Today...

Weird weather...

I didn't realize weather on the water is so fickle! Three layers of clothes one minute and then an you later, Marc and I are in swimwear. OMG.

Beautiful day

Vacation

Chip and Dale having nothing on...

The Weasley twins.

 

Fred and George were two of my favorite characters in Harry Potter. The real twins, James and Oliver (or Ollie as he told me to call him... *girlish squeal*), celebrated their birthdays at Chateau a while back. I got the chance to meet them there and then bumped into them the next night at Gallery where I got to hang out with them for a little bit since I was at a neighboring table. Great guys and kind of adorable too. :-)

 



I wish everywhere could be as awesome as...

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

 

 

I went the year it opened and it was the coolest place EVER. I am super excited (I get excited a lot) about the expansion!!! I kept saying they needed a Diagon Alley. So a few musings on the park:

 

Butter beer is the best thing ever.

The Forbidden Journey is NOT a regular motion simulator. If you don't believe me, ask the roller coaster cars they strap you into.

Rock cakes are delicious.

Everything here is delicious. Except for the beans.

 

Now for the pics.

 

 

It's a Harry Potter post!

I am so excited about all the JK Rowling announcements the past couple months, it's not even funny. I get kind of easily excited about book/movie franchise things. On that note, I thought it would be fun to do a few Harry Potter posts just because this is my blog and I can do that. :-P

 

This set is from one of the geekiest things I've ever done. Sugar Factory did a Rupert Grint M&G and I waited for about four hours. It was worth it.

 

 

And the Bloody Marys Count as Salad Link Up :-)

 



Vegas with a car

Okay, after seeing all my poor fellow rednecks last night not know how to park correctly in Vegas, I felt compelled to post this.

 

The Strip isn't that long, but get a car. There are some AMAZING car deals online and trust me, having a car in this city is way better than trying to navigate all day on foot (if you're planning to explore far and wide especially) or paying for our psychotic con artist cab drivers.

 

Almost every casino on the Strip and in the downtown area have parking garages. The ones on the Strip are all free. Valet is typically free (just tip) except for Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental (to my knowledge). The Strip is three miles long so unless you want to walk a lot or have a lot of time to kill, park. New York New York is often a good bet for the South Strip casinos. Planet Hollywood is my go-to for central Strip casinos. For the North end (Wynn, Venetian), I frequently park at the Venetian, Treasure Island, or Fashion Show (just don't park at the mall if you're going to be out late since the mall will be closed and the lot will be deserted).

 

Fremont Street casino garages are often for hotel guests only or have a pay rate. Binion's is a good bet if you're only looking at a few hours since they validate for three hours in the casino (look for the cage and the validation box). I frequently just valet at Main Street Station and have never had any issues (no charge, tip well). As a last resort, the Fremont Street Experience parking is fairly reliable and centrally located.

Park high (or low if it's an underground garage). No need to park on the first level all the way in the back. Rarely have I ever seen the garage roof full.

Weekend recap and what's to come...

I am so exhausted and it's only Monday.

I've got so much to look forward to this week that it's just too overwhelming and I'm just not going to plan much. I usually love to plan things to the last detail but this week, I feel like just doing whatever. As long as I get to my corn maze, that is. That is a must.
 

The weekend started out with me coming to work an hour early for a big event my office was hosting. Everything looks different an hour early. Bleh. After an insane work day, I headed to the salon to get my hair done. Found an amazing Groupon for Sharon Haehnel at a nearby salon; $39 for a cut, color, and deep conditioning treatment. What?! So awesome. Relaxing end to a pain in the ass kind of day.

 

Yesterday work was equally insane. With my boss being off for a few days, I'm picking up a lot of slack but at least my vacation time starts soooooooo soon. After work, I headed to the Jason Aldean concert (I bought the ticket to reward myself for the annoying weekend and the fact that me needing to work kept me from seeing Marc on his birthday). Soooooooooooooo much fun. I got an amazing seat on Stubhub (I really love that site btw). I've learned that having a floor seat is usually pointless for me since I can't see over ANYONE, so I had the first tier up close to the pit. Such a difference.

 

Thomas Rhett was a great opener. I've seen him a few times in passing but I've never gotten to see him play. Jake Owen was AWESOME (and pointed at me in the audience so sorry/not sorry to all the girls who gave me dirty looks lol). And of course, Jason Aldean is amazing. I love him. Here are a few of the pics I got on my phone, actual good ones will come soon!

 

 

Also, I participated in a couple hops this morning so check them out :-)

 



 

My Vegas bucketlist...

So every time I think about leaving vegas, I try to think of the stuff I want to do and the places I want to go before I leave. Here's what I've come up with so far!

 

Check out Hakkasan. At least once.

Go to Surrender; for some reason I have NEVER been there.

Have dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak. Will need to save up for this.

Do the Lavo Brunch on a Saturday. It seems like a crazy Vegas experience.

See the volcano show at the Mirage. Why have I never seen it???
Check out Daylight. For maybe an hour. I'm getting too old for the crazy pool clubs.

Get a cabin in Mt. Charleston and go hiking.

Visit Valley of Fire.

Visit Rhyolite, a very cool looking ghost town that's nearby.

Do the Extraterrestrial Hwy drive and have an alien burger!!

Visit the Cat Houe (where they keep the old MGM Grand lions; not hookers!)

