Empire State of Mind by Jay-z & Alicia Keys

   
 Listen to ME while you read
   All of these pictures are from separate days. We have spent two days in NYC and one day in upstate New York visiting family.

 (Above)   This is Lincoln Center. Apparently, the fountain didn't used to go up that high. I guess its a new installment but I like it. I ended up standing on the other side when it got really high. That way, I got wet which was so incredibly nice.

(Below) Headed to upstate NY. It was so beautiful up there. Mountains, greenery, and wildlife. I never saw a bear though which was disappointing.

Below is a picture of Grand Central Station and the Chrysler building. We went inside Grand Central to find the "whispering wall". That endeavor is pictured below. Pretty much, one person stands on one side and whispers at the wall. Someone else stands on the other side and can hear it. It is pretty crazy because it sounds like a voice is coming out of the stone.

We decided to ride a tram that goes over to Roosevelt Island. We had no real purpose to be there but the views were very pretty.

Below is the Brooklyn Bridge. It took us about twenty or thirty minutes to cross on foot. There are two lanes. One for bicycles and the other for pedestrians. I became very angry after a while because everyone seemed to think they were the only people on the bridge and the most important people in the world. They would stop to take pictures or walk four wide so no one could get past them. That kind of shit drives me absolutely crazy. Other than though, it was a nice walk. hehe Later, we had ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and looked out at Manhattan.

War House is a play on Broadway that really cleaned up at the Tony Awards this year. It was nominated for five Tony's, including "Best Play", and won all five!

   It was a very interesting play but the things I liked most about it had little to do with the story line. Don't get me wrong, it was heart warming. But this is definitely for animal lovers. If you like to watch movies like Free Willy or read books like Where the Red Fern Grows, than you will love this play.
   I enjoyed watching because of the technology. Every "horse" was puppeteered by three people. Two people stood inside the metal body to make its legs move and one person stood outside moving the head, eyes, and ears. That person was really who brought the horse to life. I think they must have studied every movement a horse makes. Eventually, you stopped watching the puppeteer because he was in a costume the same color as the horse and also blended in with the period (in this case, 1912-1916). If someone walked up to the horse, it moved back and cocked it's head like it was nervous. It galloped. It did everything exactly like a live horse. It was quite incredible to see.
   My absolute favorite part was the way they dealt with the language barrier. See, the play takes place during a war that included England, Germany, and France. Yet the entire play was written in English so we could all understand. So when a German and French man came up to one another, they both spoke English in their appropriate accent but would say things like, "I don't understand you! I don't speak German!" It was hilarious to hear both sides of the conversation because that really is how we react when we speak a different language than the person we're talking to. We start talking louder... and using crazy gestures... and yes, it can sometimes help get the message across. But let's face it, you're both still saying words the other person does not understand.
    All in all, it was a beautiful play that I would recommend to just about anyone. I took this next picture during the curtain call (Shh! I wasn't supposed to take pictures in the theater).The long, white thing that looks like a ripped piece of paper was used to project "backgrounds", dates, or other things to make the play come to life. It was very innovative because that wouldn't have existed in the time period the play took place. Yet, it made scene changes very quick and left quite a bit up to imagination. The only set pieces they really used was a lone door, which represented an entire house that the audience had to imagine. Also, three or four people (dressed in period attire) would hold long sticks to add a fence around horses. It sounds weird when I describe it, but it was really very natural.

 When we got home that night, I noticed a weird rash on both of my legs. This happened last year too after we went into the city. It isn't a heat rash because it wasn't very hot that day. I think it probably has to do with germs, cleaning products, or the fact that my skin is just incredibly fair. If you have any ideas to what it could be, let me know! Also, if you have any questions about War Horse or the sights I've seen, just ask below in the comment section.

I'm here!

Written: August 1st (Yep, this is all I brought. Two suitcases and a bookbag) I'm here!

     The Techie and I flew to New York this morning. We ate lunch, did a little shopping, and then the weather hit. I heard thunder about an hour before it started and said, “I hope it doesn’t rain again like last year.” But of course, it did.

    When I visited The Techie and his mom on Long Island last year, we got caught in a terrible rainstorm while driving to a farmers market. I was still trying to get used to the scary driving skills of New Yorkers. It made me skittish enough in nice weather. The roads flash flooded and every turn we made was terrifying. Was the car going to make it through this puddle? Is the car next to us going to swerve into our lane if they start to drown? I was petrified.

  Today was a lot like that, except with hail. I guess it doesn’t hail very much in New York. I’m used to it but driving in it when it grows from pea size to marble is still nerve wracking. Eventually, the hail got so thick that we had to pull off on a side street to park under a tree. By the time the hail subsided and we drove away, the rainwater had reached up to the curb. 

   The radio said all of Nassau County was being hit. Traffic was piling up because it was rush hour and public transportation was getting shut down left and right. Penn station wouldn’t let anyone else in and the trains couldn’t leave. When the trains eventually started to move again, they moved slowly.

