March 27, 2007

Things get better with age, even birthdays.

I had a wonderful birthday on Sunday, in fact it was one of the best that I can remember. It was sunny and 80 degrees - absolute perfection. My day of bliss began at Harrah’s Spa. Frank booked me a 50 minute facial. He dropped me off and he walked over to Mirage to play some poker. I used the eucalyptus steam shower and then lounged near the whirlpool while I waited for my appt. I enjoyed the treatment, but I think I'll stick to massages for my b-day (I felt a bit freakish due the redness that lingered).

Afterwards, I walked over to Mirage to meet Frank at Carnegie Deli. Had to grab a couple of our favorite cookies. With cookies in hand, we headed to our nook outside of the coffee shop near the parking garage. We relaxed and nibbled on our treats. We returned to the car and I requested that we drive down the strip because I wanted to check out construction progress and see the site where Stardust used to be. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly buildings go up in this town. There’s nothing but rubble from the Frontier to Circus Circus. Weird.

It was a lovely day and we wanted to take advantage of it, so we decided to visit Ethel M's Cactus Garden. Disappointing trip, landscaping was a mess and much of the cacti looked like it suffered from the cold temps we had this winter.

Next, Frank got the idea to check out some new homes. We looked at condos with garages. We found a real nice one, everything was great except the living room was too small. After that we visited Rhodes Ranch for what we call Real Estate Porn. It's a gorgeous master planned community that surrounds a man-made lake and golf course. Homes have spectacular strip and mountain views. We looked at "The Collection" subdivision which has homes in the $500-800k price range. There was only one house we really liked, it was $770,000. There was a ton of natural light and views from the loft and master bedroom were out of this world.

Afterwards, we returned home and watched some TV to rest up before our dinner reservations at STACK at 6pm. Dinner was fantastic, as usual. We adore the place, it's like it was meant for us. It has great ambiance and music, with excellent food and service to match. This time we had the wings as a starter, unlike any buffalo wings I've ever had. They were tasty and so cute. We followed with a split Caesar. Next up, was petite filet and tater tots for me; and lamb shank and XL potato for Frank. Pure Ecstasy. When I thought I could eat no more, warm chocolate with vanilla ice cream was delivered with a lit candle and a happy birthday message. Frank had it arranged earlier in the day. It was heavenly, and I don't particularly like cake. Gluttony is, by far, my favorite sin.

My fabulous day still wasn't over. We had tickets to Spamalot at Wynn at 8pm. We walked over and enjoyed the perfect weather. We were surprised by all the changes to the theater, very different from when Ave Q played; it is now very tailored to fit the Spamalot theme. We had seats 116, 117 in the Mezzanine Row E... dead center, high-up, but we could see the entire show. I really don't think there could be a bad seat because the theater is so well designed. It was a full house. The theater erupted into laughter hundreds of times. It was silly and incredibly entertaining. Spamalot seems to be very well received. The cast was fantastic and received a standing ovation. We had a ball, my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing for 90 minutes. Great show, definitely one of my favorites.

My birthday was drawing to a close, we saw the Bellagio fountains in the distance. Frank asked if I wanted to go there. I smiled real big and said yes. We saw "Luck be a Lady" while sitting in traffic. It was a bit of a cluster so we weren't able to get into the turning lane to enter the garage. So, we didn't make it to Bellagio, Frank offered to turn around and try again, but I declined. I suggested we go next week, instead.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY! sounds like a wonderful day. i need to look into the price for you to overnight fedex a reuben and cookies from Carnegie!