Vegas bound (again)!

We found a killer deal on Southwest Vacations from Boise to Vegas for our birthdays again this year! We're staying at Planet Hollywood from 4/25/09 to 4/27/09 (sorry, Shauna and Chris....we really want to be at your wedding....we didn't even think about the fact that this was the date of your wedding until after we reserved the tickets. eek!).

Who wants to join us? Consider this our bachelor/bachelorette parties, if you will....

Seriously, is there any better way to spend your 30th and 31st birthdays? I think not! Bring it!

a few things I am very excited about!

1. Friday night's white-trash-bar-extravaganza was pretty entertaining. Josh's cousin's band played at Mr. Lucky's here in Boise. FYI, Lucky's is known for their NASCAR Sundays (all you can drink for $20.00). I'm pretty sure they are also known for the extreme amount of Special Olympics Dance Team members....in the most unofficial sense, of course. Anyway, the band was pretty good for firing the lead singer a week prior, which surprised the hell out of me (the fact that the band was pretty good surprised me, not the firing of the lead singer - that should not surprise anyone, really).

2. Saturday night I went to a concert at the Big Easy to see Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson! They were incredible! I wasn't too familiar with their stuff before heading out (except for Ingrid's song, "The Way I Am" which is on an Old Navy commercial) but I am fully convinced that they are worth listening to over and over and over again in my office. Yay! On top of seeing the phenomenal concert, I ran into two of the guys who were in my youth group when I led the group at my church in college. They are old. That makes me feel old. BUT, it was super fun to see them and I think they even convinced me to pick up my guitar sometime soon.

3. I spent the majority of my time sleeping and laying on the couch this weekend and it felt awesome.

4. None of our immediate friends or family members drew a Middlefork of the Salmon rafting permit this summer, which made us pretty bummed out. Thankfully, a friend of a friend invited us on his trip! Hooray! I'm pretty sure I'll be dreaming of this for the next few months....

5. I think I have become addicted to Crystal Light Energy. And Spicy V8 (not just for my perfected bloody mary recipe - I like it plain, too). And Laughing Cow cheese with celery. And sushi. (I never thought I would say that). And steamed broccoli (WTF?).

6. I made my first official meatloaf last night and it was really effing good. Oh my god, when did I turn into a housewife?

7. San Francisco was fan-freaking-tastic. Next trip: Vegas on April 26!

How did I neglect this?

I don't know how I managed to NOT post this sooner, but WE'RE GOING TO VEGAS AGAIN!!! Yahoo! April 25 - 28 and we're driving this time, bitches!

Soooooo.....you want to know how Vegas was?!

Well, starting out on a Saturday morning with Bailey's in our coffee should give you an indication of how the weekend was....continued by a bloody mary on the plane, then a beer upon entrance to our hotel in Vegas, followed by breakfast....wait, BREAKFAST?! With beer?! You are correct.

Josh and I played a few hands of blackjack and managed not to lose a whole lot of money (yet) and continued to drink a few beers throughout the day, until we were finally able to check into our hotel room at 1pm.

Rest.

More blackjack.

More beer.

Drinks in the bar (enter hard liquor....can you see where this is going?)

Then, the party really got started--we met up with the other 4 fabulous people who went to Vegas with us. Amanda insisted, before dinner at a faaaaaaaabulous Chinese/sushi restaurant, that we enjoy some gigantic, slushy adult beverages (I think I was actually walking around with a 32 oz Mango Margarita) and the rest of us insisted on $2 jello shots from the same establishments.

Excellent dinner!

Then came the show....Crazy Horse...the topless show (with "really cool lighting") for folks who are too ashamed to go to the strip club. I had high hopes of going to something like Cirque du Soleil while we were in Vegas, but Crazy Horse was what the majority voted for, so what's what we went to. Gooood times. I won't give details to what I was paying most attention to throughout the show....but it wasn't the actual show.

Next, Carnival Court, where the bartenders throw bottles up in the air and do all sorts of tricks and all we had to do was pay them $10/drink. We danced (yikes!) and Amanda manged to take an amazing video of Josh and his coworker Malia.....ohhhhhhh my my my.

The last bit of the evening shall not be recorded. I'll just say that the cab ride and the remainder of the evening was unforgettable, for very, very different reasons.

Sunday was a better day for gambling--Josh managed to enter 3 Texas Hold 'em tournaments and placed in 2 of them! Owwwwwwwww!!! Kate and I played in one as well, and I managed to stay in until there were only 25 people left...then I got rivered and kicked out. I was still pretty proud of myself.

The weekend ended with a Fat Burger at 9:30 am and a sleepy plane ride back to Boise on Monday afternoon.

Going back to work was less than pleasurable on Tuesday....as soon as my bank account gets stocked up again, I'm headed back....who's in?!

My boyfriend rocked it in Vegas...

...and I enjoyed the fringe benefits!

I got a brand new...

...pair of roller skates! No really, my coworkers actually got me roller skates for my birthday. They want me to join a roller derby team because they think I'll kick some ass...and let's face it, I probably would.

Consider this my obligatory birthday post (it was Sunday).

I'm officially one year closer to 30.

