Vegas with My Sisters

Vegas was awesome!  I had soooo much fun with my sisters.  There is nothing like hanging out with people you have known all your life.  They are like my best friends.  We can just hang out and be ourselves and it never feels forced or like we are trying to make conversation ever.  A couple of girlfriends wanted to plan a Vegas trip about a year ago and I really didn't.  I just didn't know how much fun I would have.  If I'm going to spend money on a trip it needs to be with people I truly enjoy being with for long periods of time.  People who want to do the same things and won't drive me nuts.  Well, those are my sister's.  And even when they do get on my nerves now and then it's just a blip in the radar and that's it.

I spent Thursday night at big sister's then we left for Vegas on Friday morning.  The drive over was awful.  There was so much traffic because of an accident and it took us 2 hours longer to get there then we anticipated.  The hotel room was really nice with a bedroom and separate living area and full kitchen.  After check in we made much needed margaritas.  My sister bought light Margarita Mix with only 10 calories per 4 oz!  In Vegas your alcohol goes with you and you don't have to finish your drink before you go because you can drink in the streets.  I just love the relaxed and upbeat vibe of Vegas.  We ate dinner at MGM Grand.  My stomach was still acting crazy so I knew I didn't want much and then after I barely ate anything it painfully bloated up and stayed that way for a couple hours.  I didn't have any other stomach issues the rest of the trip.  We went back to the hotel to wait for little sister to get in.  She's 10 years younger then me so we weren't the closest growing up and have just grown closer and closer as she got older.  It was soooo good to see her.  She's so cute and has grown into such a sweet young lady.  I was so excited that the three of us were together.

My big sister brought this horrible dress to wear for our night out on Saturday.  I don't know what the heck she was thinking.  I mean, I know she's 40 now but still.  It was like something you'd wear to a holiday party.  She's really hard to fit because she has giant boobs and a stomach but we managed to find her something at Ross right there on the strip.  We were there right when it opened at 9am.  Little sis had to buy tennis shoes for the gym because she forgot hers at home.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and then we walked to Caesar's Palace so my sister could get her MAC make up and then walked to Flamingo to meet my friend J at the pool.  We were so sweaty and hot and tired by the time we got there.  I had my pool bag with my magazines and all kinds of other crap in it so my shoulder was killing me.  The pool was this major party scene and it was so crowded that there wasn't anywhere for us to sit.  They even had a go go dancer in a bikini dancing in 100 degree weather.  How sad!  We scrapped that idea and went to J's hotel room instead so she could check in and then we dropped off our stuff and went to go eat then went to her hotel pool at Harrah's.  It was a more chill atmosphere but I could barely even actually stand to sit in the lounge chair because it was so hot.  They had a fountain and I sat with my feet in it.  We made the long walk back to the hotel, showered and took naps to prep for our night out.

Call me vain, but I will admit I looked hot in my LBD.  I've had this dress for so long and am just now getting to wear it.  I sent a pic to my husband and he texts me back that my legs look so small.  They actually did and of course I loved that.  I curled my hair and my make up looked good.  Guys were hitting on me left and right and it felt good.  Not that I want to talk to them beyond small talk of course because I'm taken thank you very much but the attention feels good.  We got a later start because J had fallen asleep and we were waiting on her.  We had an open bar at this club in Planet Hollywood called Koi so we went to get a drink, then to dinner.  I didn't really want anything to eat but it's so awkward not ordering when everyone else is.  I don't know why.  Even getting the side of broccoli felt weird so I made the bad choice of a side of fries.  I love 'em; what the hell.  Then, we went back to Koi where we drank it up for most of the night.  I had 4 diet coke/malibu/captain morgan's and was working on the 5th when the bouncer took it because I'd left it on the floor.  It's a good thing though because I was pretty well drunk and I never seem to know when to stop.  We did a lot of dancing and I got invited up to the DJ booth.  Normally, my shy self would not have gone but I said what the hell, and I went up there.  It was lame of course.  Just some people up there who probably thought they were cool but it was fun.  I told the DJ we were getting more drinks and left.  We went to a different club in the same hotel and danced some more.  They have these ledges that you can get up on and dance.  My sister tried to sit and the bouncer said nope and made her get up.  Then, this guy tried to dance with us and two bouncers came over and made him get down.  Vegas is so sexist but to the advantage of the ladies and I love it!  Ladies are offered open bar and free entry but never the men.  We get to dance up on the stage but nobody wants to see the guys up there.  It's sad, but hilarious too.  We were out until 3:30am.  Normally at home this would never happen.  I don't typically have the energy or desire for clubbing like that but it was something we all wanted to do for one night and being in Vegas made it more exciting and fun.  On the way home little sis got hit with the post club munchies and wanted McD's.  I splurged and got a small fry.  It was so delicious.  Drunk eating is the best because it feels so freeing not to really care about what's going in my mouth and just enjoy it.

