Whirlwind weekend

Wow...it's been a crazy few days. I'll try to do a short recap.

Friday: Our plane left Kansas City at 12:30pm, and due to pacific standard time, we arrived in Vegas at 1:40. That's sweet going out, hurts coming back though! We decided to rent a car since we were going to be doing some extensive traveling off the strip. We got upgraded to a slightly larger car, which turned out to be a Chevy Cobalt, and the agent gave us free usage of the GPS, which turned out to be extremely needed! Las Vegas as a city in general reminds me a lot of Raleigh (well, not the strip part, but the rest). Once you get out of the strip it's a huge sprawling city that looks like one giant suburb. This was our first trip to Vegas so it was really great to be able to see a new part of the country. The desert mountains are just stunning. Michael and I couldn't get enough of the view! It's just so, so different from the landscape we're used to. We flew over the Grand Canyon as we were landing which was amazing. I would love to go back and some point and actually go there. Friday overall was low key. We checked into our hotel, the Luxor, then made our way over to the house owned by the couple getting married on Sunday. I hung out there for a couple of hours watching Scrubs while Michael, Zach (groom) and the other groomsmen went and did their final fitting for their tuxes. Michael then dropped me back off at the hotel because Zach's bachelor party was that night. Now, don't feel sorry for me for spending my first night in Vegas alone. I had a BLAST! Seriously. This was my one night of pure relaxation and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I ordered room service for dinner, watched Sex and the City 2 on our super comfy king sized pillow top mattress bed (which isn't even out to rent yet, you can rent movies that are still in theaters in the hotel!), then took a bath in the separate jetted tub. I had brought a LUSH bath bomb specifically for this. By the time I went to sleep around 1, I was in total bliss. Michael got home around 3, which was VERY impressive for him! Remember, we flew in on Friday, so that was really 5 am for us. We learned later that the rest of the bachelor party were out until 9 am. No thanks...maybe this is putting me squarely into "old fart" territory but I would rather sleep!

Saturday, we woke up mostly refreshed and hungry! Our first stop was Pyramid Cafe inside the Luxor. I chowed on corn beef hash, eggs, and toast. Yummy but not anything extraordinary. We killed time in the casino by playing the slot machines, and Michael taught me how to play video poker which was a lot of fun! I would play that again for sure. We drove over to a rental house that the bride and grooms' parents were renting for the wedding weekend. It was great! The house had a pool, in-ground trampoline, bar area out back, and lots of space for a big party. Thanks to the groomsmen being up so late and extremely hung over, everything got started way later than planned, but not a big deal. It is Vegas, after all... we all ate a late lunch bbq together and the wedding party did their rehearsal in the back yard. Saturday night, Michael and I went back to the strip to see the Bellagio water fountain show. That was really impressive and reminded us of Ocean's 11. We then walked around the strip some and when we got hungry, we found ourselves in front of Planet Hollywood. We ate at a bar and grill inside their hotel that was pretty tasty. Michael got dorito crusted mac and cheese as a side that was really strange sounding on the menu but surprisingly tasty! He wanted to go in PH because that is where the movie 21 was filmed, so it was cool to see it in person. We walked through the mall that's connected to PH until my feet started to hurt, so we called it a night and drove back.

Sunday was wedding day! We slept in, then had a lengthy discussion about where to go for lunch. Michael used his computer to pull up a clip from Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, about this place called Four Kegs. They are famous for their strombolis and so we decided that sounded pretty good. Best. Decision. Ever. If you ever find yourself in Vegas, it is worth what will be an outrageous cab fare to go there. Michael got their classic stromboli and I had a meatball sandwich that were both out of this world. It was by far our best (and cheapest, excluding fast food) meal during the whole trip. After lunch, Michael ran into the CVS that was next door to get a wrap for my ankle, which was starting to resemble a tree trunk. I had about 10 minutes to change into my dress when we got back before it was time for Becca's wedding, which was in her hotel suite in the Luxor! It was so sweet and intimate. She looked gorgeous and wore a veil she knit herself...very impressive. Steve was so handsome in his tux! After the ceremony, we had time to grab a cupcake and chat for a bit before they were off to get some wedding pictures with their photographer at different points on the strip. So glad I was able to be there and see their wedding, it was totally worth booking the same hotel. Becca and I met through Live Journal, of all places, when she moved to Chapel Hill while I was a student there. She now lives in Miami so it had been over a year since we'd seen each other.

After Becca's wedding, we had about an hour before we had to go to a different hotel so Michael and the other groomsmen could get ready. While all the boys got ready, I played slots with one of the other groomsmen's girlfriend, a sweet girl named Holly. I am really glad she was there because it would have been so boring to be by myself! We had a good time hanging out on the casino floor until they called us back. The wedding was at a chapel off the strip, small but intimate...maybe 50ish people? Zach and Kelsey had a beautiful ceremony that made nearly everyone tear up when the officiant was telling a story about his wife in Tennessee. Michael and Zach have been friends since 7th grade and Zach was his best man at our wedding, so their friendship goes way back...I'm so glad we were able to come and be there for him. Once the wedding was over, we made our way to the reception hall that was attached to the chapel. Holly and I gladly indulged in the open bar while waiting for the wedding party to finish taking pictures. We ate, drank, danced, laughed, had cake, and celebrated until the reception ended at 11pm. Then the real party started! Haha. They rented a party bus for all the younger guests, so that was a real kick. We went to the famous Las Vegas sign and took pictures, then drove around the strip. We ended up at the Bellagio, and gambled, drank, and visited with brand new husband and wife couple. The night ended around 3 am when Michael obligingly took me to McDonald's for chicken nuggets before crawling into bed. It was SO. MUCH.FUN!! We never party like that so it was a fun departure from reality.

Monday morning came way too soon. We (read; I) wanted to try a staple restaurant on the west coast that I'd heard so much about: In and Out Burger. So we did once we checked out of the hotel. Michael was not too impressed but I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed my animal style cheeseburger, which had grilled onions, pickles, and a thousand island type of dressing, and a neopolitan milkshake. My favorite fast food burger is still Five Guys but I would definitely eat at an In N Out again. Our plane left Vegas at 5:30 and we landed in Kansas City around 10. We had to drive to the Plaza area to get Penny, who had been staying at her brother Patrick's house and his owners. I think they had a great time!

So now it's back to regular life. Tonight was the first night of my growth groups. This group will be reading another Anne Lamott book and will be smaller than my other 2 groups, which is a good thing. I am very much looking forward to getting to know the other 6 ladies on a deeper level as we plow through some good reading material! Tonight was basically a getting to know you session, and we talked a lot about last week's sermon. I think pretty much everyone's group will be talking about it this week. Thanks to Tish for detailed notes and Anna for saving me an outline! :)

I have many pics of this weekend on Facebook...I think the new saying is going to be what happens in Vegas, ends up on Facebook. Luckily I behaved myself for the most part. ;) Check them out if you so desire!