A few months back (after our October trip to Florida), Sarah and I both got a promotional email from Allegiant Airlines about a deal for $57 nonstop flights from Tulsa to Vegas!! ...I sent her a long text about how we should go and maybe try for a weekend in January. Her phone wasn't working right so my text didn't come through, but she took a screenshot of that Allegiant email and texted me with it that same day saying, "We should go to Vegas!!" lol
Long story short, we booked our trip the very next day! =)
RECAP & PICTURES:
It's been an action-packed long weekend! I worked till noon on Friday, then met Mom at the halfway McDonald's so she could take the girlfranz to stay with Georgia and Alan, who are always kind enough to keep them for me when I go anywhere!! I finished packing and getting ready, then Sarah came over (10 minutes early, which is worth noting!) Chettles and Karli came to drive us to the airport for our 8:30 pm flight! :)
Our flight was nice and smooth, but the saddest part was me dropping my phone while trying to scan my Boarding Pass... it caused a weird glitch and made the phone completely useless until we dropped it off at the Apple Store the next night. I had to use Sarah's phone to find my Boarding Pass, and I depended on her for pictures most of the trip (didn't bring my fancy camera because it seemed like more of a hassle than it was worth)! Also, I usually keep a quotes list in my Notes on my phone, but instead, I wrote them on the airplane sick sack... which we called "the barf-bag of quotes!" :)
We chatted for a bit then listened to Sarah's iPod, sharing her headphones, listening to some Michael Jackson in preparation for our Cirque show then some old-school Britney Spears as we finally landed in Vegas! :) Because of the time difference, we got there at 9:30 Vegas time. Our Allegiant shuttle experience was less than thrilling... the driver was in an awful mood and seemed terribly bored with his job, so he was a bit rude and moved at a "glacial pace," getting us to our hotel way later than we'd hoped. Not a great first impression of Vegas for Sarah, nor was the overwhelming nature of "night Vegas" in general -- the drunken idiots and porn fliers and skanky club atmosphere gets worse the later it gets! After getting checked in at The Cosmopolitan, we ventured outside and caught the 11:30 Bellagio fountain show (to a beautiful classical song called Paganini Rhapsody). Always fun to be there with someone who's never seen it before! ...At that point, Serendipity was already closed :( so instead, we found a 24-hour restaurant called Cafe Americano at Caesar's Palace where Sarah had $24 nachos and I got a $25 small pizza. lol It all ended up being really great food, but overall, Sarah wasn't feeling the love for Vegas that night. Lol
Fortunately, it quickly redeemed itself...
Us listening to MJ on the airplane, sharing Sarah's headphones
After sleeping in a bit (on really comfy beds), we got ready (Sarah French-braided my hair, and I felt like Katniss with my side braid, tall boots, and cross-body purse!) then we went across the street for our Mon Ami Gabi brunch on the patio! I'd begun to wonder if I was overhyping Mon Ami Gabi, having only been there once on my 30th birthday... but no, it's legit - it all came back to me as we sat down and ate! The weather was a little chilly but pretty nice our entire trip, and they had heat lamps going above their tables, which made it perfect. Delicious food, awesome atmosphere across the street from the fountains, and we even had musicians playing happy guitar music at a perfect non-annoying volume on the street. Our waitress (Holly) was great and let us order breakfast even though we missed the technical cutoff time. Sarah loved her "Lemon Big Skinny Pancake" and decided quickly that day Vegas was much better than night Vegas! :)
We ran (literally) back over to the Bellagio to catch the noon fountain show (Whitney's Star Spangled Banner followed immediately by Time to Say Goodbye = epic).
We walked all around the strip (12+ miles that day), saw Coca-Cola and M&M World, took our first Uber ride (highly recommend - cheaper and faster than cabs) over to the Wynn and showed Sarah the "intoxicating" air and then had a drink on the patio by what we affectionately call "the lake of frogs and dreams" -- again, perfect weather and happy atmosphere! "Wynnderful" as JEM would call it. ;-) #feelinfancy lol
We toured the Palazzo and Venetian hotels, then went to the Fashion Show Mall and dropped off my iPhone at the Apple Store (a couple hours and $130 later, all was fixed and I could use my phone again). We both bought jewelry and sunglasses, and Sarah got a purse at Charming Charlie. Then we grabbed an early dinner at Maggianos (we split the mozzarella marinara and chicken parm - both awesomesauce - but we felt a little sick that night from all the rich foods).
We went back to our hotel to rest up a bit then get dressed up for our happy Cirque show... riding up to our room in the elevator, a lady asked if we had any plans for the night. We told her we were going to the MJ Cirque show, and she said that was too bad because she had two Celine Dion tickets she was trying to give away, joking with us that we should skip the MJ show and go see someone who's still alive! I was immediately sad that we had other plans. We got off on our floor (51) then quickly realized we might be able to squeeze both shows in (Celine was at 7:30 and MJ wasn't till 9:30)! We slowly looked at each other, then FREAKED OUT and ran back to the elevator, going up to floor 56 (that woman's floor)... we split up and walked both sides of the hallway on that floor, but she was nowhere to be found. It was sad and deflating. Sarah suggested we wait a minute by the elevators just in case. And sure enough, the next time it opened, there she was! lol So she GAVE us two $175 orchestra seat tickets and made us promise we'd go... we were really excited and thanked her, but probably not enough!! So generous!
