Viva Las Vegas!

"How I wish, how I wish you were here...we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl...year after year, running over the same old ground...and how we found the same old fears...wish you were here."

The Excalibur...this princess always did want to live in a castle, LOL

This weekend was a fantastic reminder to me that yes, I should always follow my heart and trust my instinct. Always. Not only was I able to get a refreshing weekend away from work, but I got to see my cousin Robert, meet some awesome people, spend time with an amazing man, AND see the beautiful city of Las Vegas...I could not have been happier in the past 4 days.

I left work a little bit early on Thursday to get to the airport, had dinner and a drink, and took off from Portland at about 8:30. Generally, I am a sound plane sleeper - I can be out like a light before takeoff and not stir until landing. This time, I was just too anxious, excited, and just plain starry eyed. I watched out the window until the sky was pitch black, read a ridiculously cheesy Nicholas Sparks novel, and started in amazement out the window at the city as we landed right on time. I caught a cab and met Robert and his new girlfriend, Kim, in the lobby at their hotel - the Excalibur. It was great to see Robert; he's been in Bakersfield for just about a year, and I haven't seen him since Blake was born and he came home for a quick weekend. His girlfriend was such a sweetheart. The three of us hung out in their room for a couple of hours, had a couple drinks, then they took me out on the strip to show me around a little bit. We then headed back into the hotel, where Kim and I drank and Robert gambled...until 4:00 in the morning! After stopping at (ew) McDonalds, we headed back to the room and crashed hard.

Can you tell who just got off a plane and who already has drunk eyes??

Rob and his new (not crazy) girlfriend, Kim

VEGAS!

I am so good at taking self photos. ;)

There are some drunk eyes in this picture...

I woke up far too early for my own good on Friday and laid in bed listening to Keith Urban on my i-Pod, trying hard to sleep but mostly drifting in and out, while Rob and Kim snoozed away. Finally at about 11:00, I got up and took a shower, got ready, then woke them up and we got a move on for the day. Being the dork that I am, I made them take me to the Hoover Dam, where I thought it was SO cool to be standing in Nevada and Arizona simultaneously. We had lunch, wandered a bit, then went back to the hotel and hit the pool, where they swam and I napped. Pure sunshiney bliss.

Hoover Dam

Pretty girls :)

What a great place to, uh, off yourself.

So pretty

Me & Rob

They swam...

...and I napped. And read a cheesy book.

Fast forward a few hours and it was time to say goodbye to Rob and Kim, and catch another cab over to the Worldmark resort, where I was meeting Nick and his friends for my next adventure...the one where everyone thought I was nuts for flying to Vegas to hang out with a boy and his 6 friends I'd never met. :)

As it turns out, my anxiety was for nothing. I was greeted with big hugs, and when Nick and I got to the restaurant (super late, oops), his friends were incredibly welcoming and nice and I felt like a loser for having been nervous in the slightest. We ate at a place called Voodoo, which was in the Rio, and it was so, so yummy. Great steak, veggies, and possibly the world's best mac and cheese...and a tasty cockail as well. After dinner we had drinks and hung out on their rooftop for a bit before heading back to the resort for the night.

I was in awe of how much we did on Saturday, all of it great fun. We shopped and had lunch at Caesar's (lasagna pizza and another yummy cocktail), wandered around, and I went swimming slash sunshine napping with Nick later in the afternoon. We all had another great dinner (and the best drink ever) in the Mirage, then saw Cirque du Soleil...I cannot even express how brilliant the show was. I was like a kid, sitting on the edge of my seat, jaw on the floor, for 2 straight hours. I was amazed, fascinated, any other word you could use to describe my excitement...it was SO awesome. I had never seen a Circe du Soleil show, nor have I ever even been to a circus, so just seeing the contortion of the acrobats, and especially the trapeze artists, blew my mind. Hands down the best $90 I have ever spent on a ticket to anything.

