For some reason, as if I didn't learn my lesson the night before, I decided to tag along.  And I froze.  It was miserable.  And all the pics were of the bride and groom anyways - everyone else just stood around shivering, haha.  We found heat wherever we could - and I carried my towels with me the whole time.  They did get one awesome shot in front of the fountains at Bellagio...and a not bad one in front of some Christmas decorations inside.

Pictures took waaaay longer than everyone expected, as did the walk.  As tensions were getting high (grooms dad calling saying they only had the place for another hour!), pictures were cut and a very brisk walk ensued.

The reception at Nine Fine Irishmen

The Irish pub was cute, and we had the upstairs room reserved.  They had live music, good food, and an open bar.  After the reception (and a few toasts/speeches), everyone decided to take another limo down to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  There were a lot of other options, but it's hard to keep everyone happy AND not pay any covers - so that's where we ended up. 

We sat around and talked - and I listened to all the stories and watched everyone drink for as long as I could.  I couldn't stay awake any more and walked back to the hotel room around 2am.  9 hours of wedding festivities was long enough for me. :)

Inside another limo - from New York, New York to Margaritaville

I sat here and watched this for too many hours for my eyes to stay open...

Matt - slightly intoxicated - came to bed around 7am.  What in the world he did until 7am is a mystery to me, haha.  But he did inform me that he was setting an alarm for ONE HOUR to go back down and have breakfast with everyone.  Yea, right.  Of course that didn't happen.  The alarm went off a few times until I told him to either get up or turn it off.  It was turned off.

_______________________________________

Sleeping all day again was not an option Sunday, because we had to check out of the hotel by noon.  We drug our bags down to the bell-hop to keep them for the day, and ran in to the bride and groom in the lobby.  Apparently they stayed up all night, too - and they were looking/feeling pretty rough as a result. 

 


On the hunt for food, we wandered over to the buffet at Cosmopolitan.  The line was of course ridiculous.  Even more ridiculous than Caesars the day before.  So we ended up at a little burger and milk shake place called Holsteins.  For some reason, burgers and shakes just sounded good to both of us.  The burgers were great and the milk shakes were even better.  I had a Captain Crunch milk shake that tasted just like the milk from the bowl after Captain Crunch.  Yum.

After lunch, we still had a couple of hours to kill, and thought about ice skating - which was on the roof of Cosmopolitan.  Until we went up and looked at it.  I don't even know how you can call that an ice skating rink.  It was so small I don't know how you would even turn around on it!

So off to the mall we went.  To wander around and see what we could find to spend more money on.  Thankfully the only thing we bought was another Christmas ornament for our travel tree - and I got some candy with my whopping $1 of gambling winnings.  If we keep up these trips, our tree is going to be all Vegas!  I drug Matt in to a jewelry store, too, and made him look at diamonds, ha.  He was thrilled. ;)

Airport dinner.

We looked at everything we could look at, and eventually wandered back to the hotel to get our bags and take a cab to the airport.  Our flight was on time, and the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.  A healthy "dinner" of a bagel and cream cheese at the airport, and non-stop flight back to KC (where Matt slept and I didn't). My mom picked us up and brought us home.

Oh Vegas, how I love you.  We'll be back soon, I promise. :)



Home. Late.

Las Vegas - Round 4 (Thurs/Fri)

We went back to Vegas last weekend.  Again.  Fourth time there together in sixteen months, actually.  And no, we don't have a gambling problem!

This time was actually for a wedding that Matt was in.  Of course I jumped on the opportunity to tag along for all the fun!


Leaving KC

 Per the usual, we left work early on Thursday, and my mom drove us to the airport.  As soon as we walked through security, an announcement was made: 

"If you are on flight-number-whatever to Las Vegas, your departing time is now 7:30 pm."
 
Whaaaaat?? There was a collective moan from everyone sitting there.  We were suposed to leave at 5:45, and no one was pumped about sitting there for another almost two hour - us included.  (AND they were out of my favorite strawberry liccorice.  I had to settle for apple...and ate the whole bag again.)

