I'm in Temecula...TRICK...

(*Note: Blog written 8/10/09)

It would be an injustice to not blog about this past weekend…mainly because there were so many crazy, unexpected things that happened I can hardly believe some of it myself.

To allow things to make some sort of sense, it would be best to explain the ORIGINAL plan. MONTHS ago, my good friend Kevin (who lives in Denver) and his wife Kerry set this past weekend (Aug. 7) to be a sort of friends reunion from college. With Kevin, there is never a dull moment so I was excited and penciled it in on the calendar. Then, about a month later my good friend Leah got engaged and decided to get married right away as opposed to waiting until next summer. Date she selected? August 7. Dear Kevin, I am bailing on your get-together and now headed to Temecula, California for a wedding.

By a weird coincidence, Shawn apparently has met Leah…when he was a freshman at Rice and she came on a recruiting visit. What was this, like nearly 10 years ago? Weirder – is that Leah remembered the meeting. However, they hadn’t seen or spoken to each other since. SO Leah invited both Shawn and I to the wedding and after checking multiple times at work regarding the day off, Shawn jumped on board.

This time of year is quite stressful for Shawn at work as the end of the fiscal year is almost here and as a senior accountant he plays a large role in justifying/aligning things numbers wise to balance out the year. He knew that there was a large change he’d have to miss a meeting on Friday but had been told it should be okay.

So…Plan #2 was for Shawn and I to fly into San Diego Thursday evening, drive to Temecula and stay until Saturday morning (wedding was Friday), head to San Diego to check out the Del Mar – “Where the turf meets the surf” – Horse Racing track during the day, enjoy the evening in San Diego, and then fly home Sunday morning. We bought our flights, booked our hotels, reserved a rental car and waited for the date to arrive.

Also invited to the wedding were Sarah and my friend Joe so they would also be worked into the plan. Joe and Sarah were going to fly into San Diego Thursday night as well – attend the wedding – head to San Diego during the day Saturday and then Saturday night we would all maybe meet up for dinner/drinks. However, Joe wound up getting a late invitation to ANOTHER wedding back home (San Francisco area for him) so to make both work he needed to fly back Saturday during the day from San Diego. At this point Sarah also decided it would be cheaper for her to drive than fly…and she really wanted to get back to Arizona Saturday afternoon for Arizona State’s football media day (she works for ASU in a similar position to mine)…so driving gave her the most flexibility. In fact, now she would just plan on arriving Friday during the day instead of Thursday evening and save on

hotel costs as well.

Last week, thinking that our now Plan #3 was ready to go…Shawn discovered his boss was also going to be absent for the big Friday meeting and after discussion with a few head people, determined it could potentially be a disaster for him to miss this meeting (and things go wrong) so Wednesday morning he cancelled his flight and backed out of the trip.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was incredibly disappointed. I had been looking forward to this trip with Shawn for a long time…and it isn’t often that he has the opportunity to meet my REALLY good friends so having the opportunity to spend extended time with them (and me!) just seemed so fun to me. However, I didn’t have much time to be immediately disappointed because this changed my plans tremendously. I guess it didn’t really have to…but I didn’t want to spend Saturday alone in San Diego, paying for a hotel room and then flying home Sunday evening. That whole idea has instantly lost its charm…so I went online and scoured flight options. I cancelled my hotel rooms for all nights (I would just stay with Joe and Sarah on Thursday and Friday), cancelled my flight and rebooked a one way departing Saturday afternoon from San Diego. That SAME day Sarah discovered our friend Christina and Alex were driving from Phoenix (they both work for ASU) to Temecula Thursday and returning Saturday morning. Christina was heading there early to attend the rehearsal dinner (she was a wine handler in the wedding). As the reader in the wedding, I was also invited to this, however my flight just didn’t allow it. Sarah figured it was silly for them both to drive, and although it would mean leaving a day earlier for her – it was easier for her. So she made plans to now ride with Christina.

So, Sarah departed Thursday for Temecula with Christina and Alex and arrived in Temecula early afternoon. The night before I had forgotten to check-in online for my Southwest flight, so in the middle of the night, woke up and frantically checked in on my phone. B-57 was my number. Sigh. Terrible. Thursday evening I boarded my non-stop, 5.5 hour flight to San Diego and grudgingly slipped into a middle seat. It was gonna be a lonnnnnnnngggggggg ride. Joe landed around 7:30 and I was set to land around 8:40pm. Of course, my plane was delayed. After 3.5 MacGyver episodes on my laptop and a few Sudoku puzzles, I landed around 9:00pm and met up with Joe.

