What Happens In Vegas...

There's nothing like a little spontaneous trip to Las Vegas.

My good friend L. texted me last minute on Thursday to say he was in Sin City for a business trip and that I should come up to visit on Friday night. My answer: heck yeah! Taking an early day off from work, I high-tailed it to Vegas at 3 pm and managed to make it there at 7:30 pm, despite hair-pulling traffic on the 10 East near Ontario and the 15 North going up the big hill into the desert. This, of course, is not good for the heart of road-ragers like myself. And the kid with the Eclipse and Texas plates trying to race me for the first half of the drive was not helping my situation one bit. Anyhow, I managed to make it in one piece with the help of my Phoenix and Motown Remixed CDs.

I arrived at my destination with a rumbly tummy, so after doing a quickie freshening up (thank the lord for Sebastian hairspray), we ambled via car to the MGM Grand for dinner. Oh, the restaurant choices! After deciding not to spend $78 on a bowl of pasta (which was probably fantastic but completely absurd in price), we settled on a nice Mexican meal "with a twist" (so says the restaurant description) at Diego's. The verdict? I much rather the grub at El Cholo, El Torito or Baja Fresh here in La-La Land, but the chips and salsa were tasty indeed. And the little Latina lady brought them to us was money. I expect her name was probably Maria or Guadalupe, but that's beside the point.

The rest of the night was good times: walked down the Strip on a gorgeous desert night (run-ins with weirdos are not uncommon in this town, I particularly liked the girl in the tricked out Caddy that stuck her fanny out the door and gave it a couple smacks to please the boys on the sidewalk), braved the oh-so-scary rollercoaster at New York, New York (glad I took off my hoop earrings, I would've cried should they have ended up in the tracks somewhere), and watched L. win/lose money at the Paris Hotel gambling tables while knocking back drinks courtesy of the casino. I was a complete gambling party-pooper I'm ashamed to say, spending only two quarters at the slots -- and I don't think those quarters were even mine! And no, I didn't win a dime back. Damn those slots.

Funniest highlight of the trip? My friend L.'s request to the concierge for a wake-up call at 6 am, preferably with the voice of Tim McGraw. Come 6 am, the phone rang and the hotel pulled through -- "Tim McGraw" was on the other line, telling us to "Rise and shine, y'all! It's Tim McGraw here..." Only in Vegas, only in Vegas.

Seven and a half hours of driving for a ten and a half hour trip to visit a friend in Sin City? Oh, trust me -- Vegas and good friends are ALWAYS well-worth the drive.

I'm Lovin' it: Season two of Prison Break. Furiously typing this posting during commercial break, as not to miss the beautiful mug of my future husband Wentworth Miller. Oh, and the fact that I'm getting two new cousins -- Jodi and Erin -- next month...my aunt and uncle adopted twins from China! And one more thing: those to-die-for Michael Kors boots at Nordstrom Rack for $99. High-fashion boots for a steal, nice. I'm not telling which store location it is, so there.

I'm Over it: Budget cuts at RonHerman.com. I'm definitely sad. Oh, and my hardcore bail on the hill going down Ocean Avenue on Sunday during my routine work-out run. My right knee is in shreds, a chunk is gone from my right hand and I vaguely remember rolling over twice post-trip before coming to a halt. The good thing is no one saw me.

Music Video of the Day: "Consolation Prize" by Daniel Askill for Phoenix. It's mainly shots of the band singing in pretty much the same position while the background, colors and camera angle change constantly. Artsy-cool for sure.

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