The show ended around 11, at which point the 6 of us wandered to the Bellagio so I could see the water show...I loved it! When it was over, Joe and his boyfriend Derrick headed back to the resort, and Nick, Corey, Leah and I walked around a bit before heading into the Paris, where we had a drink and hung out until we were too tired at a deuling piano bar...so fun.

Outside the Bellagio...Facebooking.

Sunday morning we all slept in - the weekend had definitely caught up to us - and lounged in the room playing a drinking game with mimosas and daquiris (think Kings in high school, but with fewer rules and booze instead of Coors light) before we caught the shuttle back to the strip and did some more shopping at Planet Hollywood. We had lunch at Cabo Wabo (drinks too, lol) and wandered the mall until it was time to head back so I could get a cab to the airport (boo).

I said goodbye to everybody and waited with Nick in the lobby for my cab, said my sad goodbye, and got to the airport and onto my flight without any hiccups. I didn't get home til about 1:15 this morning, and boy am I exhausted...next time I take a vacation, I'll remember to take the day after it off work to catch up on my beauty rest!

Juno was a happy cat to see me when I got home, which made me a little less sad, but I was still not thrilled to be home, in bed by myself, with yucky rain pouring out the window. I like my days sunny and hot, and I like to snuggle. So luckily, Juno snuggled right up to my chest and starting purring, that put me right to sleep. Sweet kitty, my mom said she was lonely while I was gone.

Aside from the fun stuff I got to see and do while I was in Vegas, I was more thrilled by the great company I was in. I am, obviously, always happy to see my family that I don't see often, and it was so nice to have a group of people welcome me onto their trip with open arms. Nick has a great group of friends, people I would love to see again and call friends of my own, and at no point did I feel any awkwardness or tension in their 5-some of friends who've been friends for 20+ years, who've vacationed together several times over these years, and who have had those years to accumulate a million memories together.

Leah and I separated from the boys at one point to pop into a Victoria's Secret, and we were talking about how hard it is to make new female friends, because so many women are just dishonest; they tell you what you want to hear, or they talk behind your back, or they get jealous of your boyfriend, or some other high maintenance crap. She was very nice, no fake annoying traits that I hate in so many girls, and happy to tell me about how her and her now husband made long distance work for over a year. I tend to be a bit reserved with what I will share with girls I don't know (for the reasons just mentioned), but I felt surprisingly comfortable telling her that I was enamoured by her friend...I think Victoria's Secret shopping makes women feel more open about thier feelings. ;) I had told her that I'd been nervous to meet her and Corey - that I'd told Nick it felt like meeting his family - and she said that, well, it was pretty much just that. She told me that meeting that core group of his friends was probably closer to his heart than meeting his blood relatives, and that she completely understood why I'd feel that way. Luckily, she also said I seemed nice and she had no psycho girl vibes, lol.

I think by the time they get to 28, most women have had a man treat them right. Me, not so much. I am always drawn to guys who don't want to be serious, guys with drama, guys who just aren't really all that into the reality of a relationship. I have never had a guy hold my hand while walking down the street, put his hand on my knee at a dinner table, or kiss me in front of his friends. Never. Kalib walked 3 steps ahead of me when we went places, other boys ignored me around their friends or treated me like an inconvenience when we went out. I cannot put into words quite how it feels to be somebody's priority. I feel comfortable in my own skin, like somebody is finally content with who I am instead of feeling like I need to change something about myself or my personality to fit in someone's mold of the perfect girl.


I flew home late last night feeling grateful for the people I spent my weekend with, the conversations I shared, the fact that for 3 straight days someone's hand was on the small of my back or holding mine, and that nobody made me feel bad about myself. I know its early/soon/fast/premature, and that's fine, but the reality is, it is never too soon to admit when your heart feels happy. Right now, soon or not, my heart is happy. And I am so incredibly glad I followed it to Vegas this weekend.