We headed to Thrifty Car Rental where I had reserved the “Wild Card” package. This meant that I was guaranteed a mid-size or above…but the location would select which vehicle. The guy working scared us by telling us that is typically is a mini-van because that is what they have a surplus of…however that day it was Dodge Charger and I was excited. Plugging my GPS in to place, we headed off for our hour drive to Temecula.

About 10 minutes into our drive I received a phone call from Christina. The rehearsal dinner had concluded but her car wouldn’t start. She was stuck at the restaurant and was trying to jump her car with Leah’s dad. However, if this didn’t work out, wanted to know if I could pick her up from the restaurant and take her to her hotel (about 15 minutes away from mine). According to our GPS, we were set to arrive around 11:00pm (mind you, this is 2am East Coast Time). Picking up Christina would add another 30 minutes to our trip, and I was exhausted. However, obviously the decision was a no-brainer. Friend needed help – so it was Carrie to the rescue if she needed it (love you Beana!).

The jumping of the battery didn’t work, in fact I was told flames even came out…so Joe and I scooped up Christina from the rehearsal dinner and brought her to her hotel. We weren’t sure what would happen the next day as she would need to get her car repaired but agreed to reconvene in the morning. Joe and I FINALLY made it to our hotel…where an eager (and very bored) Sarah awaited.

It was pretty funny - Sarah had forgotten shorts, so Joe brought her a pair to borrow. When we all slipped into comfy, sleepwear we all looked at each other and died laughing. Sarah was wearing an ASU Basketball T-Shirt (James Harden’s number) and baggy ASU Basketball shorts (Joe’s), Joe was wearing a Cal T-Shirt and Cal Basketball shorts and I was wearing a Maryland Soccer T-Shirt and Baggy Basketball Warmup Sweatpants. We looked like we were straight out of a collegiate apparel catalog. LOL! We stayed up talking extremely late and then headed to bed.

The next morning I was wide awake at 6am. (9am EST). I cannot sleep in much later when I’m on the West Coast and Sarah is always ready to kill me because I eventually get fidgety. I tried to doze off or lay still for awhile…but I lost the battle pretty soon and pulled out my phone to play on and a bag of animal crackers to eat (I was starving!). This of course all made noise and Sarah (with an infected wisdom tooth who already had trouble sleeping) was ready to strangle me. LOL. Around 8:30am, Joe and I headed to breakfast and left Sarah to her beauty sleep.

For the hour before we headed to breakfast, the people in the room next door were annoying the crap out of us. They keep leaving the room and slamming the door behind them. It was extremely loud and the last time it happened, I lept out of bed and attempted to chase the person down in the hallway. However, by the time I opened our door, all I saw was a flash of a navy shirt turn the hallway. Boo :(

At breakfast, there was a large group of people eating and chatting in a larger circle. I became convinced it was the group of people who were slamming the door next to us. I narrowed my eyes and then ate my continental breakfast (which Joe and I were a bit disappointed with). Around this point we noticed two 20-something guys dressed in unorthodox workout attire (think of the movie Dodgeball), talking to the group of people. I heard the name “Leah” and then realized – OMG – I wonder if these people are here for the wedding! I knew the groomsmen and a few relatives were supposed to play basketball that morning and began to possibly see the connection. So, I leaned over and asked the group if they were here for the wedding…Leah’s wedding. They said yes. I said “who do you know…like who are you hear for?” At this point, one of the guys, wearing a blue cutoff shirt, shorts, a funny sweatband on his forehead and a gym bag slung over his shoulder pointed to himself and said me…I’m the groom. I almost died.

“OMG!” I exclaimed, “It is so nice to finally meet you! I’m Carrie.” And I went over and gave him a hug. How awkward. I swear at that moment he did not look the same to me as the Brandon Roop I had seen in Leah’s pictures. Oh well. Sarah showed up 5 minutes later and Joe and I shared with her our funny story. I am still laughing about the unorthodox meeting.

Around 10:30 we took off to go pick up Christina and Alex and take them to Christina’s car. She had found an auto shop only a few blocks from where her car was parked downtown so the plan was to start her car (hopefully) and take it there for repairs. She and Alex both brought their wedding clothes with them, in case they didn’t have time to go back to the hotel and change.

