Viva Las Vegas

I'm on a mission to get all of 2014 highlighted before it's gone and I've yet to post anything about our recent Vegas trip.  This is the second year in a row that we've went out to LV for the National Finals Rodeo with our friends Maggie and Shawn. 

Sunday night after getting checked in at MGM and promptly headed to the bar.  We didn't venture to the dance floor as the drinks were more easily accessible where we were at, but Trick Pony was that evenings entertainment.

Bright and early Monday morning our group met "my" Ag girls for our breakfast that I wrote about last week.  After spending two hours visiting and eating, our group disbanded and we went on our merry way.  It was time for some SHOPPING!!  To Cowboy Christmas we go! 

Shortly after arriving at the convention center, we ditched the boys and us girls walked aisle by aisle looking for anything we couldn't live without.  Shockingly, it took quite some time to find that one item that breaks the ice!  For a minute there I was concerned I wasn't going to find anything I couldn't absolutely live without... Ha.  I should have known better!

My first purchase was a leather cuff made from an old leather belt that still has the white buckstitch threading.  I'm a sucker for cuffs.  And buckstitch!

I also pulled the trigger on some gorgeous turquoise earrings.  These puppies are going to get a LOT of use!  Like people may think I don't own anything else.

After grabbing an early supper, we headed over to the Thomas and Mack for Round 5 of the NFR.  This year marked the 30th anniversary that the rodeo has been in Las Vegas!  And for the last 28 years, the rodeo has been sold out.  I find that pretty impressive!

 The NFR always presents the American flag in fine fashion!

Grand Entry!

Following Round 5, we caught a cab out to South Point for the Buckle Presentations that air the following day on RFD-TV.  The go-round winners all bring their family and friends on stage and spend a few minutes recapping that night's events with the announcers.

The highlight of Round 5 was that Joe Frost won the bull riding and brought Clyde and Elsie Frost on stage with him.

Remember me talking about Lane Frost, well Joe is his cousin.  Talk about carrying on the family tradition!

Surprise, surprise, Tuesday we did more shopping.  I have to say, I was pretty picky about what I wanted and didn't want this year.  This year I gravitated to well-made leather goods and quality clothes that I didn't already have anything similar to at home.

LS Shirt//Small Town Gypsy, Dress//Wrangler, Wallet//Appaloosa Trading Company

The headband and earrings below are some of my "quality" 2014 purchases!  I adore them with the serape' dress I purchased last year in Vegas! 

Headband//Running Roan, Earrings//The Jewelry Lady, Dress//Tasha Polizzi, Boots//Minnetonka

When we got back from the rodeo, we headed to our fave hotel bar and ended up rubbing elbows with The King of the Cowboys, aka Trevor Brazile!  If you're not a rodeo fan and his name means nothing to you, let me give you some stats:

12 All Around Cowboy titles
21 PRCA gold buckles
And more than $494,000 in winnings in 2014 alone!

He's kind of a big deal!

Wednesday, you guessed it... more shopping!  We had to go back for the stuff we initially passed on and couldn't live without.  No rodeo tickets for Wednesday evening, but we did get to go to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace! 

Dress//Francesca's, Denim Vest//Kohl's

It. Was. Epic!

Some of the best food I've ever had in my whole life!  There's really not enough exclamation points to describe it.  And I was too busy "mmm"-ing to get an decent pictures of the food, but if you're going to be in Vegas to yourself a favor and get a reservation!  For appetizers we split the lobster tacos and the tiger shrimp.  For entrees, Matt had the lamb chop, I had the pork tenderloin and the Beitz's split the massive porterhouse.  Each plate came with sides, but we also had the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts.  Everyone passed on dessert because even our hollow legs were full!

And all good things must come to an end... Thursday afternoon we flew home to blustery Illinois.  #wompwomp  

Happy Happy Happy #blogtober14

There are many things in the this world that makes me as "Happy, Happy, Happy" as Duck Commander patriarch Phil Robertson...

Bella

 Sweet potatoes

 Vacations

Pinterest

Brownies and ice cream

 Matt

 Instagram

Adult beverages

 Louie

Playing Catchphrase

Costume parties

 Making lists

Dairy Queen

Hanging out with pals 

 Decorating for the holidays

Mexican food and margaritas

 

Linking up with Helene and Taylor.

Back on the Wagon #blogtober14

My weekend was a swirling vortex of horse hair, hair spray, sequins, early morning alarms and rhinestones.  And frankly, I'm no where close to being caught up!  I'm DAYS behind on the 31 Day Purge, literally I got through the first day.  #fail  Hoping to catch up tonight, fingers crossed!  I've also eaten the same leftovers for way too many meals!   Also hoping to turn that around tonight.

