What Happens in Vegas...

Doesn't really stay in Vegas when you write a blog post about it ;) I went back and forth a leetttlle bit on what to do for a Bachelorette Party. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not much of a party girl. Never have been. I have this annoying problem with drinking...in that it doesn't make me feel good...it just makes me feel sick. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it does kind of stink when drinking is the #1 social activity of your culture. I guess there are worse things ;) 

Nehoo...I picked Vegas because its the quintessential Bachelorette party place. I mean, if you're going to do it...do it right. Vegas is a place that I've been to quite a bit. It just seems like someone I know from the east coast is always making a trip out to Vegas and I'll make a trip over to see them. It's only about a 4 hour drive from LA with no traffic. (hahahahahaha. That's funny if you live in LA). Vega isn't all about party party to me. I've had many different kinds of Vegas trips. From shopping and walking around with friends, to dinner and shows with my dad, to pool days and massages, and, of course, crazy party nights that end at a McDonald's drive thru in a taxi at 5am (Jen Moore cough cough). 

Vegas is an awesome place and can be so many different things, so it was to Vegas that I decided to go.

I drove over with Meredith and Erica. It was a pretty fun car ride listening to Janet Jackson and singing along. We passed one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It looked like something out of a Sci Fi movie. The pics don't really do it justice, but it looked like we happened upon some weird alien experiment. After googling, we found out that it was solar field. WHAT?! So hi-tech.

Alien Planet

I was super excited to meet up with my friends from home Nikki and Trisha. Trisha had never been to Vegas and I couldn't WAIT to show her around. Trisha has not traveled much by plane, so it was so special to me that she made the trip. I'm lucky to have such an amazing friend. 

We found them at the bar. Haha!! Another friend of mine had hooked us up with a sweet deal of a suite ;) I got to bypass the insanely long check in line (Thanks Fight Weekend!!) to go through the VIP check-in. Awesome!! 

Our room was actually 4 rooms strung together in a long winding path with a central sitting room. We automatically dubbed it the TONnel of fun ;) Haha. We ran some laps back and forth in our excitement.

Gianna joined us soon after our arrival.

After unpacking a bit, we got dressed up to head out to dinner and a club.  Meredith and Erica handed out the most adorable gift bags with lots of treats. It was so thoughtful and kind :) :) 

Ready for the night out

AH-MAZING gift bags

A Bachelorette Party threw up here

After drinking copious amounts of champagne, we took our glittery selves out to Encore. Encore is one of my favorite hotels. It's beautiful and HUGE and smells like perfume all the time. 

After a quick bite to eat, we got on the VIP list for Tryst, which is an outdoor/indoor club. It was ok. The music wasn't great, but it was nice to sit poolside under the stars and they passed out free drinks to girls. I, of course, felt mostly nauseous the whole time after the champagne. Meredith was awesomely on top of the fact that I wanted to go, so we cut out early. Well, Vegas early...it was still kind of late for regular people :D

Star Gazin

On Saturday, we had a ridiculous buffet brunch at MGM. The fight was happening there and the number of people was out of control!! Brunch was really fun and we started a funny new Vegas rule: to be completely wasteful whenever possible. Food still on your plate?! TOSS IT!!

The randomness of a buffet brunch

We walked around a bit and were joined by my friend Julie. I love walking the streets of Vegas. You can see anything and everything.  We bought matching ballet flats in anticipation of sore feet later on :)

FIGHT NIGHT!! 

Drinking on the streets

You can kind of tell form this picture that the man who took this yelled "Who's your Daddy?!"

The rest of the day was spent lounging by the pool at LVH. I love the Vegas heat.

We got gussied up again and had dinner at Benihana. The food was sub par (as usual. Miyako for the win!!), but it was highly entertaining and a good choice for dinner before a big night out.

We are the coolest.