After a few failed attempts at starting her vehicle, we decided to try to jump her car with the Charger. We pulled up next to her, popped the hood…and the search for the battery began. A few minutes after we were having trouble locating it, I threw out the idea that perhaps it was in the rear of the car. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy…but I had remembered once that Greg had told me that his battery had been in the back of his BMW – and it has stuck with me since. After a few more minutes of searching…and also after discovering there was no car manual in the vehicle…I googled it (Yes…I am the google queen) and found out that low and behold, the battery is INDEED in the back of the 2007 Dodge Charger. Point Carrie.

Realigning the vehicles…we popped the trunk and under the mat found not only the battery, but the drivers manual as well (Seriously, what good does it do there). Now the fun part. Jumping the car. I became a little concerned that we weren’t going to jump the car right, so I got a hold of my Dad via cell phone and had him walk me through the steps. We would have been correct without asking, but I didn’t want to chance anything – especially on a rental car that isn’t mine that I also didn’t purchase insurance for. Meanwhile, Christina called the auto shop and they agreed to come jump the car for free. So, even though we thought we knew how to jump the vehicle, we figured we’d just wait for an expert to do it.

Darryl (not sure on the spelling and maybe it is Darren – but we’ll just go with Darryl for the sake of the story) from the Hawaiian Islands, auto shop mechanic, pulled up shortly thereafter with jumper cables and a battery. Upon inspecting her battery, he discovered it was leaking acid and after connecting the cables, noticed it then was squirting acid out. Yikes. Thank goodness I didn’t try to jump her car (and no wonder she saw flames the night before). At this point, we just needed to get her car the 2-3 blocks down the street to the shop. Instead of paying for a tow, we slipped that baby into neutral and the afternoon workout began. Joe, Alex, Darryl and I pushed while Christina steered and Sarah…well…Sarah was the official photographer. LOL. Classic.

Joe, Sarah and I left Christina and Alex at the body shop and headed off to find a park where we wanted to do some jogging/walking. That was a bit more difficult than we imagined and we wound up ditching the idea and went to Soup Plantation (same as Sweet Tomatoes) for lunch. We headed back to the hotel after and lounged around briefly before heading to the hotel “gym” (treadmill, bike and an elliptical machine) to burn a few more calories. We all felt much better afterward and then began getting ready for the wedding.

We arrived at the wedding location - Wilson Creek Winery - around 4:30pm. I had some preparation to do regarding my reading…including figuring out where the microphone was, when I was supposed to be reading, and also after I discovered there was no “podium” by the microphone…I went on a scavenger hunt. The last thing I wanted to do was step up to the mic with a sheet of paper flapping in the breeze as I attempted to read it. After finding a piece of cardboard to tape the paper to, I was good to go. Something cool to note here too is that an artist was hired to paint the scene and give his portrait to Leah and Brandon as a gift. What a neat idea - and it turned out fabulous!

Next stop was the florist – as she needed to pin my corsage on. A few minutes later I glanced down and noticed that she had only stuck the pin through 2 leaves – not the stem of the main flower. I was slightly concerned as I wasn’t sure this was correct, but I didn’t want to chance messing with it right before the ceremony and something going wrong. So…I left it.

I took my place right after Leah walked down the aisle (she looked absolutely gorgeous…and the groom was in tears – I always love watching the groom’s reaction). I imagine it was about one minute prior to the time I would read when my corsage suddenly dropped to the ground. All that was left pinned to my dress were the two leaves. ARGH! I hastily ripped the two leaves off and threw them on the ground, grabbed the main corsage, figured out which side was “up”, and jammed the pin through the stem and my dress. Whew. Just in time. I walked up to the microphone and did the reading.

At the end of the ceremony, Leah elected to have a fun, dancing-type exit with funky glasses to the song from the movie “Grease”. It was super fun – but the best part was that even the grandparents had the brightly colored plastic glasses on too when they walked down the aisle…it was so cute!

Following dinner was the cocktail hour, hosted in the Barrel Room. Available (all evening) from the bar were 6 of the winery’s wine selections and 2 kinds of beer. It was pretty cool. All the tables in the Barrel Room had a photo as a centerpiece of either Leah, or Brandon, growing up. It was super cute.

