Little Black Dress

What??  A fashion post? On this blog??  That is how much I love my new little black dress from Carina in Vegas.  It gets it whole post.

This cute little boutique was recommended to my by Andrea since she was in Vegas earlier this year and had tremendous success there.  Stacey and I made a special trip to Caesars palace to check out this store, and so the boys could play poker.  For the record, James won $150 dollars which almost paid for the dress....  I would never have walked into the store with out the recommendation and I tried to find a link to the website but it doesn't even have one!  Once inside I found so many items that I loved.  It is a touch on the pricey side, especially if you are Canadian, so I held myself back to 2 items.

The first item that caught my eye was this dress.

In the back of my mind I was looking for a dress to wear to a friends wedding the following weekend and I like to choose multi use dresses if I can. Meaning I can wear it to a wedding, on vacation and hopefully to work.  I thought this one fit the bill.

  

Picture it with sparkly shoes, purse and jewelry and bam, it becomes wedding attire.  With a jean jacket I can wear it on vacation.  Not sure if I could pull it off for work, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

I had already changed back into my clothes when the sales lade said I needed to try on this black dress.  She said it is nothing much on the hanger but that it looks good on everyone.  Since I was still waiting for Stacey I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try.  I am certainly glad I did.

 

Things I love about this dress:

1. The pockets!  Who doesn't' love a dress up dress with pockets??

2.  The long zipper up the front.  No asking your husband to unzip you at the end of the night to get out of your dress.

3.  The hemline.  I can't remember what it is called but it is unique and adds a little volume to the dress.

4.  Its classic. I will be wearing this bad boy for years to come.

5.  The collar.  This is my absolute fave part.  It is very rigid and bendable which makes it stand up a bit.  I chose not to wear a necklace with it since the collar is such a statement piece. I wanted to let it shine.

Here is the final outfit right before we left for the wedding.  I think its a keeper. 

 

 And while we are talking about this outfit... notice I curled my hair.  It is finally long enough after years of being too short so I thought I'd give it a try.  I came downstairs and after about 5 minutes I asked the kids if they noticed that I curled my hair and they both said they did.  I asked what they thought and Grady quickly told me that it didn't look that great.  He likes my other hair better.  Thanks for the honestly little dude.  Note to self, need to work on things not to say to woman.

An InLinkz Link-up

What happens in Vegas....

This weekend James and I went to Vegas with our friends John and Stacey.   Without the kids.  Obviously.  It has been 2 years since we had been away kidless and when you have grandparents willing to watch the kids you'd be silly not to take them up on it, right?

So we booked this trip long before the house was purchased.   While it did cause me a little stress leaving while the house still is missing furniture and the last of the boxes are still sitting around waiting to be unpacked, it turned out that it came at the perfect time.  We needed a break. 

We are not Vegas virgins.   This was my 6th trip and James' third.   So while we did cover a lot of the strip, we weren't there to sight see per se, we were there to sit by the pool and shop if you were the ladies or shoot guns and gamble if you were the men.  This is why you don't go to Vegas with only your spouse, #differentprioroties

To recap the trip, let's play a little game.  Fact or fiction.  

Fact: Jerry Seinfeld provided 90 minutes of clean comedy that left me laughing out loud.   My favorite part was him talking about why the stalls in toilets don't go all the way down to the floor because we can all recognize our coworkers shoes.  #truth

 

Fiction: People dress classy like Stacey and I in Vegas.   There was a DJ festival going on while while we were there called EDC.  One young lady, if I can even call her that, was not wearing a shirt but instead has stickers covering her n*pples along with some body paint to mimic a shirt.   Where is this girls mother?? #happytobeaboymom

Cosmopolitan Chandelier

Fact: Shopping in the US when you are Canadian sucks when the exchange rate is so bad.   I bought a few things from stores we don't have in Canada but the accountant in me is constantly doing the conversion.   BUT, It isn't a trip to Vegas with a stop at the outlet stores!

