What happens in Vegas...

...stays in Vegas, right? I kind of feel that way because I don't really even know how to begin summarizing this past weekend, but I'll try my best! It was so, so much fun. Friday Anita drove up from Phoenix and picked me up, and we drove the three and a half hours to Vegas. The drive was quick and I don't think we even had a pause in our conversation. It's funny because Anita and I have been acquaintances for almost a decade- we go all the way back to livejournal days. It's only been in the last year or so that we've actually been hanging out...about time! ;) So yes, we had a great trip up there, and when we arrived we were greeted by Brittney, Vanessa and Andy. Interestingly enough outside of Anita and me, this entire trip was all based off knowing each other online. Brittney and I met from blogging years back, Vanessa and I the same, and Anita and I met Andy on Instagram. However, we all know people and have mutual friends from "real life" too...talk about a small world. All of us ended up walking across the street to Fashion Show Mall to shop for a bit, then we came back to the hotel and got ready for the evening. We ended up eating dinner at Holstein's. I got the vegan burger and it was really delicious but fell apart a little too easily. But besides that pretty great. Afterward we headed over to the Marquee in the Cosmopolitan, but not before admiring the Chandelier Bar, pictured below. I pretty much fell in love with that place. We stayed at the Marquee for a bit, but then decided to get a little crazy and venture off the strip to a local dive bar (via a cab with a driver that sounded EXACTLY like Larry's bff Jeff from Curb Your Enthusiasm), and afterward found ourselves dancing until 3:30am at Piranha, a gay club across the way. To say the night was insane was an understatement. My calves are still sore today from the 3-4 hours of non stop dancing. It was really one of my most favorite nights out I've ever had, and I'm still smiling about it today.

The next day we slept in for awhile, then headed to lunch and ended up shopping well into the evening. Saturday night we found ourselves at TAO, but for a short time. I think at that point we were all sick of being hassled about our tattoos (drunk people + a group of heavily tattooed girls is a recipe for annoyance on our part), so we ended up going back to the hotel and hanging out for the rest of the night. I slept in Brittney and Vanessa's room the first night, and then Anita and Andy's the second, and that night the three of us ended up talking until 5am! I kept thinking that I should probably try and get some sleep, but it was just way too much fun staying up like we were 12-year olds at a sleepover.

The next morning the other girls headed to the airport, and Anita and I eventually headed home. I can't even explain how amazing it is to see my sweet Henry after being away from him for a couple of days. I swear he was bigger and he was definitely making some new little noises. I sure love having fun with my friends, but nothing beats coming home to my boys.

Here are just a few photos from our trip. I'll tuck the rest away into a "what happens in Vegas..." folder on my computer, and look at them from time to time when I need a laugh. ;)














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Thank goodness it was Friday!

 

What a great day! I spent the afternoon with some lovely ladies and it was so much fun. It was a little mama/baby meet up, and we enjoyed lunch, lots of girltalk, and topped our day off with sweets and cupcakes. Perfect.  My friend Natalie is due so soon, so it was great to be able to see her adorable and pregnant. We did lunch at Joe's Farm Grill out in Gilbert and I can't say enough good things about this place. It's a really interesting restaurant. It's surrounded by farmland, and they use local, fresh food that's in season whenever possible. You can learn more about the Agritopia project and the Grill by clicking here, and I definitely recommend doing so- I was fascinated to find out the concept of this whole area. Super neat. And back to the food, last time I was there I had the grilled chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries, and today I had the hamburger and salad- it was delicious! I really, really need to remember to bring my Nikon when I go places and actually take a few minutes to snap some good photos- I'm starting to get annoyed with myself so I am not going to make that mistake again! But anyway, after lunch we walked over to The Coffee Shop to enjoy some sweet treats (my pal Chelsea actually blogged about it yesterday if you'd like to hear more about it). Natalie and I split a birthday cake cupcake (so good). It was really just the best day- it's refreshing to be around a group of mothers who are super like-minded. I'm not religious by any means and most of the Mom's groups I've encountered are more religion-based, meeting via church, etc...which is absolutely not for me. I have a few friends who are in Moms groups like that, and like I always say- to each their own, but that kind of thing just isn't up my alley whatsoever. With that said, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon with these wonderful gals!

