Lights on

The lights in Vegas are just gorgeous.  And I'm not talking about the neon outside.  The fixtures inside the hotels are among some of my favorite things about Vegas.  

These are in the Rio just outside the Penn & Teller area.  I like the colors and shapes of the glass.

These are just about my favorite thing in all of Vegas.  They are the parasols from Up Parasol at the Wynn.  The parasols raise and lower and there are escalators on either side of the Up Parasol area so you can get a closer look at the parasols.  So cool.  

This group of lights is inside the Penn & Teller area at the Rio Las Vegas.  So gorgeous.  

I think these are lights from the Cosmopolitan.  Super swank.  

And this one is not super swank.  Super cheesy.

The view from my hotel room.  

This might be the most photographed ceiling in Vegas.  The Chihuly ceiling at Bellagio.

and the lights outside of the Bellagio.  

Chinese New Year

In Vegas they change the decor of the hotels to match the seasons.  And in Vegas they have 5 seasons:  Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Chinese New Year.  

My favorite was the disco horse at the Bellagio.  The horse had tiny little mirrors all over it.  I wanted to hang it from the ceiling and shine lights on it.  Super cool and über disco.  

So, if you're planning a trip to Vegas at the end of January/beginning of February...

...be prepared to see Chinese New Year decorations...

...and the 2nd largest crowds of the year...

...second only to New Year's Eve...

...Super Bowl weekend draws a HUGE crowd to Vegas.  I had no idea (neither about the crowds nor that it was Super Bowl weekend).  

What to do in Vegas at night when you're a Mormon

People are often surprised when they find I enjoy Las Vegas.  Because for most people Vegas is all about drinking and gambling and being hedonistic.  Which is not what I do at all.  What I do like about Vegas is that I can see a variety of shows, eat some amazing food and see some fantastic art for free.  I try to avoid walking down the actual strip because there is where you get the fliers for the barely-clad escorts.  It's a fun place, even for people that don't participate in the more hedonistic aspects of it.  

The first night in Vegas I was on my own and was trying to decide between seeing La Reve at the Wynn or Ka at MGM.  Being the huge fan of O at the Bellagio that I am I really just wanted to see O again.  But I decided to go with a new show and the other water show.  I should have seen Ka.  La Reve was a gorgeous set and beautifully staged.  The venue is very intimate.  The show, however, was not fantastic.  It seemed that every scene was about sex.  It was a bit much.  O is better.

Penn & Teller - I was a bit nervous about seeing them.  We all know I'm a bit of a prude.  I was concerned that I would be a bit uncomfortable.  Especially considering how uncomfortable I ended up being the night before at La Reve.  However, I had absolutely no reason to be concerned.  The Penn & Teller show is something I would highly recommend to ANYONE going to Las Vegas.  It was hilarious and surprising and just a joy!

Penn Jillete played the bass during the pre-show entertainment.  I'm now a fan of Penn & Teller and have been reading articles they write about magic, watching Penn on Celebrity Apprentice...they are just fun and seem to be very good people.

The next night we went on a night lights tour of Las Vegas.  I do NOT recommend this tour unless you've never been to Vegas and are there without a car.  They basically pick you up at your hotel (ours was Circus Circus). 

They drive you to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, then to see a light show at the Bellagio.

I took way too many photos of the fountains, as always. We then went to the Mirage to watch the volcano explode.

Then they take you downtown to the Fremont Experience which is better than what I've seen in years past.  Every hour they actually play a music video followed by advertisements.  In the past it's just been advertisements.  We ended up going to the Golden Nugget for some dessert.  I love the Golden Nugget.  It feels like what I think old Vegas must have felt like.  They have started installing some old neon downtown and will have a neon museum there in the near future.  

These are all things I've done several times on my own.  It wasn't worth the price for me.  But again, if you're going to Vegas for the first time without a car and these are all things you'd like to see, you can probably do it cheaper on your own and the bus.

Also recommended that you avoid:  The Masquerade show at Rio.  Now that took the implied sexuality from La Reve and just threw it in your face.  I was EXTREMELY uncomfortable during that whole 15 minute segment of our trip.  AND it was my idea to go!  I'd heard great things about it but it turns out that recently they've changed the show to something that is not prude-friendly (nor kid-friendly).

What happens

My friend, Erin, and I went to Vegas for to cross "Party Like a Rock Star" off of her To Do list.  Of course her party like a rock star did not include gambling, drinking, clubbing or anything that a rock star would do while in Vegas.  

What it did include was a trip to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign where we found a guy dressed like Elvis with a pink Cadillac taking photos with the tourists...and actually taking the photos of this couple on their wedding day.  I loved that he took their camera and took probably 10 - 15 photos of them - without him.  He charged $20 for photos with him and you got a signed photo of him.  Hilarious! 

We went on a night lights tour of Vegas.  This is NOT from the tour.  It's from one of the new casinos.  I don't remember which one.  Great view.

And, apparently, Celine is back in Vegas.

Of course, a visit (or two) to In-N-Out Burger was called for.

Bally Table King

First of all, I am no Bally Table King.  Though I really like pinball I'm mostly terrible at it.  Secondly, this is one sorry looking hall of fame don't you think?

Truth is, though, if you're the type of person that wants to go to a pinball hall of fame it really doesn't matter much what the outside of it looks like, you're going to go in.  And go in I did, during a recent visit to Las Vegas.  

There are rows and rows of pinball machines.  Some dating from as early as 1948...those are very difficult to play.  The flippers are awkward and not super functional.  I can see how they made so much money from the machines because it would take you two weeks of playing the thing every day to even figure out how to play it.  I was completely miserable at it, I barely scored any points.  But it was still fun.

In addition to pinball machines from all eras they have arcade games from the early 80s.  Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man are my favorites.  I really wouldn't mind having the actual arcade games one day.  They'd go really well with the Slurpee machine I'm eventually going to get.  I got an hour's worth of game play for $3.50.  Not a bad deal.  I'd love to go there with my nephews...all of them.  That would be SO much fun!  

It was nice to have some games I would actually play in Vegas.  If you're in Vegas I think you should check it out.  It's not far from the Strip.  

Lemon Rind - A Study

I played around with a camera app on my phone tonight.

Dinner and dessert were both not good, so I had to find something to do because I definitely wasn't going to eat.

I don't remember what most of the effects are called.

This one is called Andy or Warhol or something intimating Andy Warhol.

This one is my favorite of them all.  The app is called Paper Camera.
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of the cherry variety

I don't eat as many Slurpees as I used to. However, the other day someone I know spent about an hour sending me photos of Slurpees and discussing Slurpees with me. Which then caused me to crave a cherry Slurpee for days and days. So on my way back to the Eastside from visiting Magnolia I stopped at the 7 Eleven on Nickerson and got my fix. I think they put an addictive chemical in it that makes me crave it fortnightly.


Also, my phone/camera/camera phone has this cool feature where you can take a photo that looks like a slide that's been shuffling around at the bottom of a file cabinet for 30 years.