We had a 9:30pm reservation at Sea Blue, a Michael Mina restaurant inside the MGM. Stephen Hopcraft from the current season of Top Chef is the Executive Chef here. For starters the flatbread was simply amazing. It’s fresh baked to order so even though we were starving and had to wait for it, it was well worth it. They served it slightly salty, a little bit of buttery greasy goodness and served with three sauces: feta, a spicy something or other that I couldn’t handle and hummus.

The lobster bisque was delicious, with big chunks of lobster in it. Just the right amount of cinnamon…you know how sometimes lobster bisque can be too sweet?

Danny and I shared some oysters. I don’t remember which ones we ordered. Sorry it’s been a long weekend.

I actually didn’t order an entree, I just picked off everyone else’s plates. Danny had the bacon wrapped Chilean seabass and I know this is shocking, it was too smokey and bacon-y for me. He ordered the ratatouille and I never thought I would get excited about stewed vegetables, but they were outstanding. A definite must if you go there.

After dinner we jumped in a town car to bring us to Bellagio to check out the water display outside and to see the quarterly floral exhibit in the Conservatory/Atrium. The town car is the way to go if you are making a few quick stops. Instead of waiting in the long cab line you pay a driver somewhere between $45-55 for an hour’s worth of service. If you run over, you have to pay that second hour, so you had best time it right and not dilly dally. We were heading into Old Vegas/Downtown after Bellagio, so it was perfect timing and made sense since the ride to downtown is about $25 anyways.

Every time I come to Vegas I try to head over here to check out this exhibit. During the first part of the year they usually have it themed to Chinese New Year, during the summer months it’s usually bugs and butterflies like this one. I have seen a 4th of July one, too. I should dig up a bunch of these images and post them. It’s quite elaborate and always fun to see how creative they can be.

On the way to Old Vegas we had a bit of misfortune in our town car. I was in the front seat with my seatbelt on. Danny was behind the driver, Nikki was in the middle and Rob was behind me. The driver slowed down and put on his brakes due to some traffic ahead of him. Danny looked back and saw a big grey truck coming up really fast on us. We were hit very hard by the truck which then swerved to the left around our car, and then we were hit 2 more times after that. I am unclear of exactly who hit what and where… I thought there were 2 other cars in the accident after the truck, but then there were only 2 after all was said and done. I remember looking back and asking them if they were all OK and when I didn’t hear Danny speaking I panicked. I was grabbing his knee which was smashed into the back of the driver’s seat and saying his name over and over and shaking his leg. I think he was unconscious for at least 30 seconds or a minute. They are all a little sore, Danny especially. I don’t feel anything. We spent the next 2 hours on the side of the freeway which was totally backed up with traffic. We had to deal with paperwork and accident reports and the insurance guy and we had to wait for another town car to come pick us up. At around 2 am we finally got outof there and went back to MGM. We got really lucky on Saturday as none us were badly injured. It could have been much worse. The scary part is not knowing if that car that just hit you is the last of it or if there are more coming. I have never been in a car wreck like that…I was scared.

Even in the middle of a 3 car pile up on the side of the freeway I am looking for the shot of my reflection in a mirror.

I want to remind everyone that LIFE IS SHORT. Accidents are just that…accidents. You can never tell if today is the last day for you, your brother, your sister, your niece, your nephew, your aunt, your boyfriend or your girlfriend.

Remember the eulogy that my friend wrote for her Dad’s funeral:

“Be good. Be kind. Give help when you are able. Ask for help when you are in need. Hug tightly. Forgive quickly. Say I’m sorry. Say thank you. Say I love you. Say I don’t ever want to live without you. Make plans. Set  goals. Work towards them. But every now and then. Look around. Drink it in. Because this. Is it. It might all be gone tomorrow. And in the end, what matters. ALL that matters, is that the people you love know that you love them.”

Today was our 4th Annual Celebrate Danny’s Birthday in a Las Vegas pool. Year #1 was at Luxor, year#2 was at Mandalay Bay and the last 2 years we chose MGM because of the lazy river. Nothing beats floating around a murky warm river with a cold beer in your hand people watching.

Hello random guy, thank you for letting me use your shades for my self portrait.

Jello shots with strangers! yay!

We met a nice group of guys from Chicago and this was Tom, their bodyguard. What am I doing in the background?

Many of you know that I take a lot of upskirts of girls in public. (I am saving those for a rainy day, by the way.) I never do it without the girl knowing! I only shoot it if she says yes…I promise you… I do not want to get my ass kicked in a bar or on the street for something that stupid. Anyways, today was a little different. I DID NOT have anyone’s permission for what I like to call “Underwater Upskirts”!

No he wasn’t drowining. We were just getting fairly intoxicated and the water was pretty disgusting.

Enjoy these videos of the day! lol Watch that last one at your own risk!

We went to the rooms to take naps before dinner and our wild night out on the town.

