Vegas, Part II

Hello there! Well, I'm finally posting about the second part of my Vegas trip! So when I last posed about my trip, I wrote about Wednesday night - Friday. Saturday was the car show; and is the "biggest" Viva day. We got over to the car show early, a little after it opened. We first went to the vendors, which is what we always do; wouldn't want things to start to sell out before we get to them. I found a few items: a $25 Unique Vintage gumball skirt I had been eyeing online since it came out months ago, a Brighter Bakelite beautiful bright blue bangle, a couple of hair flower pieces, and a big Lux De Ville purse which was normally priced at $95, but I scored for $40! I didn't get too many things, but I was happy with my haul. 
After we hit the vendors, we went over and looked at all the cars. It does get really crowded at the vendors and where the cars are, so that is one annoyance. We had lunch at the car show too, I just got a burger from a food vendor. I met Katy, woman who runs the Etsy shop Luxulite, Jesse, the man who runs Brighter Bakelite, and Micheline Pitt! They were all SO sweet. I was really glad I got to meet them. I got a picture with all of them, too. 
Other than the shopping, the big highlight of the day was watching Reverend Horton Heat perform. Bob was most excited to see RHH, out of everything at Viva. Bob had a couple of his CDs, but we hadn't seen him live before. I hadn't been as into his music previously, but after seeing him perform, I was more into it! It was an AMAZING show! I was really impressed, and loved the whole show. I'd love to see him perform again, and I wish he was playing at the Boogie! I was really happy that Bob loved the show too, because he's so patient when I shop and do all the things I want to do at Viva, so I wanted him to really get to enjoy something.
Before RHH, Brenda Lee had been performing. I had wanted to catch her whole performance, but it didn't work out, and we only saw her last song, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". The reason I missed the rest of it was because I went to a Trashy Diva meet up at the car show, where I met some girls from the TD Facebook group I'm in. 
We talked for a little while, and took some pictures by the Viva car. 
Bob and I were at the car show all day, and  I think we left around 7:00 p.m. to go back to our hotel room to "freshen up".  We went out again to Frankie's that night.
On Sunday morning, Bob and I took a walk on the strip. We walked down to the Wynn hotel, which we had never checked out before. But, I wanted to go there because I had seen pictures of a beautiful hot air ballon and carousel they have in the hotel, which are made out of flowers! They were both sooo gorgeous, and they had other beautiful decorations there, too. After we check out the Wynn, we went across the street to Sugar Factory, and I got a birthday cake milkshake to go. It was really good!
We finally got to hang out with my friend Lisa on Sunday. She had been in Vegas since Thursday, but was there with a few people, and us meeting up didn't end up working out until Sunday.  She met us at the Baliwick Pub in the afternoon (at the Orleans). Bob and I had had an early dinner there, and then moved over to the bar. There was a band playing on the stage there, too. Lisa showed up with her friend, and we hung out at the bar there for awhile. After that, Bob and I went back to our hotel room to get ready to go out that night with Lisa. We went to Frankie's with her first, and met two really nice women who were at the bar. They were in Vegas for Viva, too, and the one woman recognized me from Instagram. I talked to them for a long time, until they left.
We went to the Double Down Saloon next. The three of us had never been there before. The same people who own Frankie's also own DDS. It's a total dive bar, but we all like dive bars, and prefer them actually. I was pretty tired by this point, and didn't want to be out long. 
We saw one band play, and then part of another band's performance before we left. Lisa ended up staying there once we left, because wshe was enjoying the music. I thought both bands were really good and was surprised, ha.  They were very different in sound though.
The first one sounded like indie rock, and the second was heavy rock, a bit too heavy for me, but the woman who sang in the second band had a really amazing voice.  
Monday we took it easy. It had pretty much been a blur the past three days, and we were really looking forward to slowing down. We checked out the Arts District of Vegas, which we had never been to before. They have a few antique shops there, and I got a marbled green lucite bangle at one of them. The one shop I waned to check out most of all was unfortunately closed that day. There were some other shops we walked by that were also closed, but we went in about four shops. 
We went out to dinner that night to celebrate Bob's 33rd birthday. We just went to Caros & Charlie's in our hotel (a chain Mexican restaurant). After that we went to a few places. 
We went to Sugar Factory and sat at the bar. I had one drink there. Their drinks are so expensive (mine was $16!), but I knew that before, as I've been to a couple of their restaurants before. We then went to Senor Frogs, another Mexican chain restaurant. 
We sat at the bar there, too. I had a drink, and Bob had a drink and more food. They are also on the pricier side, but most places in Vegas are pricey for drinks. I just hate paying $9 or $10 for a Vodka cran. It really irks me! We stopped in Casino Royale on the way back to our hotel. It's a really divey, small casino that Bob likes. He did some gambling there. Our last stop before bed was the Margaritaville bar in our hotel. We ended up talking to a woman from Austrlia for a long time, probably about an hour or so. She was easy to talk to. She was traveling alone. She had first gone to San Francisco, and after Vegas was going to NYC for 9(!!!) days! I'd be nervous to travel alone like that and wouldn't do it. One of the main reasons I wouldn't is because I'm shy, but for someone as outgoing as this woman, it'd be a different story.
We left Vegas on Tuesday. We had a great time. We won't be going to Viva next year. Bob says he needs a break from it ha, and I'm okay with it. 

