Thursday, May 21, 2009

A Little Slice of Heaven in Sin City

Got to sneak away to the Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas for a few days thanks to two sets of generous grandparents (aka newly certified taxi drivers), my husband's fine choice of a conference presentation location, and a free airline ticket (read: my only expense all weekend was my food - if there is anything better than a getaway, it's an almost free one!) Here is a photo essay of my day on Tuesday:

8am: Sleeping. Duh. Shawn is working on a lounge chair on our porch overlooking the Florentine gardens. If you HAVE to be working, it's better than the office!

9am: Room Service. Yum.

10am: Gym. Sorry, no self-portraits of me on the bike.
11am-2pm: Poolside. After being escorted to my chair by the lifeguard, I read my book all afternoon, sipping on mango smoothie samples and frozen cherries.

2pm: Relaxing at the spa

3pm: Biking with Shawn on his short break from the conference. Darn, I left my camera in the locker room, spectacular views of the lake.

4pm: Poolside again. Two sets of feet are better than one.

5pm: Checking out the waterfalls, white sand beach and views of the hotel.


It was truly a little slice of heaven for a mom of 3 rambunctious puppies and flying "through" San Francisco gave me the opportunity to think about the first few months of our marriage we spent there nine years ago. We had so much fun exploring the city together, but boy were we dumb kids. Was the dumbest thing we did 1) Drive into the city on the Saturday morning before starting new jobs on Monday without a place to live? We actually spent 5 minutes on a PAY PHONE until we realized we had stopped right in the heart of the castro district! 2) Spend the entire summer without a phone in our apartment? It was outrageously expensive and we spent Sundays trying to have conversations with our parents over the wind on the apartment complex pay phone! or 3) Actually sit on our $1 couch we bought at the Haight-Ashbury goodwill store without a cover? We vacuumed and Febreezed, but oooooohhh it makes me sick to think of the germies!
I forced Shawn into a little relaxation since he usually doesn't make time to enjoy the luxuries during his business trips and I definitely filled my relaxation cup all the way to the top! While I am happy to never see the strip again, I would definitely repeat this trip!
PS. I forgot to mention that we grabbed some In-N-Out both on our way "in" to town and "out". While I was really looking forward to it, and the burger definitely did not dissapoint, Shawn and I feel that 5 Guys definitely takes the prize when it comes to burgers AND fries!

10 comments:

Nelson Family said...

You're trully an East Coaster if you think Five Guys is better! I on the other hand will enjoy my In and Out Burger this summer!!!!

Jenny said...

Ditto on the In n Out Julie. Must be a West Coast/East Coast thing. Annie - I still remember when you told me you showed up in SF without a place to live. I think it's hilariously adventurous! Glad you had fun in Vegas!

Christina said...

Seriously. Must be a west coast thing. Five guys is ok, but nothing beats In n' Out. Sound like a fun trip!

Shelly said...

Five Guys all the way, and I'm from the West. What a lucky mom to have such a wonderful break. How fun!

Shae said...

Cute post Annie. I am seriously jealous.

Bridges Family said...

That sounds like heaven on Earth! Good for you!

Andrea said...

Just to clarify my In-N-Out judgment - I haven't eaten at one in about 10 years and I went in fully thinking/remembering it was going to be amazing. I did not bring East Coast/5-Guys bias into the experience. And the burger was really good. But the fries sucked. Bad. Both times, I wanted to make sure I didn't just get a bad batch the first time. I consider myself a major fry snob and McDonald's has better ones than In-N-Out! (uh oh, those are not supposed to be fightin' words!) Stephanie, we drove by Freeman and I thought of you!

Julie said...

Wow, An. So fun! I love that you had such a relaxing time! :)

Remodelaholic said...

Way to go! Sounds like a fabulous vacation! I love reading by the pool, and jumping in when you're too hot and then reading again, I could do it all day (under an umbrella with 75 spf to be safe!)

We had a trip like this in college, and it was even better, cuz I didn't look at my homework once, and read an entire series of books. I am sure a free few days form the kiddos would make a mom feel just as free! I hope it was the best!

Sarah said...

I will not let Ron read your in n out comment! He'd drop you from his friend list forever. Although, we did eat at Five Guys when we lived in Maryland and liked it. So I need a husband who takes business trips that I can go on! I am so jealous. Another friend of mine was just in FL with her hubby and spent the weekend on the beach reading. I am so jealous!
Miss you guys
Sarah
PS we may name our kiddo Ryan, hope you don't care! We are so unprepared for baby #3. I can tell he's going to have to fend for himself a lot.