The one with the pink gorilla suit

Friday afternoon, after recovering from my one drink hangover, we headed to the MGM to meet up with this girl who had wheels. Jen lives in the same part of Canada that my Indian/Canadian sister-in-law lives in and so I was mesmerized the whole trip that she sounded just like my SIL.  I think I told her that at least 2954 billion times. From the MGM, we drove out to Henderson, Nevada for the packet pick up for the half/full marathon that was being executed by The Really Big Free Marathon.  It’s a unique racing event in that you secure your spot with a credit card payment of $50 and then when you cross the start line, you are refunded the money.  More on that later.  Let’s just say that there was a scuttle on Facebook and concerns were raised that the race might not even go on.  So we drove out there, not sure what to expect.

Seeing the lines for the packet pick-up all of a sudden made the race feel real. The race was a real deal and it would happen.  It would happen to kill us with hills as well. But more on that later!

There wasn’t an expo, which I didn’t really mind, but I can usually be suckered in to buying a few things from the excitement that is buzzing in the air.  The only thing buzzing in the air here was one of my running friends repeating on a loop that our buns would only benefit from all the hills.  Her comment would haunt her the next day and make her want to punch herself in the face.

Our pre-race dinner was really good. The Trattoria Reggiano inside the Venetian sounded like a place we could do some great carbo loading. I got the pesto gnocchi with chicken and ate two pieces of bread before I thought to take pictures of .the bread  It was warm and buttery and I was carb loading….so you can imagine.  I was thrilled to get to add salt to my meal too.  Sadly, it needed it.  Despite a cranky Italian host that rushed us in and out, it was an awesome evening.  Awesome = girls you’ve been friends with for four years, yet haven’t met in person + carbs!

L to R: Jennifer, sister to Dana, Juli, Steph, Hope, Amee, and Jen

PS My eyes aren’t closed.  I’m just checking out Jen’s blouse.

Watching over us while we ate….the giant pink wizard gorilla. The price tag is how much I would have to be paid to wear that thing.  Kidding, just kidding.  I would wear it for FREE!  On our way back to our room for an early lights out, I had to stop and take a picture of the Mirage’s volcano.  It “erupts” every evening from like 7 – 11pm?  And apparently I have a thing for volcanoes because each and every time I heard it go off, I’d rush to the window in our room to watch. Be glad you don’t have to see all the pictures I took of it.  I did that with a squirrel once…and my cat.  I do that with everything I guess.

Next up? I’ll be posting about the race.  I know you can’t wait!

How much would you have to be paid to race in a pink gorilla costume?  It’s a half marathon and the temps are 80 degrees.  Go!

We might have been tipsy, but at least our clothes covered all of our secret parts.

  

Meet my friend Denise.  Our girls were friends in elementary school and then we decided we liked each other too.  Denise is really awesome and I’m amazed that she still answers my phone calls.  “Deniseeeeeeee, could you take me to the airportttttttt??” Plus I dragged her to Pita Pit with me!  Well, not dragged, but she let me pick where we would eat.

The best pita sandwich ever!  Chicken breast with hummus and almost every veggie they have.  Plus I like to get them to grill the onion and mushrooms along with the chicken.  My 13 year old daughter is hooked on this place too.

Upon checking in to my hotel room and meeting my roommate H (whom I’ve been “online” friends with for over four years but we’ve never met face to face – turns out she isn’t an axe murderer), I was about to get ready for bed and be a fuddy dud.  What?  It was 11pm and 2 hours past my bedtime already! Do you see her in the reflection of our dirty window?  Are you amazed at my photography skills? She was going a little stir crazy with a headache and needed to get out for a bit. So I decided not to be a grandma and then this happened…..

I sent this picture to my hubs and got back a “good girl”.  I guess he was impressed that I wasn’t already in bed, asleep, with sheet lines forming on my face.

From there, we took to the streets.  Amazed at my new found energy, we took a block or two walk on the strip and gawked at the drunkards.  We might have been tipsy, but at least our clothes covered all of our secret parts.

We stayed at Treasure Island.  I kept wondering where all the Johnny Depp look alike employees were.  I found the pirate ship, and later it dawned on me that this place was more about the booty and not the booty….if ya know what I mean. Arrrr matey!

I wished we had stayed at this place, the Venetian.  A place I could relate to since I’ve been to Venice.  It was pretty and I liked seeing their versions of the most famous landmarks.  I have to go back to Vegas because I didn’t make it to the Paris or NYNY…and a bunch of other places.

All of the travel, combined with a full day of work, a semi long drive to the airport, and then the smoke and the above margarita led to this…

…a hangover that finally went away thanks to a large black coffee and sitting by the pool for an hour.  People were out swimming and sunbathing already while we sat bundled up in hoodies and sweats.  Stylin!  Note the Christmas cup with the palm trees in the background.  (I had just gotten my studded snow tires on that morning too.)