So we ran to get ready as fast as possible (it cut our time from 2+ hours to under 30 minutes) and grabbed a cab to Caesar's! On the way, I was able to call Mandalay Bay and switch our Cirque show to the next night, which made it all perfect!! Celine was amazing - actually a much better show than the one I'd seen a few years back. She brings all the drama, and I just love it! The concert was truly awesome...
But afterward, we headed out to face the crazy "night Vegas" crowd. We were both tired of walking and we had on heels for that night so our feet were sore, but we couldn't seem to find a place for Uber to pick us up. We weren't able to book the zipline for Sarah until the next day, and we didn't want to pay $40+ to ride the High Roller ferris wheel. Plus, we were both semi-nauseous and not hungry for dessert after eating Maggianos earlier... all of that threw me into what JEM and Chet jokingly call "Diva mode," which is code for a bitchy mood! lol #ithappens #introverttimeneeded So we ended up just going back to the hotel, showering, posting pics to Facebook, and going to bed around midnight, which was probably for the best!!
M&M World Fun!
Cocktails & 'Mocktails' at The Lake of Frogs and Dreams! lol
Psyched about our free Celine tickets!!
Ready for the show!
Sunday:
I decided to embrace taking a bit longer to get ready and had Sarah curl my hair after curling hers, then we went for another Mon Ami breakfast, this time both opting for something less sweet than the day before (my quiche was awesome). We got the exact same table two days in a row, so that was funny! :) A happy start to our Sunday. Sarah got a Mimosa with her meal, which completed her 3 M's (her first Mojito, Martini, & Mimosa). lol
We took Uber over to Luxor to see The Bodies exhibit, which was actually really interesting and cool to see. As a nurse, Sarah really wanted to see it and was fascinated by it all, but I liked it better than expected -- it makes you thankful for your health and being fearfully and wonderfully made, and it makes you wonder how people can see all that perfect detail and not believe in a Creator God!!
After that, we walked to NYNY and bought some candy and chocolate-covered strawberries at Hershey's World then had lunch at Shake Shack! I was excited to finally get to try that, and loved my cheeseburger and chocolate malt! :) Then we walked to Aria hotel (where Bourne 5 was being filmed, apparently) so that Sarah could see it for a minute, then back to our hotel to rest for a bit before our show...
Took Uber to Mandalay Bay to see One, the MJ Cirque show, where we got upgraded to better seats. :) It was intense with the strobe lights and loud music, but still pretty fun for me since I knew 95% of the songs. It brought back memories of me mocking Rach for loving the Earth Song. lol My favorite song and performance was They Don't Care About Us... powerful!
After that, we took an Uber (with a friendly and helpful driver) to Fremont Street (I always thought it was two E's, but no), and Sarah got harnessed up to do the ZoomLine! It looked like fun, but you have to book far in advance, and I didn't want to commit before I could see it. #nexttime (Sidenote: At least my tall boots got to go ZoomLine-ing... we discovered that we wear the same size clothing, shoes, and rings... so that was fun!) I watched the fascinating crowd and listened to a fun rock concert on the street as I waited to video Sarah. She text me when it was almost her turn, and I got a pretty good video of it! Then she bought a picture, and we headed back to the Bellagio! We watched the fountains one last time (Viva Las Vegas, good one to end on!) then went in to tour that hotel a little. I showed her the crystal garden and the conservatory, then she got a Tiramisu pastry to-go from Jean Philippe Patisserie! Sarah got yelled at by a mean lady on the street, and a drunk guy tried to comfort her (see Quotes below). We walked back to the Cosmo and stopped by Secret Pizza on our way up to our room... better than I remembered, and possibly the cheapest meal we had! We ate our midnight pizza, then made ourselves pack before eating any dessert. Sarah took one last shower and we got to sleep around 1:30am... all ready for our 4am wakeup call. Sadness!
Our Mon Ami breakfast two days in a row... Bananas Foster French Toast & Quiche for me, Lemon Big Skinny Pancake & Croissant Sandwich for Sarah!
Ridiculousness at Hershey's Chocolate World! :)
Sarah getting ready for the SlotZilla ZoomLine! :)
Monday
Finished packing and got ready quickly... ate our chocolate-covered strawberries for breakfast... headed out the door by 4:30! Took Uber to the airport, where we weighed Sarah's bag and then switched things around so it would be under the weight limit (only 1.5 pounds off). We did some last minute airport gambling at the slot machines, grabbed a BK Croissan'wich, then boarded our plane strangely early (waiting a little over an hour before takeoff). I tried to sleep on the flight but kept jolting awake, so I decided to use that time to start writing down quotes and memories. :) That final landing was ROUGH for my motion-sick self, but I made it without throwing up - huzzah - Vegas trip success! :)
Karli picked us up and we met Chettles at McAlister's for a fun lunch (and cookies, thanks to his free coupons!) Chet drove Sarah and I to my place, where we watched some of Sarah's videos before they left and I started my drive to Midwest City. Barely made it through that drive... so. freaking. tired!! Had dinner at Ted's with the fam and Georgia and Alan and Charlene... fun and good to tell some of my stories and see the Missy K and Jaceman! The Myricks offered to keep the dogs one more night, which was perfection, so I crashed into bed at Mom and Dad's before 8 last night!!
