VIVA LAS VEGAS!

I did it! I went on vacation, and I did Vegas with my lifelong best friend!

And if I may say...we did it well.

We had been planning this trip since the summer—her boyfriend's friends were coming out to Vegas for CES, and we were going to join them. I arrived on Monday, after a rushed departure from work and a little craziness at LAX.  When I landed at McCarran International Airport, I was greeted with a text message instructing me not to take a shuttle to the hotel...because they were on their way to pick me up in a convertible. A red Eclipse convertible.

We met the rest of the boys back at the hotel and came up with a game plan.  Night 1: Let's hit the strip!  We all got dressed up—us girls in little dresses, and the guys wore full suits.  Kept it classy, with the guys rolling Entourage-style. First up was the Cosmopolitan, followed by Paris, followed by the biggest slot machine I've ever seen!  We all took turns pulling the big lever, but no big win. Eventually, we ended up taking a limo from Bellagio back to our hotel—with eight people, it was cheaper than taking two or three cabs (and far classier).

Our well-dressed entourage at Fremont and in front of Paris...and giant gambling!

We got back to the hotel and went in search of food—after seeing posters in elevators and billboards advertising steak and shrimp specials, that was my mission. One of the guys headed up my "steak and shrimp" mission...eventually settling on a prime rib buffet. I'll take it!

The next day was the start of CES, so we went early, right when it opened.  The boys kept getting distracted by things and leaving us behind, so she and I went off on our own adventure.  After a bit of exploring the booths and gadgets, we left early to go back to the hotel to plan our evening.

We previously wanted to see Cirque du Soleil, but had also mentioned Penn & Teller...which we ended up being way more excited about.  We found some discounted tickets, got all dressed up again, and prepared for another great night!

The show was absolutely fantastic.  Penn and Teller are hilarious, and their personalities and commentary totally made the show.  We had so much fun, laughing and cheering throughout the entire performance. And after the show...

...we totally met Penn and Teller and chatted with them in the lobby. YES.

The rest of our vacation was fun, but not as exciting as P&T day.  We had a failed attempt at meeting Justin Bieber at CES...dinner at Heart Attack Grill...playing slot machines that actually paid out in nickles...final night out at Caesars Palace...seeing Jim Carrey film a movie on Fremont...and visiting the Pawn Stars shop.

I had a perfectly wonderful time.  Vacation, lifelong best friend, food, fun, and adventures.  I need to take vacations more often. (Like, more than once every 4+ years.)