| There's no place like home? |
[Oct. 21st, 2009|11:48 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
Wow, typing up a vacation recap is far more tolerable when you do it day-by-day rather than trying to remember everything all at once. ;) I typed what happened each day at night before bed (or the next morning) and I hope I remembered everything.
Seriously, the number of pictures and words under the cut is staggering. You can skip over most or all of it, but I wanted to document every moment for myself. :)
Wednesday
We were on a plane by 6:30 am on our way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The flight went pretty smoothly, and the layover there was short. The ride from Milwaukee to Las Vegas was pure HELL. The turbulence was fucking RIDICULOUS and had me white-knuckled clutching the armrests for most of the trip. Plus, to soothe my fears, I was downing water and sipping coffee like no one's business. Of course, I was in the middle seat and had to make the poor old woman next to me get up twice so I could pee. This wouldn't have been so bad had she barely been able to walk. I felt awful.
But the view was pretty.
We arrived in Vegas (flying dangerously close to the Strip, I might add) before 11 am West Coast time. Our cab driver gave us a mini-lesson on the city and what was what. We checked in to Treasure Island, looked around a bit, and immediately went for our first Vegas buffet in the hotel.
Timm decided to try...everything. Sweet potatoes, wontons, orange chicken, baked chicken, flank steak.... LOL My plate wasn't as impressive. The food was eh, but then came the dessert bar.
OH.MY.GOD. Fresh cotton candy on a stick, mini cherry pies and FRESH donuts. I gorged myself like no one's business.
Once I took a little power nap, we surveyed the scene and went down onto the Strip.
The view from our room.
These are the two pirate ships used in Treasure Island's nightly pirate show. We had a direct view of the show from our room on the 24th floor. The ending fireworks shot up frighteningly close to our window, but it was beautiful to watch every night. Plus, they changed the show from typical pirates to "The Sirens of TI"....a.k.a. scantily-clad women dressed as pirates. A Vegas local later referred to it as the "Sex Pirate" show, which has since become our favorite phrase. Ever.
Us in front of the faux waterfalls at the Wynn.
Timm was quite excited to randomly walk around outside with a beer in hand.
There was a "volcano" at the Mirage. It was the first show we went to see.
The shocker became Timm's default pose for the rest of the trip.
Us.
The volcano was pretty damn neat. We were standing pretty close, and fire shoots up out of the lake around it kind of rapid-fire and REALLY fucking hot. I meant it when I asked Timm after the show if I had any eyebrows left.
From there, we met up with our friends Liz and Tommy. They lived in Baltimore for a while and moved out to Vegas close to three years ago. They're both COMPLETE sweethearts and it was really good to get to go out with them. They took us to The Peppermill.
It was a low-key, diner-style restaurant with fabulous drinks. They also had a lounge on the other side with a fire pit. It was super sexy.
Timm wanted something small, and wound up getting THIS. The nachos were big enough to feed Ethiopia.
The Liz & the Tommy.
Once I tried this strawberry daquiri, I was DONE for. It was so. effing. good. Because of this, I craved daquiris for the entire rest of the trip. Hell, I'm STILL craving one.
A view of the Riviera on the drive back to the hotel.)
We went back to the room, watched the Sex Pirate Show, and crashed. HARD.
Thursday
We had the morning to ourselves on Thursday, so we just did some wandering around.
We were greeted in the morning by a fleet of Ferraris. There were easily about 20 of them, and though it seems lame, it was kind of a sight to see. From there, we went out to the Fashion Show Mall (SEXY mall) and just relaxed for a bit. Around 11:45 or so, my oldest friend in the world, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) yutzyjbear picked us up. We were literally friends since birth, and she moved out to Vegas about 15 years ago. This was my first time getting to see her here, and it was great to have such a great person to show us the ropes of the local way.
FANTASTIC billboard right outside of Vegas. On the other side, it just said "GOD".