Although spending two full days at our last horse show was a little rough, it was totally worth it!  Not only did I get to debut my fancy-schmancy new showmanship outfit, but Louie and I got our ROM this weekend!  The ROM is an award distinction given to a horse-rider combo that have accumulated 10 or more points in one event.  From what I learned Saturday, we will eventually get a certificate in the mail recognizing our achievement!!  

 

Okay, so back to the task at hand... #blogtober14


Today's prompt was Best/Worst Vacation.  I've had some wonderful travel opportunities over the years and I've talked about several of them here on the blog.  I mean Disney was epic, Jersey was fantastic, New York is a whole different world and going out West to see my bestie is always great!

But hands down, the best vacation I've been on was when I went to Puerto Rico with my best friend Allis.  If you want to read all to gory details you can check out the links (here, here and here), but if you don't you can just check out the pictures below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linking up with Helene and Taylor.

Components of a Great Trip!

Last month, Casey threw down a challenge to all those Fresh Face Friday linker-uppers.  In place of simply linking up, she asked that we write in response to a specific prompt!  Fun right?!

And I don't know about y'all, but when someone else does half the work by giving me a topic, creating blog content becomes way easier! 

Today's prompt was 'The Greatest Trip of Your Life'.  In the last year, I've gotten to go on some epic adventures {Disneyland, New Jersey, Colorado, Puerto Rico} so picking just one was a bit of a struggle!  After doing some thinking drinking, Puerto Rico really stands out in my mind.  And instead of just rehashing the awesomeness when you can read about it (here, here and here) I want talk about what makes a great trip!  So with out further yammering on my end...

Stellar Companion, Check.
My pal Allis is the bomb.com.  She is literally the reason this trip was possible!  You see, I'm what you call a Conference Wife.  Do I really need to explain that?  Basically, she goes to really awesome places for work and she asks me to tag along!  And traveling with Allis is awesome.  We both enjoy a plan, like to do some researching before we pull the trigger, but are always up for an adventure!

Food, Check.
Every great trip has to be accompanied by great food.  The food in PR didn't disappoint!  We treated ourselves to an amazing meal at Marmalade and ate mofongo with the locals.  Both were delicious!

Drink (Food's Bestie), Check.
We may have drank the pool bar at the hotel out of Bombay Sapphire gin.  Please don't judge, their concoction was delicious.  Allis also introduced me to a delicious Spanish wine, Tempranillo!  To be clear, it wasn't all about the booze.  The fresh squeezed OJ was fantastic. Oh, but I forgot to mention the margaritas...  Maybe it was all about the booze!

Scenery, Check.
Allis and I decided that we wanted to do some local sightseeing, but would rather explore some of PR's hidden gems rather than the touristy places.  After asking our concierge, he recommended La Cueva del Indio and it was so worth the winding roads, rain storms and U-turns!  The view from our balcony didn't suck either.

 

Adventures, Check.
Salsa dancing by the beach.  Exploring Old San Juan.  Kayaking in the bioluminescent bay.  Gambling with Brown Dog.  Paddle boarding.  La Cueve del Indio.  It was all fantastic!

Now it's your turn!  As this month's Fresh Face Friday co-host I want to hear all about the greatest trip you've ever taken!

Welcome to the

FRESH FACE FRIDAY BLOG HOP!

Hosted by: Casey @ We Took the Road Less Traveled

This week's writing topic: 

Tell us about the greatest trip of your life!

Rules for hopping:

1| Follow your host & co-hosts (first 3 links), pretty please! 

2| Link up your post! Please only link up the FFF writing prompt post...all other entries will be removed.

3| Hop around, meet new bloggers, and leave them love!

4| Have fun? Spread the word and share this blog hop with your friends!

5| Want to be a co-host? Click here for more info! 

Grab a button and share the blog hop love!

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Friday. Friday. Friday!

Today's post is a nod to all the fun I had out in Colorado the last few days!

Thursday night after getting into town we sat on the patio and enjoyed a bottle of wine and some snacks.

Friday all the fun really kicked off!

The day started off with an epic breakfast at Snooze.  Seriously, if there's one near you GO!  Delicious.  In Fort Collins, we did as the locals do... ride bikes to the cideries and breweries and partake in the drinking festivities during what would be most peoples normal work day!  After spending way too long the day drinking and biking, we decided it would be best to head back to the house.  After making it HOURS without any biking incidents I missed a curb and tumbled not so gracefully off my bike!  Oh the memories!

