Vegas Baby - 40th birthday

***Disclaimer: No I am not a natural blonde! As you can see my family is all brunette, but I was blonde as a kid and had highlights first put in my hair at 13, thanks to my Aunt Michelle. I haven't stopped coloring my hair since. Now it masks the grey!

As per my previous entry, Tony gave me 4 tickets to see Cher in Vegas for my birthday. So the week before we left, my mom, sisters and I all got pedicures so we could have pretty toes for Cher!

I got off early on Friday, loaded the car and headed to my mom's house. I pulled up honking excited to go and as I got my luggage out to put in my mom's car the garage shut! What the heck? So I walked in the front door and there was my mom and sisters in CHER shirts!!!! My sister made them for all of us and mine had "birthday girl" on the back! AWESOME surprise! Thanks Sarah, I totaly loved it! We got in my mom's car and headed out of town! We went through Laughlin to avoid the damn which has high traffic due to the holiday and the new bridge isn't completed yet. Cher was blaring and we were all singing. Funny when the older songs came on and there's my mom at the wheel singing her heart out and the rest of us just sitting there!

We pulled into the Golden Nugget and checked in. Wow, that place is nice! The rooms are beautiful and the pool rocks! There's a shark tank in the middle of the pool and the water slide goes through it! We changed and headed to Fremont street. All the times I've been there I've never gone to Fremont street. That was cool with all the vendors, painters, sculptors, "dancers" and "ladies of the night"! HA It was the Summer of 70's and the ceiling was showing KISS. Sure wish it was the Summer of 80's! We decided to get food and headed to a great little grill that was open late. We saw some young girl picking up an old, ugly biker dude...she succeeded and a drunk lady sitting behind Sarah. She could hardly sit in her chair! We headed to bed to rest for our big day.

Saturday morning started with room service and chocolate covered strawberries with a birthday wish for me. The food was wonderful and we shared it all. We headed to the strip and parked at Treasure Island. We all stopped at the TI Bling store and started trying on jewelry. My mom started talking to the owner and it turns out he lives in Scottsdale and travels to Vegas to run the store. He was cool. And the jewelry was fun! We went to the Wynn. That's one of the hotels I've never been to before. Just gorgeous inside. We went to the Venetian and walked the canal shops. I started to get sick and shakey so I got an awesome rubin sandwich from a deli and my mom and sisters got frozen yogurt. I don't know how they do it but they ate that a lot on this trip...as their meal! I have to have substance. We walked along heading to Paris and stopped at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville so I could get Tony a gift. Found my mom and sisters lounging in the coolest chairs. It was so hot I was sweating, or least it was hot to me. I couldn't seem to cool off. We got to Paris and stopped at every crepe and pastry shop in there! They ooed and ahhed and I sat and fanned myself! We crossed over and went through the Forum shops in Ceasar's palace to head back to the car. We found the coolest store. I forgot the name but my sister called it build-a-bear for women. You have shoes made especially for you and you can watch them in the front window being made. You pick a heel/sole. Then a strap from the wall, and then a buckle. It was pretty cool. I would say they start at about $100 and go up. We went through the Mirage took the tram to TI and got in the car to head back and get ready. Once we got to our hotel we decided to eat dinner first at the buffet. It was seafood night, my poor mom, but she was able to get good prime rib. All you can eat crab legs baby!

We headed back to the room and got side tracked with all the bling shoes and shirts in one of the stores. So we all went around the store trying on shoe after shoe after shoe. I started to feel sick so I headed back to the room. When they got back I was still in the bathroom! I started working on getting ready with a queasiness in my stomach. I didn't know how I was going to make it through the show. MY weekend, MY night, MY show and here I was SICK! I was frustrated and made and angry! We decide to take a taxi and it was all I could do from getting sick in the cab. He dropped us off and I headed straight to the bathroom while my mom and sisters headed to the show. Once I was able to get going I headed to the Coliseum. I started walking in and saw all of her costumes in glass cases and went for my camera and couldn't fnd it! Panic! I started sweating, hyperventilating, stomach was upset again and the tears came. I quickly texted my sister that I couldn't find my camera and headed in. I gave my ticket to a lady and with tears in my eyes she showed me my seat. I was trying so hard to hold them back! I got there and my family wasn't there! I was alone! I was scared! I was mad! I was sick! I was CRYING! I got a text from Megan asking where I was and told her I was seated. Apparently they were waiting out front for me and I didn't even see them! They were so sweet - they were trying to see if we could go to a later show since I was so sick! Once they got my text they came in, my mom hugged me and the tears came! Are you kidding me? MY NIGHT and I'm sick from being sick and sick because I can't find my camera. Either I left it in the taxi or in the bathroom stall. I kept re-playing the whole ride here and everything after in my head. Did I or did I not have the camera with me? Was it in the hotel? Once the show started I tried to calm down and enjoy it. As my mom said for the next 90 minutes enjoy the show and not think about it. So I did. I only had to excuse myself once! YEAH ME! The poor guy next to me, I kept trying to get him to dance and clap and sing. He was very accomodating! Cher rocked! Her costumes rocked! She had just turned 64! The seats were amazing, Tony and my mom did a great job. I got goose bumps at one point thinking what a great surprise this was from Tony and that I was actually there seeing Cher!

