Here is the Handkerchief Cake! It is yellow cake with fondant, strawberry buttercream underneath, and gumpaste carnations on top!
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
A Sweet Affair
I finally finished all the Wilton Method cake decorating courses! My instructor is encouraging me to sign up to be an instructor myself, which is a honor since she is the master!! So today I completed my final final cake! It was kind of sad at the end knowing that I would no longer have a cake companion, but I am glad to have a break from the lessons! It will be nice not having to throw a cake together at the last minute for class! I really have enjoyed the classes, but it will be nice to experiment on my own!
Here is the Handkerchief Cake! It is yellow cake with fondant, strawberry buttercream underneath, and gumpaste carnations on top!
Here is the Handkerchief Cake! It is yellow cake with fondant, strawberry buttercream underneath, and gumpaste carnations on top!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
An All-Nighter!
I haven't pulled an all-nighter since college - May 5, 2005 to be exact! I got rear-ended on the way home from one final and had a Western Civ II final the next morning at 8AM. However, with a concussion, contusion and no sleep I still managed to ace the final! I never was one to stay up all night studying frantically for a final. I LOVE sleep and cannot function without lots of it!
Last night Adam came home from work and showed me his knee, which has had a rash on the back of it for a few days now. We thought it was a fungal rash from wearing a knee brace to play basketball. When he showed it to me last night the back was still very inflamed and the front was red, rashy and swollen! He intended to go the to doctor for the first time since I've known him to have it checked out since it seemed to be getting worse. My motherly instinct kicked in and I started checking him all over to see if it had spread anywhere else. He had a few more red spot down the same leg, but no where else.
After we ate dinner, Adam scratched an itchy spot and realized that the rash had spread to his biceps. Then a few minutes later it spread to his forearms. I decided to look him over again and realized it was now on his back - just a few red spots. We sat down to watch a show on TV and at the commercial break he realized that he had huge welts on his waist and hips, so I really started to worry. I told him he should probably go to the ER to have it checked out since it was spreading and the little red spots were becoming big welts.
Long story short: we went to the ER twice. Adam refused to wait 3 1/2 hours the first time so we went home, and of course he got worse with welts on his eyelids and feet and behind his ears. So we went back again at midnight and the wait was then 5 hours, but we decided to stick it out since I was afraid something might happen to him if we went to sleep, or that I might not be able to sleep from worrying.
Adam has never had a allergy to anything before, but 29 years later you can develop one, and most likely to something that he has used or eaten many times before. We are still not sure what it is but hopefully we will before he gets into it again. In the ER they gave Adam a shot of antihistamine and an IV steroid. Nothing changed and it worried the nurses and ER doctor, but they sent him home around 4:45 AM because there was nothing else they could do. The rash finally started to go down around 10 this morning. His wrists and knee are still swollen but not as red.
So what truly makes this an all-nighter? It's not just that we didn't get home until 5 AM. I had a BNI meeting at 7AM this morning, which is a little earlier than I normally start my day. So basically I had no sleep...zero, nada, none - until after my meeting was over at 9AM! Sleeplessness definitely has an affect on me. I could barely remember how to sign my own name when I checked Adam out at the ER and then in my one minute presentation at BNI, I could hardly articulate the details of my profession.
But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat because Adam is my everything!
Last night Adam came home from work and showed me his knee, which has had a rash on the back of it for a few days now. We thought it was a fungal rash from wearing a knee brace to play basketball. When he showed it to me last night the back was still very inflamed and the front was red, rashy and swollen! He intended to go the to doctor for the first time since I've known him to have it checked out since it seemed to be getting worse. My motherly instinct kicked in and I started checking him all over to see if it had spread anywhere else. He had a few more red spot down the same leg, but no where else.
After we ate dinner, Adam scratched an itchy spot and realized that the rash had spread to his biceps. Then a few minutes later it spread to his forearms. I decided to look him over again and realized it was now on his back - just a few red spots. We sat down to watch a show on TV and at the commercial break he realized that he had huge welts on his waist and hips, so I really started to worry. I told him he should probably go to the ER to have it checked out since it was spreading and the little red spots were becoming big welts.
Long story short: we went to the ER twice. Adam refused to wait 3 1/2 hours the first time so we went home, and of course he got worse with welts on his eyelids and feet and behind his ears. So we went back again at midnight and the wait was then 5 hours, but we decided to stick it out since I was afraid something might happen to him if we went to sleep, or that I might not be able to sleep from worrying.