Sunday morning we still got up early.  I was worried I'd have a hang over because I was a bit headachy but once I got moving I was A-OK.  I went to the gym.  Little sis said forget it and big sis pushed herself so hard on the treadmill the day before that she jacked up her hip and couldn't.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 on the elliptical for 600 calorie total.  Then, I went to meet my sisters up at the cabana by the pool.  They don't make you pay for them there.  It's just come first serve and we got there at 9 to snag one.  It felt so nice having a shaded area to sit in.  I enjoyed the pool way more then the day before when we were just roasting like rotisserie chickens.  When I got hot I'd take a dip in the pool to cool off and actually enjoyed sitting there reading magazines.  My sister had her massage first then me.  It was relaxing but I've had better massages.  She didn't have any kind of technique and it wasn't very firm either.  For $75 bucks I felt it was sort of a rip off but oh well.  After that my sister's were hungry AGAIN.  They are always hungry!!  If they don't eat in the morning it's over for them and they can't stand it!  My sister tells me well, we aren't used to starving ourselves so we need to eat.  They were planning to order Pizza as a "snack" and then still eat dinner later.  WTF??  Crazy.  I was hoping they'd get something else so I could not eat and then just eat something later but I love pizza so I ate some but then didn't have anything later.  We just ate it in the bed and watched TV.  It was so fun.  We went to our magic illusionist show after that.  It was pretty good.  My favorite part was watching the dancing in between magic acts.  He's no David Copperfield and it's clearly one of the lower budget shows in Vegas but it was entertaining and fun for us without being super expensive.  Some of those Vegas shows run $85-$100 plus!  After that we conned our sister into walking back to our hotel.  We'd taken a cab there.  She was wearing wedges for some silly reason.  She did hurt her hip but she also was really unprepared and didn't even really bring comfy shoes knowing that there is tons of walking in Vegas which was annoying.   The only other shoes she had was flip flops that she says hurt between the toes.  Anyhow, I didn't really want to spend the money on another cab.  They were hungry again of course so we stopped at Fat Burger.  They couldn't make up their minds so we ended up there and they ate burgers again like they did the day before.  I just used my 2 for 1 drink coupon and got 2 light beers.  Again, it's always so weird when you don't order food and everyone else does.  They played the best music at this place!  Top 40 pop/dance music.  A lot of them are in my ipod work out mix.  It was outdoors and it felt so good sitting there on a warm night listening to good music and sipping a cold beer.  I did end up eating another slice of pizza when we got back to the hotel while we were packing up our stuff.  Our room was a disaster!  Stuff thrown everywhere you look and the coolest thing about it is that it didn't bother me one bit.  I'm anal at home and even used to be anal in hotel rooms so it was nice to just feel okay with the chaos.  We got to bed around 2 am.

