The three best friends that anyone could have

I'm lucky enough that I don't just have one best friend, I have two - Blondie and Vino. I've blogged about them before, but we're way overdue for another mushy walk down memory lane. :)

I can't believe that it's been 10 years since we were all in college together, living in the sorority house and being the crazy senior girls in a house full of underclassmen. Crowding into the ginormous bathroom to get ready before Thursday nights out on the town - spending hours doing our hair and make up, choosing the perfect outfit, dancing around to the latest crappy country or pop songs. It seemed like half the fun of going out was the whole production of getting ready.

Since graduating, we've had many girls trips together, where we tried to relive those fun-filled college days. Weekends spent eating, drinking, gossiping and staying up until all hours of the night. For those few nights, it felt like we were back in college, except with more money and better booze. ;)

Starting in 2005, us single ladies slowly became old married hags. First me, then Blondie and then Vino. Man, we were we awesome bridemaids for each other! These two girls are the closest things I have to sisters and I think that was pretty evident through the numerous wedding events that we attended for one another for those 3 years. And how fun to have so many more excuses to get all dolled up and hang out for days at a time!

We've finished school, we have good jobs, we've gotten married, we've bought houses. So really, it was only a matter of time before my two closest friends made the next big step. Blondie and Vino are both pregnant, due in December only 4 days apart. I had a feeling before I heard the news from them separately that this was probably the case. Lots of little things that to anyone else probably wouldn't have alerted the radar, but it just seemed odd to me. Of course, that didn't stop me from crying buckets of happy tears with both announcements.

I am over the moon happy for them and am ready to jump into full shower planning mode as soon as they find out what they are having. And like any good budding seamstress, I might have already bought a grip of Oliver + S patterns, subscribed to Ottobre magazine and have a brand new stack of baby-friendly fabric sitting in my sewing room begging me to make cute baby things. Not that I'm overly excited for them or anything. Heh. ;)

Blondie and Vino - I love you girls so much and am so happy for you. Your little babies are going to be so, so lucky to have as their moms and I can't wait to see the ways you both change and grow with motherhood. I also can't wait to spoil the hell out of the little peanuts. :) Love you both!!!

Catch up

Behind in blogging again. Well, what else is new? ;) Let's do this bullet-style 'cuz it's just easier that way.

* I took a couple of weeks off from walking to sort of catch up on life, but I'm back at it. This past Monday, I popped some advil before going on a 14 mile walk because of cramps and well, that was a stupid idea. It masked some early signs that I was straining my hamstring, so by the time I knew there was a problem, it was really a problem and I could barely get back to my car. Lovely. Thankfully, it healed quickly and I'm back on track. Only 5 weeks til the big weekend!!

* I went to a book signing for Ferran Adria - the famous Spanish chef of El Bulli - last week and it was really cool. I bought his new book A Day at El Bulli and had him sign it. I tried to act professional, but instead I just stood there smiling like an idiot and saying "Thank you, it's a pleasure" over and over. The funny thing, my co-worker did the same thing! Yeah, we're lame. I'm guessing the fact that he only spoke Spanish threw me off my game a bit. It was still a freaking awesome experience!

* After the book signing, I met up with Wan for dinner. While the food was good, it was far surpassed by the company. We laughed til we cried... always makes for a good night.

* It's finally getting cooler at night so we bought a screen and tools for our fireplace. I had no idea my husband likes building a fire so much! He resembles a kid in a candy store when he starts one and then tends to it for hours. Too funny.

* I've been carving out more time for cooking, which is making me very happy. I've tried new recipes for lasgana, hoisin shrimp stirfry, artichoke and cheese stuffed chicken breast and a whole host of other yummy things. While takeout can be good, I was really missing the food that comes out of my kitchen.

* We attended a surprise birthday party for our friend Dubber over the weekend. His wife was worried that someone would spill the surprise, but no one did. Fun night of drinks and hanging out with friends.

* Saturday we went to the UCLA-Stanford game and tailgated with MoP and T-dogg. The group they tailgate with go all out for games. We noshed on chicken paninis, green salad, mac n cheese, chips and lots of booze and played beer pong (the hygenic version) in between eating and drinking. The game wasn't a disappointment either, as we got our 3rd win of the season - Yay! Still way under .500, but it's something at least.

And just like that, all caught up!

The day after/Start of the mini-vacation

Surprisingly enough, we actually woke up at a decent hour and stumbled our way to the hotel cafe for breakfast. I was too busy nursing a hangover to worry about taking pictures, but really breakfast wasn't all that exciting to begin with. The upside is that Jim and I both felt better after a lot of greasy food and copious amounts of coffee.

Vino and Spurs had reserved 3 cabanas for everyone to hang out in for the day and we were some of the first guests to arrive. Spurs and Vino were looking quite chipper and happy and like they were in much better shape than the rest of us.

Blondie and Chaz walked out to the cabanas with us, where Jim and Chaz immediately took over the couch with Vino's dad. Blondie and I were twinsies again because we're crazy.

Much of the afternoon was spent drinking tons of the complimentary strawberry water provided to pool guests, talking and hanging out.