From there, we all went to a tour of the Neon Boneyard. What it is is the beginnings of a museum, but right now, it's just a tour of two HUGE, open parking lots just filled to the brim with old Vegas neon signs that they're refurbishing. It was REALLY fucking cool. The only issue I had was that it was close to 90 degrees and there was NO shade. The sun was just beating down on you relentlessly. People were leaving the tour early, and the ones that hung out were scavenging for any shade they could find.
One of my favorite things was right in the tour guide's office: A framed picture of Robert Goulet. I SO need one of those. And now, random boneyard pictures.
This was part of a larger sign that said "Melinda" or something, but I was being cheeky.
And from the ride out to lunch, one of the best signs I've ever seen:
This sign was also seen in "The Hangover". It's right next to the chapel where Stu got married to Jade.
Lauren and her guy, Andrew then took us out to this AMAZING Mexican place for lunch. We cooled off and just relaxed, which was nice. At the end of the meal, I was serenaded (happy birthday) by a group of Mexicans while wearing a huge sombrero and blowing out a candle on a churro. It was...lovely. Basically, it just means that Lauren has something horrible coming to her at some point in the future when she least expects it. ;D
Then, it was time to be the ultimate tourists. We went to the Las Vegas sign and were dorks for the next 10 minutes.
First, the devil horns.
JUMP!!
Unimpressed Timm is unimpressed.
DOUBLE JUMP!!
Due to a VERY generous gift from my mom for both our anniversary and my birthday, we had tickets later that night to see Cirque du Soleil's "O". It was STUNNING. The first moments of the show when they lifted back the curtains was just breathtaking. On the way to the show, though, we got to see these colorful characters.
All over Vegas were people like this. They took pictures with you for tips. The devil was SHRIEKING in my ear like a fucking hyena, hence my face. I even said, "JESUS!!" outloud, to which he replied, "No, sweetie. That's my Sunday costume."
This is the closest I'll ever get to Paris. Then, we got to see the world-famous fountains at the Bellagio. It was...I can't even think of a word for it. We were just grinning while watching them. They shot off the fountains to "Viva Las Vegas" which made Timm extraordinarily happy.
Also in the Bellagio, they have a GORGEOUS conservatory. It's changed up seasonally, and right now, it's decorated for Halloween with gorgeous orange and red flowers and trees.
After we left the show and the Bellagio, we decided to take the long walk back to our hotel instead of taking a cab. It was WELL worth it.
This strawberry daquiri was no where NEAR as good as my first. Come to think of it, no daquiri might ever compare. *sigh*
Friday
Before we went to breakfast, I noticed that the phone in our hotel room was flashing. Room service told me that they'd been trying to deliver a gift for me all day on my birthday. Oops. :-x Then, they came up - I got a basketful of the world's most DELICIOUS strawberries and champagne from windfaerie!$#!@ I was in my happy place.
After packing up, Timm went to pick up our rental car for the drive to LA - a Ford Focus. When he got there, though, they told him that they had a car that needed to go back to California anyway...so would we "mind" an upgrade to a PIMP CONVERTIBLE?! Hell no we did not mind. ;)
Pimpin' it on the drive out of Vegas.
The drive was a long and hot one, but it was AWESOME. At times, the temperature gauge on the car read up to 103-degrees outside. We were both chugging liquids like no one's business, and as a result, we had to pull over more times than I want to admit for me to pee. LoL Seriously though, the ride itself was just stunning. Red and brown mountains as far as the eye could see.
We listened to Hair Nation on XM the whole way there. As soon as we started driving, it switched over to Motley Crue.
Aug, you have your own roadstop on Route 66. Congrats.
When it was time to stop for lunch, we HAD to visit Peggy Sue's Nifty 50's Diner. There were signs for it starting about 10 minutes into our drive, and we didn't get there for about 2 hours. It was packed, but so well worth any wait. There was 50's memorabilia all over the walls, including Elvis statues every 10 feet or so. PLUS!!! They had a "Diner-Saur" park out back with metal dinosaurs!$@#$
NO clue why King Kong was there, but they were super proud of him.
