Hello friends! Was anyone else ready for 2012 to be over as much as I was?
 |
| Thank goodness! Wishing you health & prosperity in the new year :) |
In my last post, I was under the impression I'd drive myself crazy with boredom due to my recent layoff. I figured I'd search for jobs, make lots of juices, exercise, clean, catch up on the DVR, and have oodles of time to blog. With this being my first post since December 4th, that proved to be highly inaccurate.
Life as an unemployed housewife actually isn't boring at all. I was up at 8 am for interviews, busy researching companies online, and getting ready for a month of whirlwind travel. I did make some juices and cooked here and there, but the DVR stayed full, I haven't exercised in a month, and we had a maid come clean the house while we were home for the holidays. If you give it 100%, job searching really
is just as time consuming as a full time job.
And little did you all know, December was quite the jet-setting month for this lady. I couldn't say it during my last post, but 2 days after, I did what ALL unemployed housewives should do.
Hopped on a plane to Las Vegas to surprise my best friend for her 30th birthday.
Ok, ok... it wasn't an impulsive decision whatsoever. Her husband Steven is always full of surprises, so the trip had actually been planned for several months. Luckily, I'm not much of a gambler, so I wasn't worried about losing our nest egg in an intense game of BlackJack or anything. It was an AMAZING experience with 10 of my favorite people, the surprise was perfect, and we all felt like we were 21 again. {Until the next morning, that is}. I'm so glad I was able to be there! Here are a few highlights from the trip:
 |
| Anxiously awaiting Tara's arrival at the Bellagio Fountains |
A few minutes later.... SURPRISE!
 |
| Post-surprise dinner and drinks at Hyde |
 |
| Great view of the Bellagio fountains. And Steven's beard. |
Then we headed to Pure at Caesar's Palace to get our dance on.
 |
| "Do you know if this hotel is pager friendly?" |
 |
| The girls |
 |
| Would you expect anything less? |
Around 4:00 am, we "called it a night" and headed back to the hotel for some gambling and shenanigans. My feet were literally about to fall off {haven't worn hooker heels in a long time}, so I opted to skip the post-outing festivities and went to bed. {Good Kate}. Saturday morning I woke up to this view from our room at the Aria:
 |
| Not too shabby, eh? |
We grabbed lunch at
Julian Serrano's {delicious} and spent the day sight-seeing...
 |
| Jess found a plate with her initials on it and was stoked. It's the simple things in life, right? |
 |
| Found some familiar faces |
And headed back to Caesar's Palace for a little daytime gambling.
 |
| Festive decorations |
 |
| Aaaaaaand I lost. |
Saturday night, we ate dinner at
TAO in the Venetian... it was slap-yo-mama good. We all did the Chef Tasting menu and our table was packed full of pretty much everything you see here.
 |
| MMMmmmMMM!! Thanks for the pic TAO |
After dinner, our server asked if we were going to the surprise concert in the club upstairs. We didn't know anything about it {duh- it was a surprise}, so we asked who was playing.
That certain someone happened to be Nelly. So we spent our last night in Vegas stompin' in our Air Force One's!! Talk about ending with a bang. Not literally, thankfully there were no gunshots. Jessica did punch a guy, but that's all.
Saturday night really was one for the record books. We kept looking at each other going "We are at a Nelly Concert. In Vegas." Sunday came way too soon... time always flies when you're having fun.
The fact that I don't gamble worked in my favor, because when Sunday rolled around, I hadn't done much damage to my pocketbook. Everyone in the group left early, and I booked a 5:00 pm return flight so I spent my afternoon getting a massage, detoxing on japanese stone beds, and sleeping in the salt room. Life could be worse.
 |
| If you're ever in Vegas and stay at the Aria, a spa day is a MUST!!! |
 |
This was my favorite room- the orange blocks are actually salt!
I didn't believe it, so I touched it and licked my finger to see. True story. |
It was exactly what I needed. I didn't feel like complete crap when I left the hotel, and I had a lot of time by myself to "reflect". The last week had been such a whirl wind, and I had some awesome interviews and was a little overwhelmed with the direction I want to take my life. {Deep, I know}.
I made it back in one piece, managed to NOT lose a lot of money {or my voice thank goodness}, and I made some great memories with the best friends a girl could ask for! Happy 30th Tara... we love you!
Stay tuned for the Holiday Edition blog post and an update on the employment situation ;)