Fiction: Our hubby's 2 didn't enjoy the gun range at all.  They tried to go the first day but when they showed up holding a beer in their hands they were promptly turned away. #safetyfirst

Fact: I've never gambled.   They tried to get me to play the slot machines but it just doesn't interest me at all.  Jame put $1.00 in a poker slot machine and spent 15 minutes trying to lose his dollar.  #idratherspendmymoneyathtemall 

 

Fiction: You need to stay up until dawn to enjoy Vegas.  These 4 parents needed some rest!  We were in bed by 1am each night.  The best part was sleeping in as long as you wanted, which still wasn't that long, but, there was no alarm clock or kids that dicatated when you woke up.  I love that I am coming home rested compared to other trips that were far from restful....

 

Fiction: It is a good idea to consume 2 super sized margaritas at lunch.  We arrived, I was excited

And when the waiter suggested the supersized drink I thought, why not?  I'll tell you why, because when it is over 100 degrees and you have to walk half way down the strip to get where you are going you will get hot, tired and complain a lot.  Just ask Stacey who was stuck with me for the afternoon.

Fact: always trust your fashion friends when they tell you they had success at a store.  We visited Carina's by Andrea's suggestion and I walked away with 2 dresses!  One for an upcoming wedding and the other you can see me wearing in the casino above!

 

Fact: We didn't see the Bellagio water show once.  Because I made a big deal of it, we tried to watch from behind on our final night but the viewing was not great.   How can you spend a weekend in Vegas and not a get a full viewing of the infamous water show??? Good thing I've seen it before.  Many times.  

   

Fiction: Sunless tanner is sweat proof.  I used these sunless tanning wipes before we left and I managed to sweat them off the first morning!   I could see the brown tint in my sweat and also the brownish hue on my towel. Yuck!

 

Fact:  I ate so much that my tummy hurt for days.  The food was just so good I couldn't stop.  Especially since we had Mexican twice.  My favorite!

 

Fact: These 2 are pretty fantastic travel companions.  This is our third trip away with John and Stacey and we love how it is a girls trip and a couples trip all wrapped into one.  We don't get to see them nearly enough lately with busy kids and schedule conflicts so it was nice to have some dedicated time to catch up.  

 

Trips to Vegas never disappoint.  Whether you are clubbing it, lounging by the pool or spending your time in the air conditioned mall, it is always a good time.  Each time is different and you never run out of new things to try, which ironically was the motto of our trip.  While I am always happy to get away for some adult time, I am just as happy to return to my munchkins that didn't miss me one bit.

Blaires Bachelorette Weekend

This weekend was in Vegas for Blaire's bachelorette was a HUGE success.  But what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!  Or not.

We checked into the hotel just before midnight and after a 3 hour wait at the airport for the girls who came from Saskatoon and had to go through customs in Vegas.  We grabbed some drinks and headed out to explore the strip in our matching tanks that read' She said YES, we said VEGAS!'

Nothing like a Chelada (beer and clam in a can) walking along the street.

Technically, Kolby bought my drink as this older and not so responsible sister forgot her Wallet, including her money and ID.  Oooops.   We walked quite far down the strip and talked to many promoters offering us free offers into clubs and pool parties.  Apparently a group of girls in matching shirts get A LOT of attention when out and about in Vegas.

We stayed out until after 3am before we headed back to the hotel as we had a bus picking us up to go to the outlets!!!

I was thrilled to be sharing a room with Blaire and Kolby for some quality sister time.  I told them as we were going to bed that if I got up early that I would just open the curtains a crack and read.  When the alarm went off at 9am I was the first to mumble from the bed, is it really time to get up?  There was no morning reading, I slept just as long as the rest of them.  Yay me!

Despite being up super late we arrived at the mall just on time for opening.

It looks like we are standing tallest to shortest.  Not planned!

After a late night we headed to Starbucks first.   The line was out of control so Kolbs and I opted to skip the caffeine and start our shopping right away.

I've said many times that shopping in my happy place... but I just wasn't feeling it.  I really had my heart set on a new brown purse and I just didn't see one I liked.  I did however find 4 pairs of shoes.....  Love me some shoes!

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch (new!) rather than the crappy food court they have at the mall and then decided to hit the pool.  It was about 40 degrees after all.

Selfie Stick!

We stayed at the flamingo and the pool was hopping.  We grabbed some big slurpee drinks from the bar and headed into the pool.  One peachy keen and one Mojito coming right up!

This night also happened to be our big night out  Theme = SEQUIN!!

