Six4Paula.Com

“Thumbin’ your way to Vegas, dirty
And dreamin’ of the other side…
Save your tears and laughter
because It doesn’t matter
what you find”

Pretty Vegas by JD Fortune/INXS

Blogging buddies Chesca and Frogster reminded me that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” I think they might be right.

Much of what happened there, I cannot/should not share here publicly. For many reasons I guess. Some of the stories involve other people, some of the stories might get me into trouble, and some of the stories are a wee bit embarrassing.

What can I tell about my first-trip-ever to that glittery city? I really did have a blast. I’d say 80% of my good time was because of the company I kept. I don’t get to spend enough time with my little brother, and this trip reminded me how much fun we have together, how much I adore him, and what a riot he is. And my new sister-in-law, the beautiful woman he was lucky to marry during the trip, well, she is someone I respect, enjoy, cherish and love. I’d want to be her friend even if she wasn’t married to my brother.

We stayed at the Treasure Island hotel/casino. I know, I know, the whole “Island” thing follows me everywhere doesn’t it? The wedding was to be at the same hotel so we were pretty jazzed when we checked-in and they gave us all rooms on the very top (Penthouse level) floor. I had a king-size bed in my room which felt like heaven when I got into it. My one regret was that I never spent more than 4-5 hours in it each night of the three nights I stayed there. The hotel was really nice overall. Great service, friendly staff, nice selection of places to dine, and my personal favorite, a Starbucks (oh sweet reminder of home!) right in the hotel. The cons were the terrible water, the non-service at Kahunaville, the ultra-expensive room-service menu, and the crappy “Siren’s of TI” show.

I did a lot of “firsts.” First time to Las Vegas, first time consuming several different beverages (too many too list here), first time having drinks at noon, first time getting blotto with my brother as an adult, first wedding I enjoyed (besides my own), first ride in a limo! The limo ride was so cool. About seven of us in the wedding party were on the same flight out of Seattle on Monday, and it ended up being cheaper for us all to split the cost of a limo rather than take several cabs. As much as we spent on cabs over the next 3 days, we should have just had the limo guy haul us around. First time gambling in my life too. I actually WON (tripled my money) on the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. My brother and I had a lucky seat there. We would win on it, but no one else would.

We walked everywhere and I came home with two very large blisters on my heels. There were a lot of pretty, shiny things to look at. But more than that, everything was making me laugh. The over sized mugs of obscure celebrities, the giant bosoms and rear-ends on billboards, the strange and unintelligible recordings being played in walkway areas, the lines of men and women flapping the stacks of porn cards in your face, very drunken people leaning on each other unsuccessfully, and the never-ending ’80s music played at our hotel (did they know I was coming?). I pretty much laughed my butt off the 3 days I was there. And most of that time I was very sober.

The night before the wedding is one of those times I cannot “tell-all.” There was vague talk of the guys going to a strip club and the girls going to see something like this. We decided to all hang out together and I’m glad we did. I think it ended up being a lot more fun. We had an amazing dinner at a restaurant I will make sure to visit every time I go back to Vegas. The Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas. This is a replica of the original one in Munich. The food was great (the pretzels are awesome!) and I even somehow managed to drink a whole huge 1 liter stein of beer (I hate beer!). The Man-of-Honor (my new sis-in-law had a man-of-honor instead of a maid-of-honor, see why I love her so?), told a waitress that we had a bride-to-be at our table. They called her up (my brother hadn’t been feeling well and had skipped out on the dinner) to the stage, made her put on a huge chicken head mask and told her she was going to do the chicken dance in front of the whole restaurant. She got to call up two people to do it with her and out of our group of 18, she chose me and a male co-worker of hers. I couldn’t see a thing with that mask on my face, but yes, there are pictures, and possibly even a video of me doing the chicken dance with a giant chicken head on. (Are you excited yet Bobby and Speedcat?) The only thing that could have topped this would have been if David Hasselhoff had shown up in his big chicken head and we twirled around the restaurant together.

After the giant beer, we went to spend the evening at the Fremont Street Experience. The most I remember about this was the cool show on the big canopy thing, and Todd at Binion’s who sold me waaayyyy too many margaritas. There was a hysterical ride back to the hotel where myself and one other un-named person laughed like maniacs and possibly peed on the seat of the cab. I think the cab driver hated us. The party continued in the suite of the bride and the groom where I got to know their friends better and imbibed a little more. After most of the party crashed for the night, the die-hards (myself, the bride and groom and two Über-cool guys) went down to the Casino. The bride and I wandered around playing slots and were followed (we later joked that she was stalking us) with rounds of drinks. When we all found ourselves with a drink in each hand at 4am, we knew it was time to head back to our rooms. Yes, I did pay the piper the next morning. Oh did I pay the piper. In fact, I may still owe him for letting me live.

The wedding was gorgeous. The bride truly did glow and she looked spectacular. Baby bro’ looked handsome in his tux. I cried, of course. To see my brother so happy, and to be with someone who so clearly loves him, was humbling and heartwarming. It was even more emotional for us, since our parents could not be there. My father’s health is not-so-good right now and his docs wouldn’t clear him for travel. It drove home to me how my brother and I need to stick together. And now I have a sister too thanks to his (finally) great taste in women.

The trip was a needed respite from the challenging and sometimes overwhelming responsibilities of parenting a large family and a good reminder that I need to get out and play more often, and that family and good friends, (meaning friends that see you pee in a cab and still love you), are really what life is about. I’m going to take what I learned in my 3-days in Las Vegas and apply it to my life. I hope these lessons will help me deal with my depression/anxiety issues better. I tend to isolate myself from loved ones when I am struggling. I’m finally getting the picture that this is a really bad thing.

Will I go back? You bet! (pun intended) I’m kicking the idea around of spending my 40th birthday there next January. Who wants to come!? Be warned, you may be required to don a chicken head and dance with me.