10 Things to Expect in Vegas
1. 105+ degree weather outdoors, and then cold air-conditioned hotels, so you never know what temperature to get dressed for.

2. Cigarette smoke indoors and the non-smoking/smoking sections in restaurants that I don’t miss.

3. Skin–girls seem to enjoy wearing bootie-hugging short-shorts that look more like underwear, plus low-cut tops. Then they also wear high heels just to walk up and down the Strip. Are you trying to look like a street walker? Granted, it’s stinkin’ hot there, but still. Is that a reason to look like a hootch?

4. More skin–all the fliers and advertisements for topless shows.

5. Maybe I’m spoiled by friendly people in Seattle, but I noticed tourists and people in customer service were pretty rude (except for the woman who gave me her unexpired bus pass). You have to be with a bunch of skin-baring hot girls (and be one yourself) just to get decent service.

6. It doesn’t matter what time of day you walk on the Strip. The sidewalks are crowded, and you have to dodge guys who are gawking at the skin-baring girls or the people who hand out fliers for strip clubs.

7. High-end stores and snobby salespeople in them. Judging me when I walk into your store wearing non-brand name jean shorts (are those out of style?) is the same as if I judged you for being in customer service. It’s not called for.

8. A gazillion souvenir items with the slogan “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

9. Casinos and the greed that you can feel in the air. Not to mention the sad-looking people who sit alone at slot machines as if they are mesmerized. The scariest ones are the ones with slinky cords with one end attached to a rewards card in their pocket and the other end attached to the slot machine. It’s like the machine is literally sucking the life out of the person.

10. The air of indulgence that goes along with the tangible feeling of greed. Buffets, shopping shopping shopping, the need to win money.

All that said, I’m happy if I never have to go to Vegas again. After this weekend’s trip, I was reminded yet again why I despite that place so much. Nothing feels good there. However, I *did* have a good time there–not because of all the things I listed above. The things I enjoyed about this trip were:

1. The Celine Dion concert!!! After being a fan for about 15 years, I figured I should see her concert before she retires. Her voice was even more amazing in person, and even from our seats at the waaayy top, I was still excited to actually see her on the stage below. She did a video duet with Frank Sinatra singing “All the Way,” which is one of Matt and my “songs.” The sets were beautiful, too…some were a little too cheesy and over-the-top, though. But it was well worth the trip there to see her!

2. Met up with Melanie and her friends, so it was fun to see Melanie again and hang out with her.

3. FINALLY saw the Bodies Exhibition, which Matt and I passed up in LA and again in Seattle. Each time, we said we wanted to see it but never made time for it and kept debating if it was worth $26. Well, it was, and I’m glad we went. (Plus, it was smoke-free, uncrowded, and full of people who weren’t dressed like hootchies.) Got to see skinless cadavers (muscles, veins, and all) and learned new things about our bodies. (For example, did you know yawning ISN’T to give our brain more oxygen? Scientists haven’t figured out the purpose of yawning yet.)

Unfortunately for Matt, we did not make it to In-N-Out. It was a couple of miles away from the hotel, so we didn’t want to walk in the heat and also didn’t want to pay for a cab to get there. Matt was really looking forward to it, too.

Those were pretty much the highlights. The hotels still are cool if you have never been to Vegas, but after you’ve seen them once, there’s no point going back. Most of them just have shops anyway, so on top of paying to fly and stay there, the only other thing you can do is spend money in stores that we have back at home.

Speaking of home, it’s really nice to be back. :)