Vegas!!!!

We had a fabulous trip!!! I failed to mention in the last post about our experience at the airport. Strange things always seem to happen to me & Sunday was no different. When I went through the body scanner thingy they stopped me & the girl told me she had to "examine" me & that the cause was the sparkles on my shirt made the machine  go off. Oh Joy! She basically gave me a breast exam. Very weird. Then they sent me to another area & the man wiped my hands & finger tips with a little cloth. When I asked what he was doing he said "Checking your skin for chemicals". OK. He put the little cloth in a machine & it showed that I was all clean. Then I was free to go. Note to self: Don't wear anything that sparkles to the airport.

I've already told you about the fabulous surprise Dean had for us. The limo was so fun!!!!! We stayed at Aria. It was a disappointment. It's a 5 star hotel but it was lacking. We stayed at Venetian last time & there's just no comparison. Luckily, we were rarely in the room. I will say that I wanted to stuff a pillow in my suitcase. They were FABULOUS!!!

Sunday night we decided to see Peepshow with Holly Madison. She's preggo & won't be doing the show much longer. We had dinner at Jean-Georges Steakhouse. It was very good. Every time we left Aria we saw this

I heard angels singing. I'm pretty sure there are more Louis Vuitton & Starbucks per capita than anywhere else in the world. I'm not kidding, everywhere you looked you saw one or the other.

Dean & I before Peepshow.

Monday we woke up bright & early & rented a car & drove to Zion National Park in Utah. It was gorgeous! We had a couple of stops along the way. The first being Starbucks.We needed Green Tea for the drive. Then we stopped at a convenient store for snacks. As we walked in the door I noticed a sign that this particular convenience store was a "Safe Haven" for baby drop offs. Very, very weird. This also begins the worst eating trip known to man. I had Lays potato chips & ranch dip for breakfast.  We learned a lot of things on this trip, the first being that Allison has the tiniest bladder known to man! I swear. FUNNIEST. THING. EVER!!!

 

Yes, that's a porta potty. On a trailer. On the side of the road. In the middle of nowhere. Nothing else around. It was in Arizona. We stopped. Allison had to go that bad. Good thing we'd gone to Starbucks.  Otherwise, she wouldn't have had an t.p. Let me explain something about Allison. She's the funniest person I know. Well, except for her younger sister. The entire time she was in the porta potty we could hear her saying things like "oooh, yuck, ooey, bleh".  FUNNIEST. THING. EVER. I swear!!  About 10 minutes later we were in Utah & stopping at the welcome center. Yeh, they had a bathroom. BAWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Our first hike was Weeping Rock. It was an easy hike. Well, it was supposed to be easy. We were a little concerned as we hiked because it wasn't what I'd call easy. We were at least half way up when we came across some other hikers & they told us we were NOT on Weeping Rock. We were on what they called a "moderate" trail. Good Lord! We finally made it to Weeping Rock.

So cool!!

As we were driving around we saw mountain sheep.

They were just walking around. Deer were everywhere too.
They weren't the least bit scared of us. We saw like 6 just hanging out.

We ended our very tiring day with food!

We've never had In-N-Out!
We couldn't believe how cheap it was!!

It was soooo good!!!

Is there something wonky going on with blogger? My pics are looking a little blurry & they weren't at all when I put them on the computer.

 

Toodles!

We made it! Dean had the biggest surprise ever! When we got off the plane we passed 3 Starbucks that he wouldn't let me stop at. Can you imagine 3 SB's in just one part of the airport!? So, when we got to the baggage area there was a guy there with a sign that said "Dean Blanchard". It took me a minute to realize he was for us!



He got us a limo to go to the hotel! We were so surprised!!!



There were roses



If you're a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan we had Champs!



So fun!

Toddles!!!
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Location:City Center Pl,Paradise,United States

VACAY!!!

It's here!! FINALLY!!! After a rough couple of days at work I was out of there at 11:00 Thursday.  I had a dentist appt. & then I came home for a much needed nap. It was awesome to be able to actually sleep good. When I woke up I went for a mani & pedi.
On the toes is OPI "Come To Poppy". It's a bright shimmery pink. Much prettier in person.
My poor fingernails have been awful the last few weeks. I need to keep them like this all the time.