The Shocker, v.2.
RAWR!!!
Awww! What a sweet Brachiosaurus!!
Look, ma! DUCKS!! They were so unphased by me.
My hubband is a real man.
Woot woot!
Similar to Zoltar from "Big", they had Elvis read your fortune. It was godly. I completely want this in my house someday.
Then, BACK ON THE ROAD!! Once we got into California, the mountains changed from red dirt to green, green, green. It was beautiful.
Yeah, it was fucking HOT.
We rolled up into LA and got a cab to our hotel. Sadly, I had to take a power nap before going out. Once nighttime hit, though...
It was out on the Strip, baby!! For the record, Vegas was a blast, but this is my personal favorite "Strip" out of the two. Rawr!!! Then, I almost shit myself with glee when I got to see cherrystarz. I love this girl so hard, I can't even put it into words. I missed her a lot and it was SOOOO good to see her again. Plus, I got to meet her new-ish guy, Jonny, who is a mini Duff McKagen. ;D Completely a sweetheart and it's good to see someone finally treating that girl right.
Of course, within minutes, we were at the Rainbow. I fucking LOVE that bar, and going there on a Friday night proved to be infinitely better than last year when we went on a Tuesday or something. The place was PACKED. At one point, I remember looking around the table and seeing a bunch of rockers who liked the same music I did, then realized we were at the fucking Rainbow, and it was very surreal. We hung out til I started getting tired....oh, and til after the fight broke out at the table next to us and I almost got clocked. Awesome. ;)
It was time for whiskey shots. (Kymmy and her man)
Down the hatch.
This is Luana - a.k.a. BEST WAITRESS EVAR. She was made of pure awesome and I already am madly in love with her.
Yes, they're in that disgustingly cute "new" phase of a relationship. Ew. ;) (Kidding!)
Kymmy, Jonny, Eva (who was ADORABLE, but didn't like having her picture taken) and Jamie.
I went back to the hotel happy and exhausted.
Saturday
Started off my day with a little cooling off. It was still BALLS hot at this point. The temp later got up to 92 degrees. Kymmy and Jonny picked us up again, where Jonny got to show off his "Ball Shooter" (ew) that he got at the Dollar Store that morning.
Behind her is the Church of Scientology. *vomits* After cramming 6 people into Kymmy's tiny Sedan, we were off to the Lip Service warehouse sale. Despite it being RIDICULOUSLY hot, it was pretty awesome. I paid $75 and scored the following:
1) Silver Foil Miniskirt. Verdict: AWESOME.
2) Metal Militia top in black. Verdict: OMG, sexiest top ever.
3) Random Vest. Verdict: Hotness.
4) Hard Attack dress. Verdict: Huge disappointment. I wanted this SO badly and just grabbed it without trying it on. It looks awful on me. :( Boo.
We got to see desiringmachine briefly, but we were running out. :(
Kymmy and I before lunch. From there, we went to Barney's Beanery where I had the GREATEST WINGS EVER.
Sid & Nancy were on our table.
Timm and I.
Aforementioned wings.
Saturday night wound up being SUPER low-key. We walked around Melrose for a while doing some window-shopping, grabbed a bunch of snacks, watched "The Hangover" in our room, and I was fast asleep by 10 pm. I needed it.
Sunday
The Saddle Ranch whore wishes you a good morning.
The tree had a vagina.
Timm Shocker v.3.
Kymmy picked us up (yes, again) and we went down to Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Both were AMAZING. Santa Monica had a great little shopping area (including a THREE-STORY Forever 21) and the pier was perfection. We started off the day at Swingers, which was amazing as per usual. Celebrity sighting #1: Colin Hanks (Tom Hanks' son.) He was adorable.
On the beach by the pier, there was a memorial that it apparently set up every Sunday. It's for the troops who have died in Iraq. Of course, I immediately went down and found Scott's name.
They had a cross set up for every casualty in Iraq. There were no pictures or anything set up for Scott, so they were nice enough to let me make one.
