My trip to Las Vegas was… interesting. I forget how crazy Las Vegas is. So much to do, so much to see, so many people everywhere, such good food, such unhealthy food, lots of alcohol, lots of smoke, lots of gambling,… Man. I could go on for a while. Let's just all agree on the fact that Las Vegas has everything (literally everything) in excess amounts. Las vegas goes big. There is no doubt. That is why I have decided to rename it to "Las Vexcess". Nonetheless, I did have a great trip.
Laying in the sun all day and being with my family laughing about everything was the perfect way to decompress after a tough week of midterms. And I mean… getting to lay by this fashionable dad of mine? No where else I would rather be. Those are my sunglasses by the way ;)
While in Vegas I didn't even think for one second about school! I decided to leave my backpack zipped (besides unzipping it to grab my quest bars) and I kept all my thoughts about school in a part of my brain that I shut off. It was great. I even started reading a new book.
It's called "The Fault In Our Stars" by John Green. I only got a quick few chapters in because I was reading the preview on my kindle. I decided I need a hardcopy of this book because of the great quotes and reminders I have already read. Have any of you read this book? How do you like it?
Dinner the first night was absolutely amazing. We went to a Thai restaurant called Lotus of Siam that was off of the strip. Their menu was like the Cheesecake Factory's. The flipping of pages never ended. Somehow, we all decided on a dish and did the whole dinner "family style".
The next day, after my brother had left town to meet friends in California, my mom, dad, and I drove to the outskirts of Las Vegas to Red Rock Canyon to get some hiking (and more sunshine) in. It was so nice to get out of the city scene and be surrounded by rocks, blue skies, and just… nature! I love hiking more than a lot of things in life so this day was perfect :) We even picked up rocks and used them as weights to get an upper body workout WHILE hiking! About halfway through one of the hikes, all of our stomachs were growling so I pulled out the infamous Quest Bars! My parents went gaga over them… My dad even kept saying, "Hey Ali! Quest me!"… Whatever that means.
We even had a photo shoot with some Quest Bars. Isn't my dad ripped?! He is such a goof too.
After the hike we got some lunch at Cafe Rio and were back at the hotel to shower and get ready for our night. For dinner we went to an amazing French Steakhouse at The Paris. It was called Mon Ami Gabi. Our waiter was amazing. He was so willing to change items on the menu to satisfy my not-so-accepting-lactose-tummy. I ended up getting the chicken paillard that was served with root vegetables and arugula.
Classic "Steakhouse lighting" on that picture… but oh boy was the dish de-lish! My mom got some sort of fish that was smothered in capers so I was not really a fan of that. Capers are not my thing. Yuck. I don't know what it is but I can't stand them. My dad got steak covered in caramelized onions and a red wine sauce. I had a generous amount of his food.
Our bellies were completely satisfied (almost too satisfied) after dinner and we were ready to walk the strip again! We went across the street and watched The Bellagio fountain show.
It was so mesmerizing. I wanted to stand on top of one of the water shoots and go flying up with the water as it shot up. How fun would that be? I feel something like that has happened on a Spongebob episode before.
Of course we had to get a selfie with the beautiful Bellagio building. How cute are my parents? They're into the whole "selfie nation" thing right now… you should see the pictures (and videos) my dad sends me. He makes me laugh so hard.
Then we went in The Bellagio and straight to the patisserie where they have the worlds tallest chocolate fountain. Isn't it pretty? I was about ready to start quoting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Or break the glass and let the chocolatey goodness flow down my gullet. Haha.
We had enough chocolate viewing and proceeded to the humongous green/flower house in The Bellagio (don't forget this is all INSIDE the hotel… quite EXCESSive) to see all the pretty flower arrangements and introduce our noses to a scent other than cigarette smoke. This was gorgeous. But I think there was some sort of sleep drug being exhaled by those flowers because we were ready to snooze right once we walked out of the flower room. To our hotel we went.
The next day my dad left for home because he had to get back to work so it was down to my mom and I. We decided to sleep in until 11:30! WHAT! I don't remember the last time I slept that long. I was feeling pretty drudge-y waking up that late and the last thing I wanted to do was work out. But my mom got my butt in gear with a cup of coffee and to the gym we went.
What the heck was I thinking, not working out?! I forgot how much I love that sh*t! My kind of drugs are endorphins. An endorphin high cannot compare to anything. Does anyone else feel that way? Just me? You all would rather do real drugs? Haha. Kidding. After this awesome burn I fueled up with food from our hotel cafe:
An eggwhite skillet. In the bottom of the pan were roasted potatoes. Topped with scrambled egg whites, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions and mushrooms, turkey bacon, and avocado. Whole wheat toast, fruit, and coffee on the side. Woo-wee. It was good.
For the remainder of the day (even though it was already 2 since we slept in so late) my mom and I soaked up the sun at the pool and debated where we should go for dinner. Putting two total foodies together and trying to make a decision on dinner is quite a difficult task. After awhile we finally decided. We went to the room, cleaned up, and were on our way to Todd English Pub at the Aria. I was a little skeptical going here… but after the first smell bite of my dinner I was in complete heaven.
Again… lighting not so great… but the food. Very veggie. Much yum. So bread-y. Honest to goodness the best portobello burger I have ever had (and I have had a lot of porto burgers!). Two balsamic marinated portobello mushroom caps, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions and zucchinis, lettuce, tomatoes, and a garlic aioli all sandwiched between a toasted seven grain bun. Oomf. On the side were pickled vegetable and my mom and I shared grilled asparagus. That asparagus was perfect too. I was a happy Ali after this meal. My mom and I walked around in the Aria for a bit and then through the shops in The Bellagio and Caesar's Palace. By 10, we were ready for bed.
We had a great sleep after our pub food and woke up ready to take on our 7-hour drive home. But first we had to fuel up! A lot of you suggested we go to Hash House A Go Go and that we did! Wow is all I can say. That place is amazing! The plates they were bringing out were unbelievable. Their most famous plate was obviously the fried chicken and waffles. Two fried chicken pieces and four waffles. Can you say EXCESSive? It was crazy. My mom and I kept it simple and got the roasted chicken hash with asparagus, mushrooms, and peppers and then the huge bowl of oatmeal with fruit galore.
It was a great meal. Thank you everyone for the awesome suggestion! My mom and I were eager to get on the road and back home to our routined and not-so-excessive lives at home! So just like that… we were off and out of Las Vexcess!
The drive was long, but with music bumping and a huge costco bag of carrots, we kept ourselves busy. Seven hours later, we were home! Home sweet home! I opened my bedroom door to a great home-warming package from Akiva over at The Cookie Department.
Look at all those cookies! I dug into one right when I opened the package… more to come on those soon. I will be doing a full review as soon as I try each one!
I hope you all enjoyed your past weekend and week. Can you believe tomorrow is already Friday?! I better get out of EXCESS land and get some homework done!
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