the brightest star in the constellation (also known as las vegas)

the trip:
sooo i went to las vegas for a week. (ok 6 days.) my dad has a trade show for work there every year, and my mom goes with him, for a mini vacay, and to see the shows. this year, they asked me to come with them, and went i did.

the grand canyon
my sister came down last minute, and we spent saturday at the grand canyon, my first time ever!! it was so breathtakingly beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. they said that it was formed from the melt of the first ice age, volcanos/earthquakes, and the colorado river (fun fact: colorado means many colors). they have this new thing called the Skywalk, which is a big horseshoe looking thing that extends out over the canyon that has a glass floor that you walk on, and look 4,000 (thousand!) feet below. it was the trippiest thing i have ever done, and soooo cool! it was a big accomplishment for my mom, who has wanted to go ever since they started building it several years ago. to get to the canyon, we had to travel for 21 miles on an unpaved road. translation: it wasn't paved...at all. quite the adventure.

the hotels
after this, we stayed (one night only) and the westin. the name probably doesnt do much for you, but let me tell you, this was THE nicest hotel i have ever stayed at! ohhh my word, 5 pillows on the bed, starbucks coffee to brew in your room (!), talk about luxury. speaking of luxury...
we stayed on the strip at the luxor (its the pyramid shaped one with a light beam coming out of the top that you can see from space)
this hotel is an engineering marvel...i kinda sound like an architectural digest writer, huh?
the inside is sort of like embassy suites, where you can see all the doors to the rooms, so its hollow. the elevators aren't elevators, but "inclinators", which take you up or down at a 39 degree angle, its really weird, but fun. its all egyptian themed, with fake artifacts everywhere (and a few real ones too).
by far though, without a doubt, my very favorite hotel there is...the Venetian ( i even used capitalization!). words can not adequately express my deep love and identity with the venetian. its themed after venice (duh), and is opulent, exquisite, dramatic, and stunningly lovely. they have gondola rides with singing operators that go in and out of the hotel, very fine dining (i totally ate at an upscale, 50$ a plate restaurant there!). they pipe scent into the air!! its this amazing, flowery without being flowery, rich smelling scent that is heavenly. they have accordian players randomly placed throughout that play italian music, statues that are really people, the MOST amazing stores (not literally the most, i think caesers palace wins that one), and absolutly stunning interior decorations. i fell in love, and i think its going to be quite the love affair, indeed.
i was able to visit most of the big ones, including...
the Bellagio (talk about rich!!)
the Mirage
Treasure Island
the Stratosphere
Mandalay Bay
Planet Hollywood
the Paris
New York New York
Caesers Palace
Luxor
the Venetian
the paris was a close second favorite of mine, my favorite architecture-wise, it was abeautiful building. the inside was made to lok like you were outside, and my mom and i would sit at on of the "sidewalk" cafes and drink coffee, it was a beautiful thing. the eiffel tower was pretty impressive too though. and i won 60 bucks there!
new york new york was really fun, the atmosphere was right up my alley, and it was cool to semi-experience a place that ive always wanted to go to. my sister and i even rode the roller coaster (freaky, you had like, half a harness, it was weird. but fun.
of course i must mention the Bellagio, im afraid i didnt see enough of it, for all its wealth and splendor, it didnt strike me as much as the venetian did...although it was way cool to see where they filmed a bunch of oceans eleven...i was a bit disappointed to not go into the gallery of fine art though. it did leave quite the impression on me, for now it is an ambition of mine to stay in one of their suites...after seeing what the casino looked like, i can only imagine a room!
so mandalay bay was cool, they had an awesome (for a hotel) aquarium...i ADORE aquariums!! and the place smelled like coconuts! they piped scent into this one too, it was fantastic! a huge bonus, in my book.
whew, i thinked ive talked enough about the hotels (though i could go on and on!)

the shows
soooo i went to three shows!!
i am such a lucky girl, thank you mommy and daddy! sunday night we saw Blue Man Group. i freaking love the blue man group!!! im in looooveee!! these guys truly put on a spectacular, astounding SHOW, they are the true definition of showmen. before the show even started, the ushers rolled toilet/crepe paper for the audience to decorate themselves in, and towards the end of the show they rolled it from the back and we rolled mounds and mounds of it over our heads towards the front, the whole entire audience was completely covered in the stuff! they did a lot of audience participation, and one of them chose my dad!! he came up (the blue man) into the audience, picked my dad, and gave him three chocolate things (fake) to throw into his mouth from a little distance, and darn if he didnt catch every one of them! he then went back to my dad, opened his hand, and spit it out! it was AWESOME!!! and then i got a few photos with them after the show!
monday night we saw Stomp Out Loud, which started with two guys, a street performer who used random objects to bang and drum on, and a comedic performer, the two forces combined, and out came stomp! the cast was about 20 people, and they banged and made INCREDIBLE rhythms out of everything from brooms to cardboard boxes to trash cans, the whole time putting on an incredible show from hanging off the walls banging on hubcaps and other wacky objects.
tuesday night we saw mystere (me-stare), a cirque show. oh, my word. it was trippy, visually stunning, breathtakingly beautiful, and wacky. i was speechless for a little while, actually. i didnt research it beforehand, which i regret, but i think the premise was someones circus dream...haha, isnt that the general premise of all of them? they swung from the rafters, swirled head-first from poles, walked on stilts, used ventriloquism, banged on drums while being lowered from the ceiling, and did a see-saw act that left my palms sweaty and heart pounding. this show is a true heart-stopping, breath-gasping, beautifully choreographed wonder show.
of course, i mustn't neglect the water show at the bellagio. my mom and i went to the top of the eiffel tower at night to watch it, and its JUST as good as it is on tv! aaamazing!
i cant wait till next year!!!! im gonna see "o", and le reve, and ka, and danny gans, and hans klok and...

the gambling
so with my parents money, i gambled a fair bit, always on slots. my mom loves the wheel of fortune one, and im a fan now too. if you land on spin, the wheel goes around and you win extra points,! anywhere from 20 to 1000 points, excuse me, credits. so like, 250 bucks.
but hey, i won a hundred bucks when all was said and done! (dont ask me how much was spent though!)
i realized im not huge on gambling (not that i ever really was), but it doesnt make sense to me to gamble on something, when i can go shopping! at least ill have something to show for my money with that, with gambling, im just going to lose it all, then im left with nothing (i know, theres always the possibility, but come on). it was fun to sit with my mom and put 20 bucks in the machine and play for hours though.

and now, im spent. after a long day of travel, lost luggage, too many hours sitting, and hours awake, im ready for a good ole nights sleep in my own puny bed with lots of roommates and thin walls! wahoo, im home!...until next week, when ill REALLY be home!...