poker face

day two:
on friday morning, jen and i started the day off correctly at starbucks, and headed downtown to meet her mom at the paris hotel! jen's mom was kind enough to score us the weekend free at the paris hotel: essentially one of the nicest hotels on the strip! the room was AMAZING with the best view EVER of the eiffel tower - right out of our window!





we had a cute lunch at a little cafe inside the paris hotel with jen's mom. from there we headed to the pool again for some more action in the sun!!

us ready to bake a little more!


by the pool, i enjoyed this 'little' concoction:



the view while tanning:


on friday night, we decided to take it easy since we had gone out the night before. jen's boyfriend (michael) came to hang out, and we all ate dinner at the buffet at the paris (so good)! after dinner we took a special trip to the top of the eiffel tower, where we saw some unbelievable views of the strip!

waking up in vegas

enjoy reading about my trip to vegas, one day at a time!

last week i had the opportunity to fly to las vegas to visit my dear friend, jen guttman. jen and i met while at disney world for the college program - she and i both worked at kilimanjaro safaris! after we both decided to extend our programs, jen and i decided to move in together while in florida into a one bedroom apartment. we had a great month together, but jen had to abruptly leave the program for medical reasons. we did a decent job keeping in touch over the past year, and i was thrilled at the chance to see her again.

day one:
i flew into las vegas at about 11pm (2am to my body!) on a wednesday night, and went straight back to jen's parents house to sleep! on thursday i slept in a bit, and then we headed to the strip to take advantage of a connection jen used to get our names on the guest list at the wynn hotel pool. there, we baked in the sun all day - from 11am-6pm! we did take a break to have a nice lunch indoors at the terrace point cafe inside the wynn.

here's a photo with our view while laying out:



and of course, a classic myspace picture of us in the mirror of a bathroom:



that evening we headed back to jen's house for a fabulous dinner cooked by her dad, neil. he made grilled chicken (off the grill!) fajitas with peppers and onions, along with an amazing guacamole! later that evening jen and i took our time getting ready, and then we drove back downtown to the strip, right back to the wynn! we went to the wynn's nightclub, tryst.

jen and i before leaving her house:




the waterfall within the nightclub!



jen and i at tryst!



tryst was quite an experience. there were wall-to-wall people so it was difficult to make our way toward anything! we did manage to come out of the evening having not paid a dime, and we made it fun, despite the crowd!

ireland

i have much to post about, including lots on my (amazing) vegas trip and all the painting that has been ocurring at my new apartment...but since those of us that blog know that a post isn't quite as exciting without pictures (and i am currently at work which means my pictures are on my computer at home) i decided to get myself pumped for my upcoming trip to ireland.

i fly to ireland on friday, september eleventh (scary, i know) and i return on september twenty-sixth. while i will have to work every day from 9-5ish, i will have every night free and two weekends to explore.

if you are curious as to just how crazy this world is, i encourage you to search in my previous blogs for february 9th, 2009 - as well as february 1, 2009 (#3): in both of these blogs i conveyed my desire to visit ireland. interesting, eh? and here i am...ready to head to the green hills and NOT ON MY TAB. brilliant.

because my two weeks in ireland will exist because of extensive training for my job, i haven't had much to do at work, as of yet. so in my spare (all) time, i ordered two guidebooks (rick steves ireland, and lonely planet dublin...because i couldn't make up my mind)and i will probably have read them cover to cover before i even step out of the country.

check out these interesting facts from the dublin guidebook:

-in the summer of 2007, it never got above 59 degrees and it rained 59 days straight (did i mention how thrilled i am that the weather will be chilly while i'm there!!!? hello pashminas!)

-there is no smoking inside anywhere in ireland (unless it's your house, of course)

-dublin is the 16th most expensive city in the world (good thing i'm not paying!)

these are some places i definitely want to visit (within the walls of dublin...more to come on all of ireland later):

Irish Museum of Modern Art



Hill of Howth



Moore Street Market



St. Patrick's Cathedral



Temple Bar



so who knows if i'll actually make it to all these venues...and i'm positive that i'm about to find a million more places i want to see as i continue my reading today...

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

Today is my co-worker (and very dear friend)'s 22nd birthday, so I decided to have a little fun at the office!!

This was waiting for her when she arrived this morning!


These DIVINE treats were also waiting for her (from the Cupcake Shoppe on Glenwood Avenue) - maybe my new favorite place EVER!








Happy Birthday Rachel! I hope your day is GREAT! I'm so glad to have you here every single day! =)I'd go insane without you!