Labor Day Weekend: Las Vegas

After the Grand Canyon we drove to Las Vegas and arrived at our hotel just after 7pm. Let me just inform you all that we scored a 5 star hotel for only $20 for 1 night. One word: Priceline. Actually it was a deal we had with Priceline when we booked our cruise with them. We redeemed our deal 2 days before it expired. Yesssss. So happy! We stayed at the gorgeous Aria hotel. We wish we could have enjoyed it more, but as soon as we checked in we hopped in the car and drove 20 minutes away from the strip...for the best time ever! We were SO happy to have dinner & dessert with our good friends Hannah & LJ. Hannah was my roommate from my BYU-Idaho days, she was my bridesmaid at our wedding where James also met LJ, and she is and will always be my soul sister! We had a blast laughing & chatting at BJ's restaurant in Summerlin where we ordered yummy pizza & a super delish pizookie dessert. Thank you Hannah & LJ for making our trip to Vegas one of our most memorable.

 We spent the night at the Aria but I had to say goodbye to James early the next morning. After driving all the way to Vegas after the Grand Canyon, he drove all the way back home to Glendale, ate lunch & got dressed, drove all the way to Mesa, all to start his first day of his OBGYN rotation at Banner Desert Medical Center. He was exhausted, but he had a great first day. I relaxed in the super posh 5 star hotel room....

 Flavored chocolate by your bedside...

 Assorted nuts...

 Decor...

 Posh chairs...

 The best shower in the world....seriously loved it. Tub set back inside the shower. The picture doesn't show how truly awesome this was.

 Comfy slippers & robe.

Then I went to the posh pool, checked out of the hotel on my cell phone, stayed at the pool with my bag for 2.5 hours.

Then I changed clothes in the public bathroom in the hotel, ate lunch at Jean Philippe Patisserie where I had a healthy cobb salad & read my book. The cakes & displays are just gorgeous there. Aria is just a beautiful hotel anyway.

I then walked over to Planet Hollywood hotel, checked in, & watched tv until my wonderful & beautiful MOM arrived! The main reason we drove to Vegas was so that I could spend time with mi madre while she attended a P.A. conference. The night she arrived we went to dinner at YOLOS Mexican Grill to eat quesadillas & salad. 

Then we explored the hotel shops and devoured a Nestle Tollhouse Brownie/Cookie Sundae!

 We stayed up late talking & laughing then finally fell asleep. The next morning mom went to her first class at the conference located in the glamorous Cosmopolitan hotel & I met up with her for breakfast at Va Bene Caffe where I got a delicious chocolate walnut muffin. 

Classy Cosmopolitan Chandelier Bar

Then I purchased our show tickets at the Tix4Tonight booth while she went to another class, then I met up with mom for lunch. We walked down the strip to The Quad hotel where we ate lunch at Hash House A Go Go (diners, drive-ins, & dives restaurant, on our last Vegas trip James and I went to the one in Henderson, NV). 

 The only picture we took together which I am sad about. I am also sad that the server was in too much of a hurry to take a decent picture of us. Too blurry. Oh well, the food was good!

I ate the Hash House Quesadilla stuffed w/potatoes, eggs & tomato w/ chili cream

Mom ate the Andy's Sage Fried Chicken Salad: Tossed mixed greens in a mango vinaigrette w/ green apple,caramelized pecans, crumbled blue cheese and tomato all crowned w/ a sage fried chicken breast.

Then we walked over to Treasure Island Hotel where we picked up our tickets for Cirque du Soleil Mystere! While we were there we couldn't resist a scoop of Ben & Jerry's ice cream! Their new shop flavor Candy Bar Pie was to die for. 

 I loved the ice cream cone portraits on the wall. Wanted them for my house!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Flakes, Chocolate Nougat, & Sweet & Salty Pretzel Swirls

Yep that's me & Tina Fey.

Did I mention that Mom decided to skip the rest of her classes for that day to spend time with me? Well she did & I am so glad because we had so much fun! Don't worry, she went to classes for the rest of the week after I returned home. After ice cream we walked over to Caesar's Palace & the Bellagio to look around. 

Mom was impressed! We both agreed that we would just love to stay at the Bellagio. It's our kind of classy. 

After walking around the hotels we walked back down the strip to our hotel & collapsed from the heat & from our sore feet. We watched Friends reruns until dinner time where we ate at Earl of Sandwich. Mom had the Hawaiian BBQ hot sandwich & I had the Chipotle Chicken Avocado hot sandwich. YUM!

Then we walked back to Treasure Island to see MYSTERE! Our first cirque du soleil show ever. It did not disappoint! I was in awe of the performers. So talented! We were lucky to be moved up to the 7th row so we had great seats.

 Too bad there was a loud drunk girl sitting behind us that talked & swore rudely the whole time even after we politely, then a little more forcefully asked her to stop talking. She talked for a whole hour (about who knows what) & I had to plug one of my ears to concentrate on the show. I prayed that she would pass out. The last 30 minutes of the show she was quiet, thank goodness. Besides that, the show was excellent. 

These men were our favorite. So talented!

After the show I had made an 11:30 reservation to have dessert at Max Brenner in the forum shops at Caesar's Palace, but it turns out that they close at 11...so I don't know how the OpenTable reservation website let me book it for 11:30. We were pretty disappointed that we weren't getting any famous Max Brenner chocolate desserts after walking the strip late at night in the heat after an earful of drunk girl talking & parched throats from the smokiness of the strip. Mom got ice cream & ibruprofen for us from the hotel shop though and we had a wonderful night anyway. 

I went to bed that night dreaming of cirque du soleil...ok I don't know if I really did dream that but I probably did because it was so amazing! I caught a taxi cab to the airport the next morning and flew home. My awesome friend Hailee picked me up and I went back to work that same day. 

Thanks Mom for a fabulous time in Vegas with you! I loved every minute of it! 

And that concludes our Labor Day Weekend.