    We went home for a little while to stay out of the rain. But when we got hungry we decided to go to Boston Market, which is normally a fifteen-minute drive away. Since the flooding had changed a lot of cars directions and because some stop lights were shot (only blinking yellow), it took us fifteen minutes PLUS two hours to get there. A lot of the time we were at a complete standstill, bumper to bumper. I even took a cat nap in the backseat. When we arrived, we cheered and cheered. It was the best Boston Market I’ve ever tasted.

Last weekend in Kansas

    

     Thanks to all those who came to my Howl at the Moon Reverse Happy Hour party! It was a very eclectic group of people. Mostly it was people I knew from Hays, Osage, or Manhattan. The most fun was meeting the friends of my friends. I invited around forty people and I didn’t know about half of them. I loved it though! I felt like a celebrity because every person who I didn’t know that got on in for free & received half price drinks because of me, would say, “Ohh! This is your party! Thanks for having me!”

  And I kept thinking, “You’re welcome! I won a raffle. It was real hard work.” A lot of those people bought me drinks to “pay me back” in a way. Which was unnecessary but much appreciated. And since I won the party, I received two bead necklaces from the party promoter so that she could pick me out of the crowd and buy me drinks later in the night.

   One of which I didn’t even get to drink. As I was sitting down in my chair, I pushed down on the table, which caused the entire thing to tilt and my brand new long island ice tea to crash to the ground. 

   I had a really great time regardless. The pianists played a 21^st b-day song for MommaJ that was very embarrassing (and hilarious). “Some girls get zirconium. Other girls get glass. MommaJ gets a diamond cuz she takes it up the ass!” 

I did a little dancing and a lot of singing. I was so engrossed in a table conversation that I didn’t even realize the music had stopped playing and the bar was almost empty. 

   Those of us not from KC crashed at a friend’s place for the night. It was a full house. BoyCrazy and her friend slept on the bottom bunk and my friend Harmonious slept on top. There was even another bed in the room where some random slept. The rest of us were spread throughout.

   When I woke up (too early) the next morning, I went to check on Harmonious and BoyCrazy. Strange. Harmonious was on a mattress on the floor. I swore this thing had been a bunk bed last night. And then I saw the fire engine red metal frame standing straight up beside BC’s bed. It had completely crashed on top of her and her friend in the middle of the night.

   I guess it already broken last week so it wasn’t that unusual. But as BC’s friend explains it, “I woke up. And I was like, ‘ow’. And we were trapped in a cage.” Harmonious didn’t even realize that her bed had fallen three feet and landed on top of them. “I just realized I was slanted.” It wasn’t until the random in the room said, “Get up!” that Harmonious snottily answered, “Me?” Everyone was fine except for a little bump on the head. But I thought it was just about the funniest thing I had ever heard.

   Actually everything was super funny to me that morning. Like my pancake or my very bruised tailbone. (It still hurts to sit/stand by the way) All in all: very successful last weekend.

  And a shout out to MommaJ’s family. Thank you for coming and thank you for letting me stay at your house Saturday night. It was like having a hotel all to myself. :)

Weekend in Vegas- Day 4

   I have the annoying inability to sleep in. The night before, when we went to sleep at 5 AM, I took a sleeping pill to make sure I could sleep past nine. It worked but I was a little groggy the next day. I didn't want to take another sleeping pill and ended up being awake around 9:30 AM on our final day in Vegas. It worked out in my favor anyway because BoyCrazy and I needed to catch our plane back home.

   The other girls weren't awake yet so I sat outside my hotel room and called my dad. I told him many details about our night before and looking back, I told him more than I normally would have. At the time I thought I was telling him because we have a close relationship. Now I realize its because I was definitely still drunk. 

   When I started getting ready for the day, each friend woke up and we began talking about our night before. I noticed when I had been sitting on the floor that my butt was kind of sore. I mentioned this to them and they told me about BC and I falling. I had no recollection of that happening (still don't) but after I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed I had proof.

   Obviously, I'm not going to post a picture of my ass. So I made a picture to demonstrate. Lets pretend this oval is my hind quarters. 

 Actually, lets add a line for good measure...

  That's better. Now, on any regular day- this is what my bum would look like. But after a night in Vegas it looked like this:

  I'm not much of an artist. My bruise was literally this big but something I cannot capture was the different colors of blue on my ass. Thank you BoyCrazy for bringing me down with you. (Side note: she had a bruise on her ass too but it was nothing compared to mine. Hers has more cushion hehe)

   I spent the rest of the morning picking up last minute souvenirs and gambling. Of course a waitress came over while I sat at a penny slot and offered me a drink. Since I was still feeling tipsy, I made the choice to get an alcoholic beverage at 11 AM. I did this because I wanted to keep the buzz going and not get a hangover. Unfortunately, I had already taken my anti-depressant medication a couple hours prior and you aren't supposed to mix that with alcohol because it "increases the effect; causes dizzy spells". 