Since I didn't have to work Friday I was planning to sleep in a little. Yeh right. I got up at 5:15 instead of 4:45. I went for a run & it was the first time in a LONG time that I ran 3.1 miles. I did it in 35 minutes. Not great but I'll take it.

I had a few errands to run. Did you know your library card expires? I didn't. I use it to check out books from the library on my Nook. There's no way to renew your card online. Books can be checked out online but you have to go to a branch to renew your card. That makes zero sense to me. Anyway, I got that taken care of & then I went to Ulta to get some conditioner. Dick's sporting goods has a great marketing plan. They open at 9:00 whereas the other stores next to it don't open until 10:00. Well, I was there before 10:00 so rather than sit in the car I went to Dick's & came out with a pair of Nike capri's & a tank. Totally, didn't need either but they were on clearance. The capri's were $15. What a deal! The Reebok tank was $10. You can never have too many tanks.

I had a coupon for JCPenney's so I went & used it. I bought a really cute workout t-shirt. Yeh I needed that. It was $10.00 & my coupon was $10 off of a $10 purchase. Can't beat that but apparently I've become addicted to workout clothes. They have some REALLY cute stuff out there.

After my shopping I met Dean at Roberto's. You know, the best shrimp poboy ever, in my opinion. It was delish! After lunch we went to see Pitch Perfect. It was soooo good! They filmed the movie in Baton Rouge & most of it was on LSU's campus. It was fun to see all the familiar sights. The whole movie we were like "oh, that's the quad, oh, that's Chimes St., etc.".

Friday night we had a big group going to the new casino in Baton Rouge, L'Auberge, to see Better Than Ezra & Darius Rucker in concert "on the lawn". Translation: on the levee. It was so fun. We got there early & ate the buffet. It was good but there really is never a reason to eat that much food!

Lighting was too good for pictures. That's me, Kitzia, Cindy, Jackie & Sheri & some of the hubs behind us.

This is Louisiana & we were outside & it's still in the 80's in October. That means mosquito's are all over the place. As you came in the gates they handed out Off wipes.

That's Kevin from Better Than Ezra. I know it's a crappy pic.

After a late night out I got up about 7:15 & went for a run. I had to do something after that buffet. I ran another 3.1 in 35 minutes. I was so proud of myself for getting up & doing it.

Now I have to make a dip for the football party tonight at Dennis & Jackie's & I have to pack for Vegas. I HATE PACKING!!!

Toodles!!

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Randoms

I actually had a weekend! Yay! I worked 60 hours last week & was very excited to have 2 days off. Now I just have to make it through 3 1/2 days & then I'm off for 10 1/2. WOOO HOOO! This time next week we'll be in Vegas! Can't wait! 

Friday night we had dinner at Caliente with our friends, the Baxters. It was very good. I had a big margarita & slept really, really good!!! The best I've slept in awhile.

Saturday morning I had a hair appt. Got rid of the roots!  I went a little lighter & I really like it.

The LSU game was Saturday afternoon. We went to our neighbors, the Gillio's for a football party. As usual the food was delicious & I ate too much! The game was a bust. Seriously, LSU isn't good. After the game we went to our other neighbors, the Mitchell's & sat by the fire & made smores. We actually had a cold front come through so it was nice to be by a fire.

Sunday we went to my parents & Scott & Lydia's. They live across the street from each other. We all had lunch together & got to play with Logan.

Logan & his daddy play rough!

Logan wasn't having much to do with me. It was like he was mad because we hadn't seen him in awhile. Work interferes with my social life too much!

Slowly but surely I'm figuring out my new camera. I meant to bring it to take pics of Logan for practice & I forgot it.

I'm reading the Carrie Diaries right now. These are so good! They're the books that the Sex and the City show was based on. I'm on the second. It's a prequel & takes place in the 80's when Carrie first went to New York.

Did you know your library card expires? I didn't. I check books out from the library on my Nook & last week it kept telling me there was a problem with my card so I called the library. Apparently, they expire every 3 years. Ok, fine, renew it. Of course it's not that easy. You have to actually go to the library. So, I can check books out electronically but I can't renew the FREE card online or over the phone. Lovely.

Toodles!