Adam has never had a allergy to anything before, but 29 years later you can develop one, and most likely to something that he has used or eaten many times before. We are still not sure what it is but hopefully we will before he gets into it again. In the ER they gave Adam a shot of antihistamine and an IV steroid. Nothing changed and it worried the nurses and ER doctor, but they sent him home around 4:45 AM because there was nothing else they could do. The rash finally started to go down around 10 this morning. His wrists and knee are still swollen but not as red.
So what truly makes this an all-nighter? It's not just that we didn't get home until 5 AM. I had a BNI meeting at 7AM this morning, which is a little earlier than I normally start my day. So basically I had no sleep...zero, nada, none - until after my meeting was over at 9AM! Sleeplessness definitely has an affect on me. I could barely remember how to sign my own name when I checked Adam out at the ER and then in my one minute presentation at BNI, I could hardly articulate the details of my profession.
But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat because Adam is my everything!
1 Year Ago!
This past Sunday, the 21st, marked our one year anniversary of owning a home! It is definitely exciting, but a little scary at the same time. We had a one year warranty on the house, and as you have probably read in previous blogs, we've had our fair share of problems with the house. So from here on out, it's on us if anything goes wrong again - eek! We had a home inspector come to look at the house and other than a few "cosmetic" boo boos, everything seems to be fine, which is such a relief to us. I know when we have discussed our homeowner woes with other, more experienced people, they say that the first year is when all the kinks get worked out. I hope they are right because I'm not sure how many more kinks Adam and I can handle!
I am looking forward to what the next year holds. Hopefully we will have grass next year, since that seems to be slow going or growing, and hopefully we can do some landscaping on the steep side of the yard, so Adam doesn't have to mow the lawn in baseball cleats! We plan to start painting the rooms different colors - I'm so tired of all beige walls. Maybe that will help with my wall art endeavors, since I seem to be waaay too picky about what I put on our walls!
Wish us luck on our second year - we may need it!
I am looking forward to what the next year holds. Hopefully we will have grass next year, since that seems to be slow going or growing, and hopefully we can do some landscaping on the steep side of the yard, so Adam doesn't have to mow the lawn in baseball cleats! We plan to start painting the rooms different colors - I'm so tired of all beige walls. Maybe that will help with my wall art endeavors, since I seem to be waaay too picky about what I put on our walls!
Wish us luck on our second year - we may need it!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Cali Pictures
Hermosa Beach
Me and My Gang - plus Alice and Kenny!
Us on the Pacific Ocean!
LA at dusk
The Sign Says it all - Hollywood Blvd!
Star Walk on Hollywood Blvd.
The Kodak Theater
Jimmy films on Hollywood Blvd.
The Hollywood Sign!
Us with the Hollywood sign waaaay in the background!
Crazy sunglasses!
Just your friendly neighborhood Spider Man...with a fanny pack!
at UWink on Hollywood Blvd.
The Team!
Everywhere we go we meet someone from Kingston!
The Gang's All Here!
The Rose Bowl!
Us at the Rose Bowl!
Friday, September 12, 2008
The City of Angels!
This is part II of the trip.
We finally made it to Pasadena, where we and the team stayed! I kept singing the Beach Boys song "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and kept looking for a little old lady driving a " red super stock Dodge" on Colorado Blvd, which is where our hotel was and which is also the Historic Route 66!! Anywho, after we checked into our hotel we met up with some friends that Adam's cousin Kellye met last year at the UT vs. Berkley game -Vol fans of course, who were from Tennessee, but currently live in Vegas, and who were also staying in Pasadena (that's a mouthful!). Let me preface this part of the story with a comment I made while driving to Nashville to catch our fight to Vegas: I told Adam that we would inevitably see someone from Kingston or Roane County while on our trip. Well, we met Alice and Kenny. We followed them to the beach house of a friend of theirs (also a fellow Tennessean from Clinton) at Hermosa Beach. It was so quaint and cute! It had such a small town feel even though the beach houses were packed in there like sardines! We met a few friends of the friends of the friends and headed for the beach - the Pacific Coast! I've seen it once before from an airplane but have never touched it on this side of the equator! It was freezing and the LA smog was still looming over our heads, but we were on the beach and that's all that mattered!
