Quick Weekend in Vegas

A few months ago, one of my best friends, Amanda, moved to Vegas for work. She is now a big hot shot in marketing at one of the major hotel groups out there, so I planned a trip to visit. I arrived Friday evening, and we stopped at the strip on the way back to her apartment for pizza at Five50 in Aria (Aria is one of the newest hotels on the strip and one of the nicest, based on my thorough inspection of its lobby).

Five50 was delicious! We shared garlic bread, a chopped salad, and the meatiest pizza they had.
 I really liked the ambiance of the restaurant, too--not too dressy or casual, perfectly fine for conversation, and  We ended up bringing all but two slices of the pizza home because we were stuffed, but that made for a perfect lunch the next day. The rest of the evening focused on catching up, relaxing on the couch, and getting to sleep relatively early.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep in much, but I still felt rested upon waking up. We ate some cereal (a special treat! Amanda had some delicious mango granola cereal from TJ's) and then headed out for a walk around Amanda's neighborhood. She lives in a more residential area of Vegas, and it was really nice to see the parks nearby with lots of active kids, families, and dogs. We even saw a mini-dog show with four dogs competing to win what was obviously a rather prestigious and competitive honor.

Amanda and I spent a lot of Saturday just relaxing, hanging out at home, watching The Mindy Project, eating leftover pizza. Later in the afternoon I suggested pampering ourselves, so we headed to a local nail salon for manicures and pedicures (in the fancy massage chairs!). I decided on grey, shimmery nails, which turned out to look a little like abalone colors, and blue toes. We agreed it was a mermaid theme.

After a quick grocery trip, we whipped up some veggie quesadillas at home and munched on too many chips with guac and pineapple salsa. We also made brownies and topped them with ice cream, which is one of life's great duos. Amanda had Pitch Perfect, which I've only seen once, and my love for Anna Kendrick only grew watching it a second time. How is she so awesome?

So on Sunday we basically repeated our entire routine from Saturday: coffee/tea, cereal, long walk, but then we spiced it up with brunch! We went to Honey Salt, which I highly recommend. Amanda had the short rib egg slider, and I chose the roasted apple pancakes.

Both were incredible! Plus, the restaurant is just so cute, and they have a salt scrub in the bathroom that made my hands feel soft like butter. We also contributed a haiku to the guest book, which was a cute way of presenting the bill.

We did a little window shopping after brunch and then headed to the apartment so I could pack up. Before my flight, we headed to the strip once more. Amanda showed me the stunning Chinese New Year decorations at The Bellagio,

we browsed the "Women Artists" exhibit, we checked out the Cosmopolitan hotel, and we stopped at Jean Phillipe's incredibly artistic dessert displays. We also grabbed sandwiches for an early dinner, since my flight was during dinnertime, and I snagged two croissants to bring home to share with Terry (chocolate and almond).

After a quick stop at the Bellagio fountain, we headed to the airport and said our goodbyes.

Not at the Bellagio fountain, but a nice photo

The weekend, while quick, helped me completely relax. It was wonderful to step back from apartment hunting and baby stuff to catch up with my friend and clear my head a bit. I think it worked, too, because I haven't had stomachaches in several days!

And of course, it was wonderful to come home to my favorite boys. Scout ran around the house for about a half hour after I came home, so I'd say he must have missed me a little. (Terry expressed his sentiment by joyfully eating the croissant I brought him, which is his way of saying he loves me.)