Colby's 30th! Vegas, Baby!

For Colby's 30th birthday we headed east to Vegas for a long weekend with some great friends!   Since we were traveling on Colby's actual birthday, we celebrated at home the night before with balloons, gifts and cake! We love birthdays around here, and since it was a big birthday, we went a little over the top! But if you can't celebrate big birthdays, what can you celebrate? It was a very apple birthday for CL.. an iPad mini from me and Apple TV from my mom.  (he got a gift from his parents, but it didnt arrive for 2 weeks after his birthday, and an ecard that went to spam. he didnt find it for a while.when in doubt, send a real card.)

 

 

Colby and I left bright and early on Friday so we could have some extra time to relax before everyone arrived. We unpacked at the Palms Place and headed to Caesar's for Lunch. We settled on Gordon Ramsey's Pub & Grill for lunch and it was meh. Not the best meal nor the worst. We wandered around the shops for a while before heading back for a nap. and some gambling. 

We met up with Jared at the hotel and Joe and his girlfriend Jackie came and picked us up for dinner at Paymons- one of CLs favorites! After dinner, we met back at the hotel to get Carmen, then we all headed to Fremont Street for some cheap tables. I have never in my life sat at a table and gambled, partially because I dont know how to play any games nor do I like losing money, but i participated this time and it was actually pretty fun! we spent the evening at Binion's then headed home for the evening.

 

 

Saturday we had a cabana at the pool, so no surprise that we spent the entire day out there. It wasn't as hot as i expected, so it was actually pretty pleasant. The shade, and mango coladas didn't hurt either. it was a really fun afternoon just spending time with everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that night we had dinner reservations at STK Las Vegas in the Cosmopolitan. It was super crowded but we got our table within a few minutes.. right next to Kendra Wilkinson of Playboy/Girls next door fame. The guys (and girls) obviously loved it.  Dinner was super yummy and Colby got to blow out some more candles. It was really the highlight of the weekend!

 

After dinner, we headed to the Chandelier Bar in the Cosmopolitan. It was so pretty and sparkly, it was hard not to stay away.  or in Jared's case, it was hard not to hug the sparkles! :)

 

Sunday we all slept in (obviously) and headed out for a late lunch. We ended up at the Venetian after walking the strip. We knew we had to get Carmen and Jared back to the hotel by a certain time to get them to the airport on time, so we ate, wandered, and stopped to play a few more hands of blackjack.  we headed back to the hotel and said our goodbyes, then headed to our room to relax before getting ready for the evening. it was raining (i know, in the desert) so it was a low key evening. We decided on seeing Zarkana at Aria, so we headed that way for dinner before the show- but not before playing a few more casino games...

We ate at this fancy teppan restaurant and it was delish. Just what we needed-- veggies! haha. Zarkana was really beautiful, like any of the cirque du soleil shows. CL and I both really enjoyed it.

 

 

this is what happens when you ask strangers in vegas to take your photo in front of the sign... le sigh.

Monday, CL had two work appointments (yup, always working) so I slept in, and leisurely got dressed and packed before he picked me up for lunch before heading to the airport. I hadn't asked for anything the whole trip, so he let me pick lunch- and of course I said Serendipity! I hadn't been to the Vegas location, only the NYC one, so it was fun to see this one. We shared a huge frozen hot chocolate and headed to the airport!

 

we came home to a birthday card from his grandmother and a surprise box from our awesome friends the Jones'! CL was absolutely THRILLED to see some Austin Beerworks beer and a shirt from his favorite BBQ restaurant- Stiles Switch. Thanks guys!!   CL had a great weekend and we are really blessed with awesome friends that came out to celebrate with us and who called and sent gifts!