Really??

Yes, again, I admit that I got into the last half of "The Bachelor". You can blame Elvis for that because if they never went to "Viva Elvis" during the show, I would probably not have watched it and I would still be blissfully ignorant. But no, they did visit "Viva Elvis" and I've been hooked ever since. Dang you Brad Womack!!

Last night was a little crazy and I recorded the show, but got home in time to catch the final proposal. I figured he would probably pick Emily even though I've said from the first episode I watched, she probably wasn't ready for marriage yet...but, she's blond, gorgeous, Southern, adorable...he was enamored with her. I loved Chantal who seemed strong, independent, sexy, brunette, but the guys always go for the tiny cute blonds, don't they?! I was sad for Chantal, but knew she'd be sad for a bit and then move on like we all do.

Then, I was riveted by "After the Final Rose" because I felt more love between Chantal and Brad than I did Emily and Brad! And seriously, they've already separated once in their courtship?! Yeah...she's not ready and now I feel bad for Chantal, Brad AND Emily... Argh! The only one that looked even remotely happy was Chantal, even through the tearful Q&A with Womack. Interesting... If Brad and Emily break up, do you think Brad will be the next Bachelor?? Again?? They say third time is a charm. Hmmm....it's over now and I can get back to real life instead of reality tv life! Well, until the next season! Until next time...

What to do in Las Vegas!

Apparently, the Vegas economy is going to be booming soon! At least it feels like it because I've been getting bombarded with people coming to Vegas in the upcoming weeks and what should they do?! You all know that I'm completely in love with my city...yes, I consider Vegas mine! With that said, you are always welcome to visit my city! :) and spend money here... What I'm about to tell you is my opinion and my opinion alone, so if you end up taking my advice and hate it, sorry! :) Deal with it. Here are some of my favorite things in Vegas:

Places to Eat on the Strip / Downtown

• Vic and Anthony's at the Golden Nugget - Fabulous steakhouse that is very "old Las Vegas"
• Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay - It's just fun to make your own burger with ridiculous toppings...definitely try the Nutella Milkshake. It's worth being fat for!
• Garduno's at the Palms - Delicious Mexican and a Favorite of Cort's
• Nove at the Palms - Fantastic View and Italian Food!

Places to Eat Off Strip

• Naked Fish's (Durango and Flamingo'ish)- The best sushi ever!
• Leticia's Mexican Cocina (Durango and 95'ish)- Authentic and fresh Mexican food...the best!
• Nora's Wine Bar - Delicious Italian food
• Mark Rich's New York Pizza - (Durango and 215'ish)
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe - I would be remiss if I didn't include this on my list...You have to get the Totally Turkey Wrap with a Splenda Pineapple Delight...it's heaven in a smoothie

Wow - I guess anywhere along Durango is going to be good! You can tell I'm a North West-sider!

Best Buffet

• Aria Buffet - Seriously, it's the best...crab legs, lobster on Friday and Saturday night, it's just delicious. Yes, I like it better than Bellagio and the Wynn and you should know up front that people disagree with me here.

Cirque du Soleil

• "Viva Elvis" - It's my favorite and you should go if you like that type of music. It's a very dynamic, loud, rock-n-roll show. To me, it's what an Elvis Rock Concert would sound like today.
• "Beatles Love" - If you like Beatles music, see this show. It's more about the music.
• "Mystere" - Definitely see this show if you've never seen Cirque before - it's just amazing
• "O" - This is another very circus'y' show with aquatics. Amazing as well!
• "Ka" - Amazing stage, but if you are only going to see one show, see "Mystere" or "O"...or "Viva Elvis" of course!

Shows to See

• If you are visiting Las Vegas, I would tell you to see a Cirque du Soleil show (see above)
• Johnny Fortuno - He's an amazing artist and a must see, but has limited engagements in Vegas. :(
• "Phantom of the Opera" - AMAZING production here in Vegas!
• "Blue Man Group" - Not my favorite show, but you can find inexpensive tickets around town and it's an interesting show, to say the least.

