What happens in Vegas...

After a long weekend in Vegas, I am pretty tired...still. It was a four-day weekend with a lot to do. We started our journey off by flying Southwest from Long Island to Chicago to Las Vegas; all eight of us. Come to think of it, the only luck I had the entire weekend was when the flight attendant forgot to ask me to pay for the two glasses of wine I drank on the flight there.

When we arrived at Mandalay Bay, we changed and headed to one of the bars in the hotel called Eyecandy Lounge. It was pretty late when we arrived, so this lounge was convenient. After a few drinks and even more laughs, we finally crashed. The next morning we woke up and a few of us headed to the breakfast buffet. Las Vegas is the land of the ultra abundant buffet, but TK and I only gave the one at Mandalay a try. After we rounded up the troops, we all headed to the Hofbräuhaus, which is a Bavarian beer garden/hall that also has an ever-popular location in Munich, Germany. They serve their namesake beer by the liter or 1/2 liter (if you are feeling more weak and less German) and it is delicious. They also serve and decorate with pretzels as big as your head. I love restaurants with a theme and this was my favorite part of the trip.

After leaving the Hofbräuhaus, we headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which was diagonally across the street. There were rock artifacts speckled throughout the lobby area and the dimmed lighting and variety of shops and restaurants made this hotel/casino seem very naughty, but I guess that's rock n roll so, they got it right. We went back to the hotel to get ready for the Cirque du Soleil show. We all got pretty decked out and headed to the Bellagio for O. The acrobats in the show had insane musculature and it was a great show. However, after seeing show after show on Broadway and at Disney, I thought $117 would provide a little something more. The flips, dives and back bends were impressive, but a lot of the characters were creepy, which is pretty customary for a Cirque show. I did love the artistry of the colors, costumes and makeup. After the show, some of us headed over to the Venetian for a couple drinks at their V Bar and Tao Asian Bistro. It was not a late night, so we headed back pretty early and stopped at an In and Out Burger for a snack (of course we did).

On Saturday, we decided to head over to New York New York to ride the roller coaster. It was fun but I am not sure $15 was worth the minute and a half it took to ride. After the coaster, I played three songs of Dance Dance Revolution in the arcade, got sweaty for no reason and then headed over to a pub called Nine Fine Irishmen. It's a traditional Irish pub with padded bar stools and draught beers. Afterward, we hopped in a cab and headed over to the Yard House. TK and I visited one in Arizona and loved it, so we wanted everyone else to see what was so go great about it. The food was good and the beer was even better. They have over 100 beers on tap and I was able to eat a burger with lobster and asparagus on it. I like the ability to try something new every time we visit a Yard House because the selection of food and drink differs at each location. We then stopped at the Luxor and Colleen and I walked back over to Mandalay and the Minus 5 Ice Bar. They gave us coats and gloves and then guided us into the bar/refrigerator for our experience. It was freezing but we enjoyed ordering a drink at a bar made of ice, drinking a cocktail out of a cup made of ice and sitting on animal fur so our rears didn't stick to the bench that was, you guessed it, made of ice. There were ice sculptures, ice chandeliers and pink and blue lights shining through all of the ice architecture around us. It was pretty unique and we learned that people don't normally stay longer than 20 minutes, and neither did we.

That night we all got dressed up again and headed to dinner at Little Buddha at The Palms Casino Resort. It was our fancy dinner of the weekend and we enjoyed the food and the ambiance of red, purple and black velvet with fine silk accents. It felt very luxurious, until I started popping edamame out of the pods and the spices lit my mouth on fire. That was a little rough because I don't really do spicy, but the lettuce wraps that Colleen and Leslie ordered were delicious. After walking around The Palms and not liking the snootiness we felt just being there, we decided to go back to New York New York. Since we couldn't get into the dueling piano bar, we headed across the way and hung out at a steakhouse and enjoyed some conversation.

The next day was all about football. We started watching pre-game coverage at the PBR Rock Bar at the Miracle Mile in Planet Hollywood. Dan had a burger inside an enormous onion ring, TK had macaroni and cheese with crushed up Doritos in it and I got to taste cole slaw sprinkled with Pop Rocks...this was all after I ate a Belgian waffle and half of a chocolate chip pancake. I guess I was hungry. Unfortunately, we didn't ride the mechanical bull before we headed over to Blondies for the playoff games. We enjoyed their wings but we did not enjoy the Jets loss. That was a rough one for our entire group. We drowned our sorrows, or just made it worse, by gambling back at the hotel before heading to bed to prepare for our departure the next day.

Some of us lost and some of us won, but all 10 of us had the chance to bond and spend a long weekend together. Even if one of us had a leg brace, one spent the night in a bathtub, one needed to go to Gamblers Anonymous, one dressed as a rock star, one was the star of stage and screen and one belted out the words to Be Our Guest in public...we all had fun together as a group, and that's what really mattered.

Until next year...

Big Plans for This New Year

I am not the biggest fan of odd numbers, but I think that 2011 might bring me a lot of new and exciting things. First and foremost, I plan on keeping my self-respect and fire so that I can still be called difficult and never weak or naive. So there.

Now for the rest of the year, I have a few trips planned because new experiences are what keep me inspired. This month, I will be heading to Las Vegas for the third time in my life to tear it up with my friends. I've been there for a bachelorette party and with my family, but never with friends. We are all VERY excited. I will be going to see my first expensive Cirque du Soleil show, O, while we are there. The next trip I have planned is for work. I will be attending a conference in San Francisco on "Social Media and Community." The subject matter is very interesting to me, which you can probably see if you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. I am always down to learn new things, and if a world famous chocolate shop is down the street (Ghirardelli), I am certainly interested in traveling across the map to learn about whatever you want to teach me. The last trip I have penned in the datebook is to the one and only Walt Disney World and then Orlando, Florida. I will be away for two weeks with my family. I have been apart from Mickey for too long, even though normal people will say I was just there in 2009. I just love it there because I can break out in song randomly or skip down the street or dance to the music in my head, and no one cares! They just think, "She's feeling the magic," and they are right. The second week of our trip will be dedicated to golf, shopping, dining and Sea World, I think. For us, the second week is spent recuperating from the prior week of go, go, go at Disney. Also, speckled within the year will probably be a couple random weekend road trips with TK to see the states that don't require a plane or train to get to. This is only the beginning of the excitement.

