Best of...Las Vegas

I spent the past weekend in Las Vegas with my mother and daughter. A girl's night out not to be topped. A mom's day surprise for my mother - how often do you get to treat your mother to one of the best (and most reasonable priced) suites on the strip, a fancy dinner and perhaps a show?
In the busy world we live in, I hardly get to see my daughter, much less spend a weekend with her. So, I view this as a double treat. I have been to Vegas many times. I was based there at the beginning of my flight attendant career and have many little secret "go-to" spots for different needs.
I have my favorite, off-strip hotel, my favorite non-gaming hotel, my favorite place to grab a quick, inexpensive bite to eat - but these are all flight crew secrets. I saw this an an opportunity to share some of my tourist favorites with my mom and my kid, and share the Vegas I know and love.

Vegas in the summer time is the most energetic place in the world. The buzz of excitement, whether from winning at the tables, or seeing the most fabulous show, meeting your love of the night, or eating some of the best food in the world - the crowds are always an international mixing bowl of curiosity and fervor. As I drove my family around and shared what I love the most about this electric city, I thought, I should make a "Best Of" list.

miso soup @RA

So, here goes, for my friends and family:
The best day ever in Las Vegas.

Best Suite on the Strip: The Venetian

Best priced Suite on the strip (and best room service): The Palazzo

Best off strip hotel: Hyatt Place (no resort fee/ free breakfast, parking and wifi)

Best shopping: Caesar's Palace


Best lunch (taste and value): Ra sushi @ Fashion Show Mall


Best brunch: Mandalay Bay...still


Best table gambling experience: Toss up between Caesar's (where I win), and The Palms (where the dealers are nice to me)


Best dinner: Mon Ami Gabi @Paris Paris (reservations suggested)

The Eiffel Tower at Paris Paris

Best after hours: Drai's ...still

Best live music experience (including clogging): Four Irishmen @NYNY

Best club experience: The Palms (this changes every time I visit, as new clubs open and close every week) but the Palms has hands down the best rooftop party in Vegas no matter what they are calling the club this week.

Best people watching for entertainment value patio on the strip: Mon Ami Gabi (w/ direct views of the Bellagio water show across the street)

Best fast food: In and Out Burger

Best Pool: Now this one is very difficult because everyone has a different idea of what pool time should look like. I like to hang desperately from my lounger hoping the water magically appears replenishing all the bodily fluids I have lost while reliving my youth the night before. A quiet sunny spot, with cool clean pool water to revive me: The Palazzo
Some prefer a young crowd and loud music, checking out the fashion show of hot bodies and their expensive swimsuits from behind their aviators and oversized glamor shades: The Cosmopolitan
Those that believe a child's pool, and chicken fingers on the menu, is necessary - this article is not for you.

Best art gallery: LikVenetian featuring the work of Peter Lik

Best renovated old school hotel: The Tropicana

Best Euro-heavy hotel and casino: Aria

Best Australian men spotted: Treasure Island

Best zip line activity: Downtown Fremont Street

Best place for kids: NOT Vegas


Bottom line, there is a little something for everyone. If glamorous suites and french cuisine are not your thing, there are plenty of hot dogs and rum Slurpee's along the strip as well. It is still the adult playground it always has been. Now, with Celine, JLO, and Brittney headlining and replacing the Brat Pack, its a women's playground as well.

Have fun ladies!!

Do your JOB!

