Vegas, baby!

This week, I went on my first "work trip". Members of the advancement team have been traveling all over the country this year for alumni meetings as part of a fundraising drive that I will spare my dear readers the details for now. In summary, we had 2 such meetings this week and I was able to travel, woo hoo! On Tuesday night, we had a meeting in Claremont/Riverside, CA. From there, we (Dean Gash and Brad and I) decided to drive onto Vegas because mid-week rooms off season are dirt cheap and we had a meeting in Vegas on Wednesday night. Our meeting in Claremont ended at 8pm so we arrived at our hotel, New York, New York just a bit before midnight. Dean Gash had found us a great "playcation" deal and so I had a really nice room on the 25th floor with a view of the strip! That night, I think we all crashed after the long day and drive. On Wednesday, we met for breakfast at 8:45am. Part of our playcation package included 2 for 1 breakfast at Il Fornaio so we all had a great meal. After breakfast, we decided to walk down the strip to check out the new city center. On our walk, we went into the Bellagio. I love seeing how they have done up the arboreteum area. It was cool because it was all fall-y: How crazy is this tree? He talks and blinks too! I can't turn the video right side up but if you play it, you can tell, even sideways, that he's talking and looking around.

It was a really great day to walk the strip in Vegas--not too hot, not too cold.



After we made our way back to the hotel, we split up for a bit so I went for a run on the strip. It was a great way to see the sights. I caught up with Brad for lunch when I came back and showered but before we went to eat, we took advantage of another part of our playcation package--tokens at the ESPN zone! We bowled, played basketball, etc. I can't wait to go with Aaron because I know he'll love that place.


B and I met up with Gash in the afternoon for the rollercoaster (yep, another 2 for 1playcation perk) Now, I know that you all think I'm so tough and you'll find this so hard to believe, but I passed on the coaster. Actually, I totally and completely wussed out! I have never been a rollercoaster fan, unfortunately. I have had my moments of bravery, but at 27 years old, I've given into that pit of my stomach feeling. So, I held Dean Gash's phone while him and Brad went on the coaster, haha. After the coaster (which they both said I made a good decision to pass), we headed back to the ESPN zone for a bit. We then decided to go to the Coca-Cola store because Dean Gash told us about the tastes of the world. For $7, you get to sample 16 different coca-cola products from around the world.

Most of them were not bad at all. They were everything from ginger ale in Martinique to a carbonated apple drink from China. Very interesting! There was one bad one from Italy though...blech just thinking about it. The coke store is so crazy; I don't think they could have put the logo on any other product, haha. We also had the opportunity to take our picture with the coke polar bear. It makes me giggle just thinking about it--Dean Gash and Brad were good sports.

Next to the coke store is M&M world. Too awesome for words. Yes, that's all candy!

It's hard to get a good picture of the lights of Vegas but I caught these on my way back to the hotel to get ready for our meeting Wednesday night.


Our meeting went well that night and it was SO fun to see some of my favorite old classmates who are now in Vegas. After the meeting, we used up the rest of our ESPN zone tokens and hit the hay. After another Il Forniao breakfast, we headed back Thursday morning after a really great trip!

As you can imagine, the rest of the week really flew by for me. Last night, Aaron adn I had the opportunity to see the Pepperdine production of Sweeney Todd. I was really not looking forward to seeing it because the story is really, really dark but, I actually liked it a lot. The music was great and the undergraduate students were so impressive. It was fun to see so many people in the Pepperdine community in the audience and we sat with Brad and his fiancee Janelle too. We slept in this morning, helped make sandwiches for the Malibu Labor Exchange workers, and right now, we're cheering on the Horns to a big victory over Baylor! I am going to head into Santa Monica in a bit for a haircut...I will definitely be posting pics! We also are having our friends Nicole and Jeremy over for dinner so we are looking forward to a great night as well. Hope your Saturday is great so far!

"If the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away."
Psalm 124:2-5