We all seated ourselves in the Champagne Ballroom next, which would be the location of the remaining part of the evening. The tables had magnificent flower centerpieces, which were elevated high enough that you could still see the people sitting across from you. The table number was represented in a photo that Leah and Brandon had taken with them in a silly pose holding up a piece of paper with the number on it. The Bride and Groom had their first dance right away, which was graceful and touching. The speeches followed (father of the bride, maid of honor and best man, who was actually the groom’s father and wich was enough to make you want to cry right there.) and were awesome. Leah’s dad did a great job – but the best part was a while into his speech he apologized to the guests about the length of his speech, but pointed out he had in fact paid for the wedding so perhaps it was all right! Ha.

The reception was so fun – probably an hour and a half remained after dinner, dessert and formalities – Joe, Sarah and I really never left the dance floor, making up silly dance moves and especially enjoying the time with Leah and her brother Tyler (who I FINALLY got to meet – we had only knew each other through Leah, long distance). Christina and Alex left a little earlier than we did and as we left, Sarah discovered she had a text from Christina. The plan had been for them to leave early the next morning for Phoenix…but it seems Christina’s car had died rolling into the hotel, so its capabilities the next morning were a little unsure. Sigh. Poor Christina – here we go again.

The next morning, we got up and had breakfast. Joe and I were planning on leaving no later than 10:00am so we could head into San Diego and eat at one of Joe’s favorite restaurants near the beach before heading off to the airport. Christina had her car towed around 9:00 to an AutoZone and we decided we would drop Sarah off there. About halfway en route, Sarah panicked. What if the car couldn’t be fixed? It was a Saturday – the auto shops are closed on Sunday which means they would be stuck in Temecula until at least Monday. Obviously Christina wasn’t going to rent a car to drive home since that would mean leaving her car 5 hours away. So…Sarah decided to purchase a one-way flight on Southwest for about $145 and go home. We gave Christina our best wishes, a hug goodbye and headed to San Diego.

The restaurant Joe wanted to stop at had too long of a wait for 3 people with a plane to catch, but we did park at eat at the Boardwalk Café and then walked on Mission Beach along the ocean. It was so beautiful! After a few photo ops – it was time to head to the airport. Joe and Sarah ran into some long lines at check-in but both made it to their gates and we all headed home.

So…the question lingered well into the evening – did Christina make it home? After a little bit of inquiry, come to find out, the bad luck continued for her. The day prior, she had paid for a new battery and a new alternator – close to $300. Now, AutoZone was telling her the battery was dead again and believed she probably just had received a bad battery – so replaced it again ($90). She and Alex were about halfway into their drive when her car died again and they were thus forced to pull over on the side of the highway. An hour later, a tow truck arrived to drive them to a town 40 miles away where they then waited for her husband and his mechanic friend to drive a truck from Phoenix to come get them (2.5 hours away) and the car. In the end – after closer inspection – it appears that besides a corroded battery, the only thing that needed fixing was a $3 fuse. Go figure.

Good Ole' Lake Okoboji

A few weeks ago, my parents, Ellie and I met up at our place at Lake Okoboji in Iowa. It was a bittersweet vacation, as Troy was missing, but we still managed to have a great time! Mom, Ellie and I tested out a few board games (deciding to stick with ones that worked better with only 3 players, right Ellie? LOL), Dad took us cruising out on the boat a few times, Ellie and I had a chance to slightly work on our tans, we all did some cooking – which always is tasting because it means grilling – and Mom, Ellie and I each took the good ole waverunners out for a spin at least once. I have to be careful when I take them out – usually try to pick early in the morning when the water is smooth because the jolting (or lack of) is much easier on my back. I went out the last morning by myself – sun was sparkling on the water, there was a nice breeze and it was a comfortable temperature. What a great time of personal relaxation and also reflection! It was very refreshing to me both physically and emotionally…definitely awakes all of yours senses! Besides Troy not being there, there were 2 things lacking that we are used to having: 1) Water Sports. With the exception of the waverunners, there was no tubing, wakeboarding, or skiing. 2) My mom’s family is usually there at the same time staying in various places – however this time we were all alone. However, I must say it was pretty cool when my dad agreed to go Biking with us one morning. My mom had brought my sister’s, her’s and dad’s bikes from home for the trip and we keep 2 spare bikes at the place anyways – mind you the spare bikes are my parents Grand Prix ten-speeds from the 70s – but with a new set of tires and tuned up, they are “just like new”…well…kind of. So I braved the Grand Prix and we hit a nice trail that goes around the lake – very pretty riding and a decent workout I suppose – can’t complain! :)

I had flown into Sioux Falls, SD which is actually only 1.5 hours away. The next 2 closest airports are Omaha or Minneapolis, about 2.5 to 3 hours away. The plan on the way home, however, was to fly out of Waterloo (Tuesday). Long story, but my mom thought she was going to have to take Ellie home afterward before my mom had to head to Des Moines that evening. And although it would make more sense to fly out of Des Moines if my mom had to go there anyway, if she had to go to Waterloo first, it would’ve been a lot of driving and a mad dash to see if we could make it to Waterloo (at least hours from Okoboji) and then to Des Moines (2.5 to 3 hours from Waterloo) for me to catch a flight.