After the show we took pictures and went to the shop. I got an awesome t-shirt and we all got matching key rings that we put on our purses. I can't describe what it was like to be there. I texted a big thank you to Tony and he called us. We all yelled "All hail Tony" as per his wishes! HAHA He couldn't stop laughing and telling me how excited he was for me. He was genuinely happy that I could be there, I love how much he loves me!

We then headed to see the fountains at Bellagio. I sat on the wall back by the street because my feet and back were hurting. They were gorgeous as always and the last one we saw was "Time to say goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli...the song my grandma requested to play at her funeral, and it was! I got off the wall and found a cockroach crawling up my thigh!!!! I hopped down and had the shivers the rest of the night, checking my hair, my purse, my back...grossed me out! We saw the atrium inside the Bellagio, that is always a sight to see. Everything made out of live planst and flowers. There was a store in there with the world's largest chocolate fountain coming out of the ceiling going down through the floor. We found a monorail/tram that took us down to the Monte Carlo. My mom has been talking about the Cupcakery since beore we left. So we knew we had to get her there. She LOVES cake and cupcakes so this was the place for her. Wouldn't you know it, we got there and it was closed! So sorry mom! We decided to head back to the room. Every hotel we went to had a huge line for taxis. So we decided to just hang out at Ceasar's and wait in line...for 45 mintues! But it was so fun to people watch. The clothes some of the girls were wearing...no need to elaborate there! There was one guy sitting by a fountain drunk as ever and trying to sleep. He kept falling way over and we thought he'd fall in the water! It was great entertainment! We got back to the room about 1:45 and fell into bed! What a great night!

And the best part...I walked in the room and there was my camera on the floor! Thank you for small blessings!

After 6 hours of sleep I was woken up by a phone call from Brooke asking about Mark's church clothes! C'mon, seriously? Why would you call me at 8 on my vacation? Then a text from Tony "bomb went off outside the front gates, but everyone is accounted for" Then another text from Kendall, "Morning mommy"! UGH Cell phones are a necessary evil! I couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to just get up and get ready. I was tired and dragging! I could already feel the headache. There was no Dr. Pepper at all in the whole of Vegas! Mr. Pibb does not cut it! I needed something to drink! We got downstairs, got fruit and a croissant from Starbucks and got in the car. Luckily we weren't out of the parking garage yet when Megan and I realized we didn't have our pillows! AAAHHHH I have a foam pillow I take everywhere, those are the best pillows ever, and pricey. I wasn't about to leave it.

Pillows in hand, we got back in the car and headed to the World of M&M's. On our way Sarah stuck her head out the sunroof and yelled "happy birthday Amy", and some guy yelled back "AMY"!! haha I've been to the M&M store many times and it never gets old...except for the $12.99/lb price! But it's fun to get everyone their favorite colors. We headed to the coke factory. Not what it used to be. Years ago you could ride the elevator in the huge coke bottle and walk into memorabilia, old sets, posters, watch old commercials, see how coke was started and try every coke you wanted from around the world. It was a lot of fun. Now the top section is closed and you only see the 2 floors of the store. I got Kendall a 6 pack of coke in the old fashioned glass bottles. We headed out of town, ate at In-N-Out and got home about 7:00. It was an awesome trip! I loved being with my mom and sisters, more than I anticipated. I really got to know my sisters better and it was fun all of us just being "people" instead of mothers and wives. Thanks so much Tony for the most wonderful surprise. Thanks mom for taking care of the rest, it was a blast being with you guys!