Part of the reason (I have noticed) that concepts fail, is the lack of  integrity with which actions are implemented. The lack of consistency in following laws and guidelines that have been put into place for a reason. A law is not an optional tool to be used at one's discretion. A law is implemented because a need for it has arisen.
I have been to Las Vegas more times than I can count. Before this past week, I have never been asked for my picture identification with the exception of a visit to the Michaels Kors boutique when I made a sizable and expensive purchase. This past week I was asked, almost every single time I pulled out my Visa bankcard for additional identification. It didn't matter the amount of the purchase, everything from $8 to $40, convenience stores and restaurants, hotels and casino's. Which is fine, but the attitude I was given when asked for i.d., as if I am a potential criminal, not as if they are doing me a favor by asking - to keep my money and financial security safe, was funky at best.
I was told, this is a new law, they have to ask. This is the issue I have with laws made to protect people - laws for your own good. The persons who are forced to enforce them, don't care - it is just an additional step, more work in fact for their daily job so they act put out to do the work.
Resulting in a halfhearted effort and usually a purposeless action and a half-assed job.
My attitude, as a result, shifted as well. Instead of thanking the cashiers for their diligence in keeping my money and credit safe, I waited until they returned with my bankcard, my picture i.d., and my receipt, which generally also needed a signature and tip amount to be added, and I asked them, "What is my name"?
Not one cashier knew my name. Not one.
One actually had the audacity to ask me, in response, "Is there a problem"?
In three days of my personal experiment, the best, most noteworthy answer was, "Well, I knew you were from Colorado". Well, bravo for you. Your job is actually to mach the name, picture on the i.d. to the name on the card, in fact you could match signatures on the picture i.d. with the signature on the back of the bankcard as well if you knew what your job was, and the purpose of your extra effort.
I think I annoyed some of the people I was hanging out with because no one wants an agitated bartender, right? But, my point is, asking for my i.d. is not an extra step. It is part of your job. It requires observation and diligence, and you agreed to do it when you took the job in the service industry.
Do your job. Do it right. And don't give me attitude when you snatch up my i.d. like I'm the criminal here. I'm paying you to bring my tapas to the table, not to give me the stink eye.

Bringing in 2011

Nothing like a party on the Vegas Strip...

Going to the Chapel and I'm...

Gonna be an MOH!
Hot shit!
My sister is getting married!
I'm so excited I could just burst. I'm not only happy for her, but happy for an addition to the family. I'm happy she is happy. I am happy for the responsibility to be someone's, anyone's, but my baby sister's(woooo!) Maid of Honor.

New Years eve in Vegas...are you kidding me! She's my hero!
Combining my favorite holiday, in my favorite party city, with my favorite sister. I could just pee.
I feel like I was waiting for this day my whole life, but I didn't know it until she announced it. Seeing my little sister get married, start a new life, be sooo happy.
I don't know much else that could be as exciting or draw the same response...well, maybe when Maddi announces that she is getting married. It's kind of the same. My heart is so full.

AND M.O.H. wow!
If my sister only knew how honored I am.
I'm gonna ruin all her pictures with my tears of joy - Oooh! Note to self, suggest pics be taken before ceremony. Yes, that is genius.

It occurred to me to find a proper list of MOH duties, just in case I am living in a fantasy of what is expected:

• Lead the bridesmaid troupe. It's the maid/matron of honor's (MOH) job to direct the other maids through their duties. Make sure everyone gets their bridesmaid dresses, go to dress fittings, and find the right jewelry. Also provide them with the 411 on all prewedding parties.
• Help shop for dresses (the bride's and the bridesmaids'). And the MOH pays for her own entire wedding outfit (including shoes).
• Offer to help the bride with prewedding tasks, from addressing invites to choosing the wedding colors and nodding enthusiastically when she waxes poetic about wedding cake.
• Spread the news about where the bride and groom are registered.
• Help the bride change for her honeymoon and take charge of her gown after the ceremony. Arrange for storage in a safe place until she returns.
• Lend an ear. Whether it's about the planning, the marriage, or the registry china patterns, the MOH should assure the bride that she has someone with whom she can share her thoughts. Even if she seems to dwell on the same subjects repeatedly, the MOH keeps listening.
  
