Las Vegas - October 2009

Last weekend Grant and I headed to Las Vegas to meet up with our great friends Jordan and Ryan. Many of you might say, "weren't you just in Vegas?!" or "don't you always go to Vegas?!" or like my brother Zack said to me "you go to Vegas every weekend!" In fact, the last time we went to Las Vegas was in May with our friends Natalie and Ryan. Nat was pregnant at the time and is now a proud mom of a perfectly beautiful baby girl (Ella).

This time around Grant and I stayed with Jordan and Ryan at The Mirage. This was our first time staying at The Mirage. We've stayed in Treasure Island, Bellagio, Paris, NYNY and Mandalay Bay. The Mirage had nice pools, very nice, newly renovated rooms and we love their location and casino.

On Friday Grant and I arrived just after lunch time. We checked into the hotel and then headed to one of our favorite Las Vegas eateries for lunch, Joe's Stone Crab. I ordered the fabulous parmesan-crusted halibut and Grant got a chicken club sandwich. It was yummy! After lunch we walked to the Bellagio to see their conservatory. They always have it decorated for the seasons. This time it had a talking tree and other trees cut to look like monsters. They also had several HUGE pumpkins weighing around 700-800 pounds each!

We also headed to the casino to gamble! One of my new favorite games is three card poker. I started playing it with Nat and Ryan in May. We sat down at a $5 table at the Flamingo. I started with $100 and quickly was down to about $20. I asked Tito, our dealer, to deal me a straight flush. He dealt me my three cards with his left hand (as his right hand wasn't treating me so well!). I picked up my cards...and...I had a 10, Jack, Queen of Diamonds!! A straight flush!! Straight flushes pay out 40-1. I quickly won $200! That was probably the extent of my winning in Vegas, but I was pretty excited!

That night Jordan and Ryan arrived around 9PM. I was so tired (as it was midnight EST), but I powered through the night. We went to BLT Burger for a bit to eat and played some blackjack in our hotel.

On Saturday it was kind of chilly in the morning. We all headed to Society at the Wynn for breakfast. It was really yummy! I had an egg white frittata, grant had granola, and Jordan/Ryan shared steak (filet) and eggs. We headed back to the hotel...Jordan made a beeline to the pool while Grant and I watched the Gators dominate Georgia. I should have bet on the game!! Next time I might start betting on sports! After the game we played some blackjack and then went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (their hummus is tasty). We gambled a bit more and then went to the room to put on our costumes - it was Halloween of course!

Grant and I dressed up as a Prom Queen and Prom King - these costumes were super easy! I googled online for a Prom Queen/King sash and found a website with sashes and crowns. I bought two sashes and two crowns for under $10! I would have worn a bigger dress and maybe gotten a corsage if we were home, but for Vegas I packed a cute going out dress and Grant wore black pants, a shirt and tie. Jordan and Ryan dressed up as Popeye and Olive Oyl - a perfect costume for them!

We saw some CRAZY costumes in Las Vegas.

We ate dinner at Lavo (they had a great meatball appetizer). We sat outside right across the street from TI. We could see the Sirens show from our table. We were going to go to the club there after dinner (they gave us skip the line passes), but found out that the cover was $20 for girls and $30 for guys...and the line was crazy long - so I am sure it would have been pretty packed! Basically the feeling was...no I am not going to pay $50 to get into your club just to buy more drinks at the bar and have no space to move. So we hung out in the Palazzo lobby and people watched for a bit. It was quite entertaining. We then headed to Mist at TI and gambled a bit there too before going back to The Mirage.

On Sunday we had breakfast at Carnegie Deli and then hung out at the pool. It was cooler in the shade, but really nice in the sun. Jordan and I ate lunch at the poolside cafe and stayed out by the pool for most of the day while the boys were inside gambling. Katrina flew in that night. We went to the room, showered and changed just as Katrina was arriving. I hadn't met Katrina yet, but I had heard that she was a pretty awesome girl...and she was! She brought a bottle of grey goose vodka that was a good start to the evening. The four of us finished off the bottle together before we left for dinner at Dos Caminos at the Palazzo. At Dos Caminos we had some sangria, yummy guacamole and some good Mexican food (Jordan's favorite!). After dinner we decided to hit up Pure at Caesars. We went to the bar outside; I decided I just wanted some water. They guys came back with some drinks and a bottle of water for me and one for Katrina...it was an 11 oz bottle of FIJI water...that cost $7!? Crazy! We danced there for a while before heading to O'Shea's for some cheap blackjack. We played a bit there. Grant wasn't feeling too well, so he and I headed back to the hotel followed shortly by Jordan and Katrina.

Monday was our last day in Vegas. As Jordan, Katrina and Ryan headed to the pool, Grant and I wanted to grab lunch before our flight at one of our favorite restaurants, Mesa Grille. We split some mushroom quesadillas and a chopped salad. After lunch we stopped by the pool to say goodbye to Jordan, Ryan and Katrina, gambled a little more and caught our shuttle to the airport.

It was a GREAT trip! We love Las Vegas and we especially love going there with our friends!

Next trip:: NYC!