A Weekend's Work

Since Brad has been hard at work in the basement over the past few weeks drywalling, mudding, sanding, priming and all that jazz, it was the plan that I would paint the room this weekend. I had decided on a colour and then promptly lost the paint chips. So, I went to Home Hardware this weekend, spent about 10 minutes browsing the chips and decided on the colour on really nothing more than a whim. Of course, I did take the chip to the front window to see what it looked like in actual daylight. I got my puckets of paint tinted and walked out with our new spare bedroom colour.
When I opened the first bucket, I was a little startled to see just how purple it was. I was going for sort of a smokey purple. Something bordering on grey. The colour I chose was decidedly not grey. Nor very smokey. As I started to cut in the corners and ceiling I was wondering what Brad would think...Oh well! He had told me to pick whatever colour I wanted! So I continued on and painted the whole room in "Heather Field".
So yesterday we put on the second coat and Brad painted the door white. The next step is to get the ceiling stippled, then put in the new floor (likely laminate), new windows, some baseboards, and we're done!

(Oh, and, Brad likes it)

Las Vegas: We came, we saw, we walked until we could walk no more, we left.

Vegas was pretty awesome. As I've told anyone who will listen, it was super overwhelming and everything was big and loud and bright. But we enjoyed ourselves and walked so much we don't ever want to walk again (much to Ollie's dismay). I took a few pictures while we were there and will display a selection of them here along with some witty repartee.

Me and Brad on the plane leaving Regina. This was intended to be the "before" photo, however there is no "after" photo, as I was haggard and wretched looking on the flight back and don't care to remember. Food poisoning + too much wine and festivities will do that...but that's not till later.
~I love Spanish.
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This photo was taken on Friday morning. I hauled Brad out of bed bright and early with exclamations of "We're in Vegas! Time to get up!! We're in Vegas!! Time to get up!!" He obliged and we left the hotel for a breakfast at IHOP. We then went to the monorail where I took this photo.
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A random shot of the strip from a walkway
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The fountains at Bellagio. They weren't running at this particular time, but I thought it was a neat spot and an awfully impressive building. Also, a quintessential "Vegas" photo.
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A fountain outside of Caesar's Palace. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a neat looking fountain.
~We went to Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum at the Venetian. This is me with Mel back when he was dreamy. I am expressing my disappointment at what he will become. Also, he is rather short, which seems weird to me.
This one's for you, Mare!
~Me and Cameron Diaz? Oh, we go way back! She's such a card!
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Who could resist George Clooney? Is it weird that my husband obliged me and took my photo marrying another man? (I couldn't bring myself to put on the wedding dress they had there...the thought of how many sweaty people had worn it prior gave me the heebie-jeebies.)
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Proof that Brad was actually there too.
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The gift shop had Elvis Sunglasses. Like you're surprised.
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That is the end of the photos I have for Friday. We wandered around the strip for a while longer and bought tickets to David Copperfield that night. It was a pretty good show at the MGM Grand. In one of his illusions he appeared to turn into smoke and pass through a fan only to appear in another cloud of smoke directly in front of our table. I'll admit, I didn't' see him coming. Once he appeared he leaned over and shook our hands. Brad commented after that it was kind of neat to shake his hand, but that it was strangely smooth and delicate feeling. I agreed.

After the show we went to Carnival Court at Harrah's where we met up with Leah, Mike, Stacey, Randy, Andrea, Ian, and some others who I hadn't met before. We had a few drinks and then bailed quite suddenly when we realized we'd both had enough for the day and needed to go to bed.
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Saturday morning we didn't get up quite as early. The night before Ian and Andrea had given us a voucher for 2 for 1 tickets for Cirque Du Soleil KA at the MGM Grand, so once again we got on the monorail and made the 45 minute trek down to the hotel at the other end of the strip. We bought tickets for the show and then went to the Imperial Palace to see the world's largest classic automobile collection.

The show was for Brad's benefit, but I did find something that I wouldn't mind having. Hello, Jaguar!
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Brad's favorite.
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Another quintessential photo: Me with Palm Tree.
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That's the end of Saturday's photos. After the car show, we went back to the hotel, relaxed by the pool (while Brad gambled) and then went for supper at Fellini's. It was a fantastic supper and we headed back down the MGM for the Cirque Du Soleil show. KA was completely amazing. The set alone was mindboggling, and the acrobatics were breathtaking. I was completely blown away and would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to see it.