 Gianna got us a SUPER VIP hook up at Marquee, which is located at Cosmopolitan hotel. Cosmopolitan is new and very very nice. It was fun running into other brides.  As I said, I'm not much of a party girl, so the club, while nice, was pretty boring. I switched to my ballet flats preetty early. I decided to just dance the night away, so we hit the lower level hip hop room. Hilarious. We danced to hip hop until the wee hours of the morning. It was a great time. 

After a bit of a hung over brunch on Sunday, we bid Vegas adieu and headed back to LA. No trip to Vegas would be complete without a stop at "The Mad Greek" in Baker...gyros, yum!! 

Chicagooooooo Bridal Shower

As I said, I have a lot of catch up to do on what's been going on in my life :) For one, I'm finally Kelly Villers!! Preston has been calling me Kelly Villers since our first few weeks of dating. This might have been creepy if I hadn't just KNOWN that it would be true :P Now finally my blog name makes perfect sense!!

My wedding festivities started with a bridal shower in Chicago.  Preston's mom has a great group of friends. They get together about once a month or so and discuss life, count grandchildren,etc. I do not know many of these women well, but they threw me a bridal shower. Is that not the nicest thing you've ever heard?? Perfect strangers wanted to throw me a big party and give me gifts?? Ok, I'll go ;) 

Preston's mom (Debbie) graciously allowed me to invite my mom and my best friend, so we all met at Chicago's Midway Airport (see post on water bottle filling station. AH-MAZING). I love visiting Preston's parents. Their home is so comfortable and just home-y to me. I feel like I grew up there too. They make me feel so loved and accepted. 

My BFF and I ready to party ;)

My mom and Nikki fit right in, of course.  The shower was on Saturday and Debbie drove us down into the city.  It was a beautiful, warm day---my first in Chicago!! I swear that city is ALWAYS cold. Debbie's best friend Alison hosted my shower in her gorgeous apartment that boasts views of Lake Michigan.

The food was wonderful and there were adorable little bride cookies. 

Opening presents was kind of funny, because I would read the card and then look up and around the room to try to figure out who the heck had given me the gift. Haha!! The gift giver would give a little wave ;) Again, how nice for total strangers to throw me a party!! They are no longer total strangers :) Some of them I had met before, but throughout the shower I had a chance to talk to each woman and get to know her better. Debbie is really blessed with some wonderful friends. I look forward to my new and extended family!! 

Preston's friends came too :)

After the shower, I got to go meet my soon to be new niece Cora :) She's a doll!!

Stay tuned for Bridal Shower #2 ;) 

Happy Halloween!!

I have a ton of wedding stuff to fill in, but I can't let Halloween go by with no post!! Halloween is my most favorite favorite holiday :) I think it stems from my mother and her love of the fall. I love everything about Halloween...the crisp, cool air...PUMPKINS...the spookiness in the air...the festive feeling that surrounds it...the celebration of the harvest time. 

Every year since I've moved to Long Beach, I've hosted a pumpkin carving party. As my friendships have grown, so has my party. It's one of my favorite things and the perfect way to celebrate my favorite holiday. I make a big pot of chili and guests bring a dish of their own and a pumpkin, of course!!

2009

I don't know why we started this :P

2010

 

2011

2012

2013

Other Halloween essentials include:

Hot Apple Cider

"The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

"Practical Magic"

Walking around to see all the costumes

Festive socks and shirts

I'm so grateful to all the people that make my life SO fun and help me to celebrate my favorite holiday!!

xoxo

I hate American Airlines

I've never really been partial to one particular airline. My dad, for one, LOVES Southwest. He won't fly anything else. If I HAD to choose one...I'd say that Virgin is the best. It's by FAR the nicest and most accommodating of the domestic airlines. If I had my choice of loyalty...that's where my loyalty would lay (lie? I always mess this one up).  

That said, a few years ago...I flew to India for work. India is VERY far away. I didn't get to choose my airline and we flew American. Because of this trip, I was upgraded to American Gold Status. 

