Breakfast!

I always bring breakfast to work because typically I wake up, wash my face, change, and leave. Last night I prepped myself a fall worthy breakfast- pumpkin spice yogurt and pumpkin spice granola from Smiths. My first attempt at flavoring Greek yogurt and it didn't go too poorly (except for the overkill of cinnamon). I just added cinnamon, vanilla, stevia, and some pumpkin pie spice to the yogurt and bam- instant pumpkin goodness! 

Happy Monday everyone!!!

 

Another Vegas "Trip"...

So this "weekend", I did another mini Vegas staycation. One of my best friends was visiting from Pittsburgh for the first time since she moved last year and they had the most amazing suite at Planet Hollywood. Perfect for hosting the cluster of friends who would be stopping by to say CONGRATULATIONS since they got engaged (finally!) on their first night back!!!! Yay!!!!!

 

 

So Ash and I spent a good portion of Thursday looking at ring settings and save the dates and all kinds of cute wedding things. I now have two to three sets of save the dates and invitations to work on for next year so hurray for projects!!!

Wednesday night we had dinner at the Planet Hollywood buffet since one of our friends works there and they had a VIP comp (VIP meaning they bring a troth of crab legs to the table). I hadn't been there in ages and the cupcake bar was adorable. If only I could eat that many cupcakes.

 

 

The next day we went to the mall together for the first time in forever. Vegas has the world's largest Forever 21 and Ash and I used to peruse it all the time. After that, we met back up with her betrothed (hahaha that's fun to say) and hit the pool. Beautiful day out. After chilling at the room for a while a group of us headed to Texas de Brazil for dinner. Epic fail. Ash and I barely managed two plates each. Sad.

 

 

The others pre-gamed in the room for a bit before we headed over to MGM for an unsuccessful attempt at Hakkasan. We've never not gotten into a club because just about every guy in our group has worked security for the big clubs and knew several of the doormen there; however, apparently the CEO was inside and had shut down the front door so nobody was getting in. Rather than wait it out for capacity to lower, we decided to hit one of the casino bars instead before I headed home.

 

 

Luke Bryan 2013

So I'm still uploading the hundreds of photos I took from the show but I couldn't resist posting something right away. Here is just a taste of my 22 hour Salt Lake City trip for the Dirt Road Diaries Tour:

 

 

Long Beach Day 2

We grabbed breakfast at the cafe and enjoyed a nice view of the harbor. After this we explored some more and did the self guided tour of the upper decks.

We visited the Diana exhibit and had afternoon tea since we purchased the combo. I really loved this exhibit; I usually rush through museums unless I really really find them interesting but I read most of the information guides through this one and had a lot of fun. I loved seeing some of Princess Diana's iconic evening dresses and I was even more thrilled to see that the exhibit had a bunch of Kate Middleton's dresses too. I know most of her pieces were off the rack and these were just copies but it was still pretty fun to see them in person. We enjoyed a miniature afternoon tea at the tea room after the exhibit.

 

Once we checked out, we visited the Scorpion Submarine which was a Russian Cold War submarine that's docked right next to the Queen Mary. There was a recorded tour guide that gave info throughout the sub which was kind of cool and easy to follow. We also got a discount since we had been staying on Queen Mary.

 

After the submarine we made a stop at Shoreline Village. I had been here once ten years ago and had visited the pirate shop and bought a cute little jewelry box. I lost the box and could never find a similar one so I decided to check the store again. Surprise surprise, they still had it. Awesome!!! We grabbed some ice cream and wandered a bit and hurray, I found my lighthouse! Something to check off that summer list. Yay!

 

Our last stop was the SS Lane Victory, which was a World War II supply ship. It was pretty fun to walk around and see all the living quarters and the guns and where they kept supplies when they shuttled them around during the war. Val is a Naval veteran so she was able to tell me all kinds of neat little tidbits about the ship and other cool things. Like having my own personal guide!

Such a fun 24 hours away from Vegas. Can't wait to do it again!!!

Night out...

Who needs a disco ball when you have a shimmery armadillo??? 

Long Beach Day 1

Hello Blog World!

