R.I.P. Kobe

Dear Kobe,

I am so sorry I left you in the bathroom inside the Monte Carlo on my way to CityCenter last night. I had specifically put you on as I was attending VEGAS Magazine's VEGAS Sparkles event and what sparkles more than you?!? But you didn't make it to the party and it's all my fault :(

We've been together since I was 21 and you brought so much joy to my life. The moment I put you on, you made me feel like the $4 million you'd be worth if you were real (although you know you've always been real in my heart).

You were a part of Club Monster Katie days. All those nights when Creepy McCreeperson would try grinding on me in the club or sleezily try to buy me a drink, I would simply place you on my left ring finger and call it a day.

Because who wants to compete with your 8 carats?

I hope some P.Y.T. found you in the bathroom last night and that she will rock you the way you deserve to be rocked - in a hot little dresses, a nice tan and some lip gloss. And that you will save her from countless douchers hitting on her in the club.

But know this, Kobe, you will forever live in my heart. And I am sorry it ended this way but maybe it's a sign that a real one is coming along for me here real soon.

Keep Blinging,

Katie K.

Club Monster Curtis

So about two months ago, the girls and I decided it was time to dust off our dancing shoes (once again) and hit the club. We needed to shake our things, feel alive, DANCE DANCE DANCE!

Yes, two months ago we picked a date. This is what happens as we get older. It gets more difficult as people have children, husbands and careers. I remember the days when Club Monster Katie would decide to hit the club at 1 a.m. Those days, my friends, are long gone.

I sent out an evite, because that's also what you do when you get old. We need to have it on our calendars, people! or it just won't happen.

Eener and I were discussing what it would be like one night at SSFS. Afterall, it had been about a year since we hit the 'ol club scene. First discussion was if we still have the moves. "We'll be dropping it like it's hot. Wait. Do they even still do that? WAIT. Can WE even still do that?" (And to answer that question, yes, of course, and we will be until we're 84.). I told her that I no longer worried about guys coming up and grinding on us like they did back in the day. "Why not?" "Because we're old now. None of the 22-year-old frat boys are going to want to come up and grind up on this old lady." "No, no, I don't think they will be able to tell that we're old. It's dark in there." Hmmm. "We'll wear our cardigans. And flats. So they know."

So when the Alerts popped up on our calendar and we knew the TIME HAD COME, we put on our new dresses and lip gloss, popped in our GNO Mix Tape (Beiber Fever!) and headed for CityCenter/Bellagio. The Bank was our first stop of the evening.

We brought Club Monster Curtis along for the ride and let me tell you, this guy is a good time. Since, unfortunately, we don't have video, let me just tell you that his voice is that of the background in Luda's 'How Low Can You Go'.

And now, without further ado, Club Monster Reunion + Meet CMC....

Go, Fight, Win!

So today is the first day of Fall. And what is more Fall than some good 'ol football? Now, I've taken this whole "getting into football" thing pretty srsly over the past two years. You see, two seasons ago (the year of 2007), I decided that I needed to have a TEAM. Lobo, as my BFF, was in football pools at work, fantasy league stuff on the side, placing bets at the sports book on the weekends and well, I was like "hey that seems like fun, I want a team." So I talked to John Bon (Lobo's brother) and he said I should pick a team based on where I am from. We came to the Baltimore Ravens except HAVE YOU SEEN THEIR COLORS? Purple and yellow?? Eh, not so much. So I based picking my team on colors. Yes, I said it. I picked The NY Giants for a classic combo of red, white and blue (just don't make me chant their colors, OK??) And do you know what happened that season, kids? THE GIANTS WON THE SUPERBOWL.

That's right. Because I was their newest fan. And damn proud of it.

So ever since that glorious day in February 2008, I have stayed true to my team. Sam (my stepdad), even gifted me with a gigantic XXL official NFL jersey that he won at the bar during Monday Night Football one night last year. And I wore it to a bar to watch one of the final Giants games last season (much to the pleasure of Scott and Lobo). And I will wear it again. Over leggings! Over pajama pants! Over jeans! Over a dress! Photos to come. Even Gordo has a Giants-themed hoody!