So back to Alice and Kenny. Kenny was talking to Adam and me about the fact that he grew up in Clinton, TN. He asked Adam where we were from and Adam said Kingston. Kenny said that Alice was from Kingston and Adam said "No not Kingsport...Kingston." Kenny responded with "Yeah, Kingston!" My eyes bugled out of my head! I knew we would find a fellow Kingstonian. As one person put it, "Kingston has long tentacles!" Most Kingston people seem to stay relatively close to the area but a few made it all the way to the West Coast and never looked back! Anyway, Alice is crazy - a fun crazy, but crazy nonetheless! She entertained us the entire evening. We finally headed back to Pasadena, driving through LA traffic again, to have dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen - how original! It was fantastic!
The next day we decided to brave LA traffic again and go see Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd. Sunset Blvd was a bit of a dump. I was so surprised. It was quite educational though. We saw our very first crazy person/crack addict. Seriously, this guy had problems. He was running with no shirt, short shorts and a backpack on with his arms flailing in the air and screaming. We quickly made a few turns to get to Hollywood Blvd as quickly as possible - we had seen enough of the Sunset strip! Hollywood Blvd was so much nicer. We didn't see any celebs except for the impersonaters on the street. We had drinks in this cute little bar called UWink - a Texas based bar. The bartender thought we were University of Texas fans, and Adam quickly pointed out that we were not wearing 'burnt orange.' As we were walking back to the car after sightseeing, we saw the crazy crack addict again, but he had his shirt on this time. I think that was a sign from Above to wrap it up and move on!
From there we went to the UT vs. UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. We parked on a golf course that surrounds the Rose Bowl and walked about 5 miles to where Alice and Kenny had set up a fabulous tailgate, packed with UT fans! We had a nice southern style tailgate with fried chicken and potato salad - southern style potato salad is VERY hard to come by on the West Coast. It was hotter than blue blazes, but we stuck it out until the game. Some of the other UT fans were LA transplants from TN so they told us to pack up most of our tailgate but that it would be fine if we left the canopy up and the coolers and chairs out because no one would mess with it.
We headed to the game. Most of the TN section was to enter at gate 13. There were so many UT fans trying to get into the tunnel at entrance 13 that the Fire Marshall had to come to keep us from entering until the tunnel had cleared. They were not used to so many people piling in at once! We finally got in, walked up to the nose bleed section and packed in with the rest of the sweaty UT fans! The attendance was 69,000, which is nothing compared to Neyland's 106,000!
The game was great until we started losing! We did tie and go into overtime but ended up losing in OT. The UCLA team rushed the field like they won a championship game, their coach gave a heartfelt speech and then the fireworks show started. At that point, Adam and I just wanted to get back to the canopy and finish tailgating. The UCLA fans were SOOO rude as we were leaving - telling us to go back to "TINASEE" - you know the accent, and yelling that we sucked, etc. I couldn't believe how rude they were! I know my brother told me, in slightly different words, that LA was the city of fake breasts and real A-holes (I can't think of a less vulgar word that gets the point across, so sorry for my lack of creativity!). He was right! Well that was only the beginning of the rudeness. As Adam and I were approaching our tailgating canopy, we noticed that we were the first ones back, and I also noticed that a UCLA guy walked under our canopy and picked up a container of food. Adam was too busy texting his cousin to see where everyone was, but I took off sprinting after the UCLA guy yelling at him for taking our food - brownies, the only comfort food we had left! The guy gave back the brownies and walked off saying that I was just mad because we lost. Wow! Typically I don't run down an opposing team's fan for losing, but brownies are a whole different story!
As Adam and I were inspecting the tailgate when we realize that almost everything was gone! It was like the Grinch came to our canopy and took everything including the Whoo Hash! The fried chicken, potato salad, veggie tray, cheese tray, hamburgers, steaks, booze, cokes, sprite, UT canvas chairs and coolers were ALL gone. All that was left was 1 can of Sprite, a container of animal crackers, the brownies, which I retrieved, and the trash! We packed up what little was left and made our 5 mile trek back to the car. I told Adam that LA is not the City of Angels but the City of A-holes!
I was tremendously disappointed with LA. It was dirty and smoggy. The people were rude unless they were transplants. The traffic is INSANE and you never see a police officer or highway patrolman. If we ever go back again I will bypass LA and go to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive or Malibu.