   I blame Phoebe from Friends. When she is in Vegas, eating breakfast with all her friends she says, "Hell. I'm drunk right now! What? I can't have a mimosa with breakfast?? I'm on vacation!"

If Phoebe can do it. So can I! By the time I got back to my hotel room, I felt a dizzy and had a headache. So I took a couple ibuprofen. 

   BC and I got to the airport a little after noon and bought some lunch. After eating, I started feeling my hangover symptoms. The best way to cure hangovers is to sleep. Unfortunately, I also have an inability to sleep in public, like at airports or on planes. BC told me she planned to sleep on the plane and I really wanted to as well. That led me to make my last, terrible, awful, stupid decision of the weekend. 

   At 1:30 PM, a full hour before our plane was scheduled to take off, I took a sleeping pill. 

Here is a reminder of the things I'd put in my body that day: prozac, ibuprofen, vodka, food, sleeping pill

I am dumb.

   I was very tired by the time we boarded but could not find a comfortable sleeping position. BC fell asleep pretty quickly and I was in the middle seat which means: nowhere to put my head. By the time I could put my lap table down, we only had about twenty minutes left to fly. My stomach ached. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw faces. Not the inside of my eyelids or darkness, but fucking faces. It was like they were flying toward me and the only way to make them stop was to keep my eyes open. But I had taken a damn sleeping pill! It was against nature to stay awake after that! I was absolutely miserable.

    I fought with the flight attendant about buying a pillow which she eventually just gave to me free of charge. She was not in the mood to argue with a hungover college student. When the plane started to descend, we hit a lot of turbulence. I needed to throw up. I've heard that smiling can suppress your gag reflex. Even though I felt like dying, I smiled. A lot. I'm sure I looked like a complete maniac.

   I spent about fifteen minutes in the bathroom as soon as we got to the Phoenix airport. I felt quite a bit better after that. I wasn't able to sleep until the drive home from Kansas City. I wanted to stay awake to keep BC company but at that point, I was hallucinating. I kept warning her about objects I saw in the middle of the road when really, there was nothing there. She was getting really confused (rightfully so). I passed out for about 20 minutes and felt a lot better. 

    We got back to our house at 2 AM and went right to bed. I pretty much slept the entire next day and night. Needless to say, I never want to take sleeping pills again.

Weekend in Vegas- Day 3

    The four of us woke up at 11:30 AM from a phone call. MommaJ's mother had heard about a restaurant that has been featured on multiple TV shows. Man vs. Food, Travel Channel, Rachael Ray etc... The original Hash House A Go Go is in San Diego but there are a couple in Las Vegas as well.
     Breakfast sounded amazing after a full night of drinking. So we got ready as quickly as possible and drove to the strip. It was inside a hotel (though I don't remember which one) and to make a long story short, the workers were completely incompetent. There was seven of us in our party and when we put our name on the list, they said it would be a 35 minute wait. That didn't sound too bad so we got a couple waters at the bar and waited outside. We ended up waiting over an hour to be seated. People were coming out of the restaurant who had showed up at the same time as us because they were finished eating. "Are you still waiting?!?"
     It was mostly ridiculous because big groups were being seated before us that showed up after us. Also, we walked through the restaurant and literally, 1/4 of the tables and chairs were empty. No one should have been waiting at all. If they had known what they were doing, the entire place would have been filled with happy, paying customers. The point is, I became increasingly angry. I eat breakfast every single morning. If I don't eat within a certain amount of time after I wake up, I feel sick. Put on top of that my slight hangover. But I didn't want to complain because I was very grateful for all of us to have the opportunity to eat at such a cool restaurant. I pretty much became mute until we were finally seated around 2 PM.
      I would say the food was worth the wait but that would only be true if we would have been warned of the actually wait time. It was a very fun experience. Every one's food was very unique and large.

    Yea. That's a pancake. Well, they called it a flapjack but same difference. A really fun drink Hash House A Go Go offered was "watermelon lemonade". It looked like watermelon when it was first delivered but after you stirred it up, it was a delicious, refreshing drink.

   After breakfast/lunch, BoyCrazy, MommaJ, her friend, her brother, and I walked around the strip. It was so freaking hot. I was trying very hard to enjoy the sights but I had gone from super hungry to super full and then put out in the heat. It didn't go well. So we relaxed fairly often by checking out various casino/hotels that we had only seen before in movies.

   I decided to finally try my luck at blackjack when we got to The Flamingo. I think it was the happy pink color everywhere that sold me on it. I sat down at a table with only the dealer and my friends all stood behind me. After everyone had shown their IDs, I put my $20 on the table (because you can't hand the dealer money) and he gave me back 4 $5 chips. The table minimum was $10. And I lost all of it in about five minutes. I really had been practicing and studying the strategy. The dealer was showing a three the first time and then a four. I had low cards that equaled 12 and then 14. I didn't hit either time because since he showed low numbers, it was most likely that he would bust trying to get to at least 17. Lucky for him, he made it to 17 both times (dumb luck) but told me afterwards that I really did make the correct choice even though I had lost. That made me feel much better.
 