Craziness

The only way to describe things of late. Work is still crazy. Yes, I know. It's a recurring theme that I'm beginning to think is never ending. I won't bore you with that anymore.

Friday night I worked until almost 7:00 & then met Dean at Caliente.

The white sangria was delish! I had to be back at work at 7:00 Saturday morning.

We had an early Starbuck's run. I had a non fat vanilla Frap w/whip. I know that defeats the purpose of non fat but it's not going to kill me once.

Saturday night we went to friends to watch the LSU game. WASN'T PRETTY! Seriously, the craziness continues. We played a school nobody has ever heard of (Towson) & didn't win by much. I ate entirely too much too. Dips are my weakness. We planned a group run for yesterday morning which didn't pan out because of a torrential downpour. We rescheduled for yesterday afternoon which didn't happen because of severe humidity. We rescheduled for this morning only to wake up, get dressed & walk out the door to more rain. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled about the 4:45 wake up for no reason.

Two weeks from yesterday we leave for Vegas. THANK YOU GOD!! It can't get here quick enough. We're trying to decide on a restaurant for a "nice" dinner. Any recommendations??   Toodles!

I'm here!

I know it doesn't seem like it but I'm still around. I had an unrealistic idea of what my work life was going to be like after we went live with our new system. This is when I have to remember my mantra. "Have no expectations & then you're never disappointed" . Pretty depressing I know, but not nearly as much as getting excited about something that doesn't happen. It used to just be my baseball mantra. I adopted it many years ago when the great Skip Bertman retired & his replacement proved to not be worthy of the job. I decided when this whole work project started it would serve me well.

So there's been overtime this week & it's looking like tomorrow isn't going to be my Friday. Sigh. I don't know how long this is going to last but I do know that Vegas is booked & the 11th is my last day of work.

No weigh in this week. I just didn't do it. I ran Mon. & went to Yoglates Tues & today. I'm running tomorrow. Yesterday, I just wanted to sleep.

I'm behind on all of my blog reading. Eventually, I'll catch up.

Toodles!!!




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???????

Wondering about the title? Basically, it's a microcosm of the week. Tons of questions, not a lot of answers. Of course it's all work related. Things are cuckoo for cocoa puffs as my friend Wendy would say. There hasn't been but an hour of OT this week so that's good. It's non stop craziness when I'm there but the day is flying by so that's good too. Trying to look on the bright side.

I was VERY excited to get these in the mail this week.
We're going to see Elton when we're in Vegas!! I was surprised to see the ticket though.
It's just a regular piece of paper. Here's a tip for you. We bought our tickets from Stub Hub. They were CHEAPER than going through Ticketmaster. We got the same seats for a total price of $240 as opposed to $450.

On the "Weigh In" front I stayed exactly the same this week. I've gotten back on track with my workouts for the most part. I didn't do anything Monday because I was nauseous when I woke up & hadn't slept well. I went to Yoglates Tuesday & Thursday. The teacher that normally teaches is on vacation in Ireland. The sub is one of the teachers that isn't my favorite because she's like 25 & a marathon runner & thinks everyone else is too. I honestly think she tried to kill us Thursday. I ran Wednesday & Friday & this morning I did my own workout. Basically, it was a short version of Yoglates. Neighbors are coming over for the game tonight & I'm making dip so I knew I had to get some sort of workout in.

Thursday night Dean & I had dinner at Gino's. This is one of those places that we don't go to very often but it's ALWAYS good. I'd bought a Groupon awhile back & it was going to expire soon. I had the seafood lasagna. OMG. Soooo good.

Last night we went with friends to Fleur de Lis Pizza. This place is basically a hole in the wall & you know what that means. AMAZEBALLS PIZZA! All they have on the menu is pizza, chips & pickled eggs. BLECH! I don't even know what a pickled egg is but I think of pickled pigs feet. Anyway, it's easily the best pizza I've ever had. It's been years since we'd been there. The secret here is to call & order your pizza when you leave the house & tell them you're going to eat there. Otherwise, you'll be waiting forever. I had the veggie pizza.

So, so, so good. It will NOT be years before we go back. If you order a large pizza they cut it in squares.

Jackie had a beer. Isn't the little glass they bring you cute?

So, that's been my week in a nutshell. Hope y'all have a great weekend. I'm going make dip.

Toodles!