Last year on a trip to Costa Rica (our first trip sans-baby) we decided to make it a yearly tradition to steal away once a year, just the two of us.  Last week Avery spent 7 days with Grammy & Grampy (pictures & photos coming soon!) while we vacationed in Las Vegas!  This wasn’t our first trip to sin city… we went in 2009 when we first started dating.

Awe, we’re so innocent and cute.  Vinay had no idea what he was in for… hehe  That trip was  the quintessential ’Hangover’ Vegas trip… we went with a huge group of friends and there was plenty of sin and someone even lost their pants and had to walk around the strip in a towel… good times.  I’d say we were much more ‘tame’ this time around…

But our vacation didn’t start off without a hitch… it began with me screaming at Vinay in the middle of a parking garage and about to turn around and go home for the week.  Great way to start off a couples vacation, right?  Well, it just so happened that when we met my parents in NH to swap Avery  and his ‘stuff’ (which by the way is less and less every time now that he’s getting older and Grammy & Grampy’s toy collection is growing), my suitcase was also transferred. Yes, my suitcase with all my clothes.  After the drop off, we headed straight for the garage near the airport with just enough time to catch our flight, and when we got there, Vinay pulled 1 piece of luggage from the car, and my heart stopped.

“Where’s the other suitcase?”

“What other one?”

“Um, the one with all my clothes.”

“Oh I thought that was Avery’s”

…and so I realized at that point all my things were in a bag 2 hours away headed to Vermont…and I was headed to Vegas, with only the clothes on my back.  GREAT way to start a vacation.  After flipping out for a while, I got over it and had to look on the brighter side… at least now I have an excuse to go shopping!

After hours of flying, we got into Vegas pretty late Saturday night…and OMG was it WINDY and COLD! We just left New England’s 20-30 temps, expecting at least 60s, but oh no.  It was freezing and I almost got blown away!  So disappointing.  We brightened up when we arrived at our hotel.  Not only did we book it thru Vinay’s timeshare and paid under $200 in fees for a week stay, but it was pretty snazy!

SUITE DIGS

Our hotel had a killer gym, rec room (which we used to play some ping pong), an outdoor pool (too darn cold for that!), and the room was pretty awesome: A full kitchen, laundry, living room, jacuzzi tub.

I loved having the full kitchen!  We put all our leftovers from meals in the fridge and used the stove to heat them up, saving us some $$ by eating at the hotel a few meals.

There was a big flatscreen TV in the living room and bedroom.  I made myself at home on that couch one morning, watching a few hours of CSI curled up under a blanket. I had to take advantage of the time alone and really veg, because I never get to anymore.  I forgot how interesting CSI is… you watch one episode, then have to watch the next one, they really hook you in with those marathons all day!

And although Vinay might not agree because his back was bugging him all vaca (I think it was the extended time sitting at blackjack tables), we had a super comfy bed, fully equipped with way too many pillows!

And the tub…. we were sooo excited to use it.  Mind you, it took like 30 minutes to fill the darn thing up.  And once we got in, I think we lasted less than 10 minutes before we were too hot and had to get out.  Then, genius me couldn’t figure out how to turn it off, and I let the water out before the jets stopped and they started spraying all over and it was so loud! The instructions said the jets would stop after 15 minutes, which they didn’t.  So the troubleshooter in me decided, hey maybe I can just push the same button to start it, to make it stop? Yep, and the maddness stopped.  But I can’t say I was the one who enjoyed the tub the most, Vinay took 2 baths, while I only took one.

Our first night we checked out LVH, which is nextdoor, grabbed some food and checked out the gambling scene.  Then off to bed because I needed rest for the shopping I had to do the next day!

SHOP TIL HE DROPS

We hopped on the monorail (after purchasing a 5-day pass) and headed to the strip.  I had scouted out the shopping centers with real clothes (I avoided the ones with PRADA & GUCCI), and found two that had clothes I could actually feel good about spending money on myself, but not too much.  Vinay quickly got sick of holding my bags, but he hang in there and I walked out with 1 workout outfit, flats, a sweater, and skinny jeans (since I’m skinny, now, haha).  We grabbed some yummy mexican lunch and the food court and for desert, we indulged a little… well, a lot…

Don’t worry, I worked off those calories walking around the strip.  We walked SOOO much  while there.  And I snagged a few pictures of my new gym clothes, oh and my new under 130 bod…

soooo excited about my new clothes and I hit the gym TWICE on vacation, woo-hoo!

STRIP SEARCH

Most days, we had breakfast at the hotel and ventured out around noon to explore the strip. One of the first things we noticed while riding the monorail to the strip was the construction everywhere.  There were tons of buildings that had been built halfway, and then stopped because of the economy.  Looks like things were getting back in business though because they were actively building a giant ferris wheel!

And not just one…but TWO!  The one in this picture is behind Harrah’s and is going to be called the LINQ. It’s gonna be huge!  Bigger than the London Eye, I think.  And later when we passed thru Mandalay bay on the end of the strip, they were building another one!  Very exciting, but no way I’d go on them anyways… petrified of heights!

On our adventures walking around, we saw lots of famous people on the streets, Darth Vador, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, Jack Sparrow, and Chucky!  It made for an interesting walk down the sidewalks.  Too bad they wanted $5 for a picture taken with them.  No thank you, especially since Toby Keith didn’t charge me anything…

Toby totally commented on my new skinny jeans and peach blouse. Hot. We tooks lots of other random pictures along our self-guided walking tours…

We even took a picture in the same spot we had one taken last trip…

Part 2 coming soon… pictures & recap of our Hoover Dam Tour, fancy dinners, and SHOWS!

What’s your favorite site/activity in Vegas?