It’s official, I’m 30. Geez. No big deal really. I feel great. Ok, maybe just good 😉 But I celebrated in a great way, that’s for sure! My husband and I took a long weekend to Las Vegas. This was my 4th time there and though it was a blast, I probably won’t be returning anytime soon. I. Am. Exhausted. To say the least. It literally overloads all of your senses; your vision- obviously, there are lights and huge buildings everywhere. Your smell- mostly cigarette smoke. Your hearing- ding ding ding of slot machines and thump thump thump of loud, bassy music. Your touch- the sun is hot as hell. And my favorite! Your taste- the food is amazing! My husband thinks I’m crazy, but even eating at Subway or Starbucks. The food just tastes so good to me here. They probably do something to it. I could eat and drink here all day (and night) long…

We stayed at Encore which is part of the Wynn. Definitely one of the best hotels I’ve ever been in and would stay here again if I ever return to Vegas. Yes, it is off the strip a bit, but I actually prefer that. The strip is loud and dirty and you encounter some very odd characters. However, the strip is something to see at least once, especially the Bellagio fountain at night and other hotels, but other than that, you can pretty much stay in your hotel. They all offer so much and are huge. Encore is beautiful, very upscale, and everywhere you look, from the floor to the ceiling, you see something stunning. Here’s a picture of the bathroom in our room…

Amazing. I wish it was mine. I’m sure every woman does. It also had a separate tub and shower. And here is the hall where you wait for the elevators…

So pretty! We were on the 57th floor and here was our view at night…

But enough of the hotel, onto food. I didn’t take that many photos of the food I ate, unfortunately, but I can at least talk about it. First, we had lunch outside of the Wynn at a place called Terrace Point Cafe. I had a chicken salad sandwich on a homemade croissant. Delicious! Here it is…

Just look at those layers! I will challenge myself one day and make croissants. It was so good I ate every last bite. For dinner we ate in our hotel at a restaurant called Botero. Very good and very expensive. First we ordered Ahi Tuna Tartare which was amazing. I ordered a Petite Filet for my main course that was $50 and then a side of asparagus which was $12. Everything was so tasty, just double the price of what you would get here in Chicago.

We then spent that night at one of Encore’s nightclubs, XS. Very fun, very crowded. We saw Diplo and was surprised to see Pauly D from Jersey Shore hanging out in the dj booth. Going out was the highlight of the trip for me. I wanted to drink, which we did a lot of, and party, which we also did 😉

The next day was Mother’s Day and we went to the Buffet in our hotel which offered a Mother’s Day brunch. Seriously, so much different types of food, I was overwhelmed. From pancakes and eggs and waffles, to Asian cuisine and Sushi, to Italian sausage and pastas, to Mexican, etc. My favorite, of course, was the dessert section. Here is what I enjoyed…

I’m surprisingly not a huge fan of macaroons. The yellow one was lemon which was good, but the purple was grape and kind of disgusting. The cupcake was cinnamon with cream cheese frosting and decorated with glitter sugar and an edible white chocolate square. And lastly the pie was my favorite. Banana cream filling with whipped cream and shaved coconut. Yum! After we ate we relaxed by the pool enjoying cocktails before getting ready to walk along the strip.

For dinner, we were done spending double the price on everything. I found a Mexican restaurant in New York New York called Gonzalez Y Gonzalez. It was a nice change of pace and scenery. No photos, just typical, delicious Mexican food.

After dinner we went to a hookah lounge called Azuza. It may come as a shock to some people but my husband and I smoke shisha regularly and even own a hookah. We saw this place had good reviews on Yelp so we checked it out.

I apologize for the bad photo, it was really dark in there which was nice for us. The hookah itself was just ok, we got the Blue Mist flavor. We also ordered Turkish coffee. If you like coffee and have never had it, get it sometime! It’s really good, strong and is perfect when you are smoking.

Next, we went to Cosmopolitan. Such a beautiful hotel! Here is a picture of the chandelier bar…

Doesn’t do it any justice. It is so pretty and sparkly in person. And of course, the Bellagio Fountain…

 

We almost stayed at Bellagio and I’m glad we did not. We walked through there and it is so crowded! And too many kids. Of course it’s beautiful and the shops are great and I’m sure the restaurants are fantastic, but not for me.

And lastly, I wanted to go to Sugar Factory in the Paris hotel to get a birthday dessert. We shared the Drunken Sundae which is chocolate and Baileys gelato that they make in-house, topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzle, pecans and brownie bites. Holy deliciousness! A perfect way to end the day and trip.

If you have never been to Las Vegas, obviously I recommend it. It is not for everyone, I know some people do not like it, but there is so much to do besides party and gamble. We actually did not spend a dime on gambling. But we ate and drank good 😉

I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip! Now it is time for me to come back to reality…