 

Anyway, that is my list right now. Everything in Vegas changes so fast so who knows!

 

 

Who's excited for Catching Fire???

I know I am! Partly because a lot of the movie was filmed in Georgia not too far from my hometown... Just sayin... ;-)

 

 

My friends and I are total Hunger Games geeks... Here are some photos to prove it...

 

 

 

Themed snacks! See if you can figure out how they fit in with the books...

 

Huray for archery Groupons!!!



Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

A few random things about me...

I get asked a lot of weird questions both online and in real life. All the time. I thought it'd be fun to answer some of that stuff on here for inquiring minds. :-)

Am I secretly famous or do I work in the entertainment industry- Noooooo. I've met a ton of celebrities both on purpose and by accident simply because I live here. Before I lived here I'd never met anyone remotely famous. I saw Usher once at a local event. That was the extent of it. Most of these run-ins were during club appearances and clubs spend a LOT of money publicizing these events. I also know a few hosts who have given me a little inside info. If you're really hoping to meet a celeb at a club, security guards have told me (and I've tested this once or twice) that perching near the exits or bathrooms are always a good bet. And no, I've never stalked/followed anyone back to their rooms or limos.

Am I a showgirl- Do I look like a showgirl to you? Nooooo. I work at a resort front desk.

Am I dating a Chippendale- I get asked this so many times after shows when I chat with my friends who work there. No. In fact, once when I was asked and responded no, I was met with "Oh, that's what you have to say, right?". Um, still no.

How do I have the money/time to travel so much- I don't really go out much anymore. I used to go out to eat a couple times a week and clubbing at least once a week and I cut waaaay back. I went clubbing for the first time in like a month or two this week. If you consider going out to dinner/lunch twice a week costs $50 that's about $200 a month. And $200 is about what I spend on an overnight weekend trip. The ones where I fly I do have to save up for but since my main nightly activity is World of Warcraft (only $15 a month), saving up isn't too hard to do. I typically travel between my days off (Wednesday nights) only or use a PTO day here and there. I've only used six of my PTO days so far (I get 10 per year).

Am I Filipino- I'm actually Chinese. I get this a lot. Oddly enough, my parents did live in the Philippines for a while before I was born and we do have family and friends there.

How did I meet my honey if we've both lived in different states the whole time- We were both homeschooled. We met at a big homeschool graduation when we were 17. We lost touch for a few years and reconnected on Facebook. We started dating when I drove through Florida last summer and stopped in his town.

Do I want to get married and have kids- I would like to get married someday I think. I'd rather not jump ahead of myself here. Marc and I have discussed children and we're both on the same page that it's not something to consider anytime soon. There are things I want to do in life that would be easier without children and he feels the same way. Maybe it's a possibility eventually, but for now, it's not even on the drawing board.

Vampires, AUGH!

Has anyone else been watching The Vampire Diaries and The Originals this season? I think I'm liking The Originals a little better; perhaps because I get bored with "college transition" seasons. Did you know that both shows are filmed in Georgia? I used to get casting updates all the time and thought it would be so cool to spend a day as an extra if I was ever in town during filming. That would be so fun. I visited the town where they film The Vampire Diaries a couple years ago. They were actually setting up lights for filming and if I'd had more time, I definitely would have stuck around to see what was going to happen. The town square is just the cutest (I love little historic town squares) and had some fun little shops. I posted a couple pics of my visit in one of my previous posts but just for fun, I thought I'd do a Vampire Diaries post and put up some pics of the visit to Covington and some pics I got at Nina Dobrev's 21st birthday party in Vegas a few years ago. Such a fun time and I randomly have a pic with her that's floating around the celeb gossip sites now. So weird!!!!

 

Mystic Grill!!!

Bonnie's House.

Elena's House.

The Lockwood Mansion.

Town Square.

 

 

 

21!

I found this link-up and it looked like so much fun I just had to do it.

 

My 21st was insanely tame considering I live in Vegas. This was probably due mostly to the fact that it was finals week at UNLV and my birthday was in the middle of the week.

 

I worked at a casino at the time and we just started booking rooms for one of our partner hotels so to introduce us to the property and help us sell it better, they gave us all comp rooms and room service comps. My best friend (at the time) and I decided to book ours for the night before my birthday so that at midnight, we could go gamble and drink. The room came with free drink coupons so basically, my 21st birthday (at least the actual birthday) was free. We had dinner in the room, rented Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and then at midnight, went down to the casino bar for drinks and some gambling. This was the night I found out I was allergic to champagne. Oops.

 

The next night, my parents took me to N9ne at the Palms for an early dinner since I had a final the next day. Back then, the Palms was the coolest place in town. I got a room there for the Friday night and had dinner at Voodoo with a few friends. We went up to the lounge on top of the Rio for pictures and wandered the casino bars at Rio too.

For me, my actual 21st was pretty boring; it was everything AFTER 21 that was better. At 21 I didn't know that local girls get EVERYTHING handed to them at the clubs. Well, almost everything. I didn't know about guestlists, I didn't know about the comps, I didn't know about anything. Once I figured it out, that's when the party started. Birthdays REALLY started getting better after I graduated since finals didn't get in the way anymore. Actually, my very last final senior year was ON my birthday. Even better.

This year I'll be celebrating my birthday with my favorite band outside of Vegas. And I couldn't be more excited about it. :-)

 



 Check out the awesome blog hop!!!