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...

"Date Night" Decreases the Degrees of Separation!

Saturday night in Las Vegas...that means that it's "Date Night" in the Easton household. Generally, Cortney and I try our best to get out once a week to do something fun (which isn't difficult in Vegas)! So, last Saturday, Cort decided that we should go to the Aria buffet (did you check out what I did last week?? Yes, the Aria buffet...best buffet ever...except when you're on a diet). So, again, my diet is left in the dust at crab legs...and lobster tails. On our way to the buffet, you'll never believe who we saw!!

Here's a recap of our night:

Valet Parked at Aria

Walked into the Casino Area

Walked Past the Cafe

AND BOOM....There he was!! Cortney looked at me and said, "Is that..." and in unison we said, "JERRY SCHILLING!" I said it with a little more gusto, but was surprised Cortney recognized him as well. What would you do in the sheer excitement of seeing one of E's best friends?!? Well, I walked on by, mesmerized...but just kept walking...no autograph, no photo, no nothing!! I'm an idiot!! Cortney tried to make me feel better by saying that famous people like to go unrecognized so I did the right thing...but something tells me Jerry may have gotten a kick out of us recognizing him...either way, I did absolutely nothing and he only knows I exist because I think he heard us say his name and then I'm sure he quickly forgot I existed... Here's a close representation of the Jerry we saw...

Here's Jerry with Elvis, sometime in the '70's...

Jerry wrote one of the best E books out there (in my opinion of my research of Elvis books, which is extensive).



In my state of euphoria, Cort took me to the Elvis store and bought me 7 hours of Elvis with the special edition of the "Elvis" '68 special.

We finally made it to the buffet (still in a state of euphoria, to be followed with even more euphoric crab legs!)

Where we dined on mounds of crab legs, lobster tails and probably used more plates than any two people ever at a buffet.

We then decided to walk off some of those crab legs by checking out The Cosmopolitan next door.

They have the most INSANE chandelier ever...

We decided to partake in some gaming...

...and we lost. When I saw Cortney at his slot machine, I knew it was time to go home...

Have I mentioned how much I love Las Vegas?? And Jerry Schilling?? Almost as much as I love Elvis...almost... :) Until next time...

O...M...G...

So, if I were much, much cuter and furrier, this is what I would have looked like on Monday morning! Here's a recap of my phenomenal "Girl's Night Out" with my Mom:

Thursday

5:10 p.m. - Check into Aria Hotel

5:20 p.m. - Finally find our room on the 24th floor - Room #24-2901920398 (or so it felt like)

5:25 p.m. - Squeal in excitement over our view - and stay back as our fear of heights kicks in with the floor to ceiling windows

5:45 p.m. - Exit room, looking drop dead gorgeous in our sparkly, shiny, high heeled outfits

5:50 p.m. - Dinner where crab legs of ridiculous proportions were consumed and the service was horrible. Apparently, they save money by only serving one cup of coffee...

6:35 p.m. - Peruse the "Viva Elvis" store (my mini-heaven in Las Vegas) and purchase various Elvis-related items

7:00 p.m. - The show begins!

8:30 p.m. - Another phenomenal show ends... :(

9:00 p.m. - Hit the casino floor, preparing to go back to the room in 5 - 10 minutes

10:00 p.m. - Talk about going to the room

11:00 p.m. - Talk about going to the room with a little more gusto

12:00 a.m. - Still talking about going to the room as we're yawning

12:30 a.m. - Finally stop gambling and actually go to the room before falling asleep on a slot machine

Friday

6:30 a.m. - My hubby calls and is on his way with an outfit for my Mom since she didn't pack clothes to wear for the day...still not sure what was in the suitcase fit for a 2 week vacation...

7:10 a.m. - I brave the light of day to retrieve mentioned outfit

7:30 a.m. - Find my room again...room #24-19204847221019283747

8:00 a.m. - Hot, hot shower in an attempt to wake up

9:00 a.m. - Leave room for breakfast at the buffet (BEST BUFFET EVER)

10:00 a.m. - Hit the casino floor

11:47 a.m. - Run to our room to check out, yes, room #24-1903297283729837942873498232983

11:49 a.m. - Accidentally follow a random man off the elevator on the 22nd floor because I was not paying attention...

11:52 a.m. - Catch another elevator to our floor

11:55 a.m. - Randomly throwing our belongings in the suitcase to ensure timely checkout at noon!

12:00 p.m. - Check out - no sweat!

12:01 p.m. - Hit the casino floor

2:45 p.m. - Decide to do all the things that we had planned for the day (in fast-forward mode)

3:45 p.m. - Purchase a house full of furniture

4:30 p.m. - Race to TGI Friday to have dinner with Cortney prior to bowling

4:45 p.m. - My world was rocked by a random magician who did things that I still cannot explain!

5:45 p.m. - Race to bowling league

6:30 p.m. - Mom wins first poker hand (and she's not even bowling for cards...)

7:00 p.m. - Mom wins SECOND poker hand (and still not bowling for cards...)

7:45 p.m. - Traci wins final hand of poker, on the last card!

8:15 p.m. - Head home - exhausted

Saturday
11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. - Shopping, shopping and more shopping
2:30 p.m. - Begin painting the family room
6:00 p.m. - Run to Home Depot for supplies...don't have any...run to Michael's for supplies...don't have any...make an unexpected pit stop at Krispy Kreme...they had what we didn't need.
8:30 p.m. - Decide to snooze instead of finish painting

Sunday
9:00 a.m. - Eat at the buffet because we're starving
10:30 a.m. - Shopping for more stuff that we probably didn't need and a few things we did need
1:30 p.m. - Finish painting the family room
3:00 p.m. - Start painting the master bedroom
8:30 p.m. - Finish painting the master bedroom
9:00 p.m. - Fall into a heap on the bed and snooze until 5 a.m.

Yep...that was the craziest, most fun, unexpected, free-for-all weekend I've ever had. Had such a wonderful time from beginning to end! Thanks Mom!! :) Oh...and my diet? I think we left the diet in the dust at crab legs...Until next time...