Free Things to Do

• Bellagio Fountains and Conservatory - Both are awesome!
• Mirage Volcano - If you have seen it in the last two years, they totally revamped it with some awesome music
• Fremont Street Experience - You just have to do it. It's downtown Las Vegas, totally old Las Vegas and it's just something you have to do! While you're downtown, walk around and try and find all the renovated Las Vegas neon signs! The silver slipper and Aladdin's lamp are my favs!
• Sirens at TI - I'm not a huge fan, but I always see a ton of people out there watching...it's cheesy and a little racy for little ones.
• Visit Bugsy Siegel (at least his statue) at the Flamingo - Yeah, some say it's boring, but the whole mob thing facinates me...I like the statue thank you very much!
• Visit Elvis (at least his statue and bust) - The statue at the Hilton and the bust at Aria. Come on...who wouldn't want to kiss his bust? Someone get out the antibacterial gel...

Other Fun Things to Do

• Golf at Spanish Trail Of Course!!
• Bowling at Red Rock - Awesome bowling alley
• Bellagio Fine Arts Museum
• "Bodies" and "Titanic" Exhibits at the Luxor
• Wax Museum at Venetian
• Check out a Comedy Show
• Go Shopping at the Forum Shops or the Fashion Show Mall - both are on the Strip
• The Best Date Ever in Las Vegas: http://vegaslifeandtimes.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-date-in-viva-las-vegas.html

Things I Still Want to do that I Haven't

• Mob Experience at the Tropicana
• Hoover Dam Tour
• Haunted Vegas Tour

Best Places to Buy Cheap Tickets

http://www.tix4tonight.com/

Keep in mind, you need to visit them when they open for the best selection. If you don't care what you see, I would totally check it out because they have a variety of shows for 1/2 off...discounts on some restaurants too!

So, that's all off the top of my head. Hopefully, it will get you started in the right direction and always feel free to email or call me when you're in town. I will do my best to guide you through this fabulous city of mine! Viva Las Vegas! Until next time...

What is happiness?

What is true happiness? It's something that I feel I have struggled with my entire life...looking for true, soul stirring, happiness. I've always been one to create goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them...even if I don't, I always learn something new and find a new goal in the process. I've done a lot of things looking for what would make me happy. I guess I always assumed that there would be this one magical thing that I would get / see / have / feel / sense and poof! I'd be happy! I've struggled, yes struggled trying to find that and dealing with a little depression along the way, as I assume that everyone does.

The past...hmmm...5 years, probably, have just been amazing and not necessarily all in a good way. I've had heartbreak, deaths in the family, family on the other side of the world, family moved into my home, friends made, friends lost, strengths built on, weaknesses painfully identified, buried in piles of "to do"s, left with nothing to do, salary raises, not enough money to pay the bills, loved beyond my wildest dreams and so lonely I didn't know what to do. Honestly, that's the last 5 years of my life. How does that leave me today? I feel like lately I've let go of a lot of "stuff" that was filling up my heart which has left it wide open and it's filling with...happiness...soul stirring happiness! I find myself just smiling, even as my day has gone to you-know-what in a handbasket. I find myself completely hopeful for tomorrow! Isn't that weird? I've been struggling and working to find happiness and all I had to do was let go and it's rushing in... Really?! It's amazing and so now my piece of advice to you is let yourself go... Hmm...sounds like the name of an Elvis song?! :) Anyway, it's definitely something to think about!

Until next time...

Where Did the Time Go?!

Wow, does time ever fly when you're having fun! Man, these past few weeks have been super fun. A few blogs ago, I mentioned that I hadn't heard anything from the Johnny Fortuno Fan Club in quite some time... so, me being me, I sent them an email. Not only did I send them an email, I got a response from Johnny's manager! I got the chance to meet with him and it turns out that I may be able to help them out with some of my Marketing skills! They've graciously allowed me an opportunity to do a few things for them in my spare time on weekends and it's been just an absolute blast. I don't want to talk about it too much because this opportunity is in it's infancy, so I don't want to jinx it, don't know if they want me talking about it, etc...but I will say this, fans of Johnny Fortuno will definitely notice a ramp up in activity and I hope help them to increase his fan base significantly... Did I mention that it's been so fun to work with them? It's definitely been worth my weekend time. So, now you're obligated to go out and at least take a look at Johnny on Facebook. You'll "like" what you see! I promise you.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Johnny-Fortuno/107907364808

Oh yeah, here's the picture of when he autographed my cd for me earlier this year...Little did I know what would transpire in a month. SO FUN and he's a super nice guy... Definitely worthy of your fanship! Is that a word?? Hmm....

Until next time...