   Like the couple on the first night had warned us, there were many people dressed up as celebrities or cartoon characters. On Fremont St. we saw Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, PeeWee Herman with the bicycle, and Austin Powers. I was really tempted to go talk to him. On the strip, most of the characters were Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, SpongeBob SquarePants, and the teenage mutant ninja turtles. It was kind of like Disney World for adults. Except at Disney World the characters are hired by the company and would never, ever take off their heads.

   The illusion was completely shattered! I know its really hot there but Tigger would have never done that in Orlando, Florida.

   Eventually, a promoter spotted us and asked if we were still looking for a party. We had another promoter offer VIP at The Palms but this guy had a much better deal. He seemed very genuine by introducing himself and explaining that he only worked for one club unlike a lot of other promoters. Travis, later re-named "T-rex" by MJ's friend, said the four of us girls could get free cover charge and free drinks at the Bellagio's club "The Bank".

   We gave him our number and told him that we would be there 10:30 PM. Since we didn't start getting ready until after 8:30 because we made a stop to Fremont St. for football daiquiris, we arrived a little late.

  We ended up ditching the taxi as soon as we saw the entrance to the hotel because we were barely moving and being charged a lot. T-rex was waiting for us outside in a suit. He then took us to the entrance of the club and directed us to the VIP line. Most of the people in the VIP line were very dressed up women (like ourselves) with a few guys mixed in. Those guys usually didn't get let in by the time we got to the front. A group of three guys who we had befriended actually got sent away because 1. we don't think they were really on the VIP list and 2. because the bouncer said, "I can't let you in wearing those shoes." I couldn't believe it! I had heard that people could be turned away because of their clothing but seeing it really happen was shocking. The three guys were asked to wait in the regular line which was already very long and to pay a cover charge somewhere between $40-$60.
   After I witnessed that, I started to worry that the bouncers wouldn't let me in since I was wearing skinny jeans instead of a dress. They were dead serious. No jokes. No talking really. They just grabbed the ID, stared at it with huge eyes, then looked up at you for a good three-four seconds to make sure it was really you. Thankfully, we were all let in with indestructible VIP bracelets and led to two escalators. As soon as we got to the top of the escalator, we all let out a girlish squeal. It was incredible. I can barely explain it but just imagine the coolest looking club you've seen in a movie and picture us inside it.
    We immediately went to the bar because the bouncers said we could only get free drinks until midnight and it was already 11:30. I pretty much drank whatever MJ's friend ordered me and just looked around in awe. Their "well" vodka was SKYY for God's sake. The four of us went to the dance floor, which was a giant circle in the middle of the club that had been lowered 5 or six feet. Bouncers stood at each flight of stairs to shine a flashlight at our feet so we could see where we were walking. I was on the floor for only a few minutes when my second drink got knocked out of my hand and glass crashed to the ground. I was embarrassed but really wanted another drink so I went back up to the bar. It was cleaned up by the time I got back.

      The four of us had sucked down about three drinks a piece in 30 minutes. Shortly after midnight, another drink was knocked out of my hand and broke on the dance floor again.
   "Am I holding it wrong?! I don't understand how this happened to me twice!"
My friends jumped on the guy. "You owe her a drink." I asked for a rum and coke but was very nervous to drink it. He had to walk away to get it and my mom always told me to never take drinks from strangers. Especially if you don't see it poured. And a double especially if you aren't in a safe environment. So I leaned over to my friends and said, "Ok. Now I really want to drink this because I've had less than you guys at this point. But if I start slurring my words or not being able to walk, then he roofied me and take me home. Thanks!"
   Looking back it was obviously a poor choice but I was fine. He told me his name was "Booyah". I called bullshit. "No really, I'm from Persia." and I answered, "Oooh. Iran." Well that really impressed him so I made him show me his ID to prove it. Turned out his name was "Poo-yah". I seriously have problems understanding names when I've been drinking.
   Eventually, MJ's friend and BC went missing. MJ and I went to the bathroom before we looked for them. While in there, MJ threw up in the toilet. She tried to be very discreet about it but the bathroom attendant heard it I guess. When we walked outside the bathroom, a big bouncer stopped us and said we had to leave because I threw up. I was completely confused. I wasn't aware that MJ had because she usually does everything in her power not to throw up because she hates it. I just knew that I didn't. But he kept saying it and I was pretty drunk and thought, "I didn't throw up... did I? Damn. Maybe I did." It wasn't until we begged him to let us find our friends before he kicked us out that MJ finally leaned over and said, "It was me. I threw up." Those bouncers take that business seriously.
    So MJ and I set off to look for the other two girls and we found them in the VIP section with a bachelor party. Giant bottles of Grey Goose and SKYY sat on the table while our girl friends danced around. We were pretty shaken up about the bouncer fiasco and kept telling the others, "We have to leave. Now!" But they didn't listen and we're glad because the bouncer apparently lost track of us.
  
