VEGAS BABY!

This mama just got back from a MUCH needed 5-day girl's trip.

Kellie, Joella, Shannon and I just spend a glorious 5 days in Vegas.  No kids, no husbands, no work :)  

Day 1- As soon as we landed in Sin City, we checked in to Planet Hollywood, upgraded our room, changed clothes, grabbed a slush at Fat Tuesdays and hit the North Premium Outlets.  We shopped for about 4 hours, basically until we dropped.  

Shopping day 1- missing Joella's bags in the picture.

By the end, we were exhausted, I mean, we had started the day in Fort McMurray and this was only supper time??? We went back to the hotel,  freshened up and decided to check out Gordon Ramsey Steak for dinner.  AMAZING steak! Yum!!! My only complaint was the whole pick your steak and then pay for side separately, I hate when restaurants do that.  

Seriously, $12 for pureed potatoes Chef Ramsey??

The guy we thought might be Zac Brown, still not 100% convinced it wasn't him....

After Ramsey's we went for a walk over to Bellagio, checked out the shops in there (bought myself a present at Tiffany) and watched the fountains.  We slowly made our way back to PH and hit the hay, it had been a long 1st day!

Planet Hollywood at night

Day 2- We had a slow start the morning of day 2, it was super nice to get up at a leisurely pace, no kids waking us up (just Shannon, such an early riser even on vacay!) We headed over to Aria to check out their delicious buffet.  We then grabbed a cab and hit the South Premium Outlets.  Most people recommend the north outlets, so that's where we have always gone previously, we fell in LOVE with the south!  The south has almost everything the north has, but the stores are better (and some say cheaper!).  Michael Kors at the north only has handbags, south had the clothing collection.  We decided to split up so we could get as much done as we needed without having to wait/go in to stores that didn't interest us.  We split off and I immediately found Sketchers (that was the one thing Owen had asked me for, a pair of Sketchers running shoes!) and the Disney store.  I really needed a new pair of jeans, but I HATE shopping for jeans :( I went in to the Levis store (I haven't worn Levi's since Jr. High when the only jeans I would wear were Levi's 501s!), the girl there measured me and told me what size and fit I should be wearing.  I have to say, they are the nicest fitting jeans I have had in a long time, probably since getting hips! lol

I didn't see any of the girls again until I went in to the fitting room at MK and found Joella.  We had a great time trying on clothes with the help of my new BFF, Andre.  He was the sweetest, funniest little gay man I've ever met.  We had a blast chatting with him :)  BTW, MK is my new fav designer!

That evening we had tickets to see Shania Twain at Caesar's Palace.  We made reservations for Spago (now ALL our favorites for restaurants in Vegas!).  We all had the chicken at Spago which was amazing, but I'm not surprised, as the waiter told Chris and I in the summer, "Everything is fantastic at Spago!"  While waiting for our dinner Joella and I ran over to check out what was new at Jimmy Choo.  I picked out a couple pairs to try on after dinner.  Unfortunately Joella was let down to find out Jimmy Choo's don't fit her feet :( I felt bad for her, I know how much she wanted a pair and how disappointed she was.  I ended up going back and picking up a pair of gorgeous, shiny, sparkly girls to add to my collection, I'm in love! 

Shania put on an amazing show, that girl's still got it (show properly titled "Still the One!") and is my inspiration for how I want to look at 47....or now, I'd take looking like her now! lol  After Shania we crossed something off our bucket lists that I will not mention, has something to do with visiting the largest of something in the world, that's all I'm going to say, that and going on a week night was highly disappointing, apparently we should go on a weekend....after that disaster, Shannon agreed to go back to the hotel with me (I had been up sick all the night before, apparently my steak didn't agree with me) because we were exhausted, Joella and Kellie decided to check out Pure Night club at Caesars.  All I know is their night was EPIC and they didn't get home until 4am....

Day 3- Started out slow for Jo and Kellie, Shannon and I decided to walk down and check out Ross, basically like a giant Winners, so cheap!  I bought a ton of cute dresses for summer.  We headed back to meet the girls by the pool, pit stopped at Fat Burger and finally found some free wifi.  

The crazy line up at Ross, I met a new friend in line, who wanted to know how I kept my "lady parts" from getting sore (chaffing) in the heat??? We have concluded, there are MANY crazy Americans lol, my mom would say I was "wearing my Talk to Me sign....."

We relaxed by the pool for a couple hours before hitting the shower and getting ready to check out Cique du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio.

We went to FIX at Bellagio for dinner, it was really nice being organized and having dinner in the hotel where our shows were located.  Kellie, Shannon and I had been to FIX last year, it was good, I loved my lobster stuffed with a ritz cracker and crab puree, so yummy!  The girls were shocked I was able to take the ritz crackers before asking what it was, lol, sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes my overactive taste buds are a negative.  

Delish!

In the end, we were all a little disappointed with "O", it wasn't our favorite Cirque show, and no, it's not because I'm "bendier" than the cast (as the customs agent asked me coming back in to Canada), it was honestly kind of boring.  After the show we wandered Bellagio for a bit and then went out to watch the fountains again before heading back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.  

Each room at Planet Hollywood is decorated with memorabilia from movies, our room theme was Close Encounters, tell me the Alien hanging on the wall was not creepy???!!!! Good thing we were all so tired when we hit the hay no one had nightmares!

Day 4- On day 4 Shannon, Joella and Kellie wanted to check out Ross again, so we walked down the strip. I bought a few things for Brinley (my new niece), Jo and Shannon were going to be awhile so Kellie and I went to the M&M store then headed back to the hotel, we went to a couple stores in Miracle Mile Shops that we still needed to get to and then hit the pool again.  I have to tell you, the vitamin D we soaked up that week was MUCH needed since winter had started at the beginning of October in Fort McMurray, the weather hovered around or above 30 the whole time we were there.  

View from the pool at Planet Hollywood

Kellie and I headed up to shower and pack our bags (BIG job, had to buy an extra suitcase!) and wait to hear about Joella and Shannon's adventure to the ghetto (they had to go find a TRU).  Once we were all ready we headed to Jean George's Steakhouse for dinner.  Dinner was actually pretty disappointing, but the atmosphere was fantastic.

From there we headed to see the Chippendales, which I have to say, probably one of the most fun nights I have ever had lol.  I got to meet Jaymes and James, the Chippendales who came 2nd on the Amazing Race. They both were super nice.  

After Chippendale's (Jeremy keeps referring to them as "The rescue heroes"), we went to Haze Nightclub at Aria for a time.  We skipped the long line (got bracelets from a guy on the strip) and headed in to check out Nelly who was supposed to be hosting the night.  We danced on stages on the dance floor, around 1:00 Kellie and I went to explore the upstairs, that's when we saw Nelly come out, shake a few hands and disappear.  We figured that was it, he just made probably $10 000, we had to leave for the airport at 7, so we decided to call it a night.  Apparently Nelly came out and sang at 2:45....oh well, I really did need the 2 hours of sleep I got that night!

Kellie and Joella showing us they still "got it"

Can you spot Nelly?

 The next morning we got up, got dressed and packed and ready to go, some of us more bright eyed and bushy tailed than others....let's just say, we almost left Joella in Las Vegas.....Till next time ladies! Thanks for the time :)

Our luggage at checkout time, 3/4 of us had to buy an extra suitcase or bag to get home....