The Hair Cut

I have been growing my hair out for quite some time with the goal of donating it to Locks for Love. However, I had not been quite ready to introduce my locks to scissors...until yesterday.

I hadn't found a hairdresser in Jacksonville that I really liked. On Friday night I spoke to my friend Erin. She had just gotten her hair cut and had great things to say about her hairdresser. I decided to make an appointment.

I called the salon on Saturday morning, hoping to make an appointment for later in the week. I asked the receptionist for an appointment with Carl, she told me someone had just called and canceled leaving a 1PM appointment open that very same day. I took it. Grant offered to join me.

Before the cut

One last photo!

Bye bye hair!

11 inches later...and it's all gone!

The after!

Me and my handsome husband!

Viva Las Vegas

Last weekend I went to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, this was a girls only trip and Grant had to stay back. =(

I went to Vegas for my friend Marin's bachelorette party. It was a blast! We stayed at the Mandalay Bay hotel, where Grant and I stayed on our honeymoon. It was definitely strange being in Vegas without him.

On Friday night we all got in around 10PM and decided to have a low key night at the hotel...or so we thought. We decided to go to The Mix, a bar at the top of The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. We got in line not knowing how much cover was. Jordan and Krista went to ask the bouncer how much it was and somehow got us all in for free! When we made it up to the bar we went straight to the bartender to get a drink. I decided to just get a water. The bartender said that water was $8!!! So I decided not to get anything. That was a bit much for a glass of H2O! We started dancing and met some guys who were there for a bachelor party. They had a private table and bottle service. We all got free drinks for the rest of the night! We danced a bit more and noticed that the bar was not as crowded as it was before...probably because it was about 5:30AM!!

We all left. Some of us went to another bar, others went to play some blackjack. Then, we went to bed around 6AM. At that moment I had been up for 26+ hours, but for some reason did not feel that tired.

The next morning we got up around 9A and got some breakfast at the buffet. After breakfast we headed straight for the pool. The pools at the Mandalay Bay are amazing. They have a large wave pool, 2 other smaller pools, a lazy river and some hot tubs. They also have a sand beach with a bunch of lounge chairs. We managed to find 8 chairs together. While we were getting settled a guy who worked at the pool invited us to a private pool. Jordan and I went to check it out and see if they had 8 chairs together. We got up to the pool and they tried to charge us $10 cover!! We refused and they let us in for free. This pool had a DJ and nice padded chairs, but only a few were open. We decided to stay where we were and left.

We hung out at the pool until about 4PM when we left to get ready for dinner and another fun night. We went to dinner at the Border Grill at our hotel. It was yummy! We were all going to order different margaritas and some sangria, but decided to get a couple pitchers instead. When the bill came we were shocked when each pitcher (about 5 drinks) was $65!? Crazy!

After dinner we opened Marin's gifts and went to Excalibur for a special show, the Thunder from Down Under!! It was hilarious. Marin got to go on stage...it was really fun. After the show we headed to Tao at the Venetian. We met a promoter for Tao at the pool earlier. He put our names on the guest list and told us that if we got there before 11 we wouldn't have to pay cover. We barely got there in time. When we did arrive there was a 2 hour line to get in!?! Luckily we met a group of guys in the VIP line who offered to let us in with them.

Apparently this is how it works in Vegas: Guys pay thousands of dollars to have bottle service. Bottle service includes bottles of vodka (Grey Goose at Tao, Ketel One at The Mix) and a private table in a VIP area. The tables have different mixers like OJ, cranberry juice, etc. along with ice and glasses. In order to get tables in the best part of the club, the guys have to go into the bar with groups of cute girls.

So these guys at Tao paid for all of our cover (about $200 total) and we got to hang out in their VIP area for the night.Tao was VERY crowded. It was crazy. They had dancers all over and bath tubs with girls in flower petal covered bikinis dancing in them. It was an experience.

We hung out at Tao for a while and then left to go to the Hard Rock Hotel's Body English club where some guys were that we'd met the night before at the Mix. We had a good time there and then went back to our hotel. We got back at around 4AM. There is no concept of time in Vegas.

