Vegas Recap Day Three

Tuesday started out much the same as Monday did with some time by the pool. I did a 45 minute yoga flow (which totally cancelled out the fried twinkie sundae, right?) before heading down. It was much more comfortable by the pool because of the high wind gusts. 

I downloaded the Undisclosed podcast because I'm clearly ready to let go of Serial and Adnan, so this was a delight to listen to while getting some vitamin D, pool side.

Dominique and I met up for lunch and went to the Hexx Kitchen in Paris for some food. We decided to take lunch a little lighter and shared a hummus crustini and I had some amazing crab cakes. And champagne, because bubbles/vegas/etc.

On our way back, I was distracted by this adorable little pug in a shop. I somehow avoided spending $19 on a pug that barks (I HATE BARKING DOGS, WTF VEGAS!).

I headed back to the pool when I got back and wasn't there for long. The winds really picked up, to the point that I was getting debris in my eyes while wearing sunglasses, and pool staff were sprinting around the pool area chasing down flying items, including a piece of glass that blew off a table top. That was my cue to leave before I was impaled.

The dust storm was actually much worse than this photo captures. 

Before too long, Dominique was back and it was time for dinner and our last night out, already. :(

Finally a good selfie. Geez.

Since we were all sequined out, we had to take some photos to document the sparkle before we headed out. 

We went to the Palms since Dominique had an industry event there in the evening. I had never been before. Just a light breeze, huh?

We had dinner at the Simon and I ordered the martini with pop rocks on the rim, because I'm a kid.

Truffle mac and cheese? Obviously. (And obviously killed my stomach, but so worth it.)

And more sushi rolls. Mmm.

And complimentary cotton candy? Sure, why not. Have at it Dom!

My go to, cotton candy stash.

After dinner we headed up to the Ghost Bar for the event. It was a huge bummer that it was so windy because that was the whole point of the venue selection. The view was insane, but I felt really unsafe out there with the winds, so I only went out there for a minute or two.

Photo booth? Of course!

The trip was fast and furious and such a blast. Miss you already Dom!

Vegas Recap Day Two

Monday morning, I slept in until 8am (ha!) and eventually made my way to poolside with iced latte and fruit in hand. It was really nice in the morning, and I spent a good hour and a half by the pool. I reapplied sunscreen 2x during this 90 minute period and still left the pool looking a little red. Harumph.

I don't know why, but I'm obsessed with palm trees. They're just so pretty.

I met up with Dominique for lunch and we wandered around for a little bit before ending up at Guy Fieri's Vegas Kitchen + Bar.

And then I ordered the most delicious sounding burger of my life: bacon mac and cheese burger. 

O

M

G

Shockingly, the real star of the show was the fries! They were seasoned to perfection and I didn't leave a single one behind on my plate. 

When I came back to the hotel room, the last thing I wanted to do was lay by the pool showing off my burger and fry baby, plus it started to get HOT. 90+ degrees and I'm sweating, dry heat or not! I hung out in our room for a little bit and eventually made it back out poolside for maybe 30 minutes.

I showered up and before too long Dominique was back and we were ready for dinner!

One of those silly selfie sticks would've really come in handy during this trip. Surely they would've had one at the NABS conference, right?

Since Dominique has a newfound interest in sushi, we made our way to Nobu for dinner. We tried a few different things and finally left a meal not being stuffed to the gills.

Since we weren't stuffed from dinner, obviously we had to seek out dessert. At Serendipity 3.

Dominique got something boring, so I ordered the fried twinkie sundae and made her help me with it.

So good, I can't even handle it. I actually wish I could have a bite right now. With the two of us eating it, we didn't even level it off to the portion under the top of the glass rim. 

Heaven.

We had grand plans to go out and enjoy the night life in Vegas, but our food coma led us back to our rooms for an "early" night in. Yay for being responsible adults!

Vegas Recap Day One

Last Sunday I left for the airport after some significant pug snuggles for my flight to Vegas.

 Kyle and I stopped for dinner first, since my flight wasn't until 9:30pm, and despite leaving at what I felt was the perfect time, I ended up at the airport crazy early. I had already checked in online and paid for my carry on, and upon arriving to security there were zero people in line. 

This is what airport bars are for, right? (I wasn't aware there were two sizes and ended up with the JUMBO SIZE....ooops.)

I got in to Vegas around 10pm local time (earlier than expected!) and shuttled my way to the airport to meet up with Dominique! Dom and I have been running/blogging buddies for years and she was kind enough to let me tag along on a work trip last year and this year! 

We had planned to be as well rested as possible upon my arrival so we could take the city by storm a bit, since our time was limited in Sin City!

I'm a sucker for all the cool light fixtures/ceiling installments in Vegas! 

We made our way around the strip and ended up at the Bank nightclub for the second year in a row.

And ended our night at the Sprinkles cupcake ATM again. Sadly it wasn't nearly as good as last year and I ended up spending $5 on a cupcake I took one bite out of. :(

We ended our night at way too late o'clock and my sweats have never felt better.