A store we went to in the Arts District

Lisa is on the right, and the two women in the middle we met at Frankie's that night

Jesse from Bright Bakelite

On the right is Katy, the woman behind Luxulite.

 

Vegas, Part III

Hello there! This is my final post about our recent trip to Vegas. In my previous two posts, I covered Wednesday night - Saturday night, and all of the time we spent at Viva. Viva was also going on on Sunday, but we didn't go to it that day. I had done everything I wanted to do there, and plus, I didn't want to make my husband go back again, ha. He had already been so patient, doing everything I wanted to do, and hanging out with my friends. So, on Sunday we took it a lot slower. We walked down the strip a bit, farther then we had gone on previous days that trip. We went in the Bellagio to see the gorgeous flower/seasonal artistic display. They have the most amazing displays! I make sure to check it out on every Vegas trip; it's a must see! We went to the Flamingo and checked out the flamingos, fish and other birds there, in the back. It's really pretty out in the back where the animals are. At night we met up one final time with my friend Lisa and her friend Hannah. We met at Golden Tiki. Bob and I prefer Frankie's and had wanted to go back there, but Lisa really wantd to go to Golden Tiki, so we went there instead. One perk at Golden Tiki is they have a huge shell you can pictures in, which we of course took advantage of (see below)! If it's kitsch, count me in.
It was Bob's birthday on Monday, and our last full day in Vegas (we left Tuesday morning). We walked around the strip during the day, and I popped in a couple of stores. For dinner we went to Peppermill, a funky diner that's been around about sixty years. We had never been there before. It's neat looking inside, with flamingo stained glass lamps, and a shaker of rainbow sprinkles on every table. I got pancakes, which I hadn't had in a longgg time. They were HUGE, and very good. I had been excited to check out their firepit lounge, and have drinks there, but unfortunately the lounge was closed for a private party. Bob and I were disappointed. He had also wanted to go the Riveria casino next door to Peppermill, to do some gambling, but we found out that night that it's permanently shut down! So, the night ended up being a let down, especially for Bob. I felt bad, since it was his birthday and all. Also, I had a cold, and wasn't feeling well, so I wasn't in the best of moods anyway. 
We ended up taking an Uber to the Flamingo, and got out there, and walked back up the strip to our hotel. He did some gambling here and there. Since I wasn't feeling well, I just wanted to go back to the room, and take it easy, before waking up early for out flight the next morning. 
We had a great time at Viva, and it's always hard to go back to "reality". The way I feel when I'm at Viva is hard to articulate. It's just wonderful to see so many gorgeous people with like minded interests as me, particularly fashion interests, ha. It truly must be seen to be believed.