However, contrary to the original plan, Ellie drove herself to Waterloo. Her plan was to spend the next few days after our family time with her college roommate who lived near Lake Okoboji. Which NOW meant that my mom was driving me all the way to Waterloo to fly home for no reason – adding a lot of time to her trip – when she should just be driving straight to Des Moines. I gave my sister a rough time about it (love ya Ellie!) lol…but in the end, Ellie found out she had to work on Wednesday – so was forced to abort her visit with her roommate and wound up driving me back to Waterloo. That was kind of neat – I got to spend some time with Ellie and see her new apartment because she dropped me off at the world’s smallest airport. No, I am not joking (well, not sure it is really called that, lol). But it has 2 gates – Gate 1A and Gate 1B. The whole airport is just one big room with dividers. The airline ticket counter has a bell on it that you ring if no one is there to help you. In addition, you do not immediately pass through security because employees of the airport have multiple duties. So, you wait in a little waiting room area (again, this was not a separate room – just some seats by the security line) until closer to boarding time. At that point, they then summon you to pass through security and wait in more chairs near the gate until it was time to board. I felt like I was at the doctor’s office – going through all the different steps and rooms before it is FINALLY time to see the doctor.

Upon boarding the tiny plane, I discovered it had propellers – I was terrified and of course the ride was quite noisy – but I made it home safely… missing my family already! :(

What Happens in Vegas....

As you all know, “What Happens in Vegas” is supposed to “Stay in Vegas.” However, I believe there are a few amendments to this saying. Lauren would tell you “What Happens in Vegas, Gets Tagged on Facebook”…and for the purposes of this blog, it will be “What Happens in Vegas, MOSTLY Stays in Vegas…Except for the PG-13 stuff.” So – for all you kids 17 and under – here you go :)

“Vegas 2009” – Rated PG-13

Warning: This blog is LONNNNNNNNNNG. I’ve broken it up into sections, labeled per day, in case you may need a restroom break. :)

DAY 0:

I wasn’t going to order a new swimsuit this summer. I don’t really need one. I have enough to take on a 7-day vacation and be able to wear a different one each day…and then some. However, who wants to wear a 3-year old swimsuit in Sin City? So…I ordered new suit on sale a few weeks ago...and 2 days prior to my trip panicked. I need another. So, I convinced 2 of my friends in Maryland that ordering a new suit was a good idea too – we agreed to split the shipping 3 ways…and after a click of a button, Victoria’s Secret had BrandNewSuit#2 headed to Comcast Center via UPS 2-Day Service. Date of Delivery? Thursday. Date of departure from work to the airport? Thursday. Man I hoped and prayed that it would make it in time.

My ride (Katie, also one of the 2 friends who ordered a suit with me) arrived to take me to the airport at 4:15pm…just in time for the UPS guy to FINALLY deliver the suit. I had already warned the person sitting at the front desk in the operations office that Yes Indeed, I was expecting a personal package at work stamped with “Victoria’s Secret” on it…but also explained my timing dilemma in terms of heading off to the West Coast – promising the package was not a lace thong…but an innocent swimsuit. Not convinced she believed me...

Scooping the swimsuits up, we headed to the airport and although we excepted dreadful holiday traffic, we made pretty good time. In fact, I was early enough to technically catch the nonstop flight that left at 5:50pm and found myself wishing I had selected that one vs. the 7:00pm flight that connected through Denver. But, of course the earlier flight was full (yes, I checked, lol) so I sat and waited a bit longer – and snagged my flight to Phoenix. (Don’t get confused…yes I DID say Phoenix.).