Next year we host UCLA in Knoxville. Maybe we can show them some Southern Hospitality and some manners!
I will post pictures soon!
We finally made it to Pasadena, where we and the team stayed! I kept singing the Beach Boys song "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and kept looking for a little old lady driving a " red super stock Dodge" on Colorado Blvd, which is where our hotel was and which is also the Historic Route 66!! Anywho, after we checked into our hotel we met up with some friends that Adam's cousin Kellye met last year at the UT vs. Berkley game -Vol fans of course, who were from Tennessee, but currently live in Vegas, and who were also staying in Pasadena (that's a mouthful!). Let me preface this part of the story with a comment I made while driving to Nashville to catch our fight to Vegas: I told Adam that we would inevitably see someone from Kingston or Roane County while on our trip. Well, we met Alice and Kenny. We followed them to the beach house of a friend of theirs (also a fellow Tennessean from Clinton) at Hermosa Beach. It was so quaint and cute! It had such a small town feel even though the beach houses were packed in there like sardines! We met a few friends of the friends of the friends and headed for the beach - the Pacific Coast! I've seen it once before from an airplane but have never touched it on this side of the equator! It was freezing and the LA smog was still looming over our heads, but we were on the beach and that's all that mattered!
So back to Alice and Kenny. Kenny was talking to Adam and me about the fact that he grew up in Clinton, TN. He asked Adam where we were from and Adam said Kingston. Kenny said that Alice was from Kingston and Adam said "No not Kingsport...Kingston." Kenny responded with "Yeah, Kingston!" My eyes bugled out of my head! I knew we would find a fellow Kingstonian. As one person put it, "Kingston has long tentacles!" Most Kingston people seem to stay relatively close to the area but a few made it all the way to the West Coast and never looked back! Anyway, Alice is crazy - a fun crazy, but crazy nonetheless! She entertained us the entire evening. We finally headed back to Pasadena, driving through LA traffic again, to have dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen - how original! It was fantastic!
The next day we decided to brave LA traffic again and go see Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd. Sunset Blvd was a bit of a dump. I was so surprised. It was quite educational though. We saw our very first crazy person/crack addict. Seriously, this guy had problems. He was running with no shirt, short shorts and a backpack on with his arms flailing in the air and screaming. We quickly made a few turns to get to Hollywood Blvd as quickly as possible - we had seen enough of the Sunset strip! Hollywood Blvd was so much nicer. We didn't see any celebs except for the impersonaters on the street. We had drinks in this cute little bar called UWink - a Texas based bar. The bartender thought we were University of Texas fans, and Adam quickly pointed out that we were not wearing 'burnt orange.' As we were walking back to the car after sightseeing, we saw the crazy crack addict again, but he had his shirt on this time. I think that was a sign from Above to wrap it up and move on!
From there we went to the UT vs. UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. We parked on a golf course that surrounds the Rose Bowl and walked about 5 miles to where Alice and Kenny had set up a fabulous tailgate, packed with UT fans! We had a nice southern style tailgate with fried chicken and potato salad - southern style potato salad is VERY hard to come by on the West Coast. It was hotter than blue blazes, but we stuck it out until the game. Some of the other UT fans were LA transplants from TN so they told us to pack up most of our tailgate but that it would be fine if we left the canopy up and the coolers and chairs out because no one would mess with it.
We headed to the game. Most of the TN section was to enter at gate 13. There were so many UT fans trying to get into the tunnel at entrance 13 that the Fire Marshall had to come to keep us from entering until the tunnel had cleared. They were not used to so many people piling in at once! We finally got in, walked up to the nose bleed section and packed in with the rest of the sweaty UT fans! The attendance was 69,000, which is nothing compared to Neyland's 106,000!
The game was great until we started losing! We did tie and go into overtime but ended up losing in OT. The UCLA team rushed the field like they won a championship game, their coach gave a heartfelt speech and then the fireworks show started. At that point, Adam and I just wanted to get back to the canopy and finish tailgating. The UCLA fans were SOOO rude as we were leaving - telling us to go back to "TINASEE" - you know the accent, and yelling that we sucked, etc. I couldn't believe how rude they were! I know my brother told me, in slightly different words, that LA was the city of fake breasts and real A-holes (I can't think of a less vulgar word that gets the point across, so sorry for my lack of creativity!). He was right! Well that was only the beginning of the rudeness. As Adam and I were approaching our tailgating canopy, we noticed that we were the first ones back, and I also noticed that a UCLA guy walked under our canopy and picked up a container of food. Adam was too busy texting his cousin to see where everyone was, but I took off sprinting after the UCLA guy yelling at him for taking our food - brownies, the only comfort food we had left! The guy gave back the brownies and walked off saying that I was just mad because we lost. Wow! Typically I don't run down an opposing team's fan for losing, but brownies are a whole different story!