After lunch I hurried home to Prescott so I could get ready for our date night, and was greeted by a mysterious package at the front door. Upon further investigation I saw it was from one of our dearest friends Alex, and it then hit me why he asked me the other night while we were texting, "do you like presents?" haha. Oh, Alex. When Hank got home we opened it, and inside was an amazing amount of sweets from his bakery in San Francisco, Miette! OH LORD was everything good. And yes, don't worry, I sampled one of everything.

So, after getting super full on sweets, we dropped Henry off at Hank's Mom's and went over to Wild Iris for tea and (more) sweets. I indulged a bit too much (okay a lot too much) today and let's just say I'm already looking forward to a long walk tomorrow with Henry. Yikes. But anyway, it was so much fun. We spent two hours just drinking our coconut tea, splitting a slice of citrus cheesecake, and talking about everything and anything. I feel so lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love that we can sit and talk for hours and hours. While there I also ran into two old students which is always wonderful too- they were pretty much the cutest things ever and it warmed my heart to see them doing well. All in all it's been a really great night.

Tomorrow morning Henry and I are heading downtown to enjoy breakfast with my sister-in-law before she moves to Portland for a month for floral school. How neat is that?! I'm excited for her and I know she is going to have the best time. So tomorrow is a bit of a farewell breakfast before she heads to the airport. Afterward you can find Henry and I walking around town, trying to work off some of the sugar I consumed today. ;)

Here are some photos, taken with my point and shoot Canon and my phone.


























present from Alex, thank you again sweet friend! Love you tons.



sunset from our front yard this evening



coconut tea, seriously AMAZING! Adie introduced it to Hank, who introduced it to me...and I can't wait to drink it a lot more often. Love it.



the citrus cheesecake. Yup.






I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! Until next time, xoxo!
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Wednesday/Thursday

 

I feel like I'm finishing up a great weekend, but no! It's only Thursday, and I'm loving it. One thing I am really, really grateful for is the freedom being a stay at home mama gives me. I'm able to kind of do as a please, and come down to Phoenix to see friends and family whenever I want. It's the best. And speaking of, this week something incredibly exciting happened for my darling Sarah...she got engaged! I am just beyond happy for her and Andy. Sarah has been one of my closest friends for a long, long time now, and we have one of those relationships that has grown and changed so much over time, and luckily, through all of it we are still here, together. It's amazing to see her so happy, and their wedding is going to be one for the books! So of course I had to come down and celebrate, and that's exactly what we did! We ended up going to Pita Jungle for dinner and spent a couple of hours talking and talking as usual. We talked wedding plans, engagement stories, future hopes and dreams...there were happy tears and it was just an all around amazing night. We got so wrapped up in conversation (and the good food!) that I forgot to snap photos of us, but I did manage one of our delicious dinner. Sar got the Macro platter (one of my all-time favorite dishes) and I got the Mediterranean salad. Now comes all the fun wedding planning, and I am so excited to be a part of it. Between my sister, Shirley, and now Sarah, my bridesmaid's card is full for 2011! So no one else go and get hitched! ;)




and here's a photo of the future Mr. and Mrs. Leubner just because I love them! Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Their babies are going to be beautiful.




Then this morning Henry and I woke up and headed over to the Phoenix Children's Museum to meet our sweet friends Anita and Natalie and their little ones, Lola Birdie and Victor. I'd driven by the museum before and had always been curious about what was inside...and now I know!  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go again, hopefully when Hank can make it because I know he'd love it too. There were so many different rooms, things to climb on, interactive tools, art everywhere, both to admire and create...in one word: awesome! It's a total kid's paradise and I can only imagine how much Henry will love it when he's a bit bigger. Even now though, at 3 months he was perfectly content to walk around and take it all in with wide, wide eyes. It was adorable. It was also great to have some good chats with Natalie and Anita, and I foresee more fun playdates in our future. Love it.

Here are some photos from our morning:



























 















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