IBM Party

Tuesday night, we attended the IBM party. They had a temporary tattoo station. Here's what I got.

The cover band was called Haute Chili. They were one of the best I've ever heard. They played 60s - today's music. The food was great. There were video games and photo booths as well. Overall, we had a great time at the party.

Pencil effect photo booth.

X-ray photo booth.

Dress up photo booth.

On the way back to our room, Vince bought me some Pandora earrings for my anniversary present. I had given him a new sport coat, tie and dress pants. He wore the tie to the party.

2nd Anniversary

On Sunday, Vince & I took the tram to visit some of the other hotels on the strip. We went through the MGM Grand. They have live lions inside with some trainers that took a nap with the lions.

and then we took a crosswalk over to New York New York.

We watched the roller coaster & ate some good Mexican food.

I took a picture of the strip from the cross walk on the way back to our hotel. Sunday evening, I had to go to my conference for the opening reception & registration.

We spent our 2nd anniversary in Vegas on Monday. I had class all day but by that evening, I was ready to go out on the town. Vince spent the day scouring the hotels for the perfect restaurant. He found it at the Mirage and made 7pm reservations for us. To get there, you have to cross a few cross walks & admire the strip.

We ate at Kokomo's inside the Mirage. It had a tropical feeling & they sat us right beside the water features at a corner table.

I took a few pictures of us & then a photographer came by, took our photo & later sold us a nice booklet with 2 photos in it. The steak was awesome. The food was really good & we enjoyed our meal.

We walked back to our hotel, the Venetian and decided to do the outdoor, romantic gondola ride. The steering guy (is there a name for them?) sang to us in Italian. He was a terrific singer. They also sold us a picture, which turned out much better than my dark pictures.

What a great ending to a very nice evening. Happy anniversary to us!

Shopping & Eating in Vegas

Our hotel had a huge mall that attached it to the hotel next door, the Palazzo. It was hard keeping up with where we were and which hotel we were in. The inside was painted with a cool sky ceiling and the buildings were made to look like an Italian villa.


The ceiling going from the casino up to the mall.


This was one of the statues that posed without moving in the mall.

One of my favorite stores, Michael Kors


The indoor gondola ride.



This candy counter was right beside the elevator to my rooms. I had to pass it 8 times a day. I only stopped there 3 times all week.


The mall had a waterfall and lots of pretty sculptures.


And I got to pose with Blue Man Group dummies.

The first night we arrived, we decided to go to the trendy club. We got in free since we were staying at the hotel. It's normally $30 to get in the doors. They had tons of bath tubs filled with flowers at the entrance.

I did not get the memo that all girls were to wear 6" heels and micro mini skirts. Every girl had the same exact style of dress. Needless to say, we did not stay too long.

The Venetian Hotel Room

1st TV - in the bathroom

2nd TV - in the living room

3rd TV - in front of the bed

Vince & I arrived in Las Vegas, NV on Saturday afternoon. My conference was held at the conference center attached to the Venetian and the Palazzo. Our room was in the Venetian. We had the smallest room at the hotel & it was one of the largest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in. It had 3 TVs!

This hotel was so huge. I kept getting lost in it even after being there 4 days. I could definitely stay there a month and never have to leave. I think I counted 54 restaurants/bars in the hotel. The weather was quite cool for the first several days so we never did get out to the pools, but we did walk by & test the waters. The pools were heated! I wish it was warmer outside so we could've enjoyed it. By the end of the week the weather was beautiful (but a little windy). Vince & I both caught colds so we didn't much feel like doing much near the end of the week.

This first part of my Vegas blog will include pictures from our room. We had a great view of the pool.

Viva Las Vegas!

I am in Las Vegas this week for an IBM conference for work. Vince decided to come along with me for a much needed vacation. The classes have been interesting so far & Vince has loved being able to sleep in and just relax. We've walked around Vegas a bit & have seen several other hotels. There are some 50 plus restaurant/bars just in our hotel, The Venetian. Everything is more expensive here, but we're having a good time. When I return, I'll post pics and details about our trip.

Going Postal

This week was crazy busy with lots of cake orders. I haven't had hardly anytime to sit down & write a good blog. I do need to share the story about the U.S. Postal Service. On Monday, my nephew Grayson turned 8. Since I've been doing cake pops, I have found that I can mail some of them, if the weather is not too hot. So even though I couldn't be in VA for his birthday, I could send him something for his party.

I made Grayson some marshmallow Lego pops. They turned out so cute. Now one thing about chocolate is that it can crack & it can melt. So after packing these little guys all safe & sound in a box, I mark the box as "fragile" and "do not drop." I arrive at the post office Monday morning and ask how much for overnight shipping. The lady tells me it's $25, only it won't get there Tuesday. It will get there Wednesday. Or I could send it regular mail for $5 and it will also get there on Wednesday. Hmmm...so it's $25 or $5 for Wednesday...let's go with $5.

After I explain to her that yes it is "fragile, liquid, perishable or hazardous" she picks up the box and shakes it. Yes, she shakes it, quite vigorously. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I said "Don't shake it." She just had this dimwit look on her face & said "oh." She then placed a fragile sticker on the box (as if the 30 times I wrote it wasn't enough). Although most of us can agree that fraile implies do not shake, I have to say that I did not write "do not shake" on the package. I know better for next time.

I'm pretty sure she probably drop kicked it across the room after I left. And to top it all off, it arrived in VA on Thursday afternoon. So not only is she a dimwit, but a liar to boot. They weren't too melted & I had them put them in the fridge upon arrival. Hopefully he will enjoy them at his party tomorrow.

Beautiful Weekend

This weekend we had beautiful weather...finally! We did some yard work on the weeds that grew all week during the rain and sprayed for bugs inside & out. I baked a bit. Vince finished off my closet by hanging the closet door to open out instead of in. We just have a few holes to spackle from the old light fixture & old door hinges. Vince also changed the oil in my car & rotated my tires. Thanks Vince!

And I read...a lot. For hours...in my rocking chair...facing the window so I could see outside. I started reading Robin Hobb a while back when I downloaded a free e-book that looked interesting. Come to find out, Rachel told me it was the last in the series & I needed to back up about 9 books. I finished the 5th book this weekend. And started on the 6th. These are all each over 700 pages so it takes a while to get through them. She leaves a cliff hanger at the end of each one, so I have to immediately start the next book without taking a break.

So if you're looking for a good series to start that has lots of drama, dragons, pirates, and mystery, then I highly recommend Robin Hobb's book. I'm now reading Ship of Destiny. She has each of her series separated out into 3 books, but they are all tied together and should be read in order. I'm reading the last book of her 2nd series, so really book number 6. And since I love reading these books, I have to go now.