I guess there were low clouds or bad visibility or something in Vegas, and they weren't letting in planes in or out.  Lucky for us, the clouds cleared, and we actually got to take off around 6:45...putting us in around 7:30.  We did our usual dance through the airport, and the cab line was surprisingly short (for Vegas)! 

Shortest cab line we've ever seen in Vegas!

It was raining and cold when we pulled up to Caesar's Palace.  (We stayed there because that's where the wedding was.)  Everything was decorated so beautifully - big bulbs, real trees and flowers and garland all over.  I took plenty of pictures while Matt went to check us in...

I was very pleased with our room at Caesars.  Especially the bathroom.  Easily the biggest bathroom any of the rooms we've stayed in have had!  We even had a decent view of the pools from our window. 

We didn't have much time to hang out, because everyone else had already eaten dinner and were heading to old Las Vegas to check out some video game/bar place.  We hopped a cab to meet them at Paris, and then realized it would be cheaper to get a limo for all 15 of us than pay for all the cabs.  So that's what we did! 

 

Riding in style through Vegas!





 

Our first pic ever (Aug. '11) was in front of this statue!

  
I hadn't ever been to "old" Las Vegas before, so I was excited to go.  We pulled up in front of the cool Las Vegas flashing sign - photo op! - and then went in to Insert Coins.  We all instantly knew it wasn't going to be what we were hoping for.  It was pretty dead, and you had to pay extra just to sit down in one of the boths.  What a crock.  (And for the record, the website makes it look a billion times nicer than it really is.)







Matt and I - the only two who hadn't eaten dinner yet - hopped across the street for some quick Thai food.  And by the time we got back, everyone was already ready to go back to the strip.  Thank goodness.  So back in the Hummer-limo we went, and got dropped off back at Caesers. 

Most everyone went to their rooms for some sleep after that, but Matt and I, the wedding couple, and one other couple (best man + his wife) decided to have a drink at a little casino bar.  We chatted for awhile, and Matt could tell I was getting antsy.  I really wanted to go to the clubs.  So we said our good-byes (they were getting ready to call it a night anyways) and headed to Aria to check out Haze. 

Totally worth the $60 to get in for the last two hours of the night.  It. Was. AWESOME.  The ceiling had these giant speakers and lights that moved - they came down and twisted and turned.  It was seriously so cool.  It's up there in my top three favorite clubs now for sure.  We had a blast dancing ...until my feet hurt so bad I could NOT wear my heels anymore.







We stood off the dance floor (where I could kick my shoes off) and watched/listened for awhile - which is almost as fun as dancing - and eventually decided to head back to the room for some sleep...around 3:30am.

But not before we had some fun jumping on statues in Caesars... (The pictures aren't good - I'll just share this one taken in a mirror.)

(Still carrying my shoes...)

____________________________________

Friday morning came way too early for Matt.  He had to get up and meet the guys down in the lobby for some go-cart racing at 10am.

I decided to sleep in...

...until 2pm!  Which just happened to be when I was supposed to be AT the bridal shower.  Whoops.  Dropped the ball on that one.  Thankfully the bride wasn't too mad at me. :)

By the time Matt got back to the room - around 3 - I was just getting ready for the day.  We decided to go down and grab a quick bite to eat at a little sandwhich shop in the casino, and walk around to check out more of Caesars.


Heading out for late lunch Friday.

 We really didn't have much time - had to get ready for the rehearsal at 6 - but we still saw most of Caersars casino and the shops.  The ceiling that looked like clouds was so cool. 

Anyways, I debated going to the actual rehearsal or not, but decided to go along and check it out. 

Bad idea. 

It was F R E E Z I N G outside.  And of course I was wearing a dress that barely covered my butt cheecks - bare legs sticking out.  Yikes.  Thankfully I grabbed some towels from the desk before heading out.  They were my only saving grace.  (Vegas is so tricky in the winter!)