But I digress. The point is, I've somehow TRICKED MYSELF into really enjoying football. At first it was a joke because think about it....ME??? Loving football??? C'mon. What would I ever do with my Monday nights trying to decide between Gossip Girl and Monday Night Football (GG still wins, for the record). But then during the season of the Bear, him being the biggest Longhorns fan in Vegas, I got really into that team, too. Not that I had much of a choice but by mid-season, I was loving Colt McCoy and leaving the table with Lobo while visiting the Wicklers in Denver to CHECK THE SCORE.

Then, it happened...over the past two weeks, I've actually SAT DOWN AND WATCHED THE WHOLE GIANTS GAME by myself.

What has happened to me?

To top it ALL off, Anika and I attended the UNLV vs. Oregon State game last weekend. Yeah, we took our SATURDAY NIGHT that used to be reserved for dance floors and cosmos (but, lets be real, Club Monster Katie died with DJ AM) and went to SAM BOYD STADIUM, which I hadn't been to since Lisa and I saw N*SYNC's Celebrity Tour there in 2001. We did it right, have you no worries. We tailgated with the best of them and I even wore my school's colors (Anika, unknowingly showed up in Oregon State colors....HILARIOUS, what are the odds that she would be wearing blue and orange that night? She had to make a quick change in the car before we headed in).

We drank beer, we ate pretzels (and CHEESE, of course), we checked out the dudes (another bonus to this whole football thing), we booed and we even got up on our feet and chanted when the Rebels scored a touchdown.

Unfortunately, the Rebels lost the game that night.

Proving my theory of "if I'm supporting you, you will win" might be a little flawed but at least my Giant are holding strong.

This day, last Saturday, September 12, 2009, was the proudest day for my father. Carl must've called three or four times just to "see how the game was!" Doesn't even matter that it wasn't a Penn State game, he was just so happy to see his daughter taking an interest in the all mighty FOOTBALL SEASON.

And see, when I type that, I hear Al Roker in my head saying SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA. And I love it.

So who is with me for Sunday at 10 a.m. for the Giants vs. Tampa Bay game?? The best part of it all? If there is football on, beer drinking is allowed, it's like that whole "it's noon somewhere!" rule and I am all for it.

GO, FIGHT, WIN!

Let Me Tell You About Going Out On A Wednesday Night

It is hard. I know from the photo above, we make it look so easy.

You're sitting at home, you've already done your normal after-work routine (i.e. feed and walk the dog, make dinner, watch SYTYCD while laid up on the couch) and then all of a sudden you have to GO PUT A DRESS ON and touch up your make-up when usually in about an hour, you'd be hitting the sack.

How do I get myself into these situations? You see, working in the very glamorous (see: NOT) world of PR, you get invites to any and every event ever. You can imagine that in Vegas, this means there is always something going on. Well I got an invite from Las Vegas Magazine about two weeks ago about this Singles Event at LAX. See, hosted bar = sold. So I sent the invite to Anika asking if she wanted to be my date and of course, she was on board.

Then all of a sudden, July 22 rolls around and the last thing I want to do is get all dolled up to go out way past my bedtime on a Wednesday night. BUT we did it. We pre-partied with Gordon at my place and then headed down to The Strip. We get to the Luxor, after almost getting lost because who the f goes to the Luxor, and of course, there is a CRAZY line outside of LAX. It takes Anika and I like 15 minutes to figure out how to by-pass the line. We eventually do and walk into the club. But, oh wait, IT ISN'T EVEN OPEN YET. Here I am, at 10:40 p.m. ready to pass out and a place hasn't even opened it's doors for the evening yet. Luckily, Noir Bar dropped its exclusivity and we were welcomed inside. This bar is actually really swanky and cool, it's got a great vibe to it, all tucked away. So we get our first free drink HOLY CRAP THIS IS SO STRONG and before I know it, we're rapping along to Wyclef Jean sitting in our plush leather chairs and I'm saying "DO YOU WANT TO GO DANCE????"

Yeah, here I am, Club Monster Katie, out on a Wednesday night doing JT's version of The Single Ladies dance without a care in the world.

Funny how it comes back so easily.


Today was rough though, stopped at Sbux and added shot. 'Cause yeah, the evening was like that.

Club Monster Katie : A Thursday Night Escapade

Your eyes do not deceive you, my reader. That is indeed PY, myself and Lobo spelling out C-L-U-B with our hands. You see, this past Thursday, was a rare occasion. The occasion was a bachelorette party for Jillian, a girl that went to The Meadows with PY and Lobo. There are two reasons you would ever find Lobo in a club.

