“It’s the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time.”
Tallulah Bankhead, US movie actress (1903 – 1968)
Oh so that’s why I don’t write like I used to!
Ha, totally kidding. That aside, last weekend I went to Vegas. Ryan and I left Thursday afternoon and met up with the other Avanade guys and their SO‘s. We stayed at Treasure Island and all in all, it was a weekend bustling with buffets, blackjack, and a body wrap. Suprisingly, there wasn’t that much booze–my fourth expected B.
Treasure Island
This was my first time staying at Treasure Island and I was surprised to find that it was a lot nicer than I had expected. Certainly beat the previous fly-back’s hotel, Bally’s. Three things in particular that I liked: 1) $5 blackjack tables! 2) general location on the strip 3) the places to hang out inside the hotel. Oh, and our room wasn’t half bad either.
On the third point though, Ryan and I had dinner at The Coffee Shop which actually just a typical American food restaurant open all hours, so like Shari’s but uh, way better. I had my first turkey burger there (am usually such a red meat girl) and it was tasty. Later that night we we met up with Trevor, Dan, and Jessica at Kahunaville–their tropical themed party bar. Didn’t stay there too long but it had a good atmosphere.
The third restaurant in the hotel we went to was called Dishes where we ate with the entire crew on Saturday morning for breakfast brunch. A $15 buffet downstairs? Not too shabby. Then on Sunday Ryan and I had food at La Isla there, a Mexican joint and had beer (me), a mojito (him), and I ordered some delightful little dulce de leche cupcakes which I later ate at the airport. Eating aside, we also did spend a bit of time there using the pool and the casino. I can’t remember the last time I spent so much time in the hotel I stayed at (in a good way).
On a sidenote, I still can’t stand the “Sirens of TI” and think Treasure Island’s new branding efforts seem poorly contrived (see gaudy hotel sign up front). Bring back the pirates, matey.
My First Body Wrap
…was traumatic for the first 10 minutes, ha. But let’s start from the beginning. On Friday, Jessica and I went to a spa for body wraps while the guys were all in their regional meeting. (Cliche, yes, I know.) I’ve done the spa things a few times before, but never went for the whole shebang (i.e. why stop at a facial when you can have your whole body treated?) and I decided to go for it.
For those who have never been to a spa, how it works is you pay for a treatment (massage, facial, or in our case, a body wrap) and you show up early, chill out in the spa area using their hot tubs and saunas, and then have your treatment done. Even though this is maybe my fourth time going to a spa, I still feel like I have no idea what the hell I’m doing, haha. Jessica and I candidly reflected on this as we tried to figure out our robes they asked us to change into and the clothing optional hot tub. In the future, I think I want to write a sort of guid on spa etiquette, for ladies less accustomed to the experience. (It should be posted on a wall somewhere really.) Then again, I suppose the awkwardness is preferred to being “that woman”, who’s ostentatious from her long standing experience with expensive spa treaments. 🙂
Anyway, that aside, I was soon called to my body wrap session. And when I say my first ten minutes were traumatic, here’s why. I came in to lie down and aesthetician came and started to slather this cool gel all over my body. At first it was just a little cool and tingling and then it started to get colder…and colder… and colder–until I was physically shaking head to toe on the table trying hard to lie still. (Think icy-hot all over you.) It was a biting cold that intensified with each minute. The whole thing felt bizarre as the room was warm, but my body felt like it was covered in ice. Images of Titanic and “Don’t ever let go, Jack,” scenes frantically danced in my head while I desperately fought the impulse to jump up from the table and claw the gel off me. Instead, I laid there wide-eyed and near convulsions from the shock to my body, bitterly pondering the irony of the treatment’s name, “Well-being wrap”.
Thankfully, the lady returned to my side after few minutes and lathered hot mud stuff on me which helped. (In fact, I think I mumurred, “Ohmigosh yes yes hurry,” as she did it.) But the cool gel was still placed underneath. She was sympathetic to my, “OMG IS IT GOING TO STOP FREEZING SOON?” queries and put the warm mud on as quickly as possibly, wrapped me tight in plastic, and laid a stack of blankets over me while I laid shaking.
But like I said earlier, that was just the first ten minutes. It was then followed by a face massage (so relaxing), followed by just lying in the cocoon feeling all sorts of warm and fuzzy. It was a pretty crazy awesome feeling, I can’t even begin to describe it. Euphoric maybe? Then, I was unwrapped, and drowsily led to a hot shower they had ready where I washed the mud off and returned for lotioning. By this point I was in such a relaxed state I could hardly think clearly and as I passed Jessica in the hall she had the same drowsy look.
So despite the rough start, the rest of it was pretty blissful. Jessica had a different kind of wrap, one lacking icy cold liquid all over her body, and we both agreed how wonderful a nap at that point sounded, and we trammed it back to the hotel.
Cirque du Soleil’s KA
So after rushing everyone (Ryan, David, Trevor, and Teresa) off to MGM thinking we were going to be late to the show (only to find that the ticket was half hour later) we settled ourselves at the KA theater, playing with the random friendly clown characters and getting drinks.
Then the show began and I was surprised to find that it actually had a story. Cirque is usually more about a theme or feeling with various dramatic performing acts somehow tied together. But this had a plot and even a few brief words of English at the beginning. It was pretty cool. Visually, very stunning. It was a good evening and I’m glad I went, but I think I’ll have to take a Cirque break for a while. I’ve seen four so far and I worry they’ll start to lose their impact (diminishing marginal utility if you will). I must admit, I’m still waiting to be blown away again like I was for my first Cirque show, “O” at the Bellagio.
Anyway, there’s three random topics I decided to blog on. Figured they’re easier to digest in this format. Other noteworthy things:
- Didn’t play all that well at the tables, but it was good fun in the process.
- Went back to the Wynn buffet for dinner and it was amazing as usual. (Next time I’ll start with the prime rib, instead of finish with it.)
- Ryan and I beat Jurassic Park at Gameworks.
- I finally got to check out the Bellagio art gallery and where I viewed an Ansel Adams exhibit with Ryan Sunday.
- And lastly, it was fun to have a chance to play in the pool, spend time with the other SO’s, and just hang out with crew on strip.
In sum, good trip.