Caesars Palace

The view of the pools/wedding chapel from our room

The garden where the wedding was held.

 

The bracelet Matt brought me from Guatemala matched my dress perfect!



The bride and groom going over the wedding.              Me FREEZING in my towel and short dress.

After rehearsal - which was pretty quick, thank goodness - we walked to PBR at Planet Hollywood, one of the happy couples favorite bars.  Dinner was great, and then it was off to another of their fave spots: DB's Pong and Pool. I thought it was pretty much a spot for dudes to drink beer and play beer pong - and I wasn't pumped about it.  Until I turned around and saw the stage... where guys were dancing/stripping!  I about died.  They wern't hot, and they couldn't really dance, which made it all the more enjoyable.  It was straight out of Magic Mike, I swear.  Needless to say, the girls were entertained for the night - laughing our faces off at that show.

 

PBR for reahearsal dinner. 



Our "entertainment" for the night at DB's - if you can see, that is a male dancer in the pic on the right.

Once the party started dying down, I convinced Matt to do one more night at the clubs.  Surrender (at Encore) this time.  (*And another very intoxicated couple from the wedding party decided to tag along.  They lasted all of 5 minutes in the club - after they paid to get in.)  The line wasn't too bad, and we convinced the girl checking names that her list was wrong and that we were in fact on the guest list.  It worked.  In my defense, we had filled out the on-line request twice to get on the guest list.  So that meant I got in free and Matt only had to pay $20.  Not bad.

We had heard Surrender was supposed to be the new "hot spot."  And my was it ever.  I think every person in Vegas was packed in to that club that night.  We literally couldn't move or even get in to the dance floor area for awhile!  It was a huge club - crazy loud music - just the typical for Vegas.  Everything I love. :)  We eventually finagled our way on the dance floor in the middle of the action, but it didn't last too long.  Getting shoved every two seconds got old.  We still stayed awhile and checked the space out, but we didn't last all night.

Once we decided to leave and started walking out, the music stopped and the DJ started making an announcement about some "Grammy Nominated DJ" coming on stage.  We ran back in, thinking it was Calvin Harris, who we both love...  And then he said, Steeeve Aaaiiioookkiiii!!  (Steve Aoki) And everyone went nuts, haha - screaming and snapping pictures.  We both just looked at each other like, "WHO?"  Never heard of him, but apparently everyone in that club had.  We had to stick around for awhile to check him out, and he was pretty awesome.

More pics from the back of Surrender. 

After another cab ride back to Caesars, we weren't quite ready for bed yet.  Matt needed to gamble - which is fine, as long as I am sitting next to him controlling his chips.  $50/hand at Black Jack nearly gave me a heart attack every time, so once he doubled his money (in about 5 minutes, seriously), I told the dealer that, as his accountant, he was done playing, took the rest of his chips, and drug him to bed. 

Tomorrow = wedding day!

O Christmas Tree

The tree is up and the house is decorated.  It's a purple K-State theme this Christmas!

(3 of the 4 are either made by or gifts from Christa/Allie)

Seriously, have you ever seen a more hilarious tree-topper!? 

It's a K-State Santa with an enormously long beard! 

We had to trim it a little, but I think he looks pretty awesome. :)







Some of the other decorations include an amazing KSU wreath that my crafty sister-in-law made for me.  Purple and glitter.  It doesn't get any better than that!

I have little purple K-State things sitting all around...with more to come (when my mom brings them back up here from her house).

(Above my tv on the entertainment center)

Now if K-State can just pull out a win at the Fiesta Bowl on January 3rd,

it will make the decorating worth it...

_____________________________

                                             

** So I started a tradition of getting an ornament from every place I visit for my own Christmas "Travel Tree."  Unfortunately, I don't have that tree up yet!  Last year, I just hung what I had on a decorative tree (not a Christmas tree) in my family room.  I have far too many for that this year, so I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to do with them.  Soon I'm sure I'll have enough to fill up a big tree, and I can't wait to re-live all the fun travel stories each year as I put up the ornaments!