Back to the grind

Yes, I survived my 40th birthday weekend in Vegas!!! It started off badly when I was sitting in the restaurant near my gate and heard the announcement that the flight to Vegas had been delayed by 45 minutes. Knowing that my friends were all already going to be waiting for me for 30 minutes after their flights arrived, I was now worried they'd all leave me for the bright lights. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to Baggage Claim 15 that Deb and Suz were waiting for me along with a limo driver. When we got out to the limo, the rest of the gang were waiting inside with beer and music. Since what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas....... I will not mention that one of the ladies in the limo had spent the afternoon in Margaritaville and was quite the source of amusement on the ride back to the hotel!!!

After dropping off luggage and exchanging gifts, we almost all (one stayed behind to "sleep it off") went down to the casino to start the party!! Everyone basically went their own direction because only my BFF and I are table games kind of gals. At some point during the evening, my parents and brother walked from their hotel to the Flamingo to gamble with Deb and I. They just missed the excitement of Deb hitting 4 of a kind at MS Stud and winning a pretty sweet payout!!! We were up pretty late that first night and I was so wound up from all the excitement that I couldn't sleep.....

So at 8am, Deb and I were back down to the casino to find Suz and the three of us had a nice breakfast together. After breakfast and a little gambling, Deb and I went up for naps. I, again, wasn't able to sleep except for a few brief catnaps so I decided to head across the street to Caesar's to meet M,C & F for lunch. Then the four of us left a little money in the slot machines and they headed off to do some shopping. I had just shopped there in February so I headed to the Pussy Cat Dolls pit to meet Deb and Suz since they were up from their naps.

A group dinner at Margaritaville at 7pm was an absolute blast. We all had balloon hats made - hopefully pics are posted by the gals soon (I forgot to bring down my camera for this one). My 4 and 0 balloon was so tall I kept running into things with it. Hands down, the best balloon hat was Felicia's! It was a fishing pole w/ a dangling fish. When the fish kept dipping into Deb's beverage, we were all laughing so hard it hurt. It was a great meal and a great time. After dinner, we all headed to the Bellagio to watch the fountain's dance. Chele had never been to Vegas and it is a right of passage to watch those fountains live at least one time. From there, Deb, Suz and I headed to the Monte Carlo to gamble with my parents and brother while the rest of the group went back to the Flamingo to get some rest. My dad was a party pooper and went to bed as soon as we walked thru the doors but my brother had the opportunity to be entertained by Deb for a few hours at the Blackjack table before we caught a cab back to our hotel.

Sunday was my actual birthday and I didn't feel too bad for 40. At least I can honestly say that with age comes wisdom because I never had a single hangover in Vegas (neither trip). I was sleep deprived but never sick! I met my Mom at Bellagio for some sight seeing and then we went to Fat Burger for lunch. Deb met up with us for some souvenir shopping for the kids at the M&M store. It is a long walk from our hotel to the M&M store so after a quick tour of MGM, Mom headed back to her hotel and Deb and I decided to give a little money to NYNY. Then we walked what seemed like 5 miles back thru the MGM to catch the Monorail. We did get to see some awfully snazzy country music fans that were there for the ACM's (or one of those country award shows). There were no famous country folk that I recognized so we bought our tickets and hopped on the Monorail. The train malfunctioned at the first stop so we decided to hoof it from Bally's back to our hotel. It seems much closer on the map!! While I went up to the room to drop off our shopping bags and change clothes - Deb went back to MS stud and hit another big payout. I guess I didn't have a shot in hell of actually winning anything in Vegas with Lady Luck traveling in my group. She did have one fabulously lucky weekend!

One great story from Sunday, that morning I went down by myself to play blackjack. I took the last seat at a $10 table. The group consisted of a woman, her grown daughter and son in law and another guy they didn't know. It was the nicest group of people and when the pit boss wished me a happy bday (after logging my players card) the group all chimed in w/ birthday wishes. I was having a great time with them and was actually winning when I got the call from my Mom that she was ready to meet at Bellagio. I told them goodbye and hoped to see them later. Imagine my surprise when 6 hours later I came back from shopping to find all 4 of them still sitting at the same table and my seat was open! After I'd been back with them for about 15 minutes, the waitress brings over a tray of champagne and the group toasts me and sings Happy Birthday!! What a great memory!!

That night my mom and I went to see Bette Midler in concert. My mom is huge fan and I have always loved her music. My mother walked down the aisle at my wedding to "The Rose". Bette is a complete riot and her concert was one of the best I've ever been to. My mom reminded me that she took me to see Elvis on my 7th bday and Bette on my 40th - not too shabby!!! After the concert, I went back to Flamingo to gamble some more with Deb. Felicia hung out with us for awhile watching me lose money and Chele came down for a brief visit before they both called it a night. It was sad to make that walk up to the room Sunday night because I knew it was the end of a fun ride.

Monday morning came wayyy too early since I had to get moving to catch the shuttle to the airport with Mattie and Chele. I hated saying goodbye to everyone as we each parted ways in different directions but I knew I'd see most of them in July for CampAPhi (and hopefully see some of them before then). Oh and I won $30 in the airport at a slot machine - my only win of the weekend - go me!!!

Four modes of transportation, one balloon hat that said "40", several Elvis spottings, 6 sorority sisters, 2 parents, one brother, M&M's w/ "Heather's 40th" on them, 2 birthday rounds of champagne, and less than 14 hours of sleep in a 72 hour period................I survived a weekend in Sin City and I survived turning 40!!! Thanks to all my dear friends and family that made the trip and to all my dear friends that wished me well for my big weekend!