I must say, it's pretty nice. Gold Status comes with two free checked bags for you and any travel partners, you get to pick any seat you want on the plane with no extra charge, you can skip the lines at security by going through with First Class passengers, to name a few perks. I mean, most these things should be standard, but let's face it...they are not. 

I don't even really like American Airlines. Like almost all the domestic airlines...they are a terribly run business. The customer service at American Airlines certainly leaves something to be desired. I kind of hate American Airlines. But, here's the thing...that Gold Status keeps me coming back. They hook you with it!! Being loyal to one particular airline certainly does pay off. I even got the credit card to earn miles. 

Sadly,  I couldn't cut it. As much as I fly...it just wasn't enough. Like any company out to get its customer's...American Airlines has lots of little rules and caveats that cheapen the miles you fly. Gold Status is hard to keep. I lost it :( 

It was a sad sad day for me the first time I flew back in steerage with the rest of the paupers ;) Looonnng lines at check in and security. I still get free bags because of my credit card, but I had to sit in a middle seat in the back of the plane. Wompa wa.

American Airlines emailed me to ask if I wanted to BUY Gold Status for SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS!! Um, no. I'll take my middle poor person seat thank you very much :P

So, I thought...welp, I guess I'm free of these losers. Horray. I'll cancel this credit card...and just start flying Virgin as much as possible. But then, I got this in the mail:

WTF?

They are ever so graciously giving me my Gold Status back...but only until November 15th. I can keep it if I can manage to fly 6000 miles before then. Oh man, I'm SUCH a sucker!! 

Busy Bee

I have been bizzzzy!! Much of my busy-ness involves travel, which really doesn't bode well for the future of this sort of travel blog ;) Traveling=no blog writing!! 


Most of my recent travel has taken me back across the country. On these long flights, I always try to pack a snack or a lunch. One reason is because food in airports is both generally gross and outrageous in price. Another reason is that food in airports is just NOT healthy. I've really been making a conscious effort to eat better food. I think I do ok about 80% of the time. My best friend still teases me about the time I met her on a layover with a salad and all its fixins in tow :D

Pasta Primavera

I forgot to take a picture of my last plane meal, but it was soooooo good. I made a summer grain bowl with quinoa, avocado, corn, olives, and arugula. I do my best not to take anything that is too pungent--no one wants you to be eating curry or garlic bread on a plane ;)

Another thing I habitually do when I travel is to bring an empty plastic water bottle. This stems from the days when I first moved to LA and was REALLY poor. Like, 'I cannot afford to spend $5 on water', poor. I prefer the sort of squirt bottle kind without the screw cap. You don't want to lose the cap and be forced to chug a bottle of water whilst sitting in the window seat. Inevitably, there will be people next to you asleep or repeated stern warnings to obey the seatbelt sign. 

This water bottle basically serves as an emergency option if I sleep through the drink service (which, lets face it...almost ALWAYS happens). I fill this bottle with water from the airport water fountain. It's gross. The water at LAX actually smells like bleach. 

Well you can imagine my delight and surprise when I found THIS:

Hallelujah!! 

at Chicago Midway...which Preston refers to as 'the ghetto airport'. Oh, no Sir!! This contraption was AMAZING!! And the water was DELICIOUS!! I love it!! Well done Chicago!!

Other things I don't travel without?

-headphones that fit in your ear (blocks out noise)
-a hat to pull down over my eyes (my New Zealand All Blacks hat is my preferred plane hat)
-an amazing travel pillow my mom got me from Costco (it's not the weird neck kind)
-WARM clothing
-toe socks
-a good book

I love love the window seat...it's perfect for curling up, pulling your hat down, and turning towards the warm sun to 'sleep' for 5 hours. Sleeping on a plane was a near impossibility for me until I moved to California and now I'm a pro at it. The trick is to exhuast yourself by getting up at 2am to go to work on 2 hours of sleep the morning of your flight. Works like a charm ;) 

That's all for now...more on my travels soon!!