The Da-Man

We have lots of nicknames for Dad.  He's dad, daddy, popsicle, poparazzi, and the Da-man! 

Lately my parents have been all about the spending time together thing.  What I mean is, instead of just doing dinner or lunch for Mother's Day/Father's Day, they want to do something.  For Mother's Day we cooked breakfast at Chez Elmore and then headed to Cheekwood to see the botanical gardens, art, and trains.  Mom loved it!

When she emailed my brother and I about father's day, she gave us some gift ideas (the Elmores are all about lists.  If you don't make a list, you don't get anything) and asked what we wanted to do for Father's day.

I suggested going to Arrington for an afternoon picnic.  This was a well received and great idea until I looked at the weather and saw that it was supposed to be 96 degrees and scattered thunderstorms.

Sunday morning we woke up to heavy storms and lots of rain, so I figured out plan would be doomed.

Instead, it cleared off, was still quite warm, but still beautiful for an afternoon of wine drinking/tasting in the vineyards with some great cheeses!  I think dad loved it!

When we got back to my parents house, for some reason or other, we started hitting golf balls in the common area behind my parents house.  I hadn't done this in ages (my dad used to go out there and I would bring my wiffle ball golf set to hang out with him.)  I was actually better than M thought I'd be, so I think I've convinced him to take me to the driving range!

It was a great father's day!  I'm so blessed to have a father who was so so involved in my life and supportive of everything I do.  Even though he may drive me crazy at times with his cheesy jokes, he's still my daddy!.

Vegas baby!!!!

M and I went to Vegas last weekend on a trip paid for by his unbelievably amazing boss.  The airfare and our stay at the Cosmopolitan were covered.

I took last Friday off and we met his coworkers at booming Nashville airport.  After we got through security, M and I settled in at the bar at Tootsies, BNA branch.  After about an hour, we had all the seats around the bar stocked with Concept Technology employees and significant others.  Our flight went from Nashville to San Diego (where we stayed on the plane) and then into Las Vegas.  When we landed we checked in and had about 4 hours to kill before a dinner paid for by his boss.  

First of all, when we walked into the hotel (which is the newest hotel on the strip, located directly next to the Bellagio) we were mesmerized.  Our room was unbelievable with a tiled shower, jacuzzi tub, living area, and super comfy king bed.  We also had a balcony because the Cosmopolitan is the only hotel on the strip to have them.  The view was unbelievable.

View from our balcony

  Our flight was at an awkward time so we missed lunch (besides inflight peanuts...) so M and I grabbed an appetizer at a restaurant in the hotel and had a couple beers.  It was very refreshing to have a new list of micro brews to choose from that's different than what's available in Nashville.  I tried several: a Red Fox Stout which is brewed in Vegas.  A brown ale called Bitch Creek from Idaho and the Polygamy Porter, which had a lower percentage of alcohol because it's from Utah.  The bottle had cherubs on it.  I found it amusing.

From getting appetizers, we got ready for dinner, met up with the company at the "Chandelier" for drinks before dinner.  It was called the Chandelier because it looked like this...

Except the beads went all around the entire bar and down to the 1st floor below.  Dinner was at Tao, a fancy restaurant and night club located in the Venetian.  From what I remember the food was great!  There were so many courses with sushi and other Asian fare.  I didn't care for the Sake.

After dinner we all headed back to the hotel where M's boss had rented out a cabana at the hotel night club.  The club was the.place.to.be.  It was packed and damn near impossible to get in.  Luckily we had connections so we bypassed most of the line.  I felt like a rockstar.  

We stayed at the night club until 2:30.  One of M's coworkers, in her 30s, had never been drunk and it was her goal for the night.  Her husband was tired and wanted to leave, so I promised to escort her home.  This generosity resulted in vomit on my feet, but we managed to find the exit (after M asked someone who worked there to escort us out) and we took his coworker to her room.

M and I struggled to get out of bed Saturday morning, but once we finally did we had some breakfast and then hit up the pool.

O em gee the pool was amazing.  I want to put one in.  The deepest spot was in the middle at 3.5 feet.  The middle was stairs so you could sit in the water.  The rest of the pool was about a foot deep for laying in the water and tanning.  Positively divine.  Wasn't bad having margaritas brought to us, either.

 
After the pool we hit up the casino.  I've never gambled with real money (we had a casino night in high school for prizes.)  We played the blackjack tables with a minimum bet of $15.  I walked away when I was up by $300.

My winnings!...temporarily

 We went out to dinner for M's birthday and after dinner hit the tables again.  I lost some of my winnings, but still came out in the positive.  I think I won about $80.  Not too shabby.  Better than loosing.

After dinner we watched the Bellagio fountains and went up to chill in our room where we crashed.

The next morning we had to head out early, but it was just such an amazing trip.  I recommend staying at the Cosmopolitan if you ever make it out to Vegas and happen to have a decent amount of cash to spend on amenities!