Taken while we were waiting for our limo

Our limo pulled up and we were all surprised that it was a hummer!  What you can't tell in the photo above is while the other girls brought a few individual drinks, I brought an entire bottle of wine.  I paid for that decision later.

Notice that my dress is quite a bit longer than the others :)

First stop was at the Vegas sign.  After 5 trips to Vegas, this was my first time to visit the sign and it was way smaller than I imagined.  

Kolby, otherwise known as the paparazzi, tried to take some photos but either the sign was blurry or you couldn't see us. It was impossible to get a good shot.  There were a few photographers lurking around and they approached us and said for a donation they would take our pictures and air drop them to our phone. Perfect!

We got some great shots and paid him $20 for his 3 minutes of work.  The guy had the nerve to tell us that we didn't give enough.  We told him to shove it and we gave him a donation.  With that being said, the pictures turned out great!

Pretty ladies!

This one is my favorite!!!  The pictures were worth it even thought the photographer was super rude.

Lucky hand!

After drinking most of my wine in the cab and a few drinks at the club, I may have had a cat nap on the couch at the bar.  A quick little shut eye to refresh.  There may be a photo of said nap that I will never willingly show!

Next up was pool party!  After a free night the night before we decided to splurge on a day bed for the day and grab some bottles.  I had never seen a bottle of Vodka so large and we had no problem finishing it!  For the occasion, we were all sporting our sailor hats and matching shirts.

Cheese!

Such a fun afternoon!  We were at the pool party for the full 6 hours and enjoyed the sun, the drinks, and the company.  What did I not enjoy?  The water.  It was so murky, even first thing. I'm thinking the water was so dirty that the cleaning solutions couldn't keep up.  My Dad would not have been happy with the cleanliness of the pool!  When we looked you could not see your own feet.  It was really gross, but also very hot.   This was a highlight of the trip for sure.

Post pool party we had tickets to Thunder from down under.  It was SO fun.  I had low expectations but I seriously recommend it if you are looking for a fun night out with the girls.

Our table was front and center with Blaire right at the front.  Thankfully she did not get called on stage or i seriously think she may have killed us!

I went home the next morning while the others stayed one more night.  Honestly, three nights in Vegas is enough for me.  Not to mention, the girls went clubbing again and stayed up all night.  This older gal doesn't do that anymore.  So it was perfect that I had gone home and was happily sleeping while they were out gallivanting!

I was so honored to be included in Blaire's weekend.  Did i mention that these ladies are all about 10 years younger than me?  I was scared this old hen wouldn't be able to keep up with the spring chickens, but it was great.  Blaire has such great friends that were so easy to get along with and all of them seemed happy to have me around.  Especially since the picture of me sleeping was deemed the funniest of the weekend, followed closely by this picture of Blaire's co maid of honor on a mission with her pool floatie, drink, and water pistol.

Woman on a mission.

I just love that eventually I got the sisters that I always hoped for and that they put up with the older and less responsible sister crashing the party.

Blaire and I

Can't wait for the wedding!

Shopping in Vegas

Shopping was so much fun on our shopping trip.  I think have the fun was that we were literally shopping for the exact same thing.  We had our summer style me pretty  list in one hand and our wallets in the other.  My shopping list was substantially shorter than Stacey's so we started her list right away.

 

The first store we went to was Loft, one of Stacey's favorites.  And I can see why... we spent 2 hours in there!  This outfit is one of the first she tried on and I instantly loved it!

Look at that big smile!

I loved the white denim jacket.  LOVED.  I loved it so much I went to get one for me to try on.  While I did love it, I already have a denim jacket and hesitated taking the plunge for a second.

 

She on the other hand was scared of white and opted to try on the denim jacket with {{gasp}} printed pants.

 

She bought this entire outfit!

She looked great in this outfit to.  We were on a roll with starting to check things off her list!  I was so proud of Stacey for grabbing these printed pants on her own.  Just over a year ago when her and I went shopping, I tried on my very first pair of printed pants and when I came out, she told me they were 'interesting'.  I bought them anyway.

 

As we were checking out with her large pile of stuff (I didn't find anything)  they told us she could get 15% off her purchase if you signed up for a Loft card.  She had one look at her total and decided to go for it.  While they were processing her new card she started adding to her pile and before you know it, I was buying the white denim jacket.