Stayed tuned for race details and the rest of my Vegas adventure!

PS Where is your favorite place to stay in Vegas??

Leaving....on a jet plane.

Blogging from my phone..really hoping the lady talking super duper loud in the waiting area isn't sitting anywhere near me on the plane!

Had to stop at my fave, Pita Pit before leaving on a jet plane. I have decided that I really need to get out more.

When was your last getaway?

Ps t
Thank you Denise for being my chauffe! I love you!

Yeah, definitely nailed it

Did you see my Halloween costume?

I kind of nailed it right?  Well…except for the cleavage as one person pointed out.  I explained that that’s what happens when you squeeze into your teenage daughters clothing.

Remember my inspiration?

Halloween…I survived it.  Actually, I was a lamo and finished my packing while my hubs handed out candy. I did trip a small Transformer that wandered in to our living room.  It really was an accident.  My hubs had just finished handing these kiddos a variety of hot sauce, fry sauce, and other assorted condiments in small packages.  We ran out of candy!  JK!  We didn’t run out of candy but S always likes messing with his mini buddies.  He wraps up full size bottles of mayo and mustard for these boys, trying to trick them into thinking that’s all they got for presents.

Oh and guess what?  Since I haven’t told any in the last hour…I’M GOING TO VEGAS!  I’m sort of interested in how the half marathon will turn out since my training flu didn’t really prep me in a good way. Mheh…13.1 miles is a short run for me. haha!  Until I die.

Happy Halloweenie

Do you dress up at work for Halloween?  I think I’m over it.  Though I voted for wearing pajamas scrubs to work.  Halloween has never been celebrated much in this family and I’m not sure exactly why.  I don’t mean to be a Halloweenie but we didn’t even carve pumpkins this year.  Shameful, huh?

Are you dressing up? 

And what are you wearing?

This just in….we are all dressing up as nerds at work.  The sad thing is is that I had everything on hand to look like one.  Especially this one…

The  Amy Farrah Fowler character from one of my favorite shows ever, Big Bang Theory.

Please tell me that you love this TV show or else I don’t think we can be friends.  Or I’ll just have to pretend you were my friend in the first place and we just had our first real fight. PS I didn’t like the show at first, until I fell in love with Sheldon Cooper.

I might get murdered

Not sure if y’all know but I’m headed to VEGAS on Thursday!  I’m going to be meeting a group of girlfriends that are my “pretend friends.”  Meaning, I met them online and my family calls them my pretend friends.  We’ve been friends for over four years now and are an interesting mix of women of all ages…and by that I mean, I’m the oldest.  And by that I mean, I’m the most immature.  I’m so excited to meet these girls in person and I’m sure they will be kicking themselves that they didn’t meet me sooner!

So yeah, I haven’t flown in about 5 years and I haven’t had a girls weekend in, oh…eons?  Big deal for me!  I’m not scared, but let’s just say that since getting married four years ago and combining our households, children, and Kitchen Aid utensils, I haven’t gotten out much. 

Three things that scare me about this trip:

• Running.  That’s that thing I haven’t done in 15 days. 
• Wondering if my roomy Hope is a snorer.  Just Kidding!
• That my itty bitty suitcase is going to be too chunky and I’ll get charged extra.
• Wondering if my roomy Hope will smother me with a pillow when I cough through the night.

That’s four things, if you were counting, btw.  And who am I kidding, my coworkers will murder me soon if I don’t quit coughing.

How are you dealing with the Halloween candy?  I’ve limited myself to two pieces each hour today.

What’s your favorite Halloween candy?

Mine would have to be the Reese’s Pumpkins.

Everything just smells like dirt

I got some new foody magazines that I very excited to dig into and find some new recipes.  Especially now that my taste buds have returned to normal and don’t make everything taste like dirt.  Everything just smells like dirt now.  If you missed it on my facebook, I googled “why does my food taste like dirt” and I’m now semi convinced that I have toxic black mold exposure.

I made myself feel better by watching a few hundred episodes of Hoarders.  Man, that show is sad.  Not quite as sad as Toddlers and Tiaras.

Whoa do I get off track or what?!  Oh yeah, so I wanted to know what your favorite magazines or websites are for finding new food ideas.  Pinterest of course is HUGE for me.  I mean….I find a lot of pretty pictures, but hmm…come to think of it, I haven’t tried that many recipes.  Mostly because it’s all stuff that’s not good for ya.

These are the two new magazines I got.  I like Rachel Ray’s magazine but I’ve never subscribed to it.  You?