Vegas Report

Hello!

I am back! I had an awesome time except the flight back home, I caught some kind of virus and I'm all achy and stuffy and coughing real bad. Eeek! Let me give you a run down of how my Vegas get-away went. Warning this is long so grab a cup of coffee/tea or wine (depending on when you're reading this) and put the kids away!

Wednesday - woke up at 5am for a limo pick up 6:30am. Everyone was in deep sleep so we just left and gave the kiddies a kiss and hug. I love waking up early to go on a vacation, don't you? Anyway, the flight there was nice. Got to Vegas at around 10am. Picked up our rental car and drove to the house that we rented. It was 30 minutes out from the strip. Nice house with all the works. Even had a hot tub outside and we had every intention of using it, until we find out later in the week how busy we would be. So needless to say, we didn't get to use it. Got some lunch, freshened up, bought some groceries, then headed out for dinner. We were pretty tired so kept it simple and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.



The next day, woke early to attend the Memory Trends Show. Got there at 9am and we were there until about 5pm. I took two classes, "Embracing Digital Scrapbooking" and "A Photo Can Sell 1000 Products". I got to meet Renee Pearson, author of Scrapbooking Digital and Maria Nerius, a well-known author in the craft industry. We had several make and takes (which I'll show you a picture of once my hubby gets home). They gave us a TON, I mean a TON of stuff from not only the make and takes but they gave us two bags full of goodies....pictures to follow. The classes cost $10 each. And my day pass cost $29. I paid a total of $49 for this event and I got away with over $200 worth of scrapbooking goodies. I kid you not!



We ate at Mesa Grill. We started off with some Blue Corn Pancake with Barbecued Duck and Habanero Chile-Star Anise Sauce and Tiger Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale and Corn-Cilantro Sauce. I had the Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Roasted Pineapple-Cascabel Chile Sauce and Caramelized Pineapple Green Onion Salsa. Hubby had the Pan Roasted Leg of Venison with Crushed Blackberry-Ancho Chile Sauce and Horseradish Potato Gratin. You'll see a copy of the menu here! For drinks I had their classic margarita.



No Bobby Flay but we saw Jerry Seinfeld! He had dinner there too. At first I wasn't sure if it was him. You know when you see these hollywood figure you have this vision that they would be larger than life, but he's just normal looking, dark hair, Jerry's face, in a suit and there he walked in and had dinner with his posse. No one made a big hoorah. But you can see people looking. I wanted so bad to give him a hug and ask for his autograph, but I didn't want to be disappointed just in case he said "no". KWIM?

After dinner, we walked and shopped at the Caesar's Palace. We got home pass midnight.



Friday morning was shopping day. I went to the Fashion Mall (which the name-sake they really did have a fashion show) and also spent the morning checking out different hotels too. I only had time to check out the Venetian, Mirage, Treasure Island and MGM.

Let me give you my short review of each of these hotels. The Venetian has a very romantic flair. This is the place where you can ride the gondola with your sweetie and enjoy the scenery as if you were in Italy. I like the Venetian because of all the hotels I've been in, this hotel didn't have a cigar/cigarette smell. They spray some neutralizer in the air that eliminates all that. The hotel is newer therefore, a lot cleaner. MGM is geared towards families with kids. They have a three-story display of a pair of lion and lioness. I was able to take pictures. Again...to follow. The Mirage and Treasure Island is geared towards the younger crowd. So I think if you were to go with the girls (which I'm planning on sometime in October) this would be the place to go! It has great restaurants and you can go clubbing at Studio 54 afterwards. Speaking of clubs, the less you wear the better! You will get in with no problem. You'll find someone giving out cards so you get a free pass to get in the club. So if you're female, you're in! Well, it probably helps to have other credentials as well. :)



Went home, got ready for dinner. This time it was at Bouchon's. Do you watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations"? Anyway, he went to this restaurant and he gave it a great review so hubby and I wanted to try it out. I had one of my favorite drinks of Rangpur with Tonic and a slice of lime. For appetizers, we had Foie Gras de Canard paired with wine. It was exquisite! This isn't for the light at heart. It's hard core stuff. Hubby and I love to experiment and we have a very exotic palate as you'll find out. Then we had to try the infamous french fries that made Anthony cry. It was the best fries I have ever had. It was cooked to perfection with just the right crispness on the outside and softness on the inside so you can taste the potatoes, not the grease! It was served in a pewter cone lined with white paper. The presentation is incredible. I also had Soupe a l'Oignon, which they claim is the best Onion Soup. I think they were right. When I make this kind of soup, I use cooking sherry so it yields a soup that is of the sweeter taste. I think they used dark red wine with this one as it was deep and rich. It was very pleasant. Then for our main entree we had the Petit Plateau. It was a tower of seafood containing, lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams, and oysters. It is out of this world! The mussels weren't gritty or mucky. Everything had a nice sweet and clean taste to it. Just divine! We passed on dessert and coffee. Now thinking back, I should have went for it. I will definitely go back there again. Here's a copy of the menu just in case you're interested.



Saturday morning was the Shot Show with my hubby. It was held at The Convention Center and this show was HUGE! It had over 20,000 booths! It was a very loooong day and it was very tiring! Drove back to the house to rest and got dressed for dinner...I know...again! This time we went to Paris. Ooooh-la-la. And had dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It was on the 11th floor and we were seated by the window. We saw the strip from up there. It was a very memorable experience. Here's what our menu composed of: For appetizers we had Black Pepper Marinated Raw Beef, Mustard Aïoli, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Parmesan and Fricassee of Petits Gris Escargot, Confit Tomato, Wild Mushrooms. For our main entree hubby and I shared Char Broiled Bone in Rib Eye with Bordelaise Sauce, and sided with Pommes Anna. And for dessert we had Grand Marnier souffle. It was the perfect dinner to end the week.

Sunday morning was travel day. I wasn't supposed to leave until 4pm, but I got an early flight and left at 10am. I missed my kids so much! Anywho, that flight was the most horrible ride EVER! It was so turbulent that I thought that was the last time I got to see my husband. It was scary! That shaking and rumbling lasted for a good 4 minutes and let me tell you, it seemed like forever! I sat on the very last row which made it even worst! Then as if that wasn't bad enough, some drunk guy came staggering in the plane and guess where he sat?!?!? YEP! Next to me! UGH! He wreaked like cigarettes and stale beer. I got nauseous. Then now I caught some flu virus and I feel horrible. I hope I start to feel better as I have a very busy week!

Ok, so there's my review of my Vegas get-away. Thanks for stopping by and reading this! Two things I didnt get a chance to do but will definitely try next time I go to Vegas. Go to a spa or two and go to a nice club like Tao. Would you believe I didn't gamble?! I wasn't even tempted, just not my cup of tea. One word of advice, if you're ever planning on going to Vegas, make reservations ahead of time for shows, dinner or anything -- you can do these online! Also, be prepared to see the night life as you've never seen before. I saw a T-girl (that's what they call them!) strolling down the streets of Paris my last night there. Oui-oui!
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Make it a great one!