12 Hour Vegas Extravaganza

Some people told me I was crazy. Others said that this was the best idea they had heard. But I knew, it was going to be one of those nights you just don't forget. If you know me - you know I LOVE birthdays! It is a great excuse to party hardy! And it is the one day a year that you are supposed to feel extremely special. I try to call all of my friends on their birthdays - just cause. That is sometimes the one day of the year that I talk to people. But just hearing the smile in their voice makes it all worth it. On that note, this is what I did.

Wednesday, Aug. 29th is one of my best guy friend's birthdays. His friendship means a lot to me. And for all of my bitching and dragging him to silly movies, I wanted to do something super special, so this is what I came up with: 12 hours in Vegas. After a bunch of nights out lacking on the eye candy, I thought we needed to get out of town. Two weeks ago, I decided this was a go and bought the tickets. I didn't tell a lot of people, because it was going to be a surprise. Friday night, too many people knew and I was just waiting for someone to slip. Surprisingly enough, they did alright. Friday night was a blast, but made Saturday a little rough to begin with. I got up early, came home, ate breakfast, and went back from a nap. Finally I started to get ready... and the trip began.

Had to find something to wear that was cute on the inside, but not so scandalous on the outside... this is what I came up with.




Sweet, but not too sweet. Mom was in on the deal and I had her pick up Eddy, because I was "running late". Then I said that we had to take her somewhere. All Eddy knew is that we were going clubbing, although leaving at 3:30 pm was a little hard to explain. But he sure was ready to go.





Mom said we were going to Gilroy. How she came up with that, not exactly sure. Although he didn't ask any questions. He just knew I got him for the night. We pulled up to the airport, and mom goes, "I guess we aren't going to Gilroy." At that moment, I was asked, where are we going? So I took that as my cue to pass his boarding pass to the backseat. He couldn't believe it. I got a big hug when we got out of the car. And on our way we went. Our flight was delayed a few min. So we took the time to lay out the itinerary and cinnabons!





We boarded the plane and because Friday was long, I dozed off. But a short flight and we were in Vegas. I had decided dinner was going to be at Le Provencal at the Paris. It has opera singers every hour and of course, they do a grand ol' Birthday song.. music playing through the entire restaurant, 2 people with mics, 2 more background singers. I just couldn't resist the embarrassment. :o)





Of course the signature dinner pic, before things get silly...





Eddy grabbed a drink





as we went to window shop for a bit at the Forum shops until we realized that waiting in line may be a better idea. I had talked to my friend Dan 2 days before I left and coincidentally he was in Vegas the same weekend, or perhaps we were there the same time, seeing he actually had a hotel room. The line was longer than I would like to admit. The same line took me 1 hour to get into Pure in July. Triple that for this trip. I guess that is what you get when Prince, Justin Timberlake, and Cameron Diaz are all hanging out. Plus who knows who else.







We made friends with the guys behind us...(photo taken later in the night)





Our threesome and twosome become a fivesome. We checked out girls the entire time. Small frame, huge knockers, that seemed to be the favs. (definitely fake) We finally got into the club and immediately headed upstairs seeing that is my favorite part of Pure. 80 degrees outside and a BEAUTIFUL view of the strip.













After dancing, dancing, boozing, and more dancing, they closed the roof down at 4:30 am. At this point, Dan had gone home with the chick that he started dancing with when we first got in the club. Come to find out, they lost each other shortly after they left. Our new found friends that ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the night. Oh yeah, there was a Paige sandwich around 4 am. And yes Eddy, it was still WEIRD! Anyhow, they left too. So we went downstairs and there was more music, naturally, we went back to dancing. Finally decided @ 5 am that Breakfast was a grand idea. The place I thought we would go was closed for remodeling, so we went to the Venetian and ate at the Grand Lux Cafe. Eddy was practically passing out.





And I was looking fabulous at this point.




Let's try that again...





Breakfast ran late and I think I siestaed in the taxi on the way to the airport. By the time we made it to the gate, the plane was already half boarded. We were the 4th to last people on the plane. Talk about timing. We split up because we both knew we would be out like a lite. I talked briefly with the guy next to me. When we were getting off the plane, he said we should hang out. I think he liked me... even after 12 hours of insanity in Vegas.. I thought that was funny. Called Mom and she was almost there... thank goodness. I was SUPER tired. Long day/night





Let's not to look so out of it...





oh well that one was a little blurry. This concludes the adventure!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDY!!! Glad you had a good time!


"There is a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning." - Jimmy Buffet

Surface Friends

You spend so much time getting to really know someone to have your friendship disappear. Are people really more interesting on the surface than underneath? They say you can make a fairly adequate judgement in the first 2 seconds of meeting someone as to whether or not you like them, but the world we live in today stresses well thought out decisions. Do you truly make a better decision by digging deeper into someone or have you just ignored your first impression and are doomed to fail as friends at a later date?

Why is it some relationships grow for years and others disappear within months? Is it the positive energy of two people that keep them afloat? Is is honesty and truth? Is it better communication? Respect? Or is it just a fact that two people can be doomed from the start?

I have friends that I wonder if I had met them today, if I would still be friends with them. Does history count for something? If I answer no, then why is it, I am willing to put so much effort into what seems to be an always struggling relationship. So perhaps in essence history does count for something. Meeting new people can be very interesting. This is your chance to start from square one. They know nothing about you, but you also know nothing about them. What each of you says is counted as truth and there is no reason to suspect anything else. However, if one thing is found to be false, then is it all false? Do "minor" lies hold more weight than major ones or should it all be looked at on the same scale. A lie is a lie. There always seems to be something exciting about new people, but is there something that is also inherently scary. I never think of it much as being scary, but perhaps to certain people it is.

There is a comfort zone when people actually know you. They know more than your name is Paige and you are from California. Even the fact that I routinely play soccer on Friday nights could be considered "surface". They know that it is guaranteed that I will order pancakes when going out to breakfast. That I put up a wall to make sure I don't get hurt. That I act tough more than I should as another defense. That I forgive more than I should because everybody needs a second chance and maybe a third. Do our weaknesses differentiate our surface relationships from those that we would consider close?