 

Success at Loft!

I wear my blue denim jacket every other day during the summer and have for the last 3 years.  I am expecting to wear this one just as much.  And with that, the shopping seal was broken!

 

Once the men decided to do a 7pm poker tourney, we quickly directed our attention to the Fashion Show mall.  We I had a list.  One of the blogs I read always posts about her great purchases from Nordstrom, so although intimidating, we ventured in equipped with my list.  The first stop was shoes where I purchased these bad boys.

 

After looking for a few other items on the list and coming up empty handed we were off to the other store I wanted to go to, The Limited.  I had some success last time I was there so decided to try it out again.  I got this top.

 

 

This is totally outside my comfort zone as I am not generally a floral kind of girl, but there was something about this blouse I likes.  I'm hoping I'll have a chance to wear it in the challenge as a printed top.  I was slightly annoyed as when I went to the site to find the links I noticed that the sale items are now 50% off and there was a very cute yellow skirt I tried on that would have been a perfect match but I passed on it. Boo.

 

Here are Stacey and I at the limited.  I bought the dress hiding under the white denim jacket that is way to big.  I wanted to see what it would look like with my newly purchased one sitting in the hotel room.  I don't think Stacey bought either of the items she is wearing.

 

The next day we were up early so we decided to the mall first and the pool second.  We were at the mall so long, there was a point that I wasn't sure we were going to make it to the pool!

 

Here is Stacey reading her list and seeing what else she needed.

 

The shirt she is wearing in the above photo was purchased, and then re tried on in the next 2 stores.  I was sure she was going to bring it back, but in the end kept if for the $15 it cost! 

 

Here is a photo of Stacey and I stepping outside our comport zones.  Me in palazzo pants and her in a maxi skirt.  When we walked in the store Stacey told me she wouldn't walk with me if I bought the palazzo pants.  I think she liked them more once she saw them on.  So did I really.  We both bought them!!

 

We were in the Dress Barn.  I had never heard of it but Stacey wanted to go in as people on the challenge FB page were talking about it.  I must admit we met some pretty funny people in that store.  When I first tried these pants on I had a printed shirt on so I need the plain tank you see in the pic.  Well the older gal helping us left and was gone for what felt like forever before coming back and telling me sent so and so to look for it then she would bring it to her and then she would bring it to me.  I must have looked at her like she was crazy.  I could have just gotten it myself.

 

While I was trying to decide on the pants I asked a woman coming out of the change room if she thought my pants were crazy, she told me that she worked in the 'corporate world' and that they wore them all the time.  She proceeded to tell us her life story in line. 

 

We stopped for lunch shortly after this store and the mall filled up while we were gone.  At this point we had so many bags and the aisles were so small that we didn't fit through very easily.  I even sat down while Stacey navigated.  She said she had never seen me sit down while shopping!  True that!

 

 

I think it is safe to say our shopping trip was a success!  We finally made to the pool around 3.  Now that was a day of shopping!

 

Speaking of the pool, look at this fedora hat I never thought in a million years I would buy and actually wear!

 

 I actually bought it the day before I left.  It is hard to tell, but it has a cute peach bow on the side and that little detail sold me.  I must have tried it on 3 times before finally deciding to buy it. I needed a second opinion so I texted Dee and Candace for their advise.  They of course told me to buy it.  So I did. 

 

It was amazing how many fedora hats we saw in Vegas and especially at the pool.  I felt a little uncomfortable but quickly learned to love my new hat.

 

We also noticed a few other trends that were very obvious and also a part of our shopping list.  These metallic sandals were everywhere!

 

We reluctantly bought a cheap pair each and proceeded to wear them over the weekend. 

 

Maxi dresses and skirts were everywhere!

 

There was something about this print that caught my eye.  I wore this entirely new outfit out on our last night, including the wedges that you can barely see.  This reaffirmed the love for my new white denim jacket.

 

Palazzo pants, we saw on everyone, everywhere.  I've never seen anyone wearing them here but I hope that maybe I am just a few months ahead on this fashion trend.  Now I have to decide if they are work appropriate with a cardigan instead of a jean jacket.

 

How can you tell we were shopping together?

 

Both of us showed up in the lobby to catch a cab to the airport in essentially the same outfit.  Love it!