We woke up around 10AM on Sunday and headed straight for the pool again, this time we remembered the lazy river tubes that I bought at CVS on Friday for $6 - they try to charge you $20/day to rent tubes at the hotel!? We had breakfast/lunch at the pool and hung out there all afternoon.That night we went to Paris for dinner - they have a great Crepe stand there and then went to the Bellagio to see "O." It was AMAZING, although I could barely keep my eyes open in the dark theater! After the show we walked around the lobby at Bellagio and then went to the new Planet Hollywood hotel (formerly the Aladdin). Grant collects casino chips, so I wanted to get him one from the new Planet Hollywood hotel. They completely redid the casino and lobby. It was really nice! We played a little roulette and blackjack.


We headed down to get a taxi back to our hotel. While waiting for a taxi we saw this HUGE limo come by. I looked at the driver, hoping that he'd take us back to our hotel. He motioned for us to come over and offered us a ride!! This limo was AWESOME!! I wish the ride was longer!!!

We hung out at the casino for a bit and then headed up. We were all exhausted. The next morning I left to go home. I miss Vegas already! I cannot wait to go again with Grant!

I have some big news - will post more soon!!

I won!

I had two teams competing in the PGA TOUR Playoffs Challenge fantasy game.

1. Camilo is Awesome
2. Camilo is my Hero

In the end, I tied for first place with whoever "Moose1" is. After the tie breaker (we had to predict the winning score for the TOUR Championship victor, Tiger), it was official. I won!

I beat out over 10,000 competitors in a nationwide fantasy game. If I didn't work here I would have won a fabulous trip to Hawaii for the Sony Open and a Pro-Am spot. Instead, I got a lot of congratulations and shocked faces from my coworkers who would have never thought I'd win. Next time I am putting my teams under my friends names so they could at least take the prize!

I guess there is always next year!

Free Chick-fil-A

You can get a free Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich and medium drink at freechickenandcoke.com. Check it out!

Fantasy

As most of you know, I work for the PGA TOUR. The PGA TOUR season has changed a bit this year. In fact, we are nearing the end of the first ever PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. To help support the Playoffs PGATOUR.com created a special Playoff fantasy game. Employees were encouraged to join.

The game was pretty easy, you pick 4 players from 3 tiers. 2 players from the first tier, 1 player from the second tier and 1 from the third. I picked my some of my favorite players: Tiger, Phil, Aaron Baddeley and Camilo Villegas (a fellow Gator!). I didn't really expect to be in contention to win.

However, I noticed that Aaron was doing pretty well and Camilo had moved up quite a bit. Tiger won the BMW Championship and Phil won the Deutsche Bank Championship. I went to check on my team to see how well I was doing compared to my coworkers in my league.

I was shocked when I saw that I was in first place in my league...and 8th place overall! I started to get excited. Could I actually win the entire game - finish first out of over 10,000?? I checked out the players picked by the 7 people in front of me. Only 2 of them have all four players playing this week (the game ends on Sunday). It was looking good.

I wrote down all the teams and saw that I have a very good chance of pulling it off! Here is what needs to happen::

1. Camilo has to play better than Brett Wetterich
2. Phil + Camilo's points earned this week must be more than the points earned by Steve Stricker

If those two statements are true come Sunday I win!

You may be wonder what I win...well the grand prize is:
The Grand Prize Winner will win: an 8-day/7-night trip prize package for the Grand Prize Winner and one (1) guest to attend the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, from Monday, January 7, 2008, to Monday, January 14, 2008. As part of the prize package, the Grand Prize Winner earns one (1) Pro-Am spot that may be filled by either the Grand Prize Winner or its guest, and who will play with a TOUR pro during the Wednesday Pro-Am Tournament. The prize package also includes round-trip airfare for two adults, a rental car, and hotel accommodations. Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") for the complete package for two is $20,000.00.

However...
Employees of the Contest Entities and each of their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and members of the immediate family or household of each are not eligible to win.

