Staycation Alert!

So this whole running the PR department thing has got me on a tight leash here in Vegas until April 5 (at which time I am tempted to take the whole week off...) so when I found out that Chloe was coming to visit, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity for a staycation. They are all the rage now.

Chloe is one of my nearest and dearest. I met her through Panda (Arlene) here at SK+G. The two of them quickly adopted me into their lunch hours and it's been a beautiful, blossoming friendship ever since. About a year ago, Chloe's world got turned upside down and she made the decision to take the opportunity to move back home to New Hampshire and go to Nursing School. Truly following her dreams and her heart for the first time in her life.

This was her first trip back to Vegas and her first trip ever here as a girl without a ring on it. We made a list of all the places we had to go, things we had to eat and all the drinks in-between. Needless to say, I think I'm going to need a vacation from my staycation after all of this!

Friday night kicked off with HALLELUJAH the first baseball game of the season. It's tradition that Renee goes to Major League Weekend here for her birthday every year with her family and this was my second year tagging along. The Cubbies won this year and so did the beer.





Saturday Chloe arrived! We started the evening at Downtown Firefly which prompted a post on my Facebook explaining that if Downtown LV is my home away from home then Don't Tell Mama is my living room, The Griffin is my basement, Firefly is my kitchen and Globe Salon is my dressing room. Especially since it feels like I've spent more time at these places over the past year than I have in my own little cozy abode. So yes, we enjoyed several hours of tapas and sangria at Firefly....



.....followed by a trip to Don't Tell Mama where Panda treated us to her singing talents. You should have seen the crowd the moment she opened her mouth. She gets up like "I want to sing a song" and then BAM R-E-S-P-E-C-T. And respect she earned. That girls got cords for days.

And you know what we had? Shots for days. When we got our tab from the beautiful Bianca, my jaw hit the floor. But WTH, I'm on staycation. We then headed two doors over to The Griffin. Which, after several hours of more drinks and conversation, eventually led to pancakes with Superchump (you read that right) at the El Cortez which led to Chloe and I getting back to The Palms just in time to catch the sunrise over CityCenter from the view out our room.

It was one of the most surreal nights of my life.

And yes, I needed the entire next time to recover but alas, we had a tattoo appointment to get to. Chloe decided that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always have to stay in Vegas and got herself her first tattoo. It is so perfect, three stars...past, present and future. The past and the present stars are filled in with the future wide open. I just love love love the meaning of it and she's really happy with it (probably because it's not a giant fairy tattooed above her ass).

The rest of Sunday was spent recovering with meals from In-N-Out and a trip to Golden Spoon (the necessities, you know).

Monday evening brought the 2nd Annual Happy Birthday Pung You Hike out at Red Rock with Audrey, Mousse, Gordie and myself.


Gordon of course found the first stream of water, splashed all the way through it, rolled in red dirt and basically ran amuck. Look how happy the boy was!


Last night was Tiki Tiki Tiki Time over at Frankie's and catching some of our favorite local talent at The Brass Lounge.

And tonight brings a final trip (at least for this staycation) to Downtown Freemont East. I have so so SO enjoyed my time with Chloe since she has been here and it breaks my heart that I don't get her like this every day anymore but we have certainly made the best out of this first trip and I know there will be many, many more to come. I am so happy to see the person that she has blossomed into during her adventure of this past year and am blessed to be able to call her one of my closest friends. Love you, Chloe.