1. Someone is getting married.

2. It is my birthday and I have guilted her into coming.

Now, also it is also a rare occasion for me to be leaving my house to go to a club at 10 p.m. on a week night. But this, this I could not miss. It was worth every second of my lack-0f-sleep, hungover work day last Friday. We had a BLAST. PY, had THREE drinks. That is as many as Lauren and I had and probably the most she has had since college. She was making me laugh so hard I almost spit out my drink like four different times. And wait for it, wait for it...Lobo was on the dance floor and MOVING and SMILING. It was a proud moment for Club Monster Katie. When we finally took a break out on Blush's patio, I checked my phone. 1:56 a.m. My jaw dropped. Lobo said, "Ha! I was wondering when you were going to notice." How the tables have turned, my friends, have the tables have turned. However, I know that if I were to ever try to convince the two of them to come out to a club (in another three months when I'm ready to go again), they would turn me down. "But remember that night at Blush....remember how much fun we had?!?" "Yes but um no, I'm going to pass." So, please, please call me if you're a long lost friend of ours who is getting married so I have an excuse to drag these ladies back under the lights, the steam and the sounds of a DJ.

Are you there, DJ? It's me, Katie.

So there we are on Girl's Night Out. I'm happy to tell you that it was a total SUCCESS. We started at my place for a few drinks and then headed to Sammy's for a delicious meal. After reviewing our choices, we decided to start at our classic spot...Body English. We knew we would be able to walk in and I knew that they offered free Champagne for the ladies on Friday nights. Bubbly at Body English? I'd never turn that down. We arrived, like when the doors opened, like a couple of old ladies and the place was empty. And stayed that way until midnight when we decided it was time to "move on". But we did get some great shots since we had so much room to work with on the dance floor:

We then decided to head to Tao, which was the polar opposite of Body English. We were like a bunch of sardines on the dance floor there. I'm sure at one point or another in the beginning we were all thinking, "This. Is. Miserable. Who ARE all these people??"

Once we established some room, we had a grand old time and before we knew it, it was 2:15 in the morning and we had been dancing for a solid two hours. Then it was time for some fresh air out on the balcony. Here I captured a great shot of Lile.

I suffered from quite the hangover on Saturday but bounced back after a delicious brunch and movie with Chloe and Alex. Saturday night was spent with LoBo drinking Sangria at Firefly. Although I had a BLAST on Friday night, I think we all felt we got it out of our system and won't need to visit the scene again for another 6-12 months.

I love 22-year-old me. I won't deny the fact that I certainly felt 22 again, especially when we were at Tao. Driving down Flamingo towards the Hard Rock brought back some fond memories. But, more importantly this weekend, I learned sitting at Firefly on Saturday with Lauren, that I also love 25-year-old me. The one who enjoys some good conversation, good Sangria and is in bed by midnight and up at 7 for a walk in the park with her dog.

Turns out, growing up isn't too shabby after all.

Dust Off Your Dancing Shoes, Ladies.

These two ladies are my partners-in-crime tonight. The three of us are dusting off our old dancing shoes and hitting the town.

Watch out Vegas, we're back.

The three of us (that would be myself, Double L and Eener and years ago a few more, before people started running off and getting married) used to be regulars down on the Las Vegas Strip. No joke, several of my friends referred to me as "Club Monster Katie". Most of the time, I don't miss rolling in at 4 a.m. smelling like a nightclub. The crowds, the drinks spilt on your new shirt, the sleazy men who think that humping you from behind is dancing, the $16 sugar-free Red Bulls...but every once in awhile, we'll get an itch, an itch to re-live what used to be a normal weekend for us.

So a few weeks ago, we picked this date as an Official Girl's Night Out. (I remember when it used to be 11 p.m. on a Saturday and we'd decide to hit the club and now we need three weeks notice!) In preperation of this evening, I picked up the current issue of Las Vegas Weekly a few minutes ago and WOW, there I found a complete GUIDE on what to do and who is offering what to local ladies. There are 36 possibilities on this list if you include the gay clubs (which we do). It's a bit overwhelming.

So we're starting with a step one with the girls arriving at my place at 7:30 for pre-dinner cocktails. Needless to say, the next post should be an interesting one.

Oh and don't be surprised if I call you at 2 a.m. for a ride home :)