So if I win, I cannot get the fabulous trip to Hawaii. :(

You can follow the fun here. I'll let you know how I do on Monday!!

Go Gators!!

I don't think I can manage to stay more than two weeks at home over the summer!!

Two weeks ago Grant and I decided to go down to Fort Myers to visit his parents and our friends Mandy and Scott for Labor Day weekend. We left after work on Friday, arriving in Fort Myers around 10:30P. On Saturday we got up and spent some time with Grant's parents and then met up with Mandy and Scott at a local bar/restaurant to watch the Gators kick off the 2007 season with an easy win over WKU. It was really nice to see Mandy and Scott!! They brought their honeymoon photos from Hawaii -- further lighting the fire for Grant and I to plan our own trip to the Aloha state!!

We went to dinner with Grant's parents at one of our favorite restaurants, Cantina Laredo, in Fort Myers. After dinner we stopped by Grant's grand parents' house. Grandpa Ed and Pearl were in rare form. Pearl was telling us about how important it is to vote. She began to talk about the first presidential election that she voted in. Pearl is 98. Grandpa Ed chimed in stating that the first president Pearl voted for was Washington. It was pretty funny. We all had a good chuckle. We talked about golf, a favorite topic with the pair. Then, we left. When Camilo wins this weekend I'll have to give Grandpa Ed a call -- he always reminds me how Camilo, my most favorite golfer, has yet to win a TOUR event.

We left Fort Myers on Sunday, stopping in Orlando for a little pit stop at the Mall at Millenia. I was able to find a really cute dress for my next big trip:: Marin's bachelorette party in Las Vegas. I'll be leaving on the 21st for the fabulous girls weekend in Vegas. I cannot wait!

Last Friday at work we got an email. "Who ever responds to this email first gets 2 free Gator tickets." I must have amazing reflexes because I won! So Grant and I went to the Florida/Troy game on Saturday. It was super nice to be back in Gainesville and see our National Champion Gators in action! We stopped and had lunch at Leonardo's Pizza and walked all around campus. It was kind of strange being back as most of my friends have come and gone. It seems like every place that used to be covered in grass is now under construction! The game was fabulous. The day was fabulous. It certainly is GREAT to be a FLORIDA GATOR!As for this weekend, Grant and I are toying around with the idea of going to Orlando. We have Disney passes that expire on 9/17 and season passes to Sea World that we have only used twice. I'll keep you posted!!

Jordan's 25th Birthday

After going to DC, I flew to Chicago to help celebrate Jordan's 25th birthday. She picked me up at the airport on Saturday afternoon and took me straight to the nail salon where we met up with everyone and got our nails done. We had the whole place to ourselves. :)
After that we went to Jordan's house to open presents and then went out in Naperville. A couple of the girls made a pit stop on the way to Naperville and got a cake, candles, party hats and glasses for the whole group. Jordan wore the party glasses all night.

The next day Jordan was kind enough to take me to surprise my Great Aunt Dorothy and my Grandmother (neither knew I was in town). First stop was Dorothy's. We drove over and rang the doorbell. No one answered. I called Dorothy and pretended to be a delivery person. I told her she had a package at the front door. She didn't recognize my voice. When she saw me out the window she was in shock! It was great!!

Jordan and I then went to get lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Portillo's. After lunch we drove to surprise my Grandmother at her retirement community. I tried calling and she didn't answer her phone. So we parked and went inside to see a live band and all the retirees in the main room dancing!! I quickly located my Grandma and she was so surprised to see us! It was great to catch up with her and my Aunt Denise.

After our stops to visit my family we drove downtown and met up with Marin and some of her friends from college in Wrigleyville. I love Wrigleyville!! It was nice to be around Wrigley on gameday, even if we didn't go to the game. We hung out there for a while and then picked up some Lou Malnatis pizza for dinner. We ate at Marin and David's and were able to catch up with the soon to be Arnolds!!

The next day Dorothy drove me to the airport. I was really excited to get home and see Grant. It was a really fun weekend and it was so nice to have Grant to come home to. :)