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?

Girlfriends of the 21st Century

I often wonder what it was like to grow up when our parents did. I look at the young girls today and wonder where their role models went. Wearing next to nothing, caked on make up at the movie theaters? What is up with that? Once upon a time e-mail didn’t exist, the internet was 56K dial up if you were lucky, and IM was a service that only people who paid for AOL had access to. Now, there are networking sites, a phone number isn’t any good unless you also have their AIM, Yahoo Messenger, or iChat sn. You e-mail your friends because you don’t have the time to talk to them. Single conversations don’t even exist. You talk to your best friend who is talking to another mutual friend, who is actually also talking to you as all of you carry on an extra 3 convos. I will admit it, networking sites, Myspace, I am addicted. I don’t know how my day would go if I didn’t have it. It is what keeps me busy at work and I have found that it makes communication with no time so much easier. It’s funny how the internet will go down and you think life is over. If a download doesn’t complete within 10 seconds, something is wrong with the internet.

Basically, we are connected! We have a cell phone on us 24/7. The first thing we do when we return home is check our away messages. The last thing we do before bed is check our e-mail. Hoping someone, somewhere, was thinking about us long enough to want to say HI!

But the question is, in our parents age, did a girl friend run away from her other girl friends to answer her cell phone? No. Cell phones didn't exist then. So has technology changed everything? Am I better friends with those people in different states because of technology? Or worse friends with people in my current state because of it?

The Comfort of Sleeping Next to Somone

Why is it you feel safe with a guy's arms wrapped around you? You feel comforted by the fact that there is someone to protect you. Yet there are some people you can sleep next to comfortably, and others that you just pray they will go home soon. Is there something intimate about sharing a bed? If so, why is so acceptable for siblings to share a bed? Are there different circumstance as to when it is intimate and not? If you share a bed with your best guy friend, does that fall under sibling? Whereas with your boyfriend, is that intimate? When you first meet someone, does your initial interaction within a relationship dictate which heading "sleeping in the same bed" will fall under? And can it change?

Can you sleep with your significant other in complete comfort and after you break up, still be comfortable? Or does it immediately change to a sibling type of comfort? Is it perhaps just awkward due to feelings not being extinct? Can the comfort level change as time heals wounds?

I have slept next to people where the comfort level is unexplainable. It was this instant satisfaction. Everything felt right, fit right, and yet, nothing worked out. There are others, that I just hoped that they would get up early in the morning and scurry off. Him on his "side" and me on mine, trying to stay as far away as possible. So what made it so unbearable? Was it him and the impression I had gotten? Or was it the actions I was afraid he might take? Do some people just fit better than others?

Colorado

Here are some random quotes and stuff from CO - if you want further details - just ask!

"Did he check our names off the list?" "Don't think so" "Oh well".... just tell the doorman you are on Eric's list

"How much for my drink?" "Don't worry about it, that guy got it" "Um, ok, thanks"

"How much for our drinks?" "The guy over there got them..." "Which one?" "Um, I don't know, one of them over there." LOL

"Sorry Eric, I just wasn't fast enough to catch them kissing"

"Your Brother is trying to have phone sex with me!" -oh man, drunk siblings!

"My best friend and bro are talking about cum on boobs and phone sex. Isn't there something wrong about that?" "haha, never"

"We can bitch and go shopping, so let's go shopping"

"Why did we walk around that whole mall again, we only really went to the first store...."

"I'm not drinking." "I don't think I am drinking either" "How about this, after dinner we'll go by the Rio for Margs, first round, my treat." - later on, most of us were a little drunk

"At least someone is bold enough to stand over here" "You're old, don't fucking touch me" - about 5 min later I pushed the guy off the bar stool and we all left.. LMAO

"Dave called huh? Make sure she knows not to tell Lisa..."

"Ryan wants us to go to the Walrus." "He isn't worth it, if he wants to see you, he can come see you..." - Shortly after, Ryan shows up

"We can fit 5 in my car" ...."can we try to fit 7??" "I guess I could fold the seats down"... 7 people in a Toyata Celica Hatchback, Avg. height @ 5'11"

"Boulder is not that big, what takes a cab so fucking long to get here."

"Where's Brandi?" "Not upstairs" "Her shoes are here." "I don't know" "Her clothes are here" "She'll be back later than" - coming home @ 6 am

Ring-ring

This is a little anecdote from driving to work this morning. You will probably find it a little entertaining.

I have had my "new" car since November of last year. Like most luxury cars, my car has a built in cell phone, however seeing I already have one phone, I saw no need to activate another. I don't need to pay for two. Logical right? On my way to work, nice and early mind you, I am cruising along listening to music, and the phone in my car starts ringing. It stopped my music, and kept ringing, thrown off, I couldn't figure out why it was ringing. As far as I know, it is NOT activated. I pressed the radio on/off switch, which didn't do anything. Fully knowing that my computer in the car is NOT a touch screen, I touched it anyway, trying to get the annoying thing to stop. Finally I hit the talk button on the steering wheel to find that no one was there. Perplexed by the situation, but relieved the ringing stopped, I kept on my way to work. Again, the phone started ringing! This time a little more calm, I turned the dial and hit answer. It was some dude from Nextel looking for someone else... I politely told him he had the wrong number then he asked if I was some hospital. Does it sound like I am at some hospital?? How strange. Needless to say, I was very confused. I don't think I even have buttons to dial a number, although after thinking about it, I just may. I will be checking this out after work. I should have asked him what number he called. HAHA. Anyhow, just thought that might give you a laugh, I was definitely laughing at myself! =o)

Birthdays

Birthdays are a weird thing - it is the one day that is "ours", although we probably share it with more than a thousand other people. It is rare to have more than one friend that shares that special day, that is if you have even one friend that shares it. We build this one day a year up in our minds every year. Planning for that big blow out! Hoping that even if we don't say anything, everyone around us remembers. It is like that big test of who cares and who doesn't. The day we get random calls from people who we thought would never recall it, and those close to us forget to remember.

Getting caught up in my own world and the weekend, I failed to check the date today. It is April 3rd - my good friend Jessica's 23rd birthday. She is a couple hundred miles away in sunny Arizona and I couldn't be there to celebrate with her, although I did one more wrong, I didn't realize what day it was until 10 pm tonight. I am typically good about these things, I keep a book with all my friend's known birthdays. I think birthdays are great! They give us a reason to celebrate and they give people their own special day. A day when they can feel like King/Queen. However it seems more often than not, this 'special' day is one that we would like to forget every year. Hoping that the next will be that much better than the last.

I know this far too well, for many consecutive years, I had this habit of crying or getting disappointed on my birthday. I have been to Vegas the last 2 years and this coming year will be the 3rd. Each year is better than the last, and yet, every year I hope the next will be perfection. It is funny how you can have some of your closest friends in Vegas for the one reason being your birthday and still have people forget to wish you Happy Birthday, on that very day. So I am apologizing to Jess. We are human and make mistakes, but here is the birthday song...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! Happy birthday to you!! HAppy Birthday dear Jessica! Happy Birthday to you!!! LOVE YOU CHICA!