This year, I would also like for TK and I to buy a home. We are outgrowing our current home and I would like to be able to use my Kitchenaid mixer and some of the other items I received for my bridal shower two years ago. It just frosts my cupcakes that all of our stuff is still in their boxes and that I will probably have to replace all of the spices on my spice rack because they are probably expired. I would love a place with a large kitchen and a nice little nook for me to draw, read or write. Ahhhh, that would be lovely. Some other bonuses would be a nice bathtub for frequent soaks and a fireplace to cuddle up in front of, but I won't hold my breath.

Another idea for this year is a possible baby bump...but don't get too excited! I am just considering it. I don't want anyone spreading any rumors or putting a December 31st deadline on me. Kids change your life forever and I like to sleep, so this is a big decision that I don't need anyone making for me. Since September 13, 2008 (the day after getting married) I have been asked about pregnancy. It is so strange that pregnancy is frowned upon until the day you get married, and then the day after it's like GAME ON! That's a lot of pressure. But, I would like to have a kid before I have to worry about being old and having complications. Right now I have a prescription for prenatal vitamins in my pocketbook. It is haunting me and I am not sure how I feel about it, especially since people talk about morning sickness, weight gain, hormones, mood swings and how your vagina is never the same. I may have to reconsider this whole situation. I'll get back to you.

So, that is what 2011 has in store for me, well, I hope. Watch, I'll reread this on December 31, 2011 and laugh at how wrong I was or, I will peer at it over a huge belly with a bowl of Chubby Hubby ice cream perched on top of it. Either one.

My Hair is a Person

You will notice that I have curly hair from the first second you meet me. People who have to explain who I am usually say, "Melissa is the one with the curly hair." It's just that obvious. It's heavy and it's needy, but it's a part of me.

Now because I have curly hair, one can never tell whether it is uneven or if it needs a cut because it curls differently in spots and it always has product in it. Well, except for the day that my colleagues deemed, "Natural Hair Day." That day I came to work with nothing in my hair and looked like a mix between Slash from Guns N Roses and Tina Turner, as you can see by the photo to the right. For this reason, I do not go to high end salons to get my hair cut. I go to Supercuts where they wash and cut my hair and don't charge me an arm and a leg, especially when I don't ask them to blow it out and I leave with a wet head. Salons charge the same price for someone like me as they do for a Jennifer Aniston look-alike that they have to spend time styling before she leaves. At least at Supercuts, I spend $20 and leave with the same haircut I would've had for $50 at a high end salon. The stylists at Supercuts are licensed and are just as talented as the stylists that charge a ton of money. I am just too frugal to worry about a haircut that won't look any different no matter how you cut it (pardon the pun).

This hair requires a lot of attention, so I use a lot of product to get it the way I like it and I am not flattering myself when I say that I have encountered many people who ask me how I get my hair the way it is. (It's true, just ask TK.) There are days where I hate it, it frustrates me and no style works but people do ask on the good days, so I am putting it out there for everyone to know.

1. I start off with any clarifying shampoo and then a hydrating or moisturizing conditioner. I like Matrix Curl.Life, which I get at Supercuts and also Aveda Root Awakening products, but I have yet to purchase them. I get a lot of samples from online retailers so I try a lot of stuff out before I actually make a purchase.
   
2. I comb my hair in the shower while the conditioner is still in it with a wide-tooth comb, just to make sure that brushing it won't be a hassle later.
   
3. When I get out of the shower I put my hair up in a metal-free rubber band and wrap a towel around my head.
   
4. When I take it down, I use a paddle brush to get all the knots out. I have broken too many weak brushes trying to brush my hair, so paddle brushes are right for the task.
5. Now, this is the part that most people want to know about: the styling products. Well, I use a lot of the Condition by Clairol 3-in-1 Mousse. I go through one bottle in about 9 days. I have been using it since the 7th grade. Back then I used the pink and now I use the purple, maximum hold variety. Since I have been using the stuff for 18 years, I figure that I am probably keeping the product on the shelves myself with 52 bottles used per year...roughly. The mousse is only about $3, but I actually get it in bulk from my aunt and uncle for holidays. They are my lifesavers. It is the only mousse I have ever found that is more like a cream than an airy foam. It is my hair salvation and I tell people about it whenever they ask. Why not? It may help people who don't know how to tame their mane. You can purchase it online at Drugstore.com or at most CVS stores. Also, it even has SPF in it.
6. To top it all off, I use cheap ole Rave Hairspray to set everything in place. It is a little more than $2 and I buy it every three weeks, just about. I have sensitive skin so some hairsprays dry my scalp or make me break out, this one never does. This is another product that I get in the purple maximum hold variety and can buy at any CVS or Walgreens.
7. I then blow dry my hair just to make sure the hairspray sets and my hair isn't soaking wet for when I leave the house.
   

So, now that I have shared the information that has kept my hair looking the same since middle school, I hope that some of you out there will embrace your curly tendrils and not straighten them like so many people do. Or maybe your hair is full, curly and magnificent and you have some information for me. If so, find me on Twitter: @Mel_K or just post a comment below. I would love to know that there are more of us curly-haired girls out there. We are becoming a minority after all.