After take-off our flight was about 15 minutes ahead of schedule which was actually a good thing for me because my connection time in Denver was a mere 25 minutes. Have you been to the Denver airport? I’ve ran 60 gates in the SAME TERMINAL before - wearing a business skirt and heels to catch a flight…so a tiny 25-minute layover terrified me. Of course, midair the pilot informs us there is weather in Denver, that we had been re-routed and were now about 15 minutes BEHIND schedule. Awesome. All I had going for me was that I only carried 1 backpack and was also wearing a pair of flip flops…oh and the fact that I was smart enough to sit in the front of the airplane.

Upon landing, I checked my phone and discovered it was 9:29pm (this is when we touched down)…and realized making that 9:35pm connection just may not happen. Any other vacation, this wouldn’t be as bad…however this was the last flight of the night out of Denver…and my friends and I had a departure plan of 5:00am the next morning…and last I checked there were no 4:00am flights from Denver to Phx.

However, knowing Denver had had a bit of weather…I checked my connecting flight’s status on my blackberry and discovered it was delayed until 10:00pm. WHEW. Better yet, when we deboarded, I was still set, ready to lightly jog to my next gate…only to discover it was the gate right next door. (Maybe my trip was looking up after all?)

I made my flight…and arrived in Phoenix around 11pm. For the first time ever I think my bag was circling the baggage claim machine before I even got there and within 5 minutes Sarah and my friend Lauren (Mentioned previously) pulled up to the curb, horn honking, ready for action.

We tried to minimize our excited chatter back at Sarah’s apartment as we knew that we needed to get up at 4:15am. Why you ask? Because we were ROADTRIPPING to Vegas…and with high hopes of maximizing the day there at the pool, we wanted to arrive in the morning.

DAY ONE:

Friday morning we packed the car full of our stuff, grabbed Starbucks (opens at 5:30am) and hit the road. I had brought my GPS with me which proved to be a smart move…and also an ipod hookup as both Sarah and my cars seem to be blessed with broken CD players right now.

During all of our pre-trip discussion, Lauren had teased Sarah and I about our packing list. Blow up mattress (5 of us in a room to save $$$), cooler, liquor and mixers, a pack of water bottles, wheat thins, Cheese-Its, peanut butter, bananas, apples, bagels and cream cheese. She said, "What is this, a camping trip?"

Yet, not more than 30 minutes into our drive, Sarah and I (sitting in the front) hear the cooler crack open and the next thing you know, Lauren is nibbling away on a banana. Soon after? An apple. “Oh Lauren,” we jeered, “you like that food we brought?” Later, after she had a water…she admitted defeat and that we were actually pretty smart to bring those snacks.

We approached the Hoover Dam about 30 minutes from Las Vegas and neither Sarah, nor Lauren, had seen it before. I had once before because when I took a trip to Vegas with Erin, JD and Raphael, we went that way. However, the last trip Sarah and I took to Vegas for Kaitlin’s bachelorette party steered us a different route due to construction. So…Sarah because eager to “see the Hoover Dam”. It became a lot of “Is that it? Is this it? Is that it over there?” For those of you who have seen the Hoover Dam, this is actually a quite comical question because the Hoover Dam is HUGE and UNMISTAKABLE on that route. Sarah learned this when she finally saw it…however I can’t blame her for not knowing…the things she was pointing at WERE pretty impressive canyons.

Our hotel of choice was the Rio Hotel. We selected this for two reasons: 1) we originally were going to Vegas to spend time at an event my friend LeRon had put together for the weekend – it would include for us a “Cheap” hotel room at the Palms, free drinks and cool events all weekend such as a Penthouse party, pool cabanas and more. However, Jay-Z booked 200 rooms at the Palms unexpectedly (he was performing at the Palms) and our room was now gone. 2) SO…Sarah was able to get us a deeply discounted room at the Rio (across the street) by using her boss’ reward points and we were good to go.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was about 10:30am. Our planning was almost perfect as our other 2 Vegas-Mates – Jessica and Jackie, who were driving from Los Angeles – arrived MINUTES later. Our hotel room wasn’t ready yet, so we parked, grabbed our swimsuits, changed in the casino bathroom (we looked homeless, lol) and headed to the pool.

Lauren thought it would be a good idea to select the beach chairs that were on the sand…which later proved to be a bad idea as the sand was over 100 degrees and getting up involved some scalding of the feet and delicate placement of our flip flops to remain nearby to slip on. Soon after arriving at the pool, our room was ready so Sarah and Lauren took the first shift of moving our stuff into the room – with myself, Jackie and Jessica following suit later.