As Adam and I were inspecting the tailgate when we realize that almost everything was gone! It was like the Grinch came to our canopy and took everything including the Whoo Hash! The fried chicken, potato salad, veggie tray, cheese tray, hamburgers, steaks, booze, cokes, sprite, UT canvas chairs and coolers were ALL gone. All that was left was 1 can of Sprite, a container of animal crackers, the brownies, which I retrieved, and the trash! We packed up what little was left and made our 5 mile trek back to the car. I told Adam that LA is not the City of Angels but the City of A-holes!
I was tremendously disappointed with LA. It was dirty and smoggy. The people were rude unless they were transplants. The traffic is INSANE and you never see a police officer or highway patrolman. If we ever go back again I will bypass LA and go to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive or Malibu.
Next year we host UCLA in Knoxville. Maybe we can show them some Southern Hospitality and some manners!
I will post pictures soon!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
From the City of Sin to the City of Angels!
Where to begin - this was by far the craziest vacation I have ever been on! I will probably have to break the story into two blogs since we jammed as much stuff into one trip as humanly possible. So I will start with Vegas!
Originally Adam and I wanted to go to LA to see the Vols play and see the area. My experience with LA is only LAX. I flew into LAX seven years ago on my way to New Zealand and Australia, so I wanted to be able to experience the city this time. Adam's cousin and a friend of hers were also going to UT's game at UCLA so we decided to make a pit stop in Vegas for a few days, since Adam and his cousin had never been - this may be Adam's last hoorah before he turns the big 3-0! We left Knoxville on Thursday morning and drove to Nashville for our 12:30 (cst) flight with a layover in Dallas/Fort Worth. We got into Vegas around 6ish and got our rental car and decided to drive the Vegas strip while waiting for his cousin and her friend to get into Vegas on another flight. We drove around and we ate dinner and then we got a call from Kellye (adam's cousin) that their layover in Phoenix was going to be a bit longer due to bad weather, but that they were expected to be able to board the plane shortly. Well, long story short, a tornado hit Phoenix and the airport lost power, their flight was canceled and then cleared and canceled again and then cleared and so instead of getting in to Vegas at 9 or 10 at night they got in at 5 AM! Adam and I could not get into our room at Caesar's Palace without them so we got a cheap hotel room for the night, so I didn't have to continue to sleep in the back of our Saturn Aura rental car! When finally got into the suite at Caesar's on Friday morning there were clothes all over the suite. The airport baggage people left all the baggage outside in the tornado (i.e. hail, pouring rain, etc.) so their clothes were soaked!
We had a high rollers suite from a friend of a friend (we call him Mr. Pappagiorgio - National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation - hope you picked up on that), so we got to stay in a $1100 a night suite for free and all the food and drinks in Caesar's for free. We decided to make the most of our free suite and comped food and drink so we made plans for the pool! And of course, I forgot my bathing suit. Adam and I ran across the street and found the one and only bathing suit that was small enough to fit. Well, it was definitely small enough! Maybe the reason it was so cheap was because it had very little fabric in the back - lets just say that my tan lines showed tremendously in the back!
Along with the free drinks we had the best bartender ever - Antonio! I told him that I wanted something frozen and he said he could make any drink I wanted!!! He made the absolutely best strawberry daiquiri EVER! At $12 a pop they should be the best but again, lucky for us it was all on Caesar's! When we came back to the room Adam and I realized we were missing some money from our wallets (we left them in the room since our food and drinks were free at the pool). We are figuring that the housekeeping lady decided to take an extra special tip for herself - about $140! Adam was furious, but we didn't press it since we were staying for free. Later that evening we walked to Vegas strip, went to a karaoke bar and then dinner at Margaritaville! I had the Pink Cadillac Margarita - it's a Mary Kay thing! Hopefully one day I will be driving one instead of drinking one! After dinner we saw the Bellagio fountains show, which is beautiful!
