Viva Las Vegas, Baby!

As promised, this post recaps my trip to Las Vegas last week! This trip is going down as one of my favorite weekends EVER, that's for sure. As someone who does not smoke, gamble, or consume alcohol, I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I tell people that Las Vegas is one of my favorite vacation spots. There's actually A LOT of stuff for me to do here. The shows! The pools! The food! The shopping! Definitely plenty to keep me busy for a typical 3-4 day trip to Sin City. I think we can all agree that anything over 4 days in Vegas is too much :) I also love the energy of Vegas. Everyone is hyped up and stoked to have a good time. I feed off that down-to-do-anything mentality!

Included in my recap are low maintenance outfit shots just to give you an idea of what I was running around in. Thanks to bae for graciously obliging me for each request. Really, the best part of this trip was being able to spend some much needed quality time with Mitch after being on travel non stop. I can't recommend Vegas enough for a couple's getaway!

Day 1: SEA > LAS and then Penn & Teller

We left on a Wednesday afternoon. There was enough time for me to squeeze in my weekly team meeting before heading out so I opted for moderately comfortable and put together look over the usual yoga pants and sneakers. I felt SUPER COOL rocking these shoes at the airport AND I was using a brand new piece of luggage that I had picked up with sister wifey in Florida the day before. Achievement unlocked for returning to the airport no more than 12 hours since I was there last. SEA > LAS is an easy <3 hour flight.

Mitch and I were pleasantly surprised with our HELLA BALLER hotel room at Hilton's new Vegas resort, the Elara. I was offered a SWEET deal over the phone from Hilton Rewards for a 4 day, 3 night stay for $240 total. We were in a plush 1 bedroom suite that came with a fully stocked kitchen, jet tub and sweeping views of Vegas from the 31st floor. Our room was easily worth at least twice of what we paid for it. Such a score. The only catch was that I had to endure 2 hours of emotional manipulation via a timeshare pitch during the trip. Completely worth it!

We wanted to center our trip around shows and for our first, we went to see Penn & Teller. LOVED IT. I've been a big fan of Penn & Teller after consuming almost every single BullSh!t episode. Mitch didn't have much exposure to them beforehand but also enjoyed the show. Beforehand we had dinner at El Dorado Cantina because we were craving Mexican. I really liked it! The cilantro rice, SO GOOD. Full disclosure, Mitch was meh on it. Note for anyone wanting to hit it up- it's attached to Sapphire, "The World's Largest Gentlemen's Club" and doesn't have a sign from the street. Such a great start to our little getaway!

Day 2: Eforea Spa & Marc Savard Comedy Hypnosis

Thursday started with breakfast at Hash House A Go Go. They've branded themselves as "Twisted Farm Food" and I highly recommend it. The serving sizes are HUGE but it's ALL delicious. Afterwards I had to sit through the timeshare presentation by Hilton. I wish someone would have warned me ahead of time. It was BRUTAL and they made it difficult to walk away but eh- a small price to pay for the beautiful room they put us in. AND they threw in free dinner and a show, which we used later this day.

After the sales pitch, Mitch and I treated ourselves to massages at Eforea Spa down the Strip at another Hilton hotel. It was nice! I'm not sure it was worth the $115 price tag (including tip) for the 1-hour massage, but no regrets on doing it.

One of my favorite things about the Elara is that it's connected to the Miracle Mile, a mall. Relatively easy access to parking and I loved the idea of being able to browse shops right outside the hotel lobby. Our free dinner and show was withing the Miracle Mile and it was crazy convenient! We decided to use our free dinner at the Brazilian steak house, Pampas. TBH, I have been to better Brazilian steak houses, but I'm not going to complain about a fancy free meal! Oh, are you wondering what a vegetarian is doing at a steak house? THE BOMB SALAD BAR AND CHEESY BREAD. Mitch picked our free show for the night. There were so many to choose from but he settled on Marc Savard's Comedy Hypnosis Show. Okay, for reals, this was THE FUNNIEST show ever. I was honestly losing my shit the entire time and definitely plan on going back. You should check out his youtube channel!

Day 3: Hoover Dam and Absinthe

For our last full day, we took a drive out to the Hoover Dam, less than 45 minutes away from Las Vegas. IT WAS AWESOME and definitely worth a visit. It was so glorious that it deserves it's own post (coming soon, to a blog near you!). We took the rest of the day easy, enjoying a meal at Maggiano's Little Italy. Just a tip for all you Mag fans out there. At the MLI at home, they have a deal where you get an entree of pasta and then a take home portion for later. I was disappointed when I didn't see this deal listed on the menu at the Las Vegas location. I casually mentioned this to our waitress and she said that they still offered the deal, they just don't list it. So, ask you shall receive! We got take home portions to consume before our flight home the next day!

We wrapped up our last night at the sexiest circus show in the world, Absinthe. I completely LOVED this show as well! There were elements of cirque, but the clowns were way funnier and much more engaging. The venue was much smaller than I thought it would be and made for a gorgeous, intimate setting. Every seat was a good seat! It totally made my night when Mitch was called up for the Black Guy vs. White Guy lap dance contest in front of the 200+ audience. Obviously, he crushed the competition and enjoyed a sour whiskey at the end of the night, compliments of the ring leader :)

I hope this recap proves useful when you plan your own Vegas getaway! This trip goes down as one of my favorite weekends of all time thanks to my number 1 and this miracle city in the desert. Until we meet again, Las Vegas!