While Ike was pummeling Houston, I was off gallivanting about in Las Vegas, celebrating a friend’s wedding.
So when I wasn’t checking my email (members of my MOPS group in Houston were sending status updates to each other), checking Houston weather blogs, and calling my husband with information updates that I was able to collect since I had power and internet in Vegas and he didn’t in Houston, I did take in a bit of the Strip.
My big question for the weekend was this: How in the world do party girls take care of their tootsies? (I know, big problems in Vegas.) I wore cute party dresses each night, which required higher heels than I wear at home. And OUCH! My feet even hurt when I took the shoes OFF.
But, on to the fun:
I stayed at Paris, a hotel with the lobby areas (read: casino) designed to look like the famous city. There were cobblestones, cute shop fronts and even a creperie. Outside, a replica of the Eiffel Tower marked the hotel’s location. And cars driving to the hotel drove under a replica of the Arc de Triomph.
On my first morning I headed straight for gifts for the family. A MOPS friend told me about this spot:
Some people can’t wait to gamble in Vegas, I couldn’t wait to check out the M&M store.
Gifts in hand, I wandered back down the Strip, dropped them off at the hotel and kept on exploring.
In Caesar’s Palace they were celebrating Mexican Independence with mariachis. I can never resist listening to a mariachi band.
Soon it was time for my spa appointment. (I know, rough life.) I pampered myself with a coconut milk and some kind of flower oil wrap. My technician was kind enough to snap a shot of me all cocoon-like.
That night I went to see Ray Romano and Brad Garrett. Ray’s humor was very much like “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Brad’s was not.
I can’t say I had ever been to a show completely by myself, but what else was I going to do? I couldn’t expect the bride to babysit me. Just before the show I took myself out for sushi and after the show I dropped by a nightclub for a little 90210 promotion.
Here’s a shot of the paparazzi as the stars entered the club. I never saw them (or the paparazzi) again. But I had fun, anyhow.
The next day I woke early to find out how my family fared and relayed as much info as I could from the internet and TV.
I was glued to the Weather Channel and my telephone.
Soon it was time for the main event:
I felt so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband to send me off in this crazy time so that I could attend my friend’s wedding.
It was fantastic to see her so happy, so beautiful and her fiancée/ husband so in love with her and she with him. And I enjoyed getting to know her other friends. They were all a lot of fun. The wedding was beautiful and I was in tears.
And on the shuttle bus back to the hotel I received an email that my flight home the next morning had been cancelled.
Sharing this information with the group caused them to convince me to go out for another night in Vegas. Evidently we went to some very hip club where the ‘stars’ go and Tommy Lee was the deejay. Listening to the tunes, I had to share with one of the husbands that I mostly listen to Christian music, so I was a little out of my element. This gave the group a bit of a chuckle.
I returned to the hotel a few hours later, asked for a late checkout and called Continental more times than I can count.
It wasn’t until late morning that I finally secured a flight home and extended my hotel stay another night.
I think you know the rest of it: I was scheduled to fly to Dallas by way of Newark but was able to fly standby to Houston. Once I got home I trashed the ‘fridge, packed the car and headed to my family in Dallas.
And now I sit and wait for the power to be restored at home.
And I’m thankful I had that mini-vacation to share in my friend’s big day. It was certainly a weekend I’ll never forget… for several reasons.
PS Sorry about the lower-quality pics. They were all from my phone. I left my real camera at home for my husband to document the hurricane.
Leave a Reply