The next morning Adam and I ordered in breakfast in bed! It was by far the most expensive breakfast I've ever had! After breakfast we went shopping a little - Caesar's Forum and some of the other casinos have some VERY expensive shops around! When we came back up to our room the sticky-fingered housekeeping lady told us that we were supposed to be checking out, but we were supposed to be staying until Sunday. Adam and his cousin's friend went down to the front desk to ask about it. They were told that there were no other rooms because they were all booked. The front desk attendant called the Executive Host of the Caesar's and he told the attendant to do "whatever [Mr. Pappagiorgio] wants!" So we got to stay! Then after that mix up, we were back to the pool for free food and drinks! It was actually overcast on Saturday but it was still over 100 degrees and I still got a little sun. I thought the rain clouds were following Adam and I since we had so much rain at the house earlier in the week and another roof leak - or the same roof leak that was not properly fixed the last time! We also decided to 'borrow' some pool towels from Caesar's since we were headed to the beach on Sunday! That evening we had drinks and appetizers at Bobby Flay's restaurant MESA which was completely booked the entire evening, and then we went to the Treasure Island show. Later we headed back to the hotel for Cleopatra's bar (free drinks again) to chill until dinner. One thing I was not accustomed to anymore was all the smoking in restaurants and in the casino. We are spoiled now in Tennessee with no smoking and I love that! I had the worst sinus infection during the trip so the cigarette smoke was killing me at Cleopatra's. Adam and I headed back to the room for some more free room service. We had a very merger dinner since our appetizers were so good and filling at MESA. I had a Caesar salad (the best Caesar's salad I've ever had) and a bowl of Chicken Noodle soup (again the best) and Adam had the chicken finger plater. Along with the two Pepsi's, the grand total for the dinner was over 70 bucks - thank goodness we were not paying for it!
Sunday morning we got up early, loaded up the Aura and drove to LA. I'm so glad we decided to drive and not fly. It was awesome to see the many many mountains of Nevada. The only thing they lacked was a little greenery! I'm so spoiled with Tennessee mountains that Nevada mountains looked a little dull, but they were sill majestic! I never saw a cactus either. I was so disappointed!
Adam and I want to go back to Vegas again. I've been twice and have yet to see a show. Cher, Chris Rock and Lewis Black were all there this weekend and I would've loved to have seen them or some of the other famous shows! Two or three days are just not enough to see all of Vegas! If we ever go again hopefully we can get the high roller suite again from Mr. Pappagiorgio- it's the only way to go!!!
Yes, a TV in the bathroom - pee pee TV!
The sweet Suite!
Adam at the Caesar's fountains!
Us with Free Drinks!
Us at Margaritaville!
Pink Cadillac Margarita!
The Bellagio at night!
The Bellagio Fountains!
Master Bedroom
Adam enjoying High Roller Life!
Caesar
Pool Time again!
At MESA
Nevada Mountains
Could use a little grass or tress - something green!
Originally Adam and I wanted to go to LA to see the Vols play and see the area. My experience with LA is only LAX. I flew into LAX seven years ago on my way to New Zealand and Australia, so I wanted to be able to experience the city this time. Adam's cousin and a friend of hers were also going to UT's game at UCLA so we decided to make a pit stop in Vegas for a few days, since Adam and his cousin had never been - this may be Adam's last hoorah before he turns the big 3-0! We left Knoxville on Thursday morning and drove to Nashville for our 12:30 (cst) flight with a layover in Dallas/Fort Worth. We got into Vegas around 6ish and got our rental car and decided to drive the Vegas strip while waiting for his cousin and her friend to get into Vegas on another flight. We drove around and we ate dinner and then we got a call from Kellye (adam's cousin) that their layover in Phoenix was going to be a bit longer due to bad weather, but that they were expected to be able to board the plane shortly. Well, long story short, a tornado hit Phoenix and the airport lost power, their flight was canceled and then cleared and canceled again and then cleared and so instead of getting in to Vegas at 9 or 10 at night they got in at 5 AM! Adam and I could not get into our room at Caesar's Palace without them so we got a cheap hotel room for the night, so I didn't have to continue to sleep in the back of our Saturn Aura rental car! When finally got into the suite at Caesar's on Friday morning there were clothes all over the suite. The airport baggage people left all the baggage outside in the tornado (i.e. hail, pouring rain, etc.) so their clothes were soaked!