After the show we went back to our hotel room.
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Sunday morning we got up reasonably early and went for Brunch. Afterwards we decided to explore the hotel a bit more and go to the top of the Stratosphere tower. Our hotel room came with free admission and I was itching to try the thrill rides. The view was incredible and the rides were on the very top of the tower which was exciting. I rode the Big Shot, which shoots you up in the air and drops you back down. This one actually scared me a bit as it shot up so quickly it knocked the wind out of me. I also rode the X-Scream which is like a teeter-totter/roller coaster. You're strapped into seats and when it teeters down, the seats slide down to the end, so it feels like you're being shot off the edge of the building. Not terribly scary, but fun anyway.

Me on the Big Shot...or, my boot anyway.
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Brad and Me on the top of the tower looking out over the strip.
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I spent a bit more time at the pool while Brad gambled a bit more and then it was time to get ready for the wedding. Leah and Warren were getting married at the Bellagio, and Brad and I were all dressed up and didn't feel like dealing with buses or monorails, so we cabbed it instead. this made us arrive insanely early, so we explored the botanical gardens at the Bellagio.

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Leah was stunning and she and Warren couldn't' stop smiling at each other. It was a beautiful ceremony. It lasted 11 minutes, according to the person who video taped it.
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Words to the wise. Apparently what happens in Vegas doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas. Apparently it can be broadcast all over the internet.
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After the ceremony Brad and I walked to the Cheesecake Factory for a bite to eat (it was next door at Caesar's Palace, but still took us 30-40 minutes to walk the distance). (Oh, and I had white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Delicious.)
We went back to the Bellagio after supper and gathered at the suite they had rented for the reception where I proceeded to drink probably too much wine. Then we went to a lounge/bar in the hotel called Caramel. It was pretty hoity toity. By that time I only wanted water. The waitress informed me, rather haughtily, that they only had bottles of Evian. So that's what I ordered. $8, barely half a litre, opened, tasted like tap water. Oh well. I took the bottle home in my purse. I left in in our hotel room, but I wasn't about to let them get the deposit back. Ha!

This is me and Brad at Caramel. It was dark. I blame the dark and the startling flash for the foggy look on my face. Yup, that's what it was for sure.

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So there...that was our Las Vegas vacation....my feel are still sore and covered in blisters and I'm still a bit tired. In all fairness, we had to be at the airport on Monday morning at 6 and I didn't get any sleep that night...hence to lack of "after" photo.

I don't want to talk about it

The wind started Thursday night, carried on all day Friday and still howls today. It also brought snow on Friday morning. It has since melted, but I don't want to talk about it.

A Sigh of Relief

Brad's passport came yesterday. PHEW!! If you're counting down, like I am, we were at 6 sleeps till we leave for Vegas. No pressure. Ok, so that's a lie, there was a ton of pressure and I was on the edge of a full panic moment. Brad contacted the passport office on Tuesday though and was told it was going to print. I also sent in an emailed inquiry and received a response on Wednesday saying it had been shipped. It finally arrived yesterday and I breathed a sigh of relief. NOW I can start getting excited for our trip! A tidbit I never knew; if you mail your passport application, it takes 20 business days to process, whereas if you take it in to a passport office, it only takes 10 days. That would be why I received my passport less than two weeks after dropping it off in Saskatoon, and Brad's came a month after mailing it. I guess it all makes sense, but it is something that I really would have liked to have known ahead of time and might be good information to have included on the application form instruction page. Anyway, no harm done, we've got it and we're going! WOOT!

(Please note, the above picture is not, in fact, Brad's passport. In googling passports I found a blog entry about a woman whose cat needed a passport to move to Ireland. Clearly this amused me to no end).

Saskatoon, Vassy, John Mayer, Oh My!

Back in the fall Vassy sent me a text that said "Do you like John Mayer" to which I replied "Ummm, YES!" Then she asked if I would go to his concert with her in April. My reply was "CLEARLY!!!" (or something to that effect). So April finally came around and I packed up my little suitcase and left for Saskatoon on Monday.
We wined and dined and shopped to our hearts content (well, almost...let's be real, I cuold NEVER shop till my heart was truly content, but we did what we could with what time and finances allowed). It also ended up being the perfect chance for us to get together before she leaves for Edmonton on the next page of her bright career!
Here are the photos:

We treated ourselves to a little pampering and had manicures. The manicurists were absolutely hillarious and entertained us while making our nails pretty.
~All dolled up for John Mayer
~We went for supper at the Freehouse. Amazing food. And the wine went down real good too!
~~We meant business! (Don't judge, it was a long walk to the bar!)
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I love the zoom on my new camera! This is what it looks like from the 44th row on the floor
~And this was what he looked like when I snuck up to the 6th row and took a picture with the zoom.
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