   This is where my memory goes from blurry to completely blank. Even after my friends "reminded" me of what happened next, I still couldn't piece together that hour or two. So here is the story as they told me. Eventually we left the club because we were all very, very drunk. I was having a hard time walking but I was generally staying upright. Then BoyCrazy started to fall and purposefully pulled me down with her as an attempt to keep herself standing. Obviously that didn't work out. We crashed into a flower bed.
   We walked around for a while to look for a taxi and MJ's friend was getting really pissed off because we couldn't find one. BC talked to the taxi driver about "our Lord, Jesus Christ" the whole drive back to the hotel. When MJ's friend asked what they were talking about I responded, "She's probably telling him she's a virgin. She likes to do that when she drinks." BC insisted on paying for the taxi ride and this is about where I picked up my memory again.
   MJ and I were the last to get out. The taxi driver came around to our open door and said, "Your friend puked in my cab!" We both looked around to the backseat and sure enough, there was a red splotchy stain on the cup holder. MJ tried to convince him that it was "just a drink that spilled". While I kept saying, "No. That must have been there before." He kept getting angrier and saying that he saw her do it. At that point, the other two girls had gone inside and we ran as fast we could to catch up.
   MJ's friend swears that she "just spit" in the cup holder. But even then, not the best behavior for a cab ride. By the time we got back to our room, BC was bawling. I kept trying to comfort her but she couldn't even articulate what was wrong.
   We were all still pretty drunk so when BC laid down to sleep and MJ's friend was throwing up in the toilet, MJ and I went downstairs in our pajamas to a 24 hour hotel restaurant.
   I wore a giant t-shirt and teeny-tiny shorts because I didn't care at that point. I ordered spaghetti. She ordered a hamburger. As soon as the waitress set our meals down in front of us, we both took a longing look at the other person's plate.
     "Want to switch?"
   "I was thinking the same thing!"
  So we traded and it was a fantastic decision. The next hour we had quite the heart to heart. People around us could probably hear everything we said, but we didn't care. I used a coupon to get a free piece of cake and then we went back upstairs to sleep. It was a perfect night.

Weekend in Vegas- Day 2

   As I said in the last post, MommaJ's family showed up at the hotel between 7-8 AM on Friday. We decided since we were already awake to make the most of our time. We had received coupons for a buy one get one free breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant and took advantage of it. Who knew a buffet could be so fancy? Not only did it have just about every breakfast food you could ever want, but it also had seafood and tons of desserts available.

   Most of the day was spent going up and down to our hotel room. We went to Fremont St. to buy souvenirs for our friends and bottles of alcohol. The bottles weren't too much more expensive than they would have been at a liquor store in Kansas. Which means it was way cheaper than buying drinks at bars. But as this blog should be just as informative as entertaining, I will go into detail about how to save as much money as possible.

  After we made out purchases, we decided to gamble. We heard that you can get free drinks from the bartenders if it looks like your gambling- even if you're just betting one penny at a time at the slot machines. First, we sat down at the actual bar. We heard this would be the easiest way to get the attention of a bartender because when the waitresses walk around, they tend to ignore girls. (We aren't as willing to tip apparently because we're straight)
    We each ordered a drink and I awkwardly tipped him into his hand. Mistake one. There are empty glasses on the bar where tips are meant to be put. I don't think he minded really but I realized later that it isn't as normal. Soon, he put our ticket into that empty glass I talked about before. The total was around $17.50. Crap! We were piddling around with the poker machines that are flat on the bar but I guess he didn't think it was enough. BoyCrazy then walked over to a man sitting at a bar stool a couple seats away from us. He had stuffed a bunch of money in his glass so he seemed to know what he was doing. She explained that this was our first time and didn't know if were expected to pay. He said, "No! Of course not! The bartenders put those there so that they know what you ordered." We thanked him profusely and walked away (drinks in hand) to find more interesting slot machines.
     We also had to ask someone how the gold cards worked. Turns out, you can win points depending on how long/how much money you gamble. The hotel asked for our IDs and phone numbers. We each received a sparkly gold card with our name on it. Then, we put those in the machines, put in our money and started playing.

  Our goal wasn't to win money. Our goal was to experience a casino and to drink as much as possible for "free". Obviously, the casino wins back the money they spend on giving you "free" drinks because you are gambling it all back into the machines. Also, we tipped pretty often so that the waitresses would follow us around when we went to different machines.
   I thought penny slots would be easy to figure out. Put in a penny. Pull the handle. See if you win. Wrong! The least amount of money you could put in was a dollar bill and all of the machines had buttons to choose how many pennies you wanted to bet on each spin. I think we actually pulled a side handle once each and that was only because it was a bonus round. It felt like a gyp though because they all still had the handles, but they were immobile.
   But let me back track a little. Most machines had two rows of buttons. The first row decided how many "lines" were available to you. Each line was a penny. Each button usually went up by fives. The numbers lit up on the sides to show you how many "lines" you had selected. For example, one line was a terrible idea. If the three across the middle weren't the same or didn't have a "wild" then you didn't get anything. Some machines even had criss-crossing lines which meant you could bet on 30 lines at a time. That increased your odds of winning but also decreased your money quicker. The second row of buttons determined how many pennies you bet per line. So if you picked 30 lines and then 3 pennies per line, you would spend $00.90 on that bet alone. It took us a while to figure this out. Especially because some penny slots have a minimum bet of 30 cents. I hated those. It was very deceiving. They should have called it a 30 cent slot machine. But I suppose it doesn't have as nice of a ring to it.
    When I began, I put a $5 bill in. And I won quite a bit at first.

