May 25, 2011

• Mid-May, Alice and I took Sophia on a 3-day weekend trip to Vegas to celebrate her 30th birthday.

  Day 1: All 3 sisters flew in to Las Vegas and met up at the airport. (Wheee!) We checked into our hotel, the Vdara in City Center, which we nabbed at a great price thanks to Kathy’s recommendation to use Hotwire. The Vdara is a unique hotel on The Strip, as there is no smoking and no casino. There was a kitchenette in the room, complete with small fridge, a pretty big sink, and 2 burners. Obviously with so many nice restaurants, we had no plans to cook … but I took note of it since I usually travel with kids.

   

  First stop … The Cosmopolitan for a buffet lunch at The Wicked Spoon. The salads were so good, as were the steamed mussels, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken. Thanks to Kathy for the recommendation! After lunch, we went to the Miracle Mile shops. I usually shop alone, and it was great to get feedback on what to buy. Then it was back to Vdara to change and head out to the MGM to watch Ka. What an incredible show … I was mesmerized the whole time. Highly recommended. Post show, we grabbed dinner at China Poblano at the Cosmopolitan. It was good, but pricey for a casual, sit-at-the-bar place.

  

   

  Day 2: On our second day, we went to the Mandarin Oriental for spa treatments. As I could not pay close to $200 for a massage when I get them locally for under $50, I signed us all up for a new experience: Hammams (Turkish baths). It was very relaxing. In short, you lie down on heated granite in a large steam room and someone bathes you … complete with massage.

  

  We stayed over 5 hours at the spa, making good use of their steam room, lanconium, experience showers, vitality pool, and lounging areas. It was especially relaxing since we basically had the whole place to ourselves. We were so hungry after our spa treatments, but had dinner reservations at Picasso that evening, so we grabbed light mid afternoon appetizers at MOZen.

  

  Picasso was located in the Bellagio shops area … which was right next to our hotel, through a walkway. We all decided on the 5-course Prix Frixe. While the appetizers were absolutely delicious (lobster salad, dayboat scallop over a potato puree, seared fois gras), I was disappointed in my main dish. It was a grilled fish with some steamed vegetables around it. Nothing special. Alice’s lamb dish did taste much better, but I could also easily see it on a less expensive menu. (Yes, I guess I do have a habit of eating other people’s food!) Good experience, but given the plethora of restaurants in Vegas, I doubt I’d be back (as a side note, I also think that of Joel Robuchon.) Post dinner, we walked around the Bellagio gardens and marveled at Jean-Philippe’s cakes. My sisters insisted we play “The Mermaid game” slots before heading to bed.

   

  

  

  Day 3: On our last day in Vegas, we held our luggage at the hotel. For brunch, we hit The Buffet at Aria. It was okay – a pretty typical Vegas buffet, and the crab legs were frozen. They had great kimchi and carrot cake dessert.

   

  Then it was off to the outlets for more shopping! My big find was a black Michael Kors bag, marked down almost 75% off! We shopped (and shopped and shopped) until it was time to pick up our luggage and head to the airport. Due to storms, flights were significantly delayed, but it worked in my favor because I was able to get on an earlier standby. What a great weekend. It had been way too long since our last sisters-only vacation. They are THE BEST! Happy 30th Birthday Sophia!

  The only downside to the trip was that I lost my iPhone. I had it while calculating the tip at Picasso, and it was gone by the time I got back to our hotel. I called both Picasso and The Bellagio, but it was not returned. Unfortunately for the thief, my iPhone may not be as valuable as s/he hoped. The case has a few small cracks, and there is a pretty significant audio issue (can’t hear the phone ring). Also, it was dropped into a bathtub in Hawaii last year, which invalidated the warranty. And as opposed to the typical 4 number password, since I had work email on my phone, it was a 9 character alphanumeric password. Oh well. It could be worse. Since I’m only a few months away from renewing my contact (and being eligible for a new phone), I opted to use James’ old iPhone 3G for the time being.

  Back at home, over the weekend, James’ parents visited. He also took the kids over to Sam/Melissa’s for dinner one evening. It was great relaxing and spending quality time with my sisters, knowing that the kids were also having fun back home. Of course though, no pictures. James is not as snap-happy as I am.

  The evening after I flew back, Melissa, Karen, Rachel, and I went to dinner at Ella’s to celebrate Sandy’s promotion. I am always so thrilled and inspired when mothers of young children advance in the workplace. Congratulations Sandy – you deserve it! Thanks to Melissa for organizing the get-together and treating us all to desserts!

  

  Friday, my team went to Vintner’s for wine tasting, appetizers, and to mix a batch of red wine. We’ll be back in a few weeks for bottling … and more drinking. 

  

  Later that night, I caught the movie “Bridesmaids” with my girlfriends Sandy, Karen, and Rachel. What a crass movie – exactly what I needed after a week of crazy budget and roadmap deliverables at work!

  Saturday, James and Zachary ran another 5k. It was a smaller race (slightly over 200 people) and not very organized … the 5k was more than 5k, and the path was not clearly marked. The people organizing it were very  friendly though, and the entry fee went to support victims of domestic violence. Zachary placed 1st in his division, and James placed 3rd.

  

  Since we were in Roseville, we decided to redeem our Dave & Busters coupons ($20 worth of free play). On the way there, we saw that there was a Safety fair across the street in the mall parking lot. We stopped to walk around … kids jumped in bounce houses, and we visited the various vendor stalls. Chick-fil-a coupons for a free chicken sandwich, drink, and waffle fries took care of lunch. We did eventually make it over to Dave & Busters and played family favorites … Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal, 21, air hockey, skeeball. On the way back, we redeemed McDonald’s coupons for free yogurt parfaits, which were very good! In summary … we went to Roseville and did a bunch of free stuff.

   

   

  That evening, we celebrated Joe’s birthday with a barbecue at Joe/Sara’s home. The kids had a great time running around outside, playing basketball, writing with sidewalk chalk, playing soccer, and jumping on their big trampoline. Happy 40th Birthday Joe!

  

    

  Sunday, we took it easy. I ran with with coworkers in the morning while James took the kids to swim lessons. Then I took the kids to see the Disney documentary “African Cats” followed by more free McDonald’s parfaits (we had 4 coupons!) Late afternoon, James took the kids to the park to play in the water while I ran errands … in preparation for our next vacation!   

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