NFR Part 3

My third night of NFR 2014 was spent Downtown. 

The new Downtown Event Center had just opened and Lady A was playing along with David Nail and Maddie & Tae. Aside from the small private sets I've been to, this was the closest I've ever been to the stage at a Lady A show. They played a bunch of the new songs and all of the old faves. 

Great show!

Blogger Break

Hello Blog World!

I've been letting my queue run and it's just about out of posts.

I swear, I'm not abandoning my poor sweet blog, just in planning mode for the year. 

So many adventures planned!

Here is the next destination:

London Part 11

We have a Madame Tussaud here in Vegas BUT they did not have the full Marvel experience and the one in London did. I molested Robert Pattinson just because. Also, they have a lovely little ride that takes you through British history. It's like It's a Small World but with the bubonic plague. 

London Part 10

I've always loved the idea of doing a Mad Hatter tea. There aren't really a lot of tea options in Vegas and the ones that are there are at the high end hotels on the Strip so there isn't a lot of room for anything whimsical which is kind of a bummer (they're all fairly expensive too).

The Sanderson has a really fun Alice in Wonderland theme complete with pastries shaped like clocks and various items from the books. I had come across it when I was researching afternoon teas online prior to the trip and just had to book it. So cute! 

Everything was appropriately themed and also super yummy.

Sundaze on Sundays- Nights on the Ship

After the beer crawl were the FGL and Cole Swindell shows. I had made myself a full trip itinerary weeks ago but in the end, I was getting soooo zapped of energy, I couldn't really make it through 100% of every show (except for the Cadillac Three). 

I have to say, the second FGL show was even better than the first because they brought up all their friends for their song collaborations (Jaren for Party People, Sarah Buxton for Dayum, Cole Swindell for This is How We Roll, Thomas Rhett for Round Here). They also sang a lot of their more obscure tracks that everyone loves but aren't usually on the setlists. This show also felt way more chill since it wasn't the first show of the trip. 

Towards the end of the set, I went to grab some juice before Cole Swindell and ran into a super friendly familiar looking man at the juice station. It was Colt Ford. Such a nice guy. 

After the Cole Swindell show, I wandered the ship and came across DJ Telemitry's set where all the performers were partying and hanging out. While walking back to my room, I came across a small group of women being escorted by security. I noticed Brian's wife in the group and Sarah Buxton, one of my favorite Nashville writers. As I passed, I told Sarah how wonderful she did at the song writer's round the night before and she stopped to chat for a bit. She was probably one of the sweetest people ever and when we decided to selfie, my phone froze. As we were working on resetting it, some "drunk guy" walks over and starts in "What happened? Your phone froze? You know, when Sarah Buxton walks by, you have to be READY. You can't let your phone freeze, you just can't." I looked up and it was Cole Swindell. No joke. Cole Swindell had literally just walked up to me and started teasing me. He was super funny and pretty drunk so by the time the phone had reset, he had stumbled off but I do love my random Cole story better than a pic I would have got in its place. 

London Part 09

I don't even remember the first time I heard about tea at the Berkeley. By now I've seen it on the food network, I've read about it in the Shopaholic books, but I think I originally just randomly came across it years ago in a search for cool teas. 

Of the three afternoon teas we went to, this would be my second favorite after the Goring. Pret-A-Portea is their famous afternoon tea where the desserts and biscuits are all shaped like the season's couture pieces. Fortunately, they're not only beautiful to look at, they're also delicious. There's even a little photo guide to tell you which piece is from which collection and additional photos of the actual clothing and accessories. It's like a foodie blogger's dream.

Sundaze on Sundays- Luau Night & Beer Crawling

After the exhausting and damp day in Nassau, the weather cleared up just in time for Luau Night on the ship. I'd been slacking on finding an outfit for this pretty much up until the week before. Randomly, my friend Amanda and I wandered into a shop in Boca Park and I found the perfect piece, in my size, on clearance. Yay!!!

It was a really fun chill night with my girlfriends and chatting with a few of the awesome artists I'd met on the trip and before it like Dallas Smith and Joel, Cole Swindell's guitarist. Instead of doing dinner in the dining room, there was a big BBQ up on the pool deck. The space was really crowded since FGL was doing a show later that night and everyone wanted to get a great spot. 

I, on the other hand, had different plans. 

The Cadillac Three was hosting a big beer crawl and while I don't drink beer, I love The Cadillac Three. I figured it wouldn't be crazy busy since it was a paid event and so many people wanted to stake out a spot for FGL. It was crowded, but not too insane. Along the way, I started talking to the guys and Neil noticed I wasn't drinking. He offered to get me something which was insanely sweet but I explained that even though I wasn't planning to drink, I wanted to go since I was a big fan. The guys were unbelievably nice, taking pics with everyone, participating in drinking games (Jaren failed at flip cup but it was epic and awesome), and just being awesome. We went to five different bars around the ship, getting lost several times along the way. An amazing time was had by all. 

London Part 08

We had breakfast at The Orangery at Kensington Palace. After a gorgeous walk through Hyde Park, the hot breakfast was wonderful. I had more full English breakfasts than I can count but for some reason, I remember the bread and butter here being really really amazing. Plus, you can't beat the gorgeous walk through the morning mist. It was freezing though. 

Sundaze on Sundays- Nassau & Napping on Tour Buses

Welcome to the first Sundaze of the new year!!

I would love love love to say Nassau was beautiful and amazing and I was wide-eyed and fascinated the entire day but... I straight up fell asleep on the tour bus for a good 30 minutes or so.

Arriving, we discovered that there was rain. Not the drizzle or slow drip kind. The torrential downpour kind. While I've never been one to squeal at a little rain, this was INTENSE. Tours were delayed and a good half of the people who had planned beach days cancelled and stayed on the ship. 

I had booked a pretty chill island tour. We got to see all the sights (including the pretty creepy flooding from the rain just THAT DAY) and by the time we got back to the dock, the rain had all cleared up in time for me to grab some lunch and do some shopping. I probably should have done the shopping before partaking in the rum. Tried some of the Conch fritters I'd heard so much about and on my way out of the diner, ran into Neil. lol

New Year's Eve 2015

New Year's Eve is usually not the most festive holiday for me.

Last year I played WoW most of the night.

This time was great because one of my fave people, Nykky, was visiting from BC and since she's a planner like me (yay), we had great plans.

I've never done New Year's Eve on the Strip and it was perfect. We had a great dinner at The Linq and had an awesome time at Drai's Nightclub on the patio overlooking the center of the Vegas Strip. Perfect place to view the fireworks and enjoy the Iggy Azalea show afterwards!