HALLOWEEN MADNESS

Friday afternoon, after a full day of work, I caught an evening flight to Vegas with Rainbow. We were both exhausted and had meant to nap on the plane but we were having such a good time that by the time we settled down to sleep, we were already landing. That was probably the best flight I've ever taken, we were literally laughing the whole hour and a half. I wasn't surprise to see other people I knew on the same flight, it seemed as if everyone from San Francisco was in Vegas! Cindy and Amy met us at the airport and we went straight to the hotel to get ready. I thought the suite at the Venetian was pretty nice, probably my favorite hotel in Vegas now. I like the fancy little railing that separates the upper and lower levels, and the charming bathrooms with plenty of mirrors.


So us girls took so long to get ready that by the time Gary got to the hotel two hours later we were finally ready to go! We grabbed some food downstairs and then headed to Surrender to meet up the guys. I was kind of hesitant because I'd never heard of Surrender before, but it turned out to be my favorite club yet. I love the huge open space and the couches in the pool (even though they don't let you go in, go figure). The lights are gorgeous and the open sky makes it even more scenic. I had a really good time there, and I even REALLY liked the music - which I wasn't expecting at all. Stereo love!






After Surrender, we ended up at Tuscany for steak & egg breakfast. I ordered hash browns and I don't think they were very good. I lost my voice that first night, and it wouldn't be the last night lol. I can't quite remember everything that happened while we were eating but I remember having a really good time. =)



On Saturday, we met up Charles and went to eat Pho in Treasure Island. Then we walked the strip and shopped a wee bit. Amy and Cindy got the finishing touches for their costumes and we stopped by Fat Tuesdays for some novelty booze. It was my first Fat Tuesdays drink! And it was delicious. I shared a Bellini with Peach Shnapps with Nancy and Sinclair and it was sooooo good. To this day, I've NEVER had a bad bellini. We headed back to the hotel so I could get ready for dinner.

I joined the guys for Del Frisco's for dinner and it was freakin' delicious!! The steak was sooooo good, and we even got to watch the Sharks game while we ate =]. I really like that place! It was surprisingly not as expensive as I thought it would be, and I enjoyed every mouthful of that savory savory meat.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to get our masquerade costumes together, and I think we looked fantastic! We were late to XS so we caught an Escalade ($55 for like 3 blocks? Drivers in Vegas sure make a lot of money) and thankfully we didn't have to wait to get in. We had table service so we got to waltz right in, and for once in my life I was so early that I got to take a picture in an empty club. Our cabana was pretty cool, right by the bathroom thank goodness. Lots of crazy dancing and picture taking, I think everyone had a really good time there as well. XS is always fun, especially dipping your feet in the pool after a looooong night. Alex found Julian!!! And brought him back to the cabana =] I had a drink with him and some other friends but eventually got lost and ended up back at the cabana. It was a semi-chaotic night. When we got back to the hotel we were famished, so we ordered room-service pizza. I wanted to get food from Grand Lux but it was SO PACKED and we couldn't wait that long. The pizza did the job.


Sunday morning, Janet and Sinclair left to head back to New York, and the rest of us went to Tao Beach for lunching & relaxing. The food wasn't bad, and drinks were pretty good. I LOOOVE tao beach, just the idea of lounging in swimwear with loud high-energy music and food and booze. That's my vacation trifecta. The guys met us up and we hung out a bit longer before heading back to the rooms to rest. I ended up getting sick shortly after, but a few hours of snoozing did me justice. When Rainbow and I woke up, Cindy and Amy had just stumbled in drunk and they ended up passing out. Four of us went first with the guys to TAO to get our handstamps, and picked up food from Grand Lux on the way back. Mmm mm, I LOVE Grand Lux, and I have yet to visit Vegas once without eating there. I hope to continue the tradition.



We had a nice chat while eating our yummy jumbo shrimp scampi pasta dishes in the room, and we debated whether or not we should actually go to the club. We were all so exhausted (and two were still passed out) from the two nights of clubbing before that we were completely content with staying in. But, in the spirit of Halloween, and Vegas, we finally forced ourselves to get ready. After all, we put in so much effort to get our Disney princesses theme together! Two hours later, we were all awake and looking gorgeous. The costumes came together quite nicely and we headed to Tao. The fact that we stayed at the Venetian and went to TAO on Sunday was a godsend, if it were any less convenient we probably wouldn't have made it. We didn't have to wait in line because we already had stamps, and it was easy as pie. The guys happened to get a table so we had a place to sit. Overall, Tao was a very chill night - mostly because we got in late. I still had lots of fun though, but one thing I don't understand is why Tao is so overrated. I didn't think the venue was that great (compared to XS and Surrender), but it wasn't bad either.



After the club I ended up in the guys room, and we were talking about future Vegas trips not happening, and happening, and road trips. And it just made me glad to be there, and sort of solidified how grateful I was that I got to be a part of that Vegas trip. As we get older, I hope that we have more hurrahs like that because seriously Vegas was the most fun I've ever had on a trip. All of my favorite people were there! And if we don't, at least I'll have that trip to remember - the one that set the bar.

Monday was painful for me, I was so exhausted from all of the partying. We had buffet lunch at the Rio and we ended up getting into a really lively conversation. I think we were all delirious, but I've never had such an interesting buffet lunch. We headed back to the hotel to meet up the guys again and await our flight. We said goodbye to Nancy who left before us (awh, love that girl) and in no time it was our turn to leave. The flight back was nice because most of us were flying together, but I wish we had all had seats together instead of scattered. The plane went crazy for about a minute when the Giants won, I could really care less though lol.

It was such a fantastic trip! And I have so many happy memories =) So thankful to have such great friends and awesome times, and I can't wait until we do it again.