viva las vegas!

while i have some time, i wanted to post about my wonderful trip to vegas! it feels like everyone in the blog world has been to sin city recently, but i'm going to add my two cents to the pile anyways. hang in there with me....this one's a doozie!

i had to head to vegas for a work conference, so my company was already paying for my airfare, hotel, and meals. since my mother had never been to vegas and had a truckload of about to expire frequent-flier miles, she decided to take advantage of a free week's hotel and join me. the only bad part of the trip was that unfortunately we had to stay at the monte carlo, as that was where the conference was held. the monte carlo used to be one of THE luxury resorts on the strip. that was clearly many moons ago. don't get me wrong: the beds were comfy and the bathroom was adequate {although the toilet flushed at g-force levels}, but the pool{s} were TERRIBLE, the casino reeked, and since it's next door to the City Center project, there were construction workers and their accompanying noise in and out of the hotel at all hours.

ceiling at the bellagio

now for the fun stuff. my FAVORITE part of vegas is all the fabulous wining and dining. our first night, we hit up pink taco at the hard rock for happy hour margaritas and some scrumptions chips and guac and fish tacos. we then headed over to the bellagio. the look on my mom's face when she first saw the blown glass ceiling was priceless. some window shopping led me to chanel, where i picked up {yet another} one of new fall glossimers in venus. looks scary hot pink in the tube, but is GORGEOUS on. we spent the rest of the evening at my favorite place in all of vegas: fontana's bar. it's just off the casino floor and has the most gorgeous marble balcony that overlooks the fountains. you can sit and have cocktails and munchies {bellinis and the italian cheese and fruit plate for us} and enjoy watching the wonderful show.

the next evening took us to mon ami gabi at paris, courtesy of muffy's recommendation. let me tell you, our girl is spot on! this is the most darling french bistro and feels so authentic! i had the mussels and frites {divine} and mi madre had the frisee salad with poached egg and lardons {sublime}. we split the profiteroles for dessert and put away a few bottles of pinot blanc for good measure.

casino floor at the encore

wazuzu

wednesday found us at my interior design meccas, the wynn and encore resorts, for drinks and dinner, respectively. parasol down is a darling little bar at the wynn in between sw and daniel boloud. here i introduced my mother to the humble martini. no, she had never had one. the one at parasol down is vodka {stop yelling, gin enthusiasts, it's still delicious!}, very dry, and has a bleu cheese-stuffed olives. suffice it to say, i may have turned my mother into an alcoholic because from that point on, she was never without martini in hand. hilarious. it was a cucumber collins for me. dinner was at wazuzu at encore. not wonderful, not terrible. atmosphere is FABULOUS though and the servers were all sweet as pie.

thursday was my favorite. brunch at bouchon at the venetian. oeuf au gratin for me, sourdough waffles for the madre, toasted brioche and cherry preserves for the table. need i say more? oh yes...the woman sitting next to me ordered oatmeal. WHO ORDERS OATMEAL AT BOUCHON, for chrissakes?!?! i was personally offended. in and out burger for combination lunch/dinner. if i had to eat only in and out burger every day until i die, i would be the happiest person on the planet...assuming they find a way to add vino to the menu.

finale of LOVE

and then the very best part of the trip...taking mom to see LOVE at the mirage. first of all, the show is marvelous. the beatles are wonderful on their own, but then the wonderful cirque performers and effects just put everything over the top. my favorite number is "something". so beautiful and certainly the song that will be first dance at my wedding. but the best part was watching my mom. she is having such a tough time right with everything happening with her sister and the show brought back lots of wonderful memories for her. she was reminiscing about their first go-go boots and what was happening in their lives during each of the songs. it was so nice for her to be able to enjoy herself and think of some of the happier times, even if just for a few hours. the laughter continued courtesy of the confetti we were pulling out of our dresses for the rest of the night.


all in all, a really wonderful trip with some much needed mother-daughter time. she's already planning our return trip next summer for my sister's 21st birthday.

whew! long post!! what are YOUR favorite things to do/see/eat in vegas? any first-timers headed out there who have any questions or would like any tips?