Felt much better for my long drive this morning, and now I'm back at work for felony Tuesday, writing this happy blog between morning and afternoon pleas! All in all, it was a fantastic trip #8 with lots of fun memories and quotes and great food!! We walked over 20 miles through the weekend, but I'm guessing it wasn't enough to counteract all the sugar and fried foods. So I'm back to healthier eating now, which will actually feel refreshing! :)
QUOTABLES:
"Only a douchebag who thinks he's a ladies' man wears paisley!" ~Sarah, on the guy seated in front of us
"Yay, Michael Jackson!! ...child rapist." -Sarah (getting ready for Cirque by listening to his greatest hits on her iPod on the plane - sharing a set of headphones because my iPhone was broken after I dropped it in the Tulsa airport)
"The Vegas fountains are to me what the Disney fireworks are to Chet!!" ~Me, before Sarah's first fountain show, so she'd be appropriately excited! lol
"Can we come back here tomorrow morning, you think? That 'Big Skinny Pancake' was an amazing experience of life!! ...What is this? It's magic to my tongue!" -Sarah after her lemon pancake at Mon Ami Gabi :)
"Chippendales tonight, ladieeeees? I'll be performing - you can see me and TOUCH me! You're gonna enjoy it!!" -one of the many classy gentlemen we met passing out fliers on the streets of Vegas lol
"I liked pretty much everything about our room... except that we had a weird Kama Sutra book instead of the Gideon Bible in the drawer!" -Me
"Yeah, that and the AC thing not really working." -Sarah
"And the naked women silhouettes on our bathroom wallpaper." -Me
"Oh, and the creepy eyeballs (wallpaper) in the closet... Hmm, so maybe we didn't like our room!" -Sarah lol (Bellagio is still first place, probably now and always)
"Okay, I'm about to have a seizure!" -Sarah (as the MJ Cirque show began with 1,000 strobe lights and in every direction and super loud music)
"I'm gonna need some introvert time after this!" -Sarah (we'd talked earlier that day about how I find NYC overstimulating and need happy quiet introvert time after being there for about 30 minutes)
"Boy, you're just a walking train wreck this morning!" -guy behind us teasing Sarah after witnessing her almost walk into a wall between the doors and a few minutes later start going up the down escalator lol (he missed her tripping moments later as she looked back at me on the escalator - it was a super clumsy morning for her, and so funny for me!)
"This is hilarious! My family always makes fun of me being bad with directions. I feel empowered!!" -Sarah, navigating for us because her sense of direction after half a day there was more reliable than mine on my 8th trip!! Lol
"Yeah, I'm really terrible at navigating. On the bright side, I'm much more okay with being lost than most people!" -Me :)
*Rach truly got all of that in our family, and her children have it too!
"Wow, it's already our last night in Vegas... sad!!" -Sarah
(Minutes later crossing the street, she bumped into an angry woman:)
"Watch where you're going, bitch!!"
Drunk guy next to us trying to be comforting:
"Don't even worry about it - she's probably had too many tacos!!" ??
"Okaaay, I'm ready to go home now!" -Sarah
(All funny to remember!!)
"I think it's this way." -Me, starting to turn toward Sarah
"I think it's over here!" -Sarah, pointing and accidentally hitting me in the mouth with her arm - lol (She was right, which shouldn't surprise anyone)
"If it were just me, I'd cross the street right now! ...(car turning left speeds through that street) ...and I would've died!" ~Sarah
"So did you look around and take in all the lights?" ~Me (after Sarah's zipline experience)
"Not really. I just kept thinking about how it could break and I could die... and praying that I'd splat and die quickly... Don't let me be a vegetable, Lord!" ~Sarah
"Even being around clubs like that gives me anxiety... I like day Vegas so much better than night Vegas!" ~Sarah
"This is the tiniest croissant of life!!" ~Sarah, of her BK croissant lol
"'Are you back in Tulsa? I'd sure like to see you.' ...Well, everyone would! But I'm tired!!" ~Sarah, reading her FB comments and thinking out loud at the airport lol
"She is just so... exquisitely unique!" ~Chettles, watching Sarah's Celine concert video... perfect description! lol
Flipagram is being obnoxious and not letting me slow this down, so here is a super-quick recap of our whole trip:
(DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE BY VIGO VIDEO APP!) =(
Congrats - you've reached the end of this post!! Happy Tuesday!
looks like a blast. Did you walk around the wynn? Mon ami gabi is the real deal!
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