Reality TV

I have recently realized that I may be addicted to reality TV...is that bad? While that may not be so bad, I'm addicted to "The Bachelor"...pause for reaction... This show is pretty much against everything I believe in as far as falling in love is concerned. It's basically dozens of women vying for the attention of one guy, whom they have never met, with the promise of this man picking off women one-by-one, tearing their hearts out, breaking down their self-esteem until he's left with one woman, whom, by the end of the handful of episodes, he'll be in love with forever. There are SO many things wrong with this picture...

Is this how it's done now? What happened to that "saw you from across the room" heart flutter, the awkward introduction, the anticipation of the first date, finding out what you love about each other, finding out what you hate about each other, dating for weeks on end... What happened to all of that? While watching The Bachelor, it's definitely hard for these women to NOT fall in love with all of the amazing dates and places they go. My first date wasn't to a magical Caribbean island as we zip lined across the island ending up to a random candlelit picnic on the beach... oh no... my first date with my husband was dinner, at a restaurant in downtown Denver. As unmagical as that sounds, it was one of the most romantic, sexy, lovely evenings of my life...not because of the location, but because of the company sitting across the table.

Even with that said, I'm POSITIVE I will be watching Brad fumbling his way through the final few ladies, trying desperately to fall in love while ladies forget about what they want just to try and buy self-esteem by being the last one standing...makes me love my husband and my first date with him a little more. Here's to you baby! You're the best and thank you for not giving up on making our first date happen...even though you took me to a Brazilian Steakhouse...and I was a vegetarian. It all worked out! Until next time...

Whirlwind

This describes my last month or two perfectly. It's just been absolutely crazy, in a good way! This weekend was absolutely no exception. My weekend kind of began on Thursday night where I had an absolutely fantastic time with a girlfriend of mine here...

...where quantities of Sangria were delivered to our table in an effort to soothe me from my day...

On a side note, if you are ever in Las Vegas, you must check out the Firefly for amazing tapas. If you do find yourself at Firefly, then you must order at least one round of the stuffed dates...



These are tiny, heavenly, flavor packets of cheesy, datey, goodness! So good!! Thank you Carol...had a great time!

The rest of the weekend was packed with bowling, very little sleep and a Super Bowl Party. Those parties are definitely not good on the diet. I did my best to keep my diet in check, but it's nearly impossible with...

...sausage stuffed mushrooms...

...cream cheese pinwheels...

...7 layer bean dip...

...chips, guacamole, salsa, chex mix, mango mojitos and all the other delicious items that were prepared for the occasion. Sometimes you've got to know when to fold 'em and when you do, it's delicious!

So, the thing weighing heavily on my mind (pun intended) is what is my plan for the "Pounds to Graceland" Challenge? Still need to lose 48 pounds and get to Memphis... Well, I don't really have a plan, but have been enjoying the fantastic time with my family and friends that Memphis will just have to wait. Don't worry, I'll make it there somehow, I promise!!

One other thing that is on my mind is where, oh where has Johnny Fortuno gone? Last time I saw him I got the opportunity to chat with him for a bit, {check that out here}, I asked him when he would be performing in Las Vegas again. He mentioned they were attempting to work something out for Valentine's Day, but he actually wasn't sure. I've not seen anything yet, but am still hopeful...Will keep you posted! Until next time...

How Big is the Human Stomach?

When I heard that Starbucks was coming out with a new, larger size drink, I thought I was dreaming. I continued to hear more and more about this mystical new size...the Trenta. I frequent this establishment at least once a week. It's generally more of a treat for myself, although I would go every day if I could afford it (financially AND calorically - is that even a word?). Yes, my usual is a Venti Soy Chai...Yum... With the ridiculous cold front moving across the country and temperatures dipping in the 20's here in the desert, I've been getting my fair share of "my usual" and "my usual" size...Venti.

Yesterday, my co-workers needed a pick-me-up, so I made a Starbucks run and here was the list:

• Venti Soy Chai (obviously mine...)
• Venti White Hot Chocolate - someone who doesn't ingest caffeine
• Grande non-fat vanilla latte - someone watching his girlish figure and....
• TRENTA iced black tea leamonade - oooohhhhh, ahhhhhh!

I was shocked at the sheer size of the trenta! I also found this on a website, although I did not substantiate it, so it maybe one of those "tree octopus" things, but here you go...

Aside from the fact they utilize "pop can" instead of "soda can" (you say potato...), if this is true, the trenta contains more then the average human stomach! All I have to say to my co-worker is...impressive Dan...very impressive! You know what they say about guys with big stomachs....large grocery bills! I'll stick to my Venti for now. Until next time...