It was surreal to see that all the way out on the CA coast, but somehow made me feel ok that even all the way across the country, someone might learn his name.
I was GAY and made myself a dogtag. It says, "Girls Girls Girls. Kym + Linda, October 2009". Awwww! We then took a long walk to grab some lunch at a Cantina. The service was GOD-AWFUL (understatement), but the food was decent. Plus, there was a Jimi Hendrix impersonater playing outside that was godly.
After yet another nap (god, I love naps), we went to the Rainbow again upon our request. I could seriously live there. Celebrity Sighting #2: Aubrey from "Rock of Love 2" and "LA Ink". Bitch needs a sandwich. Or seven.
And the mother of all of them...Celebrity Sighting #3: MOTHER FUCKIN' LEMMY!!!!!!!!! I saw him walk into the Rainbow and whispered, "Holy shit, Timm. Timm...it's Lemmy." It was cute to see Timm get a bit flustered. I'm not a huge Motorhead fan, but Lemmy is a fuckin' legend. How could I NOT be a bit star-struck???
I didn't want to say goodbye to Luana. She kept saying, "You're breaking my heart! Why are you leaving?? You don't belong there!!!" LoL I ended the night slightly drunk, laying out by the pool at the hotel.
A perfect end to an amazing day.
Okay, so I was pretty tipsy.
Monday
Monday turned out to be low-key as far as our vacation days went. We got a kind of late start and around 11:30 am, we went to visit Kymmy's work at CBS for a tour. Before we were even officially in the building...Celebrity Sighting #4: Wanda Sykes. (Really cute, really short.) We got to see some backstage-type stuff. I have to admit that one of my childhood dreams was a bit crushed.
Those of you who have seen "The Price is Right" surely remember the Showcase Showdown! Little old ladies jump up to spin the HUGE, glittering wheel to win prizes. Sometimes, they can't even get the wheel to go around once since it's so massive. Well, that "massive" wheel is all of about 5 feet tall and looks like it's made of particle board. I was bummed. haha
We walked around some more and got to see the trailers for "Dancing with the Stars". Celebrity Sighting #5: Mya. OMG, she.is.stunning. Her legs are about a mile long and her face is just beautiful, even without makeup.
From there, we met up with desiringmachine and Nate at Canter's Deli. We went last year and this was one of the "OMG, we HAVE to go again!!!!" things.
Fuck bread. They give you a plate of homemade pickles to munch on.
You LITERALLY can't fit the sandwich in your mouth if you tried.
The boys finished their sandwiches somehow. I, however, did not.
We took a walk over to Melrose and did a bit more window-shopping, and I found the most glorious Betsey Johnson store EVER. I couldn't find any pictures online, but it was HUGE. I literally skipped around the store. I may have splurged a teeny tiny bit.
I got a star-shaped watch in black. I've wanted it for AGES.....though the auction I just linked to is significantly cheaper than I paid. LOL I love it. ;) I started feeling a bit shite after that, so we went back to the hotel room to rest. We both just crashed and didn't get out of bed for hours. I think all of the running around caught up to us at once.
That night, we met up with Kymmy and Jonny briefly at Molly Malone's, an Irish Pub where Flogging Molly got their start. We pretty much ate and ran since I was just BEAT. We grabbed a cab to the far end of the Sunset Strip and took a long walk back to our hotel for one last LA view. Once back at our hotel, we had a cup of coffee on the hotel's balcony.
The view was stunning. Again, I crashed.
Tuesday
Nothing but travel. We were picked up at our hotel at 9 am West Coast time and I was home in bed by 11 pm East Coast time. I didn't sleep much all night.
Really, my trip was....amazing. I got to live life like a complete fucking rock star and I loved every minute of it. I'm seriously blessed to have gotten to see so many people when I was there (though I could have still seen more). I ate, I drank, I shopped....I just had the best time. I got to come back to an extraordinarily loving kitten, and a mostly-new car waiting outside for me. Other than the fact that I'm back at work right away today, life.is.good. |
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