My little sister had an early flight out on Monday morning so only got a couple of hours sleep.  I was so sad to see her go.  We were half asleep and she hugged us each and said "I love you guys," as she walked out.  I don't know why this affected me so much but even now as I type this I'm tearing up.  I got all teary when she left and then when I saw her empty bed the next morning.  We don't get to see her that often and then she was gone and it just didn't feel the same without her there with us.  It sucked that she had to leave so early.  My sister and I slept until about 8:30am and then got up, got ready and packed up the rest of our stuff and checked out of the hotel.  We met my friend J at Bellagio for the breakfast buffet.  She got in Saturday early and we hung with her during the day and that night but didn't see her at all Sunday.  She said she didn't want to hang at the pool and basically flaked on dinner then said we could do something after our show.  She texted me she was going to bed about 7pm and we didn't hear from her that night.  She fell asleep (again) and didn't wake up until 5 am the next day.  She said she thought I'd call her but I said I told you when our show was ending.  If you wanted to get up and see us you would have set your alarm and got up.  I wasn't about to call and wake her up and have to deal with her being cranky.  So, it was a bit of a cop out and I think she flaked earlier because she played poker all day.  Even though, she said she just played a little, but really; what else would she have been doing all day long in Vegas by herself?  She won $400 while waiting for us Friday afternoon and she gets her hotel rooms for free because of her gambling so I can't say that I blame her.  It was really good that we got to see her and spend time with her one last time before she moves to Alaska though.  The buffet was not my preference because I can't nor do I want to eat my money's worth at a buffet but J really wanted to go there and she ended up paying for us so it worked out.  I totally went for the french toast and it was so good.  None of us really ate that much; certainly not our so called money's worth.  My big sister is doing so much better controlling herself around food.

Then, it was time to hit the road.  The ride home was much better with minimal traffic.  We went to mom's where my nephew was and where my car was then I had another hour to go to get home.  I waited it out a bit at mom's to wait for traffic to clear and got to see my nephew and tell the parents about our trip and show pictures.  It was good to be home and to see my hubby.  The house was clean; I think he new better then to let me come home to a mess.  I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day.

This  morning was time to face the scale.  My calories were super high on Saturday and all the other days definitely higher then normal so I expected to gain and wasn't surprised or upset when I did.  Actually, it was a bit of a relief to know that I could eat so outside the norm indulging for four days and still be at 118lbs.  I didn't go hog wild but I definitely did indulge myself.  It wasn't total worry free eating.  I did still track my calories but I stressed less then normal.  On vacation eating is just so out of control that I just couldn't freak over everything. We bought snacks for the road and the hotel plus the eating out and the boozing it up so it all just adds up.  I did maintain my water and liquid intake every single day despite feeling like a stuffed pig so I was glad about that.  I had a BM on Sunday and Monday which was good.  I was eating more but it also seems my body was functioning better because of it and maintaining the water kept things going.  When we were at the pool, I'd look around and see that the majority of people do not have thin, toned, fit bodies.  It's almost more the exception if I saw a slim person with a tight tummy and legs.  My fibroids did not act up or bulge thank goodness.  I wish that I looked skinnier in my bikini.  I am toned and have a flat stomach and and I know that I am relatively slim but I still wish that I look skinny not just thin or slim and I don't feel that I do.  I can see that in pictures my arms and shoulders and legs look really thin.  Actually, there were certain pictures that I did a re do on because I looked too bony in my arms and actually would have been a bit embarrassed to post it on my public blog.  I just wished I looked more skinny and less athletic in my mid section.  I love the abs but I do not have the hip bone thing going on because I'm just not built that way.  I got to bed last night at 10pm so getting up this morning wasn't so terrible and I'll definitely be hitting the gym after work. 

I also didn't stress much about money.  There was a day when I'd go on vacation and agonize over every single penny spent while I was there.  Part of it was a combo of really just not having much money to work with AND even if I did have money I was just super anxious and OCD about money.  I spent like $70 bucks at Target and Stater Bro on a  new cover up and snacks and water (seriously, I don't know how it added up so much), and then just whatever money needed to be spent at Vegas and didn't ever feel anxious about it.  Once we got there I used my cash and the only thing I put on credit card was a massage.   I would have NEVER splurged on a massage in the past.  My goal was always to spend as little as money as humanly possible on vacation which takes away from the enjoyment.  The room was paid for because it was my time share and the show tickets and open bar pass were purchased before the trip via Groupon.

I know this is a super super long post but I have a crappy memory and I really just want to be able to look back and remember EVERYTHING about this awesome trip.  I love my sister's so much and I treasured every day that we got to spend together.