 

The shopping portion of our trip was a blast and I think we got some great deals. I am so excited to wear all of my new stuff.  Did you know that when I buy something new I leave it on the bench in my room before I put it away?  Well I do, so I will be busy trying to incorporate my new duds in the challenge the next few weeks!

 

Thank you Stacey for stepping out of your comfort zone with me.  You were a great shopping companion.  I hope you've already snipped the tags off of all your purchases!

Viva Las Vegas!

This past weekend, with a lot of help from other people, James and I headed to Las Vegas with our friends John and Stacey.  We went 5 years ago with them and had a blast so it was only a matter of time before we went again.  We arrived in sunny HOT Las Vegas around 2, dropped our bags off and headed out to grab some food and drinks.

It was smokin' hot out.  We opted to sit on the patio anyway since we've only had a handful of nice days back home so far this year.  They had misters going on the patio to keep you cool.  They would have been great if the wind wasn't so fierce and blowing the mist in the opposite directions.  We devoured our fish tacos and nachos and had to decide what to do next.

The boys were itching to play some poker, and Stacey and I to get to mall.  It was perfect.  We headed to Loft where Stacey would do some serious damage.  Funny how when left the restaurant and parted ways with the men that John told Stacey to spend lots and James told me not to buy anything! 

It was so much fun shopping with Stacey as she is doing the summer challenge to so our shopping lists were the same.  We had so much fun that I opted to do an entire post to our shopping outing.

I had to post this picture.

Only in Vegas can men show up in the change room at Loft with beer in hand!

Since the guys entered into a 7pm tourney we decided to hit the Fashion Show mall down the strip.  I really wanted to go to Nordstrom.  We only had 2 hours at the mall so our shopping was very targeted, good thing I had a list.  I walked into the shoe department, told them the shoes I wanted to try, and bought a pair.   

We had supper at a pub at 10pm and stayed there until after last call which oddly enough was right around 1am.  Before we knew it, Thursday was done.

Friday morning, we arrived at the outlets minutes before they opened at 9am.  That was a great choice as by 1pm we couldn't move the stores were so busy.  More on this in the shopping post.

Friday night we headed to the old strip.  Loved it!  It was James and I's first time and we couldn't get over the great vibe on the strip.  We took in Mike Hammer, a magician/comedian with a show at the Four Queens casino.  It was fantastic.  WE payed $25 for these tickets and the show was great.  Very funny and about 75 minutes.  I'd see him again in a heart beat. 

James even got brought on stage.

After the show we walked around and took everything in.

Group shot!

The men decided to zip line down Fremont Street. If you look closely you can see them in this photo.  While they waited in line, Stacey and I checked out what people were wearing and comparing to our challenge shopping list.

Saturday was devoted to relaxing by the pool for the ladies and more poker for the men.  We were by the pool bright and early.  The guys left around noon to get ready for their game.

And we stayed by the pool all afternoon.  I even convinced Stacey to get these yummy mango mojitos for a bargain deal of $30!  They were so yummy they tasted like juice.

We left the pool around 5 only because we had to get ready for the night festivities.  We spend 7ish hour by the pool at 35 degrees and didn't even burn.  Every time a spot got hot I zapped it with more sunscreen.  Maybe that is why we went through more than a bottle over the weekend between the 4 of us!

Saturday night we had tickets to Micheal Jackson One put on by Cirque du Soleil.  While the tickets were pricey, the show was phenomenal.  I'd see it again. I love Micheal Jackson music and the performance and special effects were something else. 

This is John's first selfie.  It went very smoothly after he got the phone pointing in the right direction!

All in all it was a perfect trip.  A girls trip and a couples trip rolled into one.  The guys got to play poker and ladies got to shop.  We enjoyed mornings and evenings together and just had so much fun.  At the airport on the way home we talked about what our favorite part was and all of us decided that we liked it all.  There was nothing I didn't like.  If I were forced to choose my favorite activity it would be the pool day followed closely by the Micheal Jackson show.  But as I said, I really loved every moment.

Why we waited 5 years to do this again is beyond me.  I know it won't be 5 years before we do it again.  Thanks for a great trip John and Stacey!

Stay tuned for the 2 post to follow about the other parts of our trip, after we celebrate Grady's birthday!