So a few weeks ago, Val and I took a mini road trip to Long Beach to visit the Queen Mary. We wanted to check out the Diana exhibit and figured we might as well stay on the ship. I had Facebooked the hotel a few days prior (saw this tip on Yahoo and decided to try it) and we got an upgrade! Woohoo! The trip was only a day or so, but I took so many photos I decided to split this into two posts.

We got to the ship around 7 just when the sun was starting to set. We explored a bit before grabbing dinner at Sir Winston's. Nothing like fancy fine dining on a 1930's luxury liner! I've heard the restaurant has had ghost sightings since the piano was moved there but I didn't notice anything amiss. As a matter of fact, the only time I noticed anything was when we were exploring a bit below deck, I got nauseous and dizzy for no reason and kept getting weird chills. Pretty creepy!

The room was all kinds of cuteness. We had portholes! The "air conditioning" was an interesting little nob I can only describe as a larger version of the nozzle you see on an airplane. We had a vintage toilet flusher. As a matter of fact, I loved everything about our room except for our loud neighbors.

Happy Monday, I'm going to vent...

Sorry everyone. I usually keep this a relatively complaint free zone and avoid blogging when I'm mad but today I'm mad.

My co-worker (who is a friend) and I often get into arguments. They're usually small bursts and we always apologize because we get along really really well and don't want to make waves. Every so often we just need to let it out and then we go a few weeks issue free. It works for us and our boss seems to understand never interjects because she knows we're ADULTS and can work things out on our own.

Today a girl from another department decided to put in her two cents and basically tell me I'm an awful person and my attitude is putting the whole office in a bad mood (today I was the one griping). There are only three of us in here right now and typically when my co-worker and I argue, it's when it's just the two of us. She also said that my co-worker never yells at anyone and is just the sweetest person ever so I needed to stop being a snob.

It royally pisses me off that this girl decided to get involved because she's never been here when my co-worker and I argue. I've gotten my ass handed to me a few times too but as adults, we keep the arguments between us. I hate when people try to involve themselves in situations that are none of their business or try to make things their business. Especially when more often than not, they're the one who's making the office miserable.

Anyway, end rant. More fun happy posts coming soon.

Backstreet Boys 2013

For some strange reason I was really hesitant to go to this show alone. My BFF Melissa was originally going to go with me, but since she started working nights at her awesome new job, she couldn't make it. I totally wish she could have gone with me but oddly enough, going alone ended up working in my favor since there was one floor seat by itself that was in the 10th row. I hadn't even heard about the After Party until BSB posted it on their Facebook, so I splurged and bought that too (because frankly, ten year old me would have thrown a bitch fit if I hadn't).

Lisa was also at the show but a bit further back so I got to stop over and chat a bit before making my way down to the floor. Pauly D and Jessie McCartney opened the show and while they were fine, I wasn't really paying that much attention because I wanted to save my energy for BSB. The one opener I did pay attention to; however, was Bailey Littrell. Brian brought him up on stage to sing for us and he was absolutely adorable.

I can't say enough great things about this show. It is the 5th BSB concert I've been to (including NKOTBSB) and it's probably the best one. My first BSB concert was when I was 12. I feel like this show was the most personal, the most intimate (even in such a huge crowd), and the most fun. They did all of their best hits and there really aren't any songs that they didn't do that I wish that they had (they even did their first single from 1995!!!).

The After Party was kind of a blur, including the red carpet pics. I got to shake hands with Kevin who was really sweet and Howie (who looked me right in the face and said "Hey, it's great to see you again... did not think he would remember me...) who is always a great guy. When I got to Nick, my brain stopped working and I think he sensed the massive hysteria in my brain and just came over and hugged me. Like he knew I've been waiting 18 years to do that.

I made friends with a couple other local girls who had happened to win the Hard Rock's contest and had a table at the After Party. I hung out with them for a while and they were super awesome, but I was exhausted and still had to work the next morning. Got some shots of Nick DJing and cut out to get some sleep.

I had such an amazing night. Next time, I will definitely be doing the full VIP access because I've been a fan for 18 years and honestly, these guys are so sweet and down to earth that they're really worth the money. I will now shut up and let these photos speak for themselves.