• Host or cohost a bridal shower for the bride.
• Attend all prewedding parties.
• Keep a record of all the gifts received at various parties and showers (or delegate a bridesmaid to handle this).
• Plan the bachelorette party with the bridesmaids.
• See to it that all bridesmaids get to the rehearsal; coordinate transportation and lodging, if necessary.
• Make sure that all bridesmaids get their hair and makeup done, get to the ceremony on time, and have the correct bouquets.
• Hold the groom's ring during the ceremony. Safest place to put it? On your thumb.
• Arrange the bride's train and veil before the ceremony begins and just after she arrives at the altar. The MOH might also need to help her bustle the train for easy dancing at the reception.
• Hold the bride's bouquet while the couple exchanges vows.
• Sign the marriage license as a witness, along with the best man.
• Stand next to the groom in the receiving line (this is optional; the bride may decide to have attendants circulate among the guests instead).
• Play hostess along with the other bridesmaids at frequent points during the reception: show guests where to sit, direct them to restrooms, tell them to where to put presents, invite them to sign the guest book, etc.
• Collect any gift envelopes brought to the reception and keep them in a safe place.
• Make sure the bride takes a moment to eat something -- refresh her drink, get her a plate of food from the buffet table, or instruct the wait staff to keep her entree warm.
• Dance with the best man during the formal first-dance sequence and possibly be announced with him at the beginning of the party. Also dance with other groomsmen, the groom, and others.
• Toast the couple after the best man. (This is optional, but it is a nice touch.)
• Troubleshoot emotional crises. In most cases, this will require lots of tissues, hugging, and hair-smoothing. The MOH continues to be a trusted friend, a good listener, and a smart advisor.
• Keep the bride laughing. For the stressed-out bride, laughter can be as effective as venting.

NOW THIS I CAN DO!!


My best wishes and biggest heart-full of love for my sister Dedree and her love Damon~ I hope they see all the light in the world as they rise together to face all the battles of the world and see the most beautiful sunsets as they close everyday with their love for each other.

I am so proud and happy~

Vegas and San Francisco

Of course this was the best day ever!
But I will tell you why this was different and sooo outstanding.
I generally have an agenda...an itinerary, and I like to stick to it. Having a plan is a great thing. The combination of coordinating efforts, making and keeping a time-line, and sticking to it, allows for the maximum output of production - In the case of vacations, the maximum amount of time to see and do things is tested.
If I only have 4 days -I want to squeeze in as much sightseeing as possible, as much drinking and eating, and as much cultural intake as possible, before I drop from exhaustion. This is a successful vacation for me.
Yesterday, I released the reigns. I do not have an agenda for this trip, nor do I plan on having one. I found myself saying (more than once), "so what's the plan". I realize there is a learning curve to this. Today, my goal will be to just look around and enjoy. Breathe.
Yesterday, I got on a plane. I lived in the moment. I enjoyed the flight. I got off the plane. I changed my itinerary so I could spend a few hours in Vegas, enjoying the day. It was 85 degrees in Vegas and I deserve a little sunshine on my birthday trip...so I took it.
I found myself in NYNY, happy to have pastrami for breakfast, because at 9a on the eve of your birthday, it seemed perfect. I then had a free craps lesson, which was also perfect because I have always wanted to learn how to play craps, and here I was, wandering around Vegas without an agenda and look what fell into my universe - just what I asked for.


Greeberg's Deli
Vinnie's Special which seemed appropriate because it was indeed special. Pastrami, roast beef, turkey with a slice of muenster. Topped of with the first beer of the day (yes 10a in Vegas), it was splendid!












After the craps lesson, which included a lesson in Vegas etiquette which everyone should be required to take, I made my way back to Nine Fine Irishmen, which is part of the reason I go to the NYNY. This is the best bar on the strip. There is prime beer on tap. Usually accompanied by live music is some form of clog dancing or at least an elderly woman in the front, getting her groove on - which can be highly entertaining for so many reasons.

