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!