The Bellagio display

Inside Peppermill

 

Viva Las Vegas, Part II

Hello there! We are having a very beautiful, sunny weekend here, which is so nice. On Friday it was so warm and humid that it felt like summer! I can't wait until it atually is summer....it's my favorite season, and so of course that mean it flies by the quickest of all the seasons. It's so nice when it stays light out until 9:00 p.m., and we take weekend day trips and don't need even a light sweater, and to be able to eat and drink outside; ah, there's just countless amazing things about summer! 
In this post I'm going to continue with my Vegas trip details and pictures. So, in the last post I talked about Wednesday night through Thursday night. On Friday, we got over to Viva early in the morning, because I wanted to straight to the vendor selling the Retrospec'd fruit dress I had tried on the night before, and snag it! We got over there, and I spotted that they had the size I needed, and was so relieved! I tried it on one more time, and then promptly bought it. I wore it a lot on the trip, and know I will be wearing it a lot in the future. I got tons of compliments on it when I wore it in Vegas. I had never bought that brand before, but I'm happy to see that as of very recently more American retailers are selling the brand. The dress has quite a high neck, so I won't even need a bandeau to wear it to work. After I got the dress, we walked around the vendor rooms again. Bob actually bought a shirt, hat, and CD (normally he doesn't buy anything when we go on trips)! 
After the shopping (I didn't buy anything else in the rooms), we went to the fashion show. We missed the first fifteen minutes and left before the last few minutes of it, but saw the rest. I hadn't gotten to see it last year, so I wanted to check it out this time. After having a couple drinks at one of the Orleans's bars, we went back to the hotel. We met up with my friend Sara at New York New York for dinner at a burger restaurant there, and ater that, we took a taxi over to Golden Tiki. Golden Tiki was neat inside, and has a lot more room to sit then Frankie's. But, it has a less dive-y atmosphere than Frankie's does. I got a drink called Banana Batida, and it was really good, so I kept ordering the same one. 
This was Sara's first time at a tiki bar, and her first time seeing Viva. Some more of my friends came by Golden Tiki later on, and after awhile a few of us left to go to Frankie's, so Sara and my friend Kristina could see Frankie's, too. Bob and I got a tiki mug to take come from Frankie's; always looking to add to our tiki mug collection! Sara also got the slot machine one, which I love, and already have. It was really nice catching up with Sara. We found out we have more in common then we already knew! Since she was in Vegas for a business trip, she couldn't spend much time at Viva or with us. It was great to spend so much time together Friday though. 
Saturday morning we met her right before 10:00 a.m., to take the bus together to the Orleans. She had to leave by noon at the latest to go set up for her trade show, and wouldn't be able to come back at all to Viva, or to see us again in Vegas. I was glad she got to at least check out the car show, and vendors there! The car show has the best vendors, better than the vendor rooms. A very small amount of vendors who are in the rooms also vend at the car show. I bought four hair flowers/hair fruit pieces, a necklace, a purse and a clutch. I had also ordered a dress and two skirts before Viva from Shop VDM, and picked up my items from the shop owners on Friday afternoon. Sara ended up having to leave around 11:30 a.m., but she found some great items at the vendors, although she didn't get to look at the cars. I was just happy she got to experience the little bit she did!
Bob and I were at the car show for awhile. After Sara left, we did a little more shopping, and then got some lunch, and after that we looked at all the cars there. Ah, so much 50's beauty! When I was young, my dad used to take me to car shows with him, so it's a very familiar feeling to be at a classic car show! He's still very into classic cars, and drove me to my wedding in a 1954 lavendar Cadillac (which he since sold). After we were done with all of that, we hit the vendor rooms once more time, and then took it easy for a bit, at the Orleans. We went back out to the car show area in the early evening, to see Brian Setzer perform there. I had never heard of him before, but evidently he's big in the rockabilly world. Him and his band were great. After seeing most of his set, we headed inside, and saw some of the burlesque show. We had never seen burlesque before, so it was something different to experience. After we left the show, we headed back by our hotel, and had a couple of drinks at New York New York. Saturday was a very fun, full day!

Saturday night, after the long day at the car show/Orleans

You can see here how windy out it was!

Inside Golden Tiki

Inside Golden Tiki

Outfit I wore on Friday night

The Retrospec'd dress I bought at Viva!