Sometimes, what happens in Vegas comes home in Kelly's new camera

And on her rear end.

So, I went to Las Vegas on January first. 

Mostly cause I wanted to eat stuff there. 

Which I did.

Immediately upon arrival, we had some delicious paninis at 'Wichcraft. I wish we had this kind of fast food here at my house. 

(Dear 'Wichcraft, you can totally move in over where the Del Taco is now, over on Signal Butte. They are just taking up space, with their nasty grisly tacos.)

For dinner on New Year's day, we went to Emeril's. I had some tasty gumbo, a salad, and some shrimp bisque. All good.

Here we are at Carnegie Deli at the Mirage. Everyone (but me): Dan, Sarah, Jen, Andrew, Hillary, Ryan, Jake at Carnegie.

I split the Woody Allen with Jake, which is half pastrami, half corned beef. Never again, people. Who eats corned beef when they can have pastrami? Is a mystery of the universe. Either way, though, don't forget the mustard, pickles, and a side of sauerkraut. And the cheesecake with strawberries.

I took half my cheesecake to go, carried it around in my purse all day, and finished it later, outside the Hermes store in the Bellagio shops. 

(Dear Fred Leighton Jewelers in the Bellagio shops, you are fabulous and awesome. I wish you would come to my neighborhood, too. You can have the spot where Bed, Bath & Beyond is going out of business, kay?) 

That night, fuimos a comer at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's place), at Caesar's Palace. Again, I went for an assortment of appetizers. I'm not really into large plates of carne (with notable exception of pastrami. And In-n-Out burgers). Gala Apple salad with spicy Orange vinaigrette was caliente y bueno. Tiger shrimp with roasted garlic corn tamale, and the goat cheese queso fundido also muy delicioso. Yucatan Chicken tacos and Roasted pumpkin soup (with smoked chiles and pomegranate crema) son solamente medium bueno. Wild mushroom quesadilla with white bean hummus and white truffle oil was too strong and truffle-y. No me gusta mucho. 

Pero, es posible que the quesadilla was mejor de mi espanol.

Beeswax y su hermanita, Juanita (Jen).

Los Porter, Sarah y Dan

So after much deliberation and a couple of false starts (including a trip deep into the underbelly of Vegas, to attempt some Karoake at a nasty little Asian-themed spot called the Imperial Palace, where we saw Elvis, but couldn't get our picture with him because he was too busy talking to LADY Elvis), we decided to go see the Wynn hotel. (I believe that other than food, the best part of Vegas is wandering around fancy hotels. Bellagio and Venetian were my favorites. Jake like Wynn.)

Did you ever wonder what the GREAT AND SPACIOUS BUILDING looks like on the inside? Well, it looks like soul-less Disneyland versions of the canals of Venice, the palaces of Rome, or the pyramids of Egypt. With smoke and slot machines. And really, really good shopping. I bought some lipgloss at MAC in the Forum Shops at Caesar's.

Jen and Hillary

Ryan and Jake

Jake y su esposa, Beeswax. I'll stop with the Spanish now.

After some ice cream at the Wynn, we all hopped in a stretch limo where some things happened that need to stay in Vegas, like some dancing and some shaking it. 

We got back to the MGM just as the Neil Diamond concert was letting out. There were lots of oldish people, and more than a few Pride Jazzy scooters to evade as we fought our way against the flow of traffic through the casino.

I don't know if all the seniors made us look relatively young, or what, because then, something wonderful happened:

Hillary, Jen and I got carded.

I know. Is fabulous news.

Then, Andrew played a little craps. 

I learned that this is quite different from taking a little crap.

What's that in Andrew's breast pocket, you ask?

He kept it tucked in there the whole night. Was hilarious.

Thanks for the trip, Jake! 

Happy 35th birthday.

(P.S. I got that clip at Bendel's in New York. Cute, isn't it?)