First of all, who in the hell goes to Las Vegas, Nevada in the middle of July for fun? Christ it’s so hot! I got up to do Bikram but I should have just saved the 20 bucks and done it outside. I went to the Green Valley Ranch location and there was something wrong with their heater so they cranked up the humidifier to compensate for it. It was cooler than it was supposed to be and the humidity was out of control. It was like a fucking rainforest…so awful. I made it through the class but I was miserable. The instructor was a real stickler for everyone doing things in unison also…which is different from the San Diego studio. In the Old Town SD class I get really annoyed because there is this one woman who just does whatever the hell she wants. She comes into class late and gets into each position about 15 seconds late almost every time. It is so distracting and annoying. I mean, she’s only cheating herself, right? There is also another guy in SD who fidgets almost the whole class. During every single savasna he’s wiggling his legs, moving his arms, breathing heavy like he is going to have a heart attack and generally disrupting everyone around him. I try to avoid sitting near either of them. Anwyays, the Vegas studio was nice because she forced everyone to stay together and stay calm between postures, which is half the point of the class: bringing yourself to a calm state instantly.

This is Danny’s one year old German Shepherd, Zeba. Apparently that’s the Hebrew word for “splendid” although I just tried looking that up and found nothing. lol Good one Dan. Ironic that he chose a Hewbrew word for a German dog also. She’s a little retarded to be honest, sweet dog, but mildly dumb.

This is Sophie (I think that’s her name)…this is not the one that Zeba was harrassing all night. That cat was hiding upstairs under the bed. Go figure.
 

We checked into our rooms at the MGM Grand. The underside of a very fuzzy and sleepy lion in their walk-through lion jail.

Rob had never been to Las Vegas so Nikki was bound and determined to walk into every casino over the course of the weekend. First stop New York, New York…. This statue was made out of jellybeans. Pretty cool! But man what a tedious job.

We went over to Aria and City Center to see the hotel and also to Crystals…the shopping mall that I told you about when Lisa Ann and I went to eat at Mastro’s. The mall is so futuristic and weird looking. I can’t decide if I am creeped out by it or like it.

The other side of Mastro’s.

I like the use of white with the dark linear wood.

We went north to Stratosphere so we could get a view of the whole city.

I considered doing the Sky Jump thingy but we saw a guy do it and to be honest, it was slow. I mean you free fall like 800 – 900 feet but he was moving pretty slow. It didn’t seem worth $99.

The big blue building on the left is The Fountainebleau like the one in Miami… unfortunately this one has gone bankrupt and stopped building.

Oh wow, Justin Beiber is working the elevators at Stratosphere on Fridays now.

Nikki insisted that we go into Circus Circus despite my pleas. I warned her that it was full of kids, a waste of time and the clowns would most certainly creep her out. We lasted 5 minutes. Long enough to grab a beer and take a photo of these awesome bar stools.

That is by far the ugliest quinceanera dress I have ever seen.

The Venentian really is the best hotel in Vegas in my opinion. The basic rooms all have a sunken living room, the restaurants are great (esp now that Palazzo is connected to it) and the mall with the gondolas and the replica of St Mark’s Square are just too cool. Being that I spent a week there every January for our annual industry tradeshow, I have a sense of comfort walking in the building. Even the smell of the place immediately brings back many memories for me. Some good, some bad, mostly fuzzy.

I liked the way the water is relfecting on the side of the tower.

I’ve never actually taken one of these gondola rides…one of these days. Or I could save the hundred bucks and save my money and actually go to Italy. lol

We wandered over to Treasure Island for one last pit stop before heading back to MGM to take naps and eat dinner.

Danny and I went to see Daniel Tosh performing stand up at Mirage and I have to tell you. It’s official. I am in love.

I could only snap a pic at the very last second and I wasn’t prepared with the setting so the pix suck, but you get the idea. The show was awesome. So inappropriate and off color on so many levels. He really pushes the envelope and makes people just laugh so hard at some ridiculous things. Thanks again Pat and Ed for introducing me to him just a few months ago. Rich claims that he and Kim tried to tell me about him a while back, but I don’t always listen to people. Sometimes you have to learn things for yourself. Tonight I learned that Daniel Tosh will be my husband one day.

After the show Danny and I met with Rob and Nikki at O’Sheas and I gotta tell you… this is not my favorite spot on the strip anymore. It was like a high school kegger with scattered old folks. It used to be a cool spot to duck into it away from the crowds on the strip, but is now very crowded and kind of icky. I saw my bartender Santos again (who bitched at me again for not bringing him porn) but still hooked me up with a free drink. Rob and Nikki went home. Danny played poker and I made my way back to MGM laughing my ass off at all the wasted drunk girls wearing dresses that look like they should be shirts…carrying their high heels, stumbling barefoot around the streets. I love being sober at this hour in Las Vegas! It was highly entertaining.