Yesssss!

(Have I mentioned that I'm going to Vegas on Satuday?!)

The Freak Out Stage

Stats mini-thesis is due Friday at noon. Though I had my research question, variables, and unit of analysis turned in long ago, I started writing my methods section on Saturday and ran my statistics on SPSS on Sunday. I am now on the go-to-bed-at-10pm and get-up-at-4:30am schedule in order to evaluate these stupid statistics. Every spare moment is spent interpreting my results and not coming up with a damn thing that is interesting about school crime prevention programs and their effects on violent and non-violent crime.

I'm officially in the freak out stage of semester 2 of grad school...gross.

(Thankfully, everything for my policing class is ready to go...which is kind of too bad, because I really enjoyed that class and honestly wouldn't have minded continuing with more of the project....at least I did something right this semester!)

Vegas: Saturday!

Poker Night

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Josh is a big poker player. We are constantly watching poker on TV and setting the DVR to record shows like "High Stakes Poker." So earlier in the week, when we were invited to go play poker at his friends' house, I knew that there would be no turning down the offer. Well, I could have turned it down, but that would have meant that I'd be at home alone on a Saturday night and let's face it, I really wanted to hang out with Josh. So I figured that I should go, even though I'm not a great player. I'd spend $20 and enjoy the company for a little while on a Saturday night.

I never expected to actually win any money.

But I did.

After paying Josh for my buy in (wasn't that nice of him?) and paying for my own add-on at the break, I left with an extra $85 in my pocket.

Question is, was I actually playing well, or was I just lucky?!

(Vegas in less than a month!)

Patty Griffin Tickets

I heard on the radio a little while back that Patty Griffin will be performing at the Egyptian Theater in Boise this month. I immediately called two people--first, my friend Alison in Chicago, who loves Patty nearly as much as I do (if not more) to gloat about the fact that Ms Griffin would be strolling through my fabulous town and I had every intention of going to see her. Second, I called my sister to ensure that she would be attending with me....I don't think I know anyone else in town who would appreciate the show as much as her. Both phone calls in place, I continued on with my day (that's the day we took the Jeep out and got nice and muddy!)

Fast forward to February 28th, when I finally made my way to the Record Exchange in downtown Boise to get our tickets. Yes, they still had some! (as if she is soooo well known that her show would be sold out...ahhh, how I dream) I also picked up her latest album, "Children Running Through." I was ecstatic! I had even made plans to leave Stats class early that day to make sure I found a parking spot without an issue. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to the Egyptian and seeing every bit of the show as I paid for, damn it.

Fast forward again to today's Stats class. It turns out that a bunch of my classmates will be at the ACJS conference in mid-March, in some town that I don't care about right now and the exam that was scheduled for March 13th is now schedule for March 20th. EFFFFFFFFINGGGGGGGG AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! You've got to be kidding me....the same day as the EFFING CONCERT!!! You can imagine my rage, disappointment, etc. when this was brought up. Granted, I have 2 hours to finish the exam that starts at 6pm and with any luck, I'll be able to finish early within that 2 hour window and get downtown before Patty takes the stage...and Patty Griffin will be the BEST reward EVER for finishing a Stats exam...buuuuuuut....ugh.

I suppose I should also mention the fact that the exam may be moved to that Thursday, the 22nd, but this wouldn't be nearly as good of a blog if I mentioned it, so I'll just leave that for another time. Oh wait...

Oh, and on a completely different note, tonight in Stats, my friend Jon tried to throw a gum wrapper at my face and "accidently" threw it down my cleavage. It sat in my shirt for the duration of class and only fell out after I got home and realized that Grey's Anatomy was a rerun. Man, what a day...

(oh, and 2 months minus a day until VEGAS!!!)

The Weekend Recap

Friday: No Quarter, a Led Zeppelin tribute band rocked the house at the Big Easy. I was surprised to find out that the lead singer is female...weird...but sounded amazingly similar to Robert Plant...or is it Jimmy Page? Who cares, we saw them. They were great! Of course, wine and beer prior too and throughout didn't hurt either!

Saturday: Up bright and early to hit the slopes at Bogus Basin! I got a pretty sweet deal with my friend Kristen: 4 lessons in February, rentals for the season, a season pass after the lessons are over, and a season pass for NEXT season for the mere cost of $270...well, sorta. You can ask me about the details later, if you must. Our first lesson was Saturday....a very, very, very beginner class, but still quite entertaining. I seemed to have forgotten that 1) skiing is really, really fun and 2) I actually know how to do it. Even better when you get to spend your time in good company.

Saturday night: Proved to Josh that I really do know how to make casserole dishes pretty well.

Sunday: Superbowl party! I lost $15 playing poker, but it was well worth it. Hey, I stayed in the game longer than a few others, so that's good, right? I don't know who won the football game and I don't really care. I was a bit too busy gabbing with my sister, who randomly showed up for the shin dig. Gooooood times.

Monday: Woke up sick. Waking up sick sucks...unless you wake up sick and realize that you shouldn't go to work that day. Yessssss. Plus, we scored our tickets to VEGAS in April! Yeah!!! You can expect many, many posts about this in the future...