Viva Las Vegas

Before I begin telling you about an amazing Girls Weekend in Vegas, I have to tell you that I am feeling quite overwhelmed by the blog. You see, May is insane. It always has been, and always will be, but I feel like I have SO much to blog about, and NO time to blog about it. I hope some of you understand.

This month is filled from day to day and weekend to weekend. Two weekends ago was my roommates bachelorette party in Waco. Still haven't blogged about that. Then came girls weekend in Vegas. Just now blogging about that. Tomorrow I graduate from stinkin' college. I totally think that's blog worthy. The next weekend my cousin graduates in Colorado. Then the next weekend my little brother graduates from high school. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. After that my roommate gets married, and then I'm off to Florida. Crazy? I say yes. Do you now see why I am overwhelmed by the blog?

Enough complaining...it's time for all the juicy details. Be aware, this is the unabridged version of Vegas. Pictures will come in a different post! And that post will be dedicated to JUST pictures. I promise.

We left Friday eveningish. Jen and I headed to the airport, checked our bags, then off we went. We, of course, had ourselves a quick meal before getting on the plane, then bought some entertainment (aka magazines) for the ride. We then boarded and all was well. We did have a layover but that was fine and we made it was really perfect timing. Y'all, have you flown Southwest? As if it isn't already the funniest airline, try flying to VEGAS on Southwest. Hilarious. People were hootin' and hollerin' all over the place. Quite the eventful trip, but we were so very entertained. We finally arrived, retrieved our baggage, then waited for sweet Jo to get there, who flew in shortly after us. It was quite the reunion when we were finally together. Laughter started immediately. And of course, immediately we wished for Sally to be with us.

We finally arrived via tram to our gorgeous NY NY Hotel. Oh my gosh. What I loved about the whole city is everything is OVER THE TOP. It was fabulous. Once we got our bags to our (smoking) room (I mean, why do they give you the option online just to have you get there and them tell you all the non-smoking rooms are unavailable. Ugh. I don't understand) but, it really turned out to not be that bad. So we dealt with it. By this time, we were all starving, so we made our way to the restaurant downstairs. It was so convenient. Here is where the (silent) laughter began. Oh my. Our waiter was hilarious/awkward which made for a hilarious meal. Plus, you can't forget about the "pinky charlie horse" I had while eating. This caused me to violently throw my fork and knife down and immediately start laughing. The girls thought something was terribly wrong with me...it was only my cramping pinky. To our stomachs delight, we ended the night and fell fast asleep!

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em. Since we were new to the city, we had A LOT to see. We headed out and thus began our 1289587 mile journey on the strip. Caution: When in Vegas, bring COMFORTABLE, supportive shoes. Not flat Target flip flops. Literally, all day, we walked and took pictures. Walked some more, and took more pictures. We did make it to Madame Tussuad's that day, which was spectacular. It was so worth the entrance fee, well, at least I thought it was. Madame Tussuad's is where they have all the stars (famous people) made out of wax. It is freaky but so very cool. We took pictures with tons of them. And yes, Matthew McConaughey was present. :)

After Madame Tussuad's we realized what time it was and really needed to be heading back to the hotel to get ready for The Beatles LOVE Cirque Du Soleil show. So, we began our hour long hike back to the other end of the strip. Fact: The strip is LONG. You are immediately fooled by all the maps. They make everything look so close together. Then you walk it, and realize how spread out everything is. We made it back, and soaked our feet for a bit, they were disgusting and quite swollen.

We finally were all pretty and dressed up and were on our way to LOVE...in a cab! You want to know the BEST part?

WE HAD FRONT ROW SEATS!!!

Jen's dad, Jack, was so generous to get these tickets for us! So, this is a HUGE shout out to Jack! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We love you and loved the show so much. I still can't stop talking about it...or singing it for that matter!!

After the AMAZING show, we went and at in Cesar's Palace at the Cheesecake Factory. I'm not gonna talk about how were we placed at an awkward table, by an equally awkward statue, but other than that, our time was amazing and our waiter, shout of to David, was so much fun. We were all BFF by the time we left! Our final destination that night was our bed. And, oh, it was a fabulous destination.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. We slept a bit longer, ordered room service for breakfast and then laid by the pool for a good two hours. I did feel a bit guilty because really, my Mom should have been laying by the pool since it was mothers day...but we'll just say I did that in honor of her! Love you, Mom!

After some sun time, we took our showers and so enthusiastically walked our toes off again on the strip. There was still so much to see! So, we walked some more and took some more pictures. Surprised? I didn't think you'd be. :)

That night we decided to get all dolled up again and went and ate a fabulous dinner at PF Chang's. It hit the spot. We were starving by the time we ate and so everything tasted fabulous.

While waiting, we played a few slot machines. I spent my money, lost it all, then decided that gambling wasn't for me. We all only played a few dollars, and just for fun. Jo and I had never experienced that, so it was an adventure. Unfortunately, I lost it all. But Jen redeemed herself and came out ahead. Thankfully, we had enough self-control to stop. But it was still fun!

After dinner that night, we once again, headed back to our delightful hotel to get some shut eye. This is when we had the major discussion about my pregnant looking inflated feet. Go to Jen's blog to see the hilarious video she took of Jo and I. These our are everyday conversations. What's even greater is that we had NO idea she was filming us. It is quite humorous.

Monday was good-bye day. There were mixed emotions about leaving. I wasn't ready to leave because I didn't want to leave my girls and all the fun we were having, yet at the same time, I was ready to get back here to my crazy schedule and start some what of a routine!

We packed our stuff up, checked out, and then left our bags at the hotel while we made one more trek down the strip. We didn't have to leave till later that afternoon, but leaving our bags at the Bell Hop worked out perfectly! Here, we watched the Bellagio Fountains, this time during the day (at night they were BEAUTIFUL!) ate some lunch, and then all shared a dessert at the Olives Restaurant in the Bellagio. They even wrote Girls Weekend 2008 on our plate for us. It was absolutely, hands down, the most precious thing. We all wanted to take our waiter home with us!

After our "closing ceremonies" at Olives, we made it back to our hotel in time to catch the shuttle to the airport. We were beyond exhausted, but so happy that GW08 was a success!

After getting to the airport and checking in, we realized that we might not make our connecting flight in Phoenix, so the Southwest people so generously switched Jen and I to a different, non-stop, flight! We were thrilled! Of course, I panicked to whole ride home because our travels were a bit turbulent, but we made it safe and sound!

We had an ABSOLUTE blast! Seriously, I love those girls. I love that we can all come together, from all different stages of life, and be just the same as we were growing up! These girls mean the world to me. Their friendships are ones that I don't take for granted and are such a huge blessing to me. I love you, sweet friends! Thank you for making Girls Weeked 2008 the best weekend this year!

Off to plan Girls Weeked 2009...