   The left is how much I won on that bet alone. Technically, I won $3.60 because I spent 20 cents just to make the bet. On the right is how much I would have if I "cashed out" at the moment. Since I put in five dollars, I would have made $3.76 but no, I wanted to keep playing. I felt lucky and optimistic which is exactly how the casino wants you to feel. The flashing lights. The pleasing sounds. So I continued to bet. And I lost and gained. Then lost and gained and then-

Wowzer! If I "cashed out" right then, I would have made $7.38 not including tipping the waitresses which the three of us rotated doing. That is pretty good money considering it was just the penny slots. Eventually, I lost it all. The casino won back all that extra money that they at one point were willing to give me. Next time this happens, I will cash out and walk away completely satisfied. But we really wanted the experience ("for the story!") and I don't regret losing it at all.
   After we had a couple drinks, we went to our hotel pool. It had a big fish tank in the middle of it with sharks and in the middle of that, was a tube slide.

   That weird body in the middle of the tube is an actual person going through the slide. BoyCrazy and I tried it out but its so fast that I really didn't see anything. It's much cooler to stand in the pool and gaze at the sea creatures with your face up against the glass. This picture was taken in a cave-like part of the pool. The other side was all sun which is where we spent most of our time and also laying on the chairs.

   MommaJ's friend from college arrived later that night. We got dressed up pretty early on and drank in the hotel room. MJ's brother drove us to pick her up at the airport and by midnight, the five of us were on the strip searching for a good club. The best way to get into clubs is for a promoter to approach you. Cover charges can be $20-40 at some places and even as much as $60 for guys. We hoped to run into a promoter but mostly just jumped from free club to free club for a while. We also stopped at a piano bar which in my opinion was pathetic. Since my first experience of that kind of entertainment was Howl at the Moon, I had much higher expectations. After the third Canadian interrupted some American song to play the national Canada song, we decided to leave. Nothing against Canada, I just wanted to listen to a full song for a change.
   Eventually a promoter stopped us as we walked by Caesar's Palace. Now, I was pretty drunk at the point so the rest of this story is mostly what I was told by my friends. I guess the promoter was a little shady. He said we could all get free drinks and put bracelets on our wrists for the club, "King Ink". His initials were written on the inside which means he probably got some kind of commission for it. We waited in the relatively short line and the person up front asked us for (I think) $20 a piece for cover charge. It was already about 1:30 AM at this point. There was no way we were going to spend that much money on a cover charge and only be in there for an hour. So we walked away and the promoter saw us. He seemed a little peeved (especially when I started putting in my two cents because I didn't really understand the situation.) He made us a deal that the four girls could get in for free (and still drink free inside) and MommaJ's brother would pay $20. The girls decided that seemed reasonable and we planned to give him each $5 later to pay for our own cover charge.
    There isn't too much to say about this bar. I guess we weren't ever able to get any drinks because there were only two bartenders and they ignored us. Not many people were on the dance floor and later a "booty contest" took place. BoyCrazy's reaction was, "..... Do you think I should sign up??" We are so glad she didn't though because this booty contest was essentially a vagina contest. Every girl stood on a raised platform above everyone else and shook her ass until her dress was above her hips. I guess thats Vegas.
   We did meet a lot of interesting people though. Everyone really comes from all over to party in Vegas. We met people from Germany who spoke a little English. MommaJ's brother is fluent in Portugeese so he had a long conversation with some Brazilians guys who couldn't really speak English. There was also a man in a wheelchair that didn't have any arms or legs. But he really liked to dance.
   We had walked for a fair amount of time that night. Especially since the clubs don't close at 2 AM like they do in Kansas. All the other girls had worn high heels to the strip and were in a lot of pain. So they kept taking their shoes off to walk around on the dirty sidewalks of Vegas. And MJ's brother kept telling them to put their shoes back on. I definitely know what that's like. When you're feet are in that much pain but you've had enough alcohol to not make rational decisions, stepping on glass or picking up loads of germs sounds like a much better idea than keep those high heels on. Especially since it's not 100% certain that you will step on something bad but it was 100% that walking without shoes would feel immensely better. It's a gamble. And it was Vegas. Can you blame them?
   By the time we got back to our hotel room, it was beginning to become light outside. The girls took off their high heels one final time and went to sleep.

