Vegas Anniversary Getaway

{November 1st-4th} For our anniversary we booked a trip to Vegas-one of our favorite places to be together-and left the boys with T&T at our house.  We left them with a gift for each day we were gone and knew they'd be in great hands.  {the fairy pic she sent us the first night only alarmed us a little bit!} (;

On our flight out Thursday we didn't get seats next to each other and I sat by some guys who complained about their wives and talked about the things they were going to do in Vegas and I was totally disgusted.  I thought how blessed I am to be married to a guy who is completely loyal and head over heels in love with me.

We stayed at the Excalibur for two nights which was a ton of fun.  We had a great view of the strip.  We walked around all over the strip, had amazing frozen yogurt at the cutest little shop, window shopped & dreamed, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We rested for about an hour & then got ready for the Eddie Vedder solo concert.  Glen Hansard opened for him and was AMAZING.  He sang "Falling Slowly" and it was incredible.  He and Eddie sang a couple together which was just amazing.  Eddie was the best we've ever seen him.  It was awesome to hear him by himself and it was all a'capella or with his ukelele.  He did everything off his two albums, "Into the Wild" and "Ukelele Songs."  {Highly recommend running out & grabbing both albums-they are like happy lullabies & summer must haves.}

It was super cool for lots of reasons, but here are my favorites:
-The venue.  It was at the Palms and they had just re-done their theatre.  We were toward the back, but it was such an intimate venue that we felt like we were right near Eddie.  The sound was incredible and it was low lighting {no cameras allowed}.
-The guy we sat next to.  He was from Canada and a totally awesome guy.  We mentioned that we don't drink/gamble/smoke, but we still love Vegas and he said he was the same way.  Might have been the only three in the city that night who could say that! (;  We totally hit it off and chatted the whole hour before the show and exchanged contact info after.  Super nice guy.
-Eddie's rawness.  He was so open and so emotional.  He had two of his brothers there for his show {the first time in years} and his wife was there.  It was cool to see him so emotional about his family. We don't agree with all his politics or some of the tangents he goes off on, but he is an amazing artist and musician with a voice that seriously calms.

-A super emotional moment at the end where Eddie is overwhelmed with the generosity of the crowd in supporting a cause he is passionate about and tears up and turns the mic to the crowd to finish his song.

Here is an excerpt from an online article after the fact that sums it up:
"Then, a beautiful version of PJ's 'Unknown Thought' and a blistering go at longtime crowd favorite 'Porch' that, despite missing the other four band members, earns Vedder a sustained standing ovation. I applaud for every Pearl Jam fan I know who will be kicking themselves for not attending this. Vedder takes it in, beams and leaves the stage.
Then, the encore starts. Vedder announces the website of Heal EB, a cause dedicated to fighting and curing epidermolysis bullosa, a debilitating connective tissue disease, and suggests that the casino winners out there consider making a donation. One man walks right up to the stage and delivers a hundred dollar bill, which Vedder happily takes. Then, a woman in the front stands up and announces that she'll donate $5,000 if Vedder will play Pearl Jam's monster hit 'Black,' which he has yet to play at a solo show. Vedder smiles, stammers a bit, explains he'd do it except he doesn't know how to play it, and tells the woman to hang tight, he'll figure something out.
Then, after a pair of songs, two more covers with Hansard, including a gorgeous go at The Swell Season's Oscar-winning "Falling Slowly" (with Vedder filling in for Marketa Irglova), and two covers with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, Vedder brings out Gaspar again and the two finally attempt 'Black.' After a mis-start, the duo carefully susses out the beginning and finds its groove, the audience joining in with another roof-raising vocal performance. It takes over the falsetto trail-off, at which point Vedder, on the verge of tears, turns the mic around and sits right in front of the crowd before leaving the stage. A goose-pimpling moment.
Then, assuming nothing could top that and waiting for the house lights to turn on, Vedder returns. Audience members rush the stage and hand Vedder gobs and gobs of cash for Heal EB. Chuffed, the singer says, 'Handing me cash while I'm in Las Vegas -- now that's trust.' He tells the audience he'll never forget this night, and ends the show with a lights-on, all-star jam with Hansard, Maines and Gaspar, for the Into the Wild anthem 'Hard Sun.' That makes twenty-eight songs (at least one of them not on the setlist) in two hours and 20 minutes, which, according to the venue's publicist, was almost an hour longer than the show from the night before.
And that, readers, concluded the best rock concert of 2012."