In the afternoon, I found there is no music, no dancing, no cougars working it out on the dance floor...BUT, to my immense joy, I found out there is a patio which faces the strip and has 100% full access to the reason I got off the plane in the first place - sunshine! Yay for me, I found myself sitting on the patio of Nine Fine Irishmen between noon and 2, drinking Black Velvet's, people watching in Vegas and soaking in the magnificent sun. Life is indeed good.


I looked up in the morning and saw this billboard and I knew it was meant for me. Slow down. Enjoy life. "Toast Life" my friends.

What You know about Vegas?

I will start with, "I LOVE VEGAS". Girls like me live for weekends in places like Vegas. This town never sleeps. All night long, you can do whatever the hell lights your fire, and you know what that means? No limitations.
No last call.
No public consumption charges.
No bottomless whining about what you didn't get to do. If you missed out on something it's because you were too lame or too slow to get it. Too bad, so sad. Keep up!
Playing with the Big Dogs - This is Vegas.
There is always a new club. Hot parties. Better looking chicks. Richer men. The top of the top, and the bottom of the bottom. Because there is always balance. In life there must always be balance.
As there are the best hotels there are the worst. The hottest women rival the skankiest skank. For every good looking, rich business man, there is a dirty con waiting to scam you out of something. Stay on your toes.

Old School Vegas, where names like Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra and the mafia remind everyone of what this town was built on. Showgirls and serious casino nightlife defined Las Vegas. Before nightclubs, strip joints and bachelor parties were the epicenter of the revolution of weekends in Vegas; before anyone gave a damn about spa's and buffet's, Las Vegas represented a sexy debauchery you could only be cool enough to partake in. Vince Vaughn showcased this in the film Swingers. Finding Hot Babies in Vegas was as easy as getting served alcohol at a black jack table. The Strip has made an international name for itself based on a lifestyle which started before strip-ers were even trendy.

Today we have the new hotness which changes every month. Clubs like Pure, Tao and Body English make their names on being new, trendy, and home to visiting celebrities. Clubs like Drai's have lasted long and hard because of their reputation for a rock-star party atmosphere. The party doesn't begin until 2a and rocks on until most Vegas tourists are getting out of bed to head down to their hotel pool.
The Maloof brothers have made a name for themselves as trend setters. They are ahead of the curve. This is what you have to represent to stay ahead in the hottest international destination for adults. The Maloof hotels and nightclubs have TV shows as backdrops. MTV hosted a Real World season there; not because their show was so hot, but because it had dropped in ratings and needed a boost to get viewers back in the hole. What could possible attract 15-30 years olds back into a weekly TV series? Why a weekly trip to seductive Vegas my friend. Whoever came up with the idea of housing the 7 strangers in the Palms Hotel was genius. Sexy 20 year olds having drunken hot tub sex and dancing sexily with one another in charming threesomes atop the newest Maloof Casino Nightclub Rain was just the icing on the topless cake. The Palms did a great job of drawing America right back into the MTV frenzy - keeping it hot, keeping it sexy - keeping it Vegas.

Bars like Ghostbar, Moon and the Playboy Club are keeping the attention of Vegas tourists, not only because they represent something fun and sizzling, but because The Palms is Rockin' and everyone who is someone (or not) wants to be a part of what's HOT in Vegas.

Everyone including liquor sponsors of nightlife and those that have something to gain by the high rolling/ rock star mentality which accompanies the funnest adult playground this side of the Mississippi.

Every girl who has ever grown up thinking she wanted to be a Playboy Bunny, or Carmen Electra, or Pam Anderson, or just married to a fuckin' rock star - these girls know you have to go to Vegas. You have to be a Life star. You have to rockin' hot, and sexier than you even know how to be. Because simply stated Vegas is sexy and everyone in the recesses of their mind wants to be a little sexy. Even my 85 year old Nana wanted to be a little sexy, even on her deathbed. She wasn't taking visitors without having someone help her with her hair and makeup. Her Pastor came for a visit and he wasn't allowed into her room until she felt her look was appropriate for any gentleman callers.
This is what I call old school Vegas - right till the end.