Vegas: Sequin Sequel

Dom made it back to the hotel after I had showered but had committed to laying in bed wondering why oh why we didn't get any sleep the night before. Both of our eyes were bright red, so she rested a bit while I attempted to tame my mane. I threw on my favorite set of sparkles and we headed out to find dinner.

But first we had a mini photo shoot in the hallway, as you do when you're traveling with a photog/videog, obvs. Sigh. I just love this dress so much. I wish my everyday life required sequins.

We ended up at the Cosmopolitan at my request, since I had never been there before, and I was at rage levels of hunger. It was bad. Dom thanks for not punching me.

Sparkles ON sparkles. Wheeeeeeeeee ALL THE SPARKLEZ.

We finally got a spot at Holstein just as the NCAA basketball tourney was wrapping up. I snagged a beer before National Beer Day was over, and ate the most delicious burger of my life. And that's not just the extreme hunger talking. It was reminiscent of my favorite burger in town that I discovered 10 days before the restaurant closed its doors. #rude

Dom urged me several times to make sure I saved room for dessert, and this is where I learned that she does not yet know of my extreme eating capabilities. No worries, she learned her lesson quickly. We hobbled over to Serendipity 3. And I say hobbled because my ankles and feet swell like crazy when I walk a lot (see cankles photo from above for #PROOF <--did I do that right?!??!) and my shoes rubbed a giant, and I mean GIANT blister on my foot. I took photos but will save you all from seeing them. Needless to say, they were 1000x times worse than anything I've ever received from 26.2 miles.

I ordered the frozen hot chocolate and thought it was adorable that they assumed I was going to share by giving me two straws. Dom got the regular hot chocolate. Shockingly enough, this was actually way to sweet for me (I have a monster sweet tooth) and I barely made a dent in it.

With a sugar high in tow, we hoofed it back to the hotel, slowly, and painfully. As we got back to the hotel, I noted that it was 10:30pm. Which was a full 2 hours earlier than we had STARTED our previous evening. Vegas: you won this round.

The next morning, I woke up at 9:30am and felt like a million dollars, as you should after sleeping 11 hours. Lolz. I made my way down to the pool, but not until I popped some blisters on my feet. To give you a further indication of my blister situation, the skin was stretched so thin due to the fullness of the blisters, that I was able to puncture the blister using my fingernails, and then the fluid sprayed like a geyser in the air. I almost vomited. Woof.

Moving on.

I hit the pool for 2 hours. It was way hotter than the day before. I was positioned near a group of models, so clearly I was feeling super awesome about myself while in a bikini next to them, and then I ran out of sunscreen. I really wanted to catch a tan on this vacay, but my skin is so pale right now that I was reapplying sweat proof SPF 50 every 30-40 minutes to avoid getting a burn. And I rocked a hat. No pre-mature aging here please.

I hit the hotel bar and restaurant for a drink and some late lunch.

The food was disgusting, so this really ended up being my lunch. Along with some conversation with a random person at the bar for an hour or so. This is pretty impressive for introverted Jerbear. Thanks margarita!

I showered up and waited for Dom to get back, and it was time for our last night in Vegas. Already. Womp.

I offered my green sparkles to her, because the only thing better than sparkles is sparkles+sparkles, obvs. She brought a bottle of wine back to the room, so that somehow translated in to me thinking that red lipstick was the perfect accent for the evening.

Whenever I pose to look like a statue, it seems really cool in my head. And then I see it, and I realize I'm a dork. Oh well. 

I snagged us reservations at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill during my leisurely day by the pool, so we made our way over to Caesar's Palace to find a drink before dinner.

 We ended up at Shadow. Meh, but the wine was good.

We cheers'd to Dom's upcoming 30th birthday and then hustled over to snag our dinner reservation. 

They had my favorite beer on the menu, so obviously I had to enjoy that. Cheers again? Sure. We split a black bean quesadilla appetizer, and then I had the scallops (YUM!) and Dom ordered the chile rellano per my foodie buddy TJ's insistency, and we shared the Brussels sprouts side. I would like to live in a bowl of those Brussels sprouts, I can't even tell you.

Once we were thoroughly stuffed, we made our way over to Pure night club as we'd snagged some free passes on our way into the casino. Score 2 for the sparkles! Ladies drank for free until midnight. Whoop! Except I think my drink was just Sprite.

We danced it up until the dance floor got crazy and I was teetering on the point of being VERY ANNOYED AT PEOPLE so we decided we were done for the night. Hah. 

We somehow managed to make our way back to where our vacation started: at the Sprinkles ATM! Vanilla with vanilla. Boring but delicious. 

I couldn't even wait for Dom to join me to dig in, so she ended up snagging this pic of me with my mouth full. I kind of love it. (Although I physically ache looking at those swollen feet, egads.)

The next morning it was off to the airport for me, and off to the conference for Dom, before she caught her own flight back to her hubby and babes. This was just the best mini vacation and Dom is just the sweetest! 

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, many times, but I am forever thankful for all the great friendships I've made because of running. Seriously. Runners are just the best peeps!