We had a high rollers suite from a friend of a friend (we call him Mr. Pappagiorgio - National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation - hope you picked up on that), so we got to stay in a $1100 a night suite for free and all the food and drinks in Caesar's for free. We decided to make the most of our free suite and comped food and drink so we made plans for the pool! And of course, I forgot my bathing suit. Adam and I ran across the street and found the one and only bathing suit that was small enough to fit. Well, it was definitely small enough! Maybe the reason it was so cheap was because it had very little fabric in the back - lets just say that my tan lines showed tremendously in the back!
Along with the free drinks we had the best bartender ever - Antonio! I told him that I wanted something frozen and he said he could make any drink I wanted!!! He made the absolutely best strawberry daiquiri EVER! At $12 a pop they should be the best but again, lucky for us it was all on Caesar's! When we came back to the room Adam and I realized we were missing some money from our wallets (we left them in the room since our food and drinks were free at the pool). We are figuring that the housekeeping lady decided to take an extra special tip for herself - about $140! Adam was furious, but we didn't press it since we were staying for free. Later that evening we walked to Vegas strip, went to a karaoke bar and then dinner at Margaritaville! I had the Pink Cadillac Margarita - it's a Mary Kay thing! Hopefully one day I will be driving one instead of drinking one! After dinner we saw the Bellagio fountains show, which is beautiful!
The next morning Adam and I ordered in breakfast in bed! It was by far the most expensive breakfast I've ever had! After breakfast we went shopping a little - Caesar's Forum and some of the other casinos have some VERY expensive shops around! When we came back up to our room the sticky-fingered housekeeping lady told us that we were supposed to be checking out, but we were supposed to be staying until Sunday. Adam and his cousin's friend went down to the front desk to ask about it. They were told that there were no other rooms because they were all booked. The front desk attendant called the Executive Host of the Caesar's and he told the attendant to do "whatever [Mr. Pappagiorgio] wants!" So we got to stay! Then after that mix up, we were back to the pool for free food and drinks! It was actually overcast on Saturday but it was still over 100 degrees and I still got a little sun. I thought the rain clouds were following Adam and I since we had so much rain at the house earlier in the week and another roof leak - or the same roof leak that was not properly fixed the last time! We also decided to 'borrow' some pool towels from Caesar's since we were headed to the beach on Sunday! That evening we had drinks and appetizers at Bobby Flay's restaurant MESA which was completely booked the entire evening, and then we went to the Treasure Island show. Later we headed back to the hotel for Cleopatra's bar (free drinks again) to chill until dinner. One thing I was not accustomed to anymore was all the smoking in restaurants and in the casino. We are spoiled now in Tennessee with no smoking and I love that! I had the worst sinus infection during the trip so the cigarette smoke was killing me at Cleopatra's. Adam and I headed back to the room for some more free room service. We had a very merger dinner since our appetizers were so good and filling at MESA. I had a Caesar salad (the best Caesar's salad I've ever had) and a bowl of Chicken Noodle soup (again the best) and Adam had the chicken finger plater. Along with the two Pepsi's, the grand total for the dinner was over 70 bucks - thank goodness we were not paying for it!
Sunday morning we got up early, loaded up the Aura and drove to LA. I'm so glad we decided to drive and not fly. It was awesome to see the many many mountains of Nevada. The only thing they lacked was a little greenery! I'm so spoiled with Tennessee mountains that Nevada mountains looked a little dull, but they were sill majestic! I never saw a cactus either. I was so disappointed!
Adam and I want to go back to Vegas again. I've been twice and have yet to see a show. Cher, Chris Rock and Lewis Black were all there this weekend and I would've loved to have seen them or some of the other famous shows! Two or three days are just not enough to see all of Vegas! If we ever go again hopefully we can get the high roller suite again from Mr. Pappagiorgio- it's the only way to go!!!
Yes, a TV in the bathroom - pee pee TV!
The sweet Suite!
Adam at the Caesar's fountains!
Us with Free Drinks!
Us at Margaritaville!
Pink Cadillac Margarita!
The Bellagio at night!
The Bellagio Fountains!
Master Bedroom
Adam enjoying High Roller Life!
Caesar
Pool Time again!
At MESA
Nevada Mountains
Could use a little grass or tress - something green!
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