Saturday we slothed around the house, Allis and I did get a workout in, watched 8 Seconds (duh!), took a nap and then got ourselves all gussied up for the Lady Antebellum concert up in Cheyenne!  It's a pretty quick trip from FTC to Cheyenne which we passed singing our hearts out to the radio and gabbing.  We had some time to kill before the concert and decided to go check out the saloon for drinks and two-stepping!  I mean when in Rome Cheyenne...

The concert was amazing!  Lady A put on a fantastic show and it was great to hear Clay Walker again!  In my opinion, nothing beats 'old country'.

Sunday Allis, Maggie and I headed back to CFD.  This time to do some shopping and watch the rodeo.  Each day during CFD, they lead a 'Behind the Chutes' tour of the facility.  You get to hear about the history of the event, see the stock and learn about rodeo events.  We went last year, but it was something that Maggie absolutely had to see.  Plus we needed our second annual buckin' shoots photo!

Dress from Cowgirl Crush.

 The rodeo at Cheyenne never disappoints!  It really is the Daddy of 'em All!

*Just a quick shout-out to Ree for sharing the magic of Slo-Mo videos on the iPhone!

After we got home from the rodeo, some of Allis's girlfriends in FTC came over for an ol' fashion hen chackle.  Obviously we busted out more wine and snacks to soak up the drinks.  I may have ridden a kids tricycle around the yard.  Good times.

Monday we pampered ourselves with a pedicure downtown.  The plan was to enjoy some bubbly during, but we may have been over-served the night before and just weren't feeling up to it!  But by lunchtime it was game on!  Speaking of lunch, we also saw Jesus.  It says he will come again...

And because we're awesome, before heading home we went for a hike at Horsetooth Reservoir.  We hiked into the falls, played around in the water and then headed back.  On the return trip, we were treated with a rattlesnake on the path!!  Eek!  Not cool Colorado, not cool.

But with blue skies and views like this, I can forgive one snake!  Two would be pushing it though!

Linking up with September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife.

Westward Ho!

I'm wrapping up my month of travels by spending some time in Colorado with my friends Allis and Maggie.  There's a lot of really important things on our agenda like:

• Drinking copious amounts of adult beverages.  Red wine.  White wine.  Cider.  Craft beer. Moscow Mules.  The list goes on...
• Pedicures.
• Breakfast at Snooze.  I'm already dreaming about a flight of pancakes!
• Bonfires and gab sessions.
• Going to see Lady Antebellum and watch one of the go rounds at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
• Biking brewery and cidery tour.  Sampling new varieties and burning calories?  Sign me up!

I'll catch you up on our adventures when I get back next week! 

I hope you enjoy what's left of your week and have a fantastic weekend!  Got anything fun planned?

Over and out.

Celebrating the 4th on the 5th

Well before leaving to visit my friends in Jersey I added their hometown to my 'favorites' list on the weather app on my phone.  Just to be prepared. Other people do that too, right?

Okay, anyways prior to even boarding the plane I had seen that there was a pretty significant chance of rain on the 4th.  Thumbs down.  It turns out that while meteorologists may only get the weather right half the time, Hurricane Arthur wouldn't be deterred.  Damn him.

Just to spite the rain we packed up and headed to Dan's brother's house anyway!  It took two cars to get all the gear, food, drinks and dogs down there. 

Mmm, pie!

Obligatory red, white and blue food.

The rain finally quit late afternoon, but the fireworks had already been moved to Friday.  And it honestly worked out for the best!  It was a beautiful day!

Practically perfect, actually.  

Hot roddin'!

Yep.  This didn't suck.

PSA: In that red cup there, one of the tastiest margaritas I've ever had!  My friend Laura perfected this recipe before I got to town.  We made one EPIC modification, pureed strawberries.  Just do it!

While floating in the pool drinking Laura's dog Sailor went from a position on the pool deck much like this...

 

To this in nothing short of a millisecond!  It should be noted that I successfully handed off my margarita, without spilling a drop mind you, after I was pounced on!  Then Laura snapped that gem of a pic.

Sailor, the floating silver Labrador.

We finally lost the sun, but were treated with a pretty fantastic sunset over the water.  All the boats... they're just biding for the fireworks to start.  Nothing like a front row seat for the show!

Did you get to watch fireworks on Independence Day?  Or like me, did Mother Nature have other plans for you?