Around 3pm, I had had enough of the heat and we decided to go to the Palms pool to check out the infamous “Ditch Fridays”. We all packed into Jackie’s convertible and headed to the Palms. I’m not sure what I was expecting…however what I saw definitely did not qualify. There were people EVERYWHERE…and most girls wore skimpy swimsuits with high heels. I felt like I was in a music video… There was absolutely no room to set anything down so we just walked around for awhile until Sarah spotted LeRon (mentioned earlier). I had told him we were heading there and he had grabbed a cab from his hotel to come meet up with us and say hi. About 4 days prior to our trip, LeRon’s event was cancelled due to a major sponsor backing out. However, he and some of his friends and intended guests were still planning on having a great weekend and our group of 5 developed the same mentality. How can you not have a good time in Las Vegas?

We hung out for awhile at the pool and then decided it was time to grab some food and go back to our room and start the process of getting ready for the night. We agreed to meet up with LeRon and Co. later and headed to a Mexican restaurant in the Palms. This idea proved to be a great one. We had unlimited water (I think Sarah had about 6), unlimited basket of chips and salsa (very filling) and ordered 2 appetizers to split. Total bill each? $7 – including tip. Holler.

After resting a bit in the hotel room, and getting 5 ladies through the shower, we put together our outfits for night #1. I wound up borrowing a tangerine colored dress from Jessica that helped my tan and allowed me to wear the white shoes that I wanted to...only problem is Jessica is about 2 sizes smaller than me so the dress’ length was more so that of a shirt. But, who cares, right? This was Las Vegas. We grabbed some drinks before heading out. Jessica had a friend in DC who knew someone in Las Vegas that Jessica had spoken to. They agreed to pick us up and drive us to stop #1 of the night for us: XS at the Encore Hotel…a new hotspot in Vegas. We walked downstairs, thinking we would be squeezing into a Range Rover somehow and instead a 3-car entourage pulled up complete with a Mercedes truck, Range Rover and a Mazerati. Jessica and Jackie headed into the Range and Lauren, Sarah and I were directed to the Mazerati. I believe this was the point I invented the phrase “LML” – standing for “Love my Life”. It would stick the rest of the weekend.

We hung out at XS for awhile at the guys’ table, complete with free drinks, until we decided to head out to meet up with LeRon and his friends. Originally, we met them at Jet at the Mirage, however Jet didn’t have any tables left so we took off and went to Pure instead (Caesar’s Palace). LeSean (Otherwise known as “Shady”, a nickname he’s held since he was a little kid), LeRon’s brother, was celebrating his first weekend in Vegas. He recently was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles so was able to afford nicer arrangements in Vegas than I would have, let me tell you. Also along were many of LeRon’s friends who I have gotten to know over the past 5 years so it really was a fun group to be with. Jessica and Jackie wound up meeting up with other friends at that point in the night, but Sarah, Lauren and I stayed with Shady’s group and danced the night away at a table in the main room at Pure. There were a few wipeouts, dancing-wise and at one point Sarah thought a man on the microphone was rap-singer Fabulos, when instead it wound up being Larry Johnson (NFL running back). However, I can’t blame her. I had no idea either…AND she had gotten all 5 girls in the club for free, bypassing the line in the process.

We all skipped the “after hours” spot called Dre’s that everyone else seemed to be headed to and all wound up at home by 5-6am…Jessica and Jackie included.

DAY 2:

Miraculously, no one felt any negative effects of the alcohol the morning of Day 2…so we grabbed some bagels and water and decided to go to Tao Beach at the Venetian Hotel. LeBron James was set to be at this particular pool party, although I think we arrived a bit too late for his grand entrance. However, this proved to be another packed pool party with a live DJ and lots of dancing. I mean, it isn’t like we had been dancing all night (haha)…why not dance more? We quickly befriended 3 guys who had rented a “bed” (a wicker platform with a table full of drinks), stuffed our belongings under the bed, grabbed a raspberry mojito from them and got our dancing exercise.

The guys actually turned out to be super cool. 2 of them played for the Jets (Ahmad Carroll and James Ihedigbo) with the other being a close acquaintance. The 3^rd guy was a little wacky, not gonna lie, and had his arm in a sling. But the best part was he didn’t have any ordinary sling. It was a GUCCI sling. Too funny. They were all about involving the crowd in dancing, playfully dumping water on people (it was hot!) and buying freeze-pops from the waitresses and handing them out.

