I know I just got back from Chicago, and took a trip to Vegas last month, but I'm excited that I'll be going to Berlin, Prague and Vienna in September. I'm also planning to do an extra week (either before or after the tour, not sure yet when), and haven't decided where to go for that yet. Of course I love Italy and could do a week there with no problem, but I'm considering elsewhere as well. Any ideas/suggestions?
Ok, it's been a long while since I blogged. While there has been nothing earth-shattering going on, there are probably some things I should note here. (see extended)
Many of the folks who read this (ok, at least the movabletypo site) know that I had my birthday party. I don't think I also blogged about my trip to Vegas with my friend Joy and her 21 year old niece. That was a blast. Here is an excerpt from a mail to a friend:
"Vegas was a blast. I was mostly just very happy to be the fuck outta
Dodge. But I had a blast. I was with my friend Joy. She makes me look
a pious young nun. Any my already naturally foul mouth gets way worse
around her. I was going to try to count the number of times I used the f-word that weekend, but got to 10 before we got out of the room from dropping off our luggage, so didn't think I'd be able to count that high. But I laughed my ass off all weekend and had a lot of
fun.
We stayed at Treasure Island. I'm not sure I'd have chosen to stay
there otherwise, but since Joy's apparently in Vegas fairly often, she
got us this great package. We got limos to/from the airport, VIP
checkin and $100 comps on food. (I know why the food was cheap - their
cafe service sucked ass.) We were in a suite. It's a good thing the
place had two bathrooms (one had toilet/sink/shower, the other had
toilet/sink/tub) - 3 women sharing one room necessitated 2 bathrooms
if only so that it didn't take us 87 years to get out the door. She
brought her 21 year old niece for her 21st bday celebration.
Got there on Thursday, wandered up and down the Strip, shopped, ate
dinner, gambled. Being girls we went to the Venetian to wander the
shops and to Caesars to look at the mall shops there. I found a cute
top that I wanted to wear, so I bought it. The girls felt compelled to put makeup onme so we could go out. We wandered around various places drinking and gambling. Had a great time.
Friday morning Joy and I went to the spa. She got a massage, and I got
a body wrap. It was awesome - I really needed the stress relief. But
next time I think I'll get it at the end of the trip rather than the
beginning of the trip. We went out to lunch and went to some other
hotel (I don't remember which one now). I wasn't feeling well, so I
went back to the hotel for a nap. They went shopping and then came
back to the hotel. They were going to try to get into Rain, and I
didn't want to wait in line, so I cuddled up in bed with a book, and
watched TV, and generally chilled out. Sounds boring, but it was nice
to have some down time. Besides, it ended up being a good thing I
stayed home. They had put some sparkly lotion on me at the spa. I
think I rubbed some of it in my eyes and had an allergic reaction - I
looked like hell. But it was (mostly) better the next morning after I
took an antihistamine (thank goodness).
Saturday we went shopping at the mall next to TI. That was fun, I
ended up buying a bunch of clothes. My shoes that I wore shopping
were hurting me, so I bought some flip flops. That turned out to be a
worse mistake - I had horrible blisters on both feet. Doh! But I put
on a new pair of stripper-like shoes (ultra tall - love em!), and the
girls and I got dressed up and went to Olympic Gardens. Nic was so
funny - she didn't want to go to the strip club at first. We got her 2
shots of tequila and then suddenly she was wanting lap dances. She
ended up getting 4 lap dances, and 2 numbers. (She's a really cute
girl - we joked all weekend about her fake boobs - that apparently
they were worth it ;-) Joy bought a lap dance for this group of older
black ladies at the club - they were our best friends for the rest of
the night. I haven't laughed so hard in ages as I did at the club. And
DAMN there were some beautiful men there, yeesh. Then Nicole went to
meet her boyfriend (there was all kinds of drama about the boyfriend -
that's a whole story I don't feel like writing down), so Joy and I
went gambling. I have never spent so much money in Vegas, especially
considering that the room was free. But I had a lot of fun, and
generally managed to play for quite a while on the money I put into
the machines, so I could have been worse."
I bought a new smaller digital camera (that I have to go pick up this week from UPS) - a Canon SD500. I can't wait to get my hands on it and play with it. I'll definitely take it to Chicago. Went to Half Moon Bay with a friend last Saturday to plan the Chicago trip and generally hang out and have lunch. Went to dinner with a friend at one of my favorite restaurants then watched a movie. Saw folks for brunch last Sunday at not-Hobees.
This last week I went to dinner with a couple of friends (one for his birthday which is a few days after mine and the other taking me out for a belated bday celebration). Went to a friend's to watch movies on Friday night - that was nice, very mellow and a nice chance to reconnect. Saturday I went shopping with my mom (took her clothes/shoe shopping as she has a new job that starts tomorrow). I've been on a bit of a spending bender lately, but loving every minute of it. I have lots of new shoes, some new jeans and even a few tops. And interestingly, many of my new purchases are in pink. Hm. Wonders never cease.
I've been lusting after a guy that I've dubbed Mixed Messages Guy. But then again I'm sure I've been MMGirl lately too, so that karma just comes around. There's some powerful chemistry there - I completely dork out around him (blush, stumble over my words, etc.). Maybe nothing will come of it but a friendship, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying the flirtation.
On a separate note, I've been becoming much better friends with the Poker Guy, and really appreciating that friendship. He's a really sweet guy, I like hanging out with him, and I feel comfortable enough with him to be really honest with him (like telling him he gets under my skin - he's the only person that I hang out with regularly that can make me mad or hurt my feelings easily - but I talk to him about it and feel like that makes our friendship stronger.)
I've been hanging with a different than usual cast of characters, though oddly not as much as I would like. I've been busy seeing friends which is great, but I'm still feeling oddly out of touch with the pho crowd. I have an 11:00 meeting on Thursdays now so I don't get to go to pho anymore, and am finding that I miss people - I have no idea what's going on, and feel like I'm missing out on outings or events. (Although this Sunday that was my own fault as my mom was with me and I couldn't attend brunch - even though I'd have really preferred that.) Anyway, I've blathered on enough - just wanted to resurface for any of you who might have been worried about my radio silence.
Long time, no blog, I know... What brings me back online is actually a request for any suggestions about what to do/see in Chicago. I'll be going there the 21st thru 24th. I know there are architecture buffs here, so I'm hoping that you guys have some ideas. I think Susan and I will be doing a walking tour of some type, and I know just from browsing around that there are some really interesting architechtural styles in the city, so I'm wondering if you guys have any "must sees"?