The Vegas Crew - 2006

The Boston Four
Originally uploaded by LadyJ117.

Before I start rehashing my trip to Vegas, I felt it necessary to introduce you to the crew who went. This way, I won't have to keep explaining who people are every time I start a new story. So you better pay attention because this is your first and last introduction to the girls on the trip!

Now we were without a couple of regulars this year as Katie-Belle and Krissy, my sister, weren't able to come due to lack of funds.
Understandable, because I don't know who's money I thought I was spending, but it was more than I had budgeted!! Oh well, you only live once right.

Anyway, this year, Jacks, my best friend, and I were joined by Amanda and Michaela. For Jacks, this trip was her fourth straight. For me, it was my fifth. Michaela had been to Sin City at least once before, but Amanda was our very own Vegas virgin. Here we are on the first night (Thursday) at the Center Bar. This is a circular shaped bar located in the middle of the Hard Rock Hotel Casino, slightly raised above the casino floor. We spend a lot of time here because it's an early place to see and be seen. From left to right are: Amanda, Jacks, me, and Michaela.

We didn't meet the rest of our crew until Saturday night. My friend Liz and her friend Andrea joined us for dinner at Bartolla in the Wynn Hotel. It was upscale Italian food and the menu was designed as a three-course meal. I felt horrible when I told Liz it was only moderately expensive because pasta dishes ranged from $13-$20. But OOOOOHHHH NOOO, that price was for the appetizer portion. We had to double it for the dinner. I'm not complaining about paying $26 for pasta, but tack on another $13 for a "mixed green salad" that was essentially iceberg in a bag, plus another $18 for two tiny
vodka drinks and I was all set with this place. It was good, but not THAT good.

Anyway, here's Liz and Andrea well on their way to drunksville at the Golden Palms, a karaoke bar well off the strip. Essentially, we were in another universe, although only three minutes from the strip. Michaela came with and we all agreed it was the divey-est place we'd been to in Vegas. But that don't mean it wasn't fun, especially because we were drunk!! Used condoms on the bathroom floor? Who doesn't want to see that?

There were two more girls on the trip--Tami and Erin--whom I hardly knew. They met up with us for about an our on Saturday night. Just wanted to let you know that at one time we were an eight-woman posse!!

So, now that you know the crew, I hope to start getting into some stories and more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

I'm not dead, just recovering.

Hello all! I'm back from Vegas!! Survived a four-day excursion and had more fun than I could have imagined. Great weather, great clubs, great people. The works!!

As to be expected, I'm swamped at work. Flew in yesterday morning and was in the office at 2 p.m. I'm the only one in my Vegas crew who sucked it up and went to work!! Kudos please!!

Anyway, I'll try to at least start the process of reviewing the weekend tomorrow. Later!!

Let's crank the freak switch to 11 and get it on!

The preceeding sentence was used in a hilarious TV commercial about Mohegan Sun, but I thought it was just as appropriate for blog about Vegas, which is where I'll be in just over 48 hours. Yup, me and some girlfriends are taking off for a weekend of fun and partying in Sin City. Can't wait!! Seriously, the next two days could quite possibly be the longest of my life!! The waiting will be worth it, though.

Staying at the Hard Rock, the coolest hotel in Vegas--not to mention the best place to spot a celeb. Over the last five years, I've either met or seen the following celebrities (and I use this term loosely with some of these peeps) at the Hard Rock: Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders), Dave Navarro, Courtney Love, J-Lo and Ben Affleck (when they were dating, of course), and Weeman. Can't wait to see who'll we'll spot next!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the office renovations are going pretty well. They were slapping some paint on the walls today. Two shades of blue throughout the building and an awkward green and yellow combo in the new kitchen. I'm not trying to be that skeptic homeowner on "Trading Spaces" who mocks Doug's design choices without seeing the finished product, but I got to say I'm not wild about the color scheme. It's almost too un-office like, if that's possible. I guess that's a good thing, though. I'm going to see how it all plays out before I form an opinion.

Might be my last post until after Vegas because I'm going to be pretty busy for the next couple of days. I should be able to squeeze in a farewell of some kind on Wednesday, if you're lucky.

Huh?