Check back later to read about our third day. It is by far the craziest.

Weekend in Vegas- Day 1

   Visiting "Sin City" is a right of passage for many Americans who've just turned 21. It's almost a little cliche. I usually try to do the opposite of what large masses of people are doing. For example, being one of the few Americans who doesn't watch the superbowl. But going to Vegas with two of my best friends after the last of us turned 21 was the best cliche celebration I've ever had.

   The journey there was relatively painless. BoyCrazy had never flown before so I usually led the way. We drove to KC (two hours), took a shuttle, took a bus, took a plane and then another, got picked up by BoyCrazy's parents in another car and we were there. It's a funny thing to be on a plane and know that everyone else that sitting around you is about ready to get drunk, gamble a lot, and make poor life choices. It brought about a sort of sinful unity. It also brought about some crazy outfits.

   That Thursday night, we were supposed to meet up with MommaJ's family at The Golden Nugget hotel where they had graciously rented a room just for us. As soon as we landed in Nevada, I turned on my phone and received this text message from MJ:
   "We have a slight problem call when you can"
I knew they were still supposed to be traveling at this point so it worried us. MJ's flight had been cancelled. There was bad weather in Denver (which BC and I had barely missed and also made our flight 20 minutes longer because we flew around it) and their plane was not making the trip. And the airline told them they wouldn't be able to fly out until Sunday.
    MJ's family are very persuasive people. They explained that they would miss their entire weekend and people were already waiting for them in Vegas. And even though they knew they weren't going to make it that night, they still paid for BC and my hotel room by switching the reservation to be under my name. It was a long day but we were incredibly grateful... and tired.

Luckily, they only missed the first night. There was a flight leaving from Kansas City later that night for Phoenix and then connected after five hours of sleeping on the airport floor to Nevada. They arrived at the hotel at about 8 AM- ready to party.

  Since BC and I had that first night in Vegas to ourselves, we decided to explore the hotel and Fremont Street. The area is also referred to as downtown or the old strip. It's been renovated to have a giant curved ceiling over the entire block. This way, you're outside but not in the direct heat which was a blessing. Also, they had a killer light show on it. It was a lot like watching a movie screen with a very strange perspective. BC and I also watched a free 80's tribute show. Four women, four men, and three musicians performed short snipets of favorite songs and dances. I absolutely loved it! It had incredible high energy and those performers did it three times a night, within three hours, six days a week. It was very impressive. It also led me to have "video killed the radio star" stuck in my head for the majority of the weekend.

   Our first drinks were free via coupons we received from the hotel front desk. As soon as we sat down at the bar, the couple next to us said, "I think we need to see your IDs! hahaha!" (This was a very common theme for the trip) We explained that I had just turned 21 a month ago and this was our first time in Vegas. They started giving us tons of advice and didn't stop until we left the bar.
   "Always tip your waitress at the very beginning and she'll keep coming back."
   "Don't get your picture taken with the celebrity look alikes that walk around because they really just want your money."
    When the advice started to drift away from casino and bar manners, "Only wash your hair every other day." we eventually left and thanked them profusely.
     That night we went to bed at 10:30 PM (12:30 in Kansas). And we slept hard through the whole night.

More posts about the following days are coming soon. Check back later!

Whole New Level of Partying

   I have been 21 for a little over a month now. I spent about 60% of the month of June drinking alcoholic beverages just because I could. When July started, I was in Hays with my boyfriend and he doesn't drink. My consumption decreased A LOT. Now, I am off to Las Vegas. It is time for a whole new level of partying.

   I was worried that my clothes wouldn't be the right kind of style for club hopping. So my friends and I went shopping a few days ago to find "Vegas" outfits. The three of us have all been relatively thin growing up. (it varies by person and age) We were all very worried about "the freshman fifteen" so I think we were extra careful our first couple years in college. Sure, we gained a little weight here and there, but never 15 pounds in a 12 months. Now, four years into college, our bodies finally caught up with us. We are still relatively thin but we realized when we were shopping for clothes that "S" and "M" don't really fit anymore. It was disappointing but it felt nice to go through it together. We tried on outfits in our individual dressing rooms saying things over the doors like,

"Ok. This is large and it barely fits."
"When did I become a D cup?"
"Let me try it on. Maybe it will be like the sisterhood of the traveling pants- except it won't fit any of us."

   I think we had a pretty good attitude though. We just laughed and helped each other take off the clothes that were easier to get into than out of.

   Anyway, today we have been packing and getting last minute details in order. For example, I've been studying the different ways casinos trick you into spending more money. Click here to read what I learned. It's very, very interesting. I also have been going over blackjack strategy in my mind because supposedly that it my best bet for winning any money.

   Most of all, I'm just looking forward to making more memories with some of my best friends.

Song of the day: Waking up in Vegas by Katy Perry (what else?!?)

PS I'm not taking my computer on the trip with me so I will write a very long summary of what happened when I return on Monday.

