Flirty Thirty

Without a doubt, I have had the trip of a lifetime and the best birthday ever. I had such an amazing time with my girlfriends and it was so great for everyone to get to know each other, too. Plus, Carrie and I realized it had been five years since we've seen each other - crazy!

First things first. Monica and I arrive around 9:30 am on Sunday and met Kate at the aiport. Carrie soon met us for lunch at the Paris, where we stayed. We decided to walk the strip before heading to The Palms where the 2007 Video Music Awards were being held. We had the place staked out for the red carpet but were quickly disappointed to find out that the red carpet festivities were being held inside for media-only and that the only view we'd get were celebrities being dropped off at the front door in limos with the hotel being blocked off from view on the inside. Out of all my years of red carpet-watching, I found this to be very disappointing. Most award shows have red carpets outside and bleachers for the general public. Boo MTV. Boo. And what happened to regular festivities from past MTV awards shows such as bands playing live outside? We did catch a few celebrities who were kind enough to roll down their windows and wave. Most stayed inside their vehicles and away from fans - boo again. We saw Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler, Paris Hilton, Rosario Dawson and a couple others that I really had no clue about...this is where it's obvious that I'm 30 now and not 15.

Sunday night we had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Postrio at The Venetian. We spent the rest of the evening walking the strip, touring the hotels and then saw the water show at the Bellagio - so amazing - before retiring to our casino for nickel slots. I am proud to say that I walked away from my trip only $15 poorer due to gambling.

Monday (my birthday!) we went to the Stratosphere Tower for sightseeing and then had lunch at the Hilton's Star Trek Experience restaurant, Quarks Bar & Grill. Yeah, we pretended to be trekkies. It was so much fun and who wouldn't want to share a ginormous green drink containing dry ice? We toured more hotels on the strip and finally made our way to dinner reservations at Daniel Boulud Brassiere at The Wynn overlooking the Lake of Dreams. This was the best dinner of my life. Really, really cool light and music show during our dinner and awesome food - thank you, Carrie! Our last outing for the night was to the Mirage where we saw The Beatles (Cirque du Soleil) Love Show. Fantastic!! I now want to go see every Cirque du Soleil show possible and have been singing Beatles tunes since Monday night.

Monday, Kate left early to catch a flight home and Monica, Carrie and I had brunch at our hotel before leaving for the airport ourselves. After staying up until 2-2:30 a.m., 4-4:30 a.m. central time, two nights in a row, I was ready to get into my own bed at a decent hour last night but so loved this trip! Thank you Carrie, Kate and Monica for making it so fabulous and special.

Kate, me and Monica at the fountain outside our hotel.

The Eiffel Tower replica at our hotel.

We patiently waited for celebrities to arrive to the MTV VMAs but were quickly disappointed at our obstructed view.

Rosario Dawson was one of the few stars to arrive and acknowledge all the fans waiting outside. She even stopped and took pictures of everyone. And say what you like about Paris Hilton but she was one of the few to wave and acknowledge the crowd. (When I saw Paris my face lit up like a child on Christmas morning, her appearance made my day.)For kicks we had lunch at the Star Trek Experience restuarant, Quarks which is located at The Las Vegas Hilton, home to the official Star Trek convention! Kate liked this green dude so much she kissed him. You think you're tough? This guy has nothing on me...hey, wait, doesn't he kind of look like a mean Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? (Sorry, if there are any Star Trek fans reading this...don't hate on me. I really am just clueless.)
Me posing with the blue dude. I hear he's from season one.
Monica and the green guy.
Our drink. Also our reason for coming to the restaurant. It's not your birthday unless your drinking a green concoction with dry ice.

Lake of Dreams at The Wynn...seriously the COOLEST thing ever. This was our view for dinner and when the sun set there was a light and music show projected over the waterfall.
Monica and I at the Venetian.
Kate, me and Carrie at the Venetian.
Carrie, Monica, me and Kate at the Stratosphere.
Kate, Monica, me and Carrie on the observatory deck at the Stratosphere. I like amusement parks and roller coasters but there are CRAZY rides up here. At more than 800 feet, I say "no thank you."

Carrie and I posing at dinner at The Wynn.
Birthday dessert complete with a candle and message!
Monica and Kate at dinner at The Wynn.