Talishia!

So a couple weeks ago I finally got to meet my friend Talishia's daughter, Athena (#15 on my 101 List).  She is such a cute little peanut.  She's very tiny for her age, but gorgeous.  They were in town for unfortunate reasons, Talishia's grandmother passed away, but it was still good to see her and meet Athena nevertheless.  I haven't seen Talishia since her 30th birthday when I flew to Indiana with our friend, Katie, as a surprise.  It was great to see her and catch up in person versus our almost daily conversations.  Talishia says that it doesn't count because I didn't go visit her, but I say it counts because I visited with her.  My list, my rules.   :)

Las Vegas!....and Shannon!

The week before last I took a trip to Las Vegas (#65) to visit, the one and only, Shannon.  Two items on my 101 List!!

Shannon is #66 on my 101 List.  We met about 7 years ago while I was on vacation in Florida.  Since then I'd seen him 3 times, I believe, and never more than for a few hours.  He and I are in contact all the time, but he travels for a living and our schedules never seemed to work.  He had a few days off before going back to work and since I'm not working full-time I had the time, so we decided to go for it.  Shannon is from Australia and swears Las Vegas is the best city EVER (always in all CAPS).

It was a "last minute trip" in my book as we discussed it right before New Year's Eve and I was on a plane less than two weeks later.   I'll be honest and say I didn't think the trip was actually going to happen, much in the same way I never believe it's going to snow (this makes snow days all the more pleasing!).  Then, two days before my flight Shannon said he'd meet me at the airport in Vegas and I realized this trip was real and I was going to Las Vegas.

Upon arrival in Las Vegas I was instantly overwhelmed.  There were slot machines in the terminals!!   In the terminals.  What is that?!  This was only the beginning.

Image from cnn.com

After Shannon picked me up, he drove me around and showed me The Strip.  Overwhelming.

Then, we continued on to see Old Las Vegas.  Slightly less overwhelming.  This is probably the only picture I took during the day until Sunday.

After our drive, it was off to the hotel and casino.  Overwhelming.  I swear the place was a
maze.  I never knew where I was.  Ever.  All weekend.  This photo does the place no justice.

http://www.johnnyjet.com/2010/10/las-vegas-aria-hotel-blog-world/

Thursday we did dinner early and walked to some of the other casinos.  I saw the water show at the Bellagio and some other weird confusing show at some other casino, Caesar's Palace, maybe.  I really have no idea.  If you haven't picked up on this yet, I was overwhelmed.  Most of the rest of the weekend was spent being lazy in PJs.  I didn't even see daylight on Friday.

I promise you I've never been so happy to do nothing on vacation.  The evenings consisted of good meals, great wine, and excellent conversation with even better company.  After which the gambling and drinking too many libations commenced.

Things I learned after 3 nights in casinos.  I'm not sure I'm cut out for gambling.  Slots don't like me, but apparently they like Shannon.  Blackjack is way easier on the machine at the bar than it is at a table.  Doubling down is scary, even when you're supposed to double down.  I still do not understand how the table pays out and why Shannon kept getting 50 cent pieces, even though he explained it to me multiple times.  Craps may be more confusing than poker.  We won (by we, I mean he) and I have no idea how or why we won a good 90% of the time.  Last but not least, calling for maid service at 8pm is the most amazing thing there ever was. 

My winnings!  Actually it's what's leftover from losing...

On our last night there I realized we'd taken no photos, even though I'd talked about the need to take a photo for two days.  This photo was taken probably around 2am, so you'll have to pardon its quality.

Viva Las Vegas!

Oh, here are some daytime photos....