  

My past week and a half (In Photographs)

  I spent the last week and half in Hays, America with The Techie. I don't have a job and I wanted to enjoy the freedom of going on a trip whenever I please. Also, The Techie had been on vacation and just recently got back, so it was a good time to visit.

   The first few days are a blur. I spent most of my time with Noise*, watching Netflix. (I finished all three seasons of Arrested Development in just a few days)

   The Techie was gone all weekend to work The Wild West Fest. He is called "The Techie" for a reason. The one good thing about this festival is that they bring in a carnival across the street. We walked around a little to look through the rides but they didn't have anything resembling The Paratrooper (aka "the parachutes") so I wasn't interested. I guess I only went to it for nostalgic purposes.

The days that followed were filled with fireworks and friends. After we went to city show

The Techie bought some fireworks of his own and had a show outside the house.

   We took a lot of drives in the evening to enjoy the Kansas scenery before I leave for Jersey. On one particular day, The Techie stopped on the side of the highway. I've been with him for a year and a half now. I know that when we stop on the side of the road it's because some animal needs saving. I have witnessed him and his mother pick up wild turkeys after they had been hit by a car, just so they wouldn't be hit again. I've helped him put a slimy, smelly dog in the car in the middle of 2 ft snow and wait with him at the police station. He slows down every time there are cats, raccoons, birds, cows etc. If not to save them, at least to look at them and tell me what breed they are. This time was no exception.

  It was a giant snapping turtle. It had already been hit but seemed to be alive.

 The Techie refused to pick it up off the highway to place it in the grass. "I need a long stick." I kept thinking, "Ok dude. It's a TURTLE. Turtles are slow, right? And this one is bleeding. I'm sure its not going to attack you." But he wasn't stupid. He had experienced one before and after I gave him whatever long thing I could find in the car, he gave it a tiny tap.

  That thing jumped way higher than I ever expected. He seemed super pissed that this human being was prodding him as if it was some kind of Jr. high school bully. But he was trying to save him from being hit by another car. I decided that the turtle must have been suicidal. He didn't want to live in the grass. He had to be trying to get hit. Who can blame him? His shell was all screwed up and didn't have any family in sight to take care of him.  The Techie said animals don't have that kind of reasoning capability but I'm not convinced. Eventually, the turtle retreated to the grassy side of the highway and I watched as he moved quite quickly. I'll never underestimate turtles again.

  Heres another interesting animal picture from our drive.

  Oooh Kansas. I'll miss the nature and wildlife.

  I also spent time with a few Hays friends while I was there. Homeslice** just recently got an apartment to himself. I went over to his place to practice playing blackjack and poker. On the way out, I noticed a big group of girls arguing over who was driving to the bars. Luckily, one of them was sober (enough) to tell her friends loud enough for me to hear, "No, you are not driving." I really hate when people drive drunk or even tipsy. I don't care how good you think you drive while intoxicated. You will never convince me that its OK or a good idea. You are not only putting yourself in danger, but everyone else who is driving near you and they have no idea you are not in the right state of mind. So I offered to take them wherever they wanted to go. They continuously told me how cool I was for driving them. I'm "seriously so awesome" for doing it. Thank you, car full of drunk girls. I felt seriously not awesome for being sober but now you have made me feel much better for choosing not to drink that night.

  Mascot also came into town so The Techie and I went to Homeslice's apartment to play more card games. We also went to The Home and I received my first 21 bracelet there. Success. It felt awesome after spending hundreds of dollars on cover charges to finally get in for free. Only to be completely overcharged for one rum and coke. I had the right idea before that its just cheaper to get shwasted before you go to the bars. Mental note for later.

  Then finally, we went to SW Kansas to visit Nard in his new apartment. We stopped once on the way to save the stupid dog standing in the middle of the highway. There was only one house nearby so we took it there and thankfully, it did belong to them. (You're welcome for saving your dog by the way, but just some advice: If you live on a highway, put a damn collar on your pets) At this point, my camera died. But if it hadn't, I would have posted pictures of The Techie, Nard, Nard's GF and me walking around Nard's small town in 100 degree heat (my stupid idea), playing awesome Kinect video games, and laughing super hard at the movie Beowolf with rifftracks. Nard was still the same silly person who teased me for not knowing what to do while being Captain America on the Xbox360. I find comfort in the familiar.

  Now I am back in Manhappenin'. This house just saw a lot of action this past weekend because of BoyCrazy's roommate getting married. (Congratulations!) The house will be very less exciting this weekend because BoyCrazy and I are going to Vegas! That's right. I have scrounged up just enough money from my family and selling my possessions to visit Las Vegas for MommaJ's 21st birthday. The next couple days will be spent preparing but I will try to write while I'm there. That city is synonymous with "crazy vacation" so I'm looking forward to what it will bring.

Song of the day: Vegas by Sara Bareilles


*For those of you who don't know: Noise is a cat, not a pseudonym.
**To Homeslice: The Techie named you after your favorite pizza treat. :)