What Happens in Vegas...

Happy Friday!  

Last night I worked both of my jobs so I didn't get home until about 1:30 am and then I had to get right back up at 6ish am to get ready for another long day today.  I'm working both jobs again today so I'm going to be running on empty around 10 or 11 pm tonight.  Since I got food poisoning and was sick the other week I haven't consumed one cup of coffee.  Yep, you heard that right.  The girl who is addicted to caffeine has gone a whole week and a half without any coffee.  Coffee was upsetting my stomach and making me feel sick so I quit cold turkey until I started to feel better.  Well, this morning I decided it was ok to have a cup of coffee while I was getting ready for work since I was running on about 4 hours of sleep.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  It's been quite an accomplishment for me.  I've been drinking Yogi green tea instead of coffee and it's been giving me a little boost, but not quite the boost that coffee gives me.  But it is A LOT  healthier and I've been trying to be better health wise lately.  So even though I had a cup of coffee today I am still going to try to limit my coffee intake.

Ok, so now that it's been 3 weeks since my Las Vegas vacation, I figured it's probably about time to talk about my experience there.  We got up early Friday morning and packed our bags, took Marley to the boarders, and had lunch with my room mate because she was moving to Washington the next day.  After lunch she drove us to the airport and we boarded out plane to Vegas.

At O'Hare, waiting to board our plane

Starting our vacation off in the air

The flight was about 4 hours long and we gained 2 hours.  We landed in Vegas at about 6:30 pm, got our bags, and took a shuttle to our hotel on the Strip.  We stayed at the Cosmopolitan.  It's only 2 1/2 years old so everything was super updated and modern.  

Image from Google Images

We checked into our room, changed our clothes, and went to find a restaurant within the hotel to eat at because we hadn't eaten since about 1 pm and we were starving!   Everything was pretty packed since it was a Friday night but we walked up to one restaurant that looked interesting and they were able to seat us right away.  The place was called D.O.C.G. (no idea what that stands for).  We ordered drinks and decided to split a pizza that our waitress recommended.  It was quick possibly the best pizza I've ever had, and I live in Chicago where we have the best pizza, so I've had my fair share of amazing pizza.  This pizza was called 'The D.O.C.G. Pizza' and had fonduta, egg, and truffle.  To die for!  We also split a dessert.  I don't remember what it was at all but I remember loving it as well.  So we were off to a good start in Vegas.  

After dinner we went down to the main floor of the hotel, where they have the casino and a couple of bars.  We had a drink at a sports bar where Vinnie watched the Lakers game and I watched people.  Seriously, Vegas is the best place for people watching, which just so happens to be my favorite sport (jk).  We went back to the room and enjoyed a celebratory cigar out on the balcony, which had the most amazing view.  

This was the view from our balcony!

My parents finally arrived at around 11 or 12.  They checked into their room and then met us downstairs for a couple of drinks.  We called it a night around 1 or so because we were all exhausted from our day of traveling.

First night in Vegas with my parents

The next morning we all woke up and went to the pool to enjoy the beautiful weather.  The pool was packed but luckily we were able to find a few sports and we just so happened to have a great view of the strip while we were sun bathing and enjoying some breakfast and mimosas.

After hanging out at the pool all day we headed back to our rooms and got cleaned up and headed to The Wynn where we had reservations to eat at Lakeside Restaurant. 

Image from Google Images

I didn't feel very good while we were at this restaurant so I didn't really eat a lot.  The place was really cool though and everyone else enjoyed their food.  One thing I noticed about all of the hotels we went to in Vegas was that they had decorated ceilings that were very unique and awesome.  The Wynn's ceiling was one of my favorites.

After Dinner

Ceiling of the Wynn

After dinner we went back to our hotel because we had tickets to go see The Yeah Yeah Yeah's concert that night and they just so happened to be playing at our hotel, outside by one of the pools.  We went to our rooms to grab sweaters because, even though it was almost 90 degrees that day, it was starting to cool off as the sun went down.  Then we all headed to the pool for the concert.

in the elevator heading to the concert

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

best picture we could get.  it was super windy this night!

The concert was awesome!  We were all really glad we went!

The next day we decided to head out and explore the strip.  Our first stop was The Paris hotel.  The ceiling of this hotel was really cool because it was painted with clouds like it was the actual sky.  It also had trees and other decor that made it look like you were in Paris while you gambled in the Casino.

Image from Google Images

We decided to buy tickets and go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower where  the view was unreal.  I only wish we could have seen it at night time because the bright lights would have looked really cool from up there.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

View from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower

Next we went to the Bellagio to explore and have lunch.  The Bellagio Fountains started going off as we got closer but I didn't get a very good picture of it.  One thing I regret is not seeing them at night.  I've heard it's amazing.  The ceiling of the Bellagio was of course really cool and artistic.  We walked through the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and it was gorgeous!  It also smelled amazing!  I couldn't tell you what the restaurant we ate lunch at was called but it was located right off of the Gardens.  It was pretty good but we just ordered some appetizers so it wasn't anything special.

Best picture I got of the Bellagio Fountains :(

After lunch

After lunch we headed back to our hotel rooms and got cleaned up again.  I forgot to mention in the beginning that the reason we went to Las Vegas when we did was because my dad had a convention to attend for work.  He goes to this convention in Las Vegas every year and my mom always goes with him.  We figured that we needed a vacation, I had never been to Vegas, so we decided to tag a long with them.  My parents were supposed to go to an Orientation, meet and greet, type of thing this night but my mom ended up getting really sick (she is where I inherited my terribly sensitive stomach from) so my dad had to go by himself.  While my dad was at the orientation and my poor mom was feeling awful, Vinnie and I headed down to the Casino on the main floor of our hotel to do some gambling.  It was fun but we didn't win any money.  This was my first time gambling and it's crazy how fast you can lose money.  

This is the only picture I actually took of the Casino

Image from Google Images

Image from Google Images

Image from Google Images

I was so afraid that my mom was going to be sick the rest of the night.  This was me and Vinnie's last night in Vegas so I was going to be so sad if she didn't make it out with us.  Luckily she did start feeling better so her and my dad met us in the Casino and we went to another restaurant in our hotel called Comme Ca.  It was a French brasserie and the food was really great here.  The cocktails were even better though!  What was really nice about this night was that we went to dinner pretty late, around 8:30 pm, and there was only one other couple in the whole place.  It was also a Sunday night so it wasn't a prime night to be out.  The atmosphere was really cool and we were able to relax, have a nice conversation, and relax.  Our waiter was also really great.  This was probably my favorite part about the whole trip.

In Comme Ca after dinner

Finally found someone to take a picture of all 4 of us together

After dinner we headed back down to the main floor and ended the night having a few drinks in the Chandelier Bar.  This bar actually looks like a giant chandelier and even has different levels with more bars.

My beautiful mother doesn't even look like she had been sick just a few hours earlier

 
We woke up the next morning, reluctantly packed our bags, checked out of our hotel, and said good bye to my parents because they were still staying in Vegas for a few more days.  I was happy to be back home with Marley but I sure do miss the beautiful weather, the carefree attitudes that we got to have because we had nothing in the world to worry about, the relaxation, and of course my wonderful parents.  It wouldn't have been the same without them there!  We had so much fun but the trip went so fast.  3 days and 3 nights in Vegas might be enough time to spend in Vegas but I do wish I had a few more days to spend with my parents.  

Now I'll spend the rest of my weekend working and wishing I was somewhere warm, like Las Vegas, since the weather decided to do a nice little switch-a-roo and go from 80 degrees to 45 degrees in 2 days. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

XO. Tarah