We did manage to wander over to the activity pool at one point to take advantage of the waterslide. Highlights included Chaz and Bif almost flying out of the slide during one of the turns and Sporty, Vino and Dressing Queen going down the slide in a chain, then coming to a dead stop at the end of the slid and gracefully plunking down into the pool one at a time. Sadly, there are no pictures of this as my camera is not so much waterproof and I didn't think to bring the camera cover for it. Boo to me.

Blondie and Chaz had planned on driving back that day, but as the afternoon wore on, we managed to convince them to come spend the night on the strip with us. They found a cheap room at Imperial Palace - aka "IP" or "hell hole" as they'd later find out. We finally said our goodbyes to Vino and Spurs around 4pm. It was so much fun hanging out with them and while it was sad to say bye, we also knew that we'd all be getting back together for Spurs' birthday in a few weeks.

The drive to the strip was uneventful. We checked in to The Palazzo and then proceeded to get ready for our night out.

By the time Blondie and Chaz met us at our room, they had already discovered that the IP was a POS, especially seeing as how they had a room right next to the elevator. They were going to be lulled to sleep by the lovely "ping!" "ping!" of the elevator all night. :/

To take their mind off the crappy room, we headed out to Morel's for a yummy steak dinner. Jim and I have been to Morel's a couple of times at The Grove, but the decor at this one really takes the cake. Paintings of nude folks in various, um, compromising positions filled the walls. I mean, it is Vegas and all, but yeah. It's out there.

We were seated on the patio, overlooking TI and Mirage. We were even treated to the TI stageshow twice during our meal, which not surprisingly, is not nearly as cool as the Bellagio Fountains. Our waiter, though, was hilarious! I wish I could bring him with me to all of our meals out. Great service all night long.

Blondie and I started with a picture and then split a bottle of Cabernet. The boys opted for Chimay in fancy glasses.

For appetizers, Jim had butter lettuce salad, Blondie and Chaz had the potato leek soup with truffle chips and I opted for the onion au gratin soup. All of them were very good, although their soup still doesn't hold a candle to the crazy good french onion soup I had at Boulud Brasserie earlier in the year.

[I should note that my closest friends know about this blog and read it, even if they don't comment much, if ever. And since I've been on a bit of picture rampage, they now wait to start eating until I've photographed their meal. It's hilarious to me, but also awesome that I don't have to explain what I'm doing. Yeah, they think I'm nuts, but then again, they did before the blog, too. So really, I'm just maintaining the status quo.]

Since it is a steakhouse, everyone except for Jim opted for the 10oz filet mignon, while Jim went out on a limb and ordered the lamb. For sides we had artichoke hearts and potato puree. Thumbs up all around.

At this point everyone was completely stuffed. So, no dessert. Instead, dessert wine! Blondie and I ordered the Muscat, while Jim had a glass of port. We had just finished sharing our experience with Grappa in Italy with Blondie and Chaz - that basically rubbing alcohol goes down smoother than that stuff. Which led Chaz to have to try this stuff for himself. It's really really strong. Even the smell of it will put hair on your chest. He took one sip and breathed fire. Yup, we weren't lying to ya ;) Blondie barely tasted it and a look of complete horror crossed her face. And somehow, I know there are a few of you that will read this and think "okay, now i have to try this." Just. Don't. Seriously. It's no bueno.

After rolling ourselves away from the table, we weren't ready to call it a night yet. So, off we went to Dos Caminos in The Palazzo for some more liquid fun. The boys opted for a flight of tequila, which included Don Juan, Corazon and Patron. This came with flavored salts, lime wedges and a bloody mary mix shooter. I'm not usually one for straight hard liquor, but I sipped the Patron and it was quite yummy. Blondie and I opted for a pitcher of white sangria.

The place was dead, which makes us worry for their future survival. Alhthough, one way to up the crowd would be to have better music. They had a DJ playing Spanish-influenced music that was supplemented by someone playing the drums and someone on the trumpet. Drum guy was cool, but trumpet guy was too loud and annoying. Chaz showed us all his disapproval.

After finishing our round of drinks, we headed off to The Venetian to gamble a bit before Chaz and Blondie had to head back and get a little sleep. (They were heading out really early Sunday morning to beat the rush back to SD.) Along the way, I saw this cute little guy and insisted on a picture. The people behind us look thrilled, don't they?

At The Venetian, we found some penny slots to play on for a bit. Chaz found a hot machine that even paid a $60 jackpot after putting in a mere 30 cents. Score! Eventually though, Chaz and Blondie decided to call it a night. It was so much fun hanging out with them and I was really happy they decided to stay one last night to play with us. :)

At this point it was maybe 11:30ish and I was hoping to be able to catch up with some OC gals that were in town celebrating Jessica's birthday. After a few text messages back and forth, Jim and I headed over to Planet Hollywood to hang out for a bit and wish her a happy birthday! When we got there, we found Jessica and Claire and some of Jessica's other pals at the Extra lounge hanging out. Of course, this meant picture time.

It's pretty funny that they really only live a few miles from me and yet somehow it's easier to meet up in Vegas than it is to meet up in California. Jim and I stayed and chatted a bit with Jessica's friends and then a little after 1am, the last few days started catching up to me and I needed to get to sleep. Fabulous day in Vegas, if I do say so myself.