The Vegas Report

So I've been in bed for 3 days and I can finally talk without my throat feeling like it's being ripped to shreds, even though it still doesn't sound like my voice. Today, I was able to eat some food too-but I still can't figure out why the roof of my mouth is so raw. Can you overdose on cough drops and Chloraseptic? I might have a case here...

Anyway, it seems like we just got back from Vegas but it's already been like 10 days. What with my kids being sick and now myself and Jared, time flies! Here's some photos from our 3 days away:

On Tuesday the 3rd, after sending the kids off to school and a 9:30 Visiting Teaching appointment, we hit the road. I stopped off at Kaylyn's quickly to borrow Brigitte's copy of "A Town Like Alice" (we all share books) and I was so glad that I did. With 5-6 hours to drive each way, I needed a good book. I read about half of it, as well as every magazine I brought during the drive down. And thank goodness for the iPod in the car- I love car trips even more now that we can have good music the whole way. I also had some fruit and a few pumpkin muffins that I had made the day before.



Jared brought his essentials too- Lays Salt and Vinegar chips, Twizzlers, and Mountain Dew. You can tell we were made for each other, right?! Ha. Luckily we can enjoy most of the same music. However, I'm not sure if I forgive him for loading Jesse McCartney onto my iPod!!



We arrived in Vegas around 4 or 5, checked into the hotel and relaxed a little. After cleaning up we headed out to the strip, to Caesar's Palace for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. You would think that we might go somewhere different since we have TCF in SLC now, but we never get there and it sounded great to both of us. We shared the Lettuce Wraps and a delicious chicken dish in some kind of buttery-lemon sauce with mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side. Nothing fancy, just tasty. For dessert, we took home a slice of Anniversary Cheesecake- blueberry and white chocolate. It was awesome. Happy (early) Birthday, Jared!



Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the cheesecake and watched "Australia" on demand. I have to say- to those who haven't seen it yet, the critics are right. Very disappointing and not really worth the 3 hours! Oh well. I was having a very Australia-kind of day after reading my book, watching that movie, and listening to my husband talk! We had a great sleep and drew back the curtains knowing that there would be no kids, no alarm, and no sunshine to wake us up!! (the best part of vacation)



Wednesday morning we went for a quick run together- 3 or 4 miles. As we got back to the hotel, there was Jared's friend Kapua in the parking lot (total coincidence) coming to see a guy from his ward or something. Kapua is an old rugby friend of Jared's (aren't they all?) and we usually hook up with him when we're in Vegas. We said hi, went and showered, then had a big breakfast at the hotel then went off to do some shopping... or at least I did. Jared went to see a few accounts for Canterbury while I went to the outlets. He dropped me off and the time passed so quickly as I walked around by myself. I can shop forever, as my poor Mom and sisters know, so I love to get lost in places like this. I didn't see a fraction of what I wanted when he called to say he was coming back to get me! But not before I found the cutest shirt on sale at French Connection. It's adorable and I was ecstatic to find out it was $19.95 with additional 50% off that day. Nice. I am sure Jared was happy to see me with just ONE bag when he picked me up!

Next we went to the Hard Rock to meet up with another Canterbury client of Jared's and also to meet Kapua. Kapua had gotten us discount tickets to Mystere for that night. Since he's a resident he can get them almost half price. So we basically got 2 for 1 tickets to the show. We paid him for the tickets and had a chat with him before we went back to the hotel. There I couldn't wait to get off my feet for a while. I read more of my book and had a little snack while we tried to plan where to go to dinner before the show. Jared looked online and found the "Top Rated Buffets in Vegas". I know that buffets are for tourists and old people, but I am married to a rugby player and he's all about quantity. We've been to some great buffets at hotels, so we unfortunately believed the great reviews for The Mirage buffet that we saw online.



After making our way through the heavy traffic on the Strip, we arrived at The Mirage. It was very disappointing. I don't recommend it at all. Oh well. Once we left The Mirage we had some time on our hands so we went across the street to The Venetian- I wanted to look at Sephora but you can't really do that with an impatient husband. So we went inside and happened upon a gallery of Peter Lik. We know his work because he is Australian and we have a few prints. We had a look around then went to Banana Republic where I played stylist for Jared. He tried on some great chocolate brown pinstriped pants, which fit perfectly, and they ended up being $12.99- how good is that?! We had to leave for the show but not before he did some poses for the camera...



We made it in plenty of time for the show and it was so much fun. Mystere was totally worth every penny. There were so many amazing things happening I couldn't even process it all at once. I had to stop myself from saying out loud, "Oh My gosh!" and "How do they do that?!" a million times.



On Thursday morning we had to get up about 7:30 am (ouch- I thought this was vacation?!) and get ready to head home. Jared had to be back for a Rugby Camp at BYU by 5 pm and he wanted to stop in St. George to see some friends from South Africa. Somehow we ended up in St. George by lunchtime and didn't get to see the friends- we made it home by 4 so that Jared could head back to BYU. What a whirlwind trip- fun but fast. So thankful to Mom and Pop for taking care of the kids so we could get away.

Here's a photo of our view from the top floor of the hotel.