I couldn't agree more.

Afterward we were on a high from such a great show, so we wandered the strip, got something to eat, and chatted late into the night at the hotel.

Friday started with me deciding to jump off the stratosphere.  I was thinking about doing the big shot again like I had a couple years previous, but then saw the new option and thought I'd go for it.  Zac was absolutely trying to talk me out of it, but said he'd support whatever I wanted to do {he's terrified of heights and really fond of having a wife}.  I'm the type who can't not go through with it once I commit in my head, so I said I wanted to do it.  I tried to get Tara & Barry to do it with me {they were there visiting too}, but she decided not to.  Zac and I took a taxi down to the stratosphere, I paid before I could back down, and started the process.  Zac took our phones for picture/video documentation out to the landing pad area to watch and the guys started dressing me up.  They also attached a camera to my wrist to capture the event.  It was the most exhilirating thing ever!  Just riding up the 108 stories {850 feet} was a rush {with others suited up to go as well} and waiting in line and watching people go in front of me was crazy.  The hardest part was taking the leap off the edge.  It took me two attempts, but I did it and it was a RUSH!  So much fun!  I would do it again in a heartbeat!  Zac was super proud and all day we'd be doing our thing and he'd just stop & grab me by the shoulders, look me in the eye, and say, "you JUMPED off the Stratosphere!!!  You never cease to amaze me!"  Haha!  Such a blast!

 

 

We walked the strip back {2 or more miles} and laughed and talked the whole way.  We decided Zac's fun & daring treat would be to drive some of his dream cars, so we went to the World Class Driving place and signed up.  It would have been more costly for me to drive too, so I was just a rider.  He was set to drive 3 cars over the period of the drive: a Ferrari, a Lambourghini, and a Jaguar.  What a fun experience!  Our team leader was a guy from Italy who'd been a professional race car driver and had the cutest accent & personality.  The others in the group were pretty cool & we drove in a caravan up the Red Rock Canyon which is absolutely gorgeous.  All in all the experience lasted about 2.5-3 hours start to finish.

The best part?  Zac's reaction.  He was like a kid on Christmas morning!  Seriously so fun to listen to him laughing, talking so animatedly, and being incredibly giddy the entire time.  He LOVED putting the cars through their paces, testing his speed, and feeling the power.  I have to admit it was pretty exhilarating-those cars are amazing!  We got video in the Ferrari which was fun because it was the most exciting one for him to drive.  Such a fun dream for Zac to be able to live out and for me to be able to experience with him.

We grabbed dinner after that & I got settled in our hotel room while Zac met Reid to go see Guns & Roses in concert.  I finished the book I'd been reading {Battly Hymn of the Tiger Mother} which I highly suggest-so good-and watched shows on Netflix.  Zac had some very colorful tales about people at the G&R show and wasn't that impressed with it, but had a great time with one of his lifelong best buddies, so it was worth it.

Saturday we slept in major which is always nice when you're vacationing without kiddos.  When we got up, Reid & Laura and their girls picked us up to go to breakfast at the famous "Has House A Go Go."  We'd never been, but everyone had heard rave reviews and it did not disappoint.  The options were crazy!  Yummy food and so fun getting caught up with their family.  We went to their house for the day and visited, hung out by the pool outside, shopped a little, and brought Indian food home for dinner.  That was also a first and it was yummy.  We watched a movie, chatted some more, and went to bed.  Reid took us to the airport Sunday morning to fly home.  Such a fun fun trip!  Love the memories we made and that time together one on one as a couple has always been such a priority for us.  So grateful to be married to my best friend!