I had intended to update my blog daily while in vacation. I'm not sure if any of you have been to Las Vegas, but Las Vegas is different from any other vacation destination. While you are there, there is no time for anything, not even sleep. It is normal for Ben and I to actually sleep less on vacation than we do during a normal week, but our lack of sleep was a bit excessive the past couple of days. And let's not forget the travel excitement that marked the end of our trip.

We got into Vegas late Wednesday night. We spent our first three nights at the Mirage, where we lost a bunch of money. The last two nights we spent at New York New York where we also lost a lot of money. What amazes me about the hotels and casinos is how much detail they put into the architecture and decorations. They spare no expense to have the fanciest or coolest or grandest hotel. Aria is one of the newest casinos and is really gorgeous and modern. The Wynn and Encore are also fairly new and also have a very fancy and high end feel. Places like New York New York and Paris put a lot of detail in the architecture to make it feel like you are walking through New York or Paris. Other casinos that spend a great deal of money on expensive details include Caesar's Palace, Bellagio, the Venetion and Palazzo. The Luxor and MGM bring in the cool factor with the pyramid structure that is synonymous with the Luxor and the giant lion enclosure that is located within MGM's casino.

Another aspect of Vegas that I enjoyed very much is the shopping. The casinos like to keep your hopes high by placing many high end designer shops within the casino. I didn't spend much as we wanted to save our money for gambling, but it was nice to dream.

Unlike The Hangover, we survived Vegas. We successfully limited our booze intact. We survived the bombardment of "Girls of Las Vegas" trading card hand outs. We walked miles a day without serious injury.

Each night, we spent some time hanging out with Ben's friends playing slot machines. We won some. We lost some. We laughed a lot! We all went out to eat to Samba, a Brazilian BBQ restaurant, on Saturday night. It was the first time I have ever been to a Brazilian BBQ. I highly recommend it if its time for a splurge day in your diet. I do not recommend it if you are vegetarian.

On Saturday night, Ben and I went to my first ever fashion show. It was only about 15 minutes long and wasn't quite as exciting as we thought it was going to be. We were told it would show clothes that contained multi-colored and/or blinking lights in them that illuminate with body movement. In some clothes, the lights pulsate to the rhythm of music or sound. Two outfits were part of the new lighting line. The other outfits were standard clothing while the models carried hi tech objects such as iPhones. Following the fashion show, we went to the Xbox party where Benny played poker with Shannon Elizabeth. He literally talked her ear off. I'm sure he'll be posting pictures on his blog soon enough.

During the entirety of our trip, I really wanted to see Peepshow starring Holly Madison. I live and breath the original Girls Gone Wild. I am addicted to Holly's World and Kendra and never miss an episode. I have never met the girls in person, but I feel like we are BFF's. As the weekend began to draw to a close, I grew disappointed as we were running out of money and we had not yet gone to the show. At $56 for the cheapest ticket, it did not look like we would be able to go. When I had finally given up hope on being able to go to the show, we found out about a deal where we could buy tickets for $30 a piece if we took a tour and listened to a presentation about buying a time share in Vegas. They are amazingly gorgeous condos and may be a possibility in the future. Better yet, I got to see Holly! The show is about how Holly's character (Bo) can't find love. One night, she falls asleep and wakes up in a Peepshow fairy tale land. The Peep diva is trying to get  Bo to break out of her shell and be a little bit more "naughty" in her love life. She does this by taking her through a series of fairy tales. The characters in the stories strip, pole dance and sing remixed pop songs. In the end, Bo finds a man and even dances and strips herself. It was very Vegas-esqe.Overall, it was a really great show and I am so happy that I could go.

We were scheduled to leave early Monday morning. We wake up, check out of the hotel and arrive at the airport only to find out that our flight had been canceled due to weather in Atlanta. They tell us that we will not be able to fly out until Thursday at the earliest. They also told us that they could not refund us for our flight and that we may be able to receive credit towards a future flight, but that is not a guarantee. Also, due to the economy, they wouldn't transfer us to a flight with a different airline. To make matters worse, we did not have enough money to buy tickets for another flight or stay at a hotel three more nights. Fortunately, JetBlue had a direct flight to Boston late that night. My parents saved us and lent us money to buy the tickets home.

So we had 15 more hours in Las Vegas with very little money. We spent that time walking up and down the Strip going into each casino to say we have been to them all. Then I remembered that my cousin, Nicole, whom I hadn't seen in about a year and a half was in town. She works with Disney on Ice and they had just arrived for a couple of shows. We met up with her and talked and walked for a couple of hours. Then we went to a casino to watch some of the BCS championship game before she had to head back to her hotel. So in a sense, it was nice that our flight was canceled so I could spend some time with family.

And now, the best part. The pictures!

Wynn and Encore

The Venetian

Sugar Mountains

Mirage lobby

Bellagio lobby ceiling

Caesar's Palace

Bellagio Fountains