Vegas, Board Games, Boarding and Birthdays, October 2011

Mai had the genius idea of having a game night.  It was fun to play Taboo once again, and we planned to do it every month, alternating hosting.  So Mai's is October, Melissa's is on for November, and B and I will host in December.  Mai's was fun, there were 5 little boys from ages 1 to 4, and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with this one boy named Gabriel. There were about 11 adults, so the house was full.  It was a fun night, especially since Mai and Jason recently got a bunch of wine from the Paso Robles area.

We took Mai and Jason to dinner at The Palm downtown one night, as part of our annual ritual of taking each other out one-on-one (or in this case, couple-on-couple) for our birthdays.  B and I are not a fine-dining type of people, while M&J are foodies.  I enjoy going to these places once in a while, but we can't afford going to these things more than once or twice a year, seriously.  But having eaten there a few times for work, I at least know we were getting our money's worth, because it's predictably good food, and lots of it.  The cheesecake and chocolate cake desserts alone can fill up a person.  Their Prime Rib is about an 1/8 of a cow.         

B's side business Herbalife has their annual get together in Las Vegas at the end of the month, so I gathered up the girls and their significant others for a weekend in Vegas.  And since it's the Halloween weekend, we decided to dress up one night.  We had a blast.  We ate at Pampas Brazilian Grille, the buffet inside Mandalay Bay, and we had a few take-outs as well.  I missed on a visit to Stripburger for their orange dream drink, but it's all good.  B and I stayed at Las Vegas Hilton one night (Thursday) and PH Towers two nights thereafter.  We Pricelined the PH hotel for about $125 a night, the Hilton I got for free with my American Airlines mileage points.  The Hilton is in bad shape, but for a few hours from midnight on, it served its purpose for us.  The PH Towers is amazing.  They put us on the 36th floor overlooking the south part of the strip.  Awesome room.  Clean, modern, automated. 

While in Vegas, Tico was housed for four nights at Whiskers and Tails.  They charge about $20 and up for the night, so it's not so bad.  And after grooming/bath, we always get Tico back all fluffy and fresh.  He's starting to enjoy this place, and has made friends with the staff.  They know him by now, and is his basically his second home by now. 

The month of October was very well anticipated by us, because of the Halloween weekend.  It's always fun to go out to Vegas with the girls.  But we definitely had a great time having the boys join us this time around.  Which is why I love Whiskers and Tails, because getaways to Vegas such as these will not be possible without the convenience of having them around.