Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

We went to Las Vegas over the weekend to attend SHOT Show and meet up with some friends of ours. A quick foodie rundown:

Thursday night we had a group of 11 and went to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, a tapas restaurant in the Fashion Show Mall on the Strip. It was good, but not outstanding. The bill was daunting – $550.

Friday for lunch we went to Lotus of Siam with vpisteve from ARGN. We’ve been there before and it’s a must-see whenever we go to Las Vegas. Absolutely excellent Thai food. Really, really good. I can’t recommend it enough.

Friday for dinner we went to Andre’s Restaurant. While it was tasty, the portions were quite small and it was extremely expensive. If the prices had been half of what they were, I would very much recommend it. As it is, I think they are quite overpriced.

Saturday for lunch we went to the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian, where we were staying. It was decent food; a bit overpriced.

Saturday for dinner we tried to go to Quark’s Bar at the LV Hilton, but we had a group of over 25 people and they could not accommodate us. Unfortunately I ordered a $25 Warp Core Breech, which is a fishbowl of a drink with 10 ounces of booze in it, and drank it on an empty stomach whereupon it gave me the most godawful bad case of heartburn I’ve had since I was pregnant with my second daughter. Therefore, I was unable to eat a meal at the Triple 7 in Main Street Station, which is where we ended up eating dinner. Hub says it was tasty though.

Sunday for brunch we went back to the Grand Lux because it was easy. I didn’t care at all for my corned beef hash. Far too many bell peppers.

Sunday for dinner we went to Hugo’s Cellar at the Four Queens downtown with the Konas. All I can say is WOW. It will definitely be a must-visit from now on. Their lamb was to die for, and my Veal Oscar was excellent. Along with the entree, you get so much extra food that even though the price looks quite high, it’s actually pretty reasonable. Four of us dined and drank wine, cocktails, and after-dinner coffee for $300.

As for the show, it was enormous. You could walk through it all 4 days and still not see it all. The Las Vegas Convention Center is 3,200,000 square feet! We did stand in line to meet R. Lee Ermey (host of Mail Call, who you might have also seen as the Drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket):

I also shook hands with Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, and we saw Ted Nugent there. Additionally, we got to meet up with new friends and old friends and have an excellent time. Here we are with the Konas after dinner at Hugo’s:

I wish they lived closer. We had a blast! We stayed to watch the Freemont Street Experience and I got a neat little movie of part of it.

For all we tried to cram in, I think we needed an extra 3 days. We barely got to gamble at all, although I did hold the dice for about 30 minutes at Main Street Station. Hub and I walked away from the craps table four figures richer!

It’s got a lot of flash.

For some reason that first picture makes it look like there are a lot of inclusions, but I think it’s a reflection from the rock it’s sitting on.

Don’t be a pussy. Do a line.

Michael Moore’s Bodyguard Arrested on Airport Gun Charge – “Filmmaker Michael Moore’s bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York’s JFK airport Wednesday night.”

The stone (in a placeholder) and the setting. I get it on Wednesday.

frank – you might want to think about taking Sterling off the website. With her and Andrea and Amanda gone, there’s not really anyone pretty enough or with a good enough body to pass as her.
A strange page in another language with some unbearably cute pictures of animals.
Hallmarks of Felinity made me laugh so hard, I think I snorted. Just a little.
Do you look like your dog?
Did you know that Morrissey foretold the death of Princess Di? (Please secure AFDB before clicking link.)

After careful consideration I decided that I wanted a white diamond, one that is really sparkly. Compounding this was the fact that I found a really pretty setting, which may or may not work, at my local jeweler. I ended up getting a square cut cushion-shaped stone, which I paid for today and will either get here tomorrow or the next day.

That’s not my hand, it’s someone at Good Old Gold where I bought the stone. They were really, really helpful about everything, and their website has some of the most complete information of any diamond vendor, ever.

Here’s another picture:

Mama like.

Hub and I have a week in May in which it is his birthday, my birthday, and our wedding anniversary. We’ve gone to New Orleans a couple of times for our annual vacation during this week. We’re going to go back again this year. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about area hotels and the Maison Orleans sounded really nice. It’s actually the club level of the Ritz Carlton; the rooms are 450 square feet (bigger than my first apartment!) and they serve 5 light meals a day in the club lounge, 24 hour room service, a menu of different bathtub goodies, etc. At $479/night, which is the best I could find it for, it was completely out of the running. That was the best rate I could find anywhere online. I decided to call them to find out if they had any discounts. The worst they could do was say no, right? So I asked if I could get a better rate. First she offered me $389/night. I said I’d have to think about it. Then I asked if I was calling too early to get any seasonal discounts. She said she’d check again, saying she felt a little like Harry Potter, trying to coax magic out of the computer. Look, a better rate – $335/night. That was interesting, but I was still hoping for better. She said to wait, she had one other thing she could check. Then gasped. “Can you believe this?” she said. $195/night. Sold!

Nothing, but NOTHING, tickles me better than getting a really good deal. And all I had to do was ask nicely. I’m still gloating, hours later. I think I’m going to have to book a spa day for my birthday.