A bit later Shady and crew arrived and rented a Cabana which was pretty awesome. Not only was it stocked with drinks, but it had food, a flat screen TV, chairs and a chaise lounge bed. We hung out with the crew the rest of the afternoon because deciding it was probably time to head in, grab some food and get ready for Night #2.

We ate dinner at a place that is in the Cheesecake Factory family (one step up I believe) located in the Venetian. Once again, a brilliant choice. Free water, free bread and butter to fill up on and then ordered a gigantic $30 appetizer and a large salad to split. Total cost each person: $12 – including tip. Man, we’re good.

Back at the Rio, we got ready for the evening, grabbed some drinks and then headed off to XS (where we had been the night before). However, the line was ridiculously long and we had no one to help us get in. So…we wound up heading to Jet where Shady and friends were. Also, Sarah and I had been to Jet a few years ago and had a complete blast so we knew it would be a great place.

Once we bypassed the lines (thanks again Sarah) for a second night in a row, we headed inside and walked around a bit. We wound up running into Shady, who insisted we come up to his VIP table. It’s location was up on an elevated platform (above the rest of the club), on the left side of about 3 VIP table areas. Right after getting up there, we discovered that The Dream (songwriter, artist, producer, etc.) was about to enter the club and would be performing. Where would he sit and perform? At the VIP table immediately next to us on that platform. Could our luck have been any better? He came in, (Green Hat in Photo) with fiancé Christina Milian on his arm, and the place went nuts. He hung out for a bit and then put on an awesome performance, not only performing songs he is known for singing…but songs he has written for other artists as well. To describe it as “awesome” is a bit of an understatement.

By the end of the night, we realized we had been dancing for over 24 hours straight. Personally, my feet were killing me and I think we were pretty worn out. We were told to come to after hours at “Dre’s” again…however, I decided not to go and the rest of us girls decided the same.

DAY 3:

Checkout was at noon – so we slept in a bit and then packed our belongings and checked out. However, instead of taking off back to Phoenix and LA (about a 4.5 hour drive), we decided to spend the afternoon at the infamous “Rehab Sundays” pool party at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. After working some magic at the door (2 hour general admission wait) we set foot inside the pool area and who is the first person we run into? Ahmad Carroll, our friend from the Tao Beach pool. He immediately informed us of their table at the rear of the pool and we agreed to head over there in a bit.

We checked out the scene (this place was HUGE with casino tables IN the water, a DJ and over a thousand people at least I bet) and headed over to their table. We but our stuff down at their VIP spot, grabbed a drink and started….dancing. Of course, right? Lol. We didn’t really have too much to drink (although lots of water) because at the end of all of it we had to drive home. But we made friends with the guys surrounding us too and had plenty of food to eat…good stuff of course like soft tacos and sliders. YUM! We ran into some people some of us knew like Ryan Torain (former ASU Football player), Stephon Heyer (former Maryland football player, now with the Redskins) and this guy named Tony who I have known through a friend for a while (never met him though – I know, weird…so cool to finally run into him) who is a model and dancer in Vegas.

Around 5:00pm, kicking and screaming…but tired…we decided our Vegas stay needed to come to an end so we said goodbye and thanks to our new friends and headed out of town. The drive wasn’t that bad – there was much more traffic than the way there so we didn’t get home until 11pm or so (with a few stops built in). After sharing our stories with our friend (and Sarah’s roommate) Heidi, who couldn’t make the trip at the last minute…we headed to bed - after all, Lauren had to be at the airport at 5:00am to fly back to NYC.

DAY 4 and beyond:

Lauren made her flight and I slept until probably ten or so. I was a zombie most of the day, meeting up with my friend Heather for lunch at RA on Mill Ave…and then left Sarah around dinnertime when Erin came to pick me up and take me out to the Westside of town where I would stay with her, JD and little Brayden until my flight left the next day.

Overall the trip was awesome – although it should come as no surprise. I don’t think it is possible for Sarah and I to have a bad trip (ask Troy – he’ll vouch for the ones he’s been a part of)…fun friends, fun times and most definitely a future trip to Vegas on the schedule...although perhaps the next stop might be Miami?

:) The End

Disclaimer: Although you just read the PG-13 version…please no worries. While there WAS events excluded to protect the innocent (and guilty) - There were no arrests; no inappropriate behavior (for the most part, lol); and no waking up with a Tiger in our room, baby in the closet, a missing tooth and a missing groom (“The Hangover”). You can rest easy Mom ;)