I hate being sick. I'm a great big baby when I am, to be quite honest. I was one of those kids who was never sick. I rarely missed a day of school and was one of those dorks who routinely got perfect attendance. (That was until my freshman year in high school when I was one of about 20 kids to receive a "Perfect Attendance Award" in front of the entire school at the awards banquet, prompting boos. As soon as I got home that day, I told my mother I would HAVE to be absent at least one day a year for the remainder of my high school days!!).

Anyway, I was miserable on Monday and Tuesday, but then I took some Claratin and now I feel much better. This miraculous little pill is probably as close at it gets to a cure for the common cold. It's expensive, but I swear by it. Best stuff on earth if you're sick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what is it with me and psycho guys? Long story short, about a month after I broke up with the man I'd been seeing for two years, I made out with a guy. He was a friend of one of my roommates and was hanging out one night. It was a good make-out session, but that's as far as it went. We said our goodbyes and that was it.

Last Friday night, he showed up for a party we had for Jillian (my roommie). This is a good three months after our drunken make-out session and keep in mind, we haven't spoken since. I politely said hello when he arrived, but didn't really pay much attention to him the rest of the night. Not interested. At all. But he, apparently, is so the whole night, he's trying to get my attention and trying to get me to hang out with him, which I didn't do.

Later, when I'm doing some cleanup in the kitchen, he asks if he can take me out to dinner and a movie, mind you, we haven't spoken at all that night and I gave him no indication that I was interested. I paused and asked him, "Can I just say no? Is that okay?" He was all, "Why? You're so different than before. Are we going to talk about this?"

Excuse me? TALK ABOUT WHAT?? I just went off and said something along the lines of, "Look, three months ago, we were drunk and made out. I'm not sure what it meant to you, but to me, that's all it was: A drunken make-out. I haven't talked to you since, so I'm not sure what you think we have to talk about. We don't have a relationship and I'm not interested in one. You dig?"

What a freak!! I mean, aren't we supposed to be the drama queens? I seriously might swear off guys for a while. That is, until a week from now when I'm in Vegas, the drunken make-out capital of the world.

Seven days and counting!!

The day no one wants to remember, but will never forget.

There's construction going on in our building right now, all in preparation for the influx of new staff heading this way in about two weeks. It's so unbelievably loud and I really don't know how I'm working right now. All I've been able to do is edit some stories and write a few myself. Making a phone call, however, is out of the question. I can't even hear myself think let alone hear someone on the phone. So vexing!! Couldn't they have done this over the weekend, when our office wasn't full of reporters trying to work? Oh no. It has to be Monday morning, when I'm hungover from the Patriots season-opening game, and cranky, and sunburned, and hungry, and
tired. Waaaah!!

So in an attempt to rid my ears of the noise of construction, I've been listening to Howard Stern's rebroadcast of his radio show from Sept. 11, 2001. Since he's on Sirius, I'm able to listen online with my headphones. It was tough to listen to, but I think he did the right thing by rebroadcasting it. I was at work when planes hit the World Trade Center towers five years ago today. I had listened to Howard earlier in the morning on the drive down to work. He was talking about how he kissed Pam Anderson and was getting razzed by the guys about how he didn't "close the deal." I wanted to hear the rest of the story and remember being ticked that I was going to miss it to go to work.

Then, we were attacked.

We watched the coverage on TV in the newsroom, looking on in horror as the unthinkable happened. Of course scared, confused and angry, I'll admit it was a little easier to take because I was so far away from it. That was not the case this morning listening to Howard. Hearing him and his staff and people who called in all experiencing it right then and there was unbelievable. They were so confused and so unaware of what was going on. Hearing that now, knowing what we do, was insane. Listening to them try to take it all in and try to figure out what was happening then, knowing what was coming next was surreal. They revealed to me what it was like to be in New York City on that horrible day and it was so gripping. It was a very moving morning to say the least.

How are you dealing with today?

A Thursday one-liner.

Straight from the website “Overheard in New York”, I offer you the following:

Chick on a cell phone: “Yeah, he wouldn’t watch my kid last night because he was hanging out with Wilmer Valdarrama.”

Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that one!!

Have I mentioned I HATE Monday holidays?

Well, I do. With a passion. That’s why you haven’t heard from me in days!! Hopefully, I’ll be able to get more in depth tomorrow, but it’s not likely. Going to the Sox game with my Dad, so I’m going to have to rush out of work to make it. Perhaps I’ll talk to you in the next millennium, when I’ve finally sifted out of the rubble from under my desk.

Hope your week’s going better than mine!!