Category: Friends

Birthday Karaoke

I went to Kelly’s Pub on December 12, 2009. It was Michelle’s second 25th birthday celebration.

A lot of her friends were there already like Tabby, Fergie and Wade. Alisa came a few minutes later.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to sing or not. Josh arrived and sat by Alisa and me.

Everybody was having a good time. There’s a stage at Kelly’s where you stand when you sing. The bad thing about karaoke in a bar is that you have to listen to music you don’t normally like. I hate the country songs and the boring songs. A few people sang Christmas songs. I really liked Adam singing Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song. It was really funny.

I bought Michelle and myself a cinnamon shot. It was pretty strong.

I promised our friend Karen, who now lives in Utah, that I would spank Michelle. So, I spanked her REALLY hard 25 times. She didn’t want me to, but I did it anyway! The photo really shows how much she’s NOT enjoying it hehe.

My hand hurt after I spanked her.

I ended up singing two songs. I sang A Simple Kind of Life by No Doubt and California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and Papas. I don’t think I did that well. I’ll have to practice beforehand next time. I really don’t think it matters how well you sing at karaoke since most people are usually buzzed or drunk.

I love the karaoke host Lesley. She’s so funny and cool.

We took some pictures with her.

Alisa and I were both tired from the previous night. We kept taking pictures of ourselves.

I had a great time at karaoke. Michelle has some awesome friends who are always lively and fun.

House Party

I went over to Michelle’s house early around 4 pm on December 11, 2009. Michelle is one of my best friends. We used to work together at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. This night would be the first night of her birthday party celebrations. Michelle is now 25 years old.

Michelle and her friends Carson, roommate Josh and Desire were cleaning the house when I arrived. Michelle moved in a few months ago. Her house is really nice! I love all the pirate stuff!

Michelle finished cleaning. She drove us around. We stopped by Sally’s to get some stuff. We also ran errands at Wal-Mart and the smoke shop. We drove to my parent’s house. I forgot my camera.

We came back to the house. Michelle’s tattoo artist Jake was there. He’s crazy.

I was hungry already. I brought some organic tortilla chips and double roasted salsa. So, we dug into the salsa and chips. The salsa was really good!

Michelle and I picked up the pizza around 8:30 pm. She bought 9 pizzas.

The party started about 9 pm. It was great to see all of Michelle’s friends. They’re all so much fun and crazy! It’s always a good time with them.

I bought Michelle a penis bottle opener from Kuta, Bali, Indonesia.

Everybody thought it was hilarious! People were putting it in their mouths and poking people with it. Lots of pictures were taken with the penis as well. I didn’t know it would be so popular!

My friend Alisa arrived. It was good to see her. I started drinking some of the red wine I bought. Unfortunately, nobody had a corkscrew. So, we had Josh shove the cork inside the bottle of wine.

Michelle made some of Adam’s tasty buffalo cheese dip. It has cream cheese, buffalo sauce, chicken and cheese on top. It is so heavenly! I couldn’t stop eating it. Wow! I knew I would be getting the recipe for it later so I could make it.

In Michelle’s garage, she set up beer pong on a long table. There was also a table for hookah.

My cousin Charisse arrived with her friends Robert and Mikey. It was great chatting with everybody and of course drinking.

Rock Band was being played. I sang a few songs. Don’t try to sing What Cha’ Want by Beastie Boys unless you know the words. It’s really fast. But, even though I didn’t know the words very well, I got a 100%.

Josh came. I used to work with him at Treasure Island too.

I met a few new people. Everybody was really nice. Although, I can’t remember the names of most of the people I met.

We went into the garage and smoked some hookah. The pina colada flavor was pretty nice.

Michelle and I took our Facebook pic.

Rufus put on a cop outfit while Josh picked a lovely blue dress. The dress matched the penis bottle opener.

It was getting late and a lot of people were leaving. I was gone so I decided to sleep over. Michelle showed me the room I could sleep in.

It was an awesome night! I had so much fun!

Comedy and Cookies

My sister asked me to go to Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with her and my nieces. It’s put on by the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre. We went to the Charleston Heights Arts Center on December 4, 2009. The cast was mostly made up of children. There were a few adult actors as well. I’ve never seen this musical before. During intermission, they serve cookies and punch. Donations are accepted for the snacks. The story was interesting and the actors were actually good.

On December 5, 2009, I headed to the Palace Station. I was meeting Alisa there for a comedy show. I saw on the billboard of the hotel that tickets could be purchased at the Rewards Center. I stopped there to buy a ticket. I told the clerk that I was going with a friend. She said she’d check to see if they still had tickets. She checked my ID. The lady came back and said that they only had two tickets left and that they were comped (free). I was happy about that! I walked towards the theatre. A lady who works at the Rewards Center came over. She said I need to check your ID. I showed her and she said Oh, you’re over 30. She told me where the theatre was and I was on my way. Alisa was already there with her husband and a few of their friends. She had already bought tickets. Her friend Leo didn’t have a ticket yet, so I gave him my extra free ticket.

Alisa’s friend Alonso said hello to us. He was the host of the comedy show.

We went inside the Bonkers Comedy Club. We ordered some drinks. I was happy that they were serving red wine. There was only about 14 people in the audience.

Alonso came on and he was alright.. not the funniest host I’ve seen.

The first comedian was Benny Quash. He’s a really tall, skinny guy from Minneapolis. He was a little funny.

The headliner was The Cowboy Comedian. He was in the finals of America’s Got Talent. Of course he came out with a cowboy hat. I guess it’s fitting since it’s currently NFR (National Finals Rodeo). The Cowboy Comedian is so hilarious! We had such a fun time watching him. You can tell he’s a nice guy and he actually went over his time. He thought we were the little audience that could. He picked on a lot of people in the showroom. I’m glad I wasn’t one of them! At the end of the show, he handed out Roper merchandise to everybody in the audience. He’s sponsored by Roper. I got a hat and a drink cozy.

Our group went to get a drink at the bar after the show. We saw The Cowboy Comedian near the craps table. Alisa and I got a picture with him.

I woke up early on December 6, 2009. I drove over to Anna’s house. Anna was my best friend in high school. I haven’t seen her in years. We reconnected on Myspace and Facebook. Anna was already baking cookies when I arrived. I got to decorate them. It was fun to catch up with her and put wreaths and trees on the cookies.

I stopped by Alisa’s house after. She lives really close by. We went to Ross and shopped.

That night, Jay (Alisa’s husband) cooked pasta with clams. It was really good!

After dinner, we turned on the tv. I stopped at Kung Fu Hustle. It’s a really funny kung fu movie. We laughed and drank some vodka and tonic.

I had a fun and busy weekend!

Erotic food

Sorry, I’ve been so behind lately. I just kept forgetting to do a blog post. I have been busy editing pictures though.

I met Cecile at Swish on September 14th 2008 for lunch. We met at Swish, which is a Japanese restaurant that serves sukiyaki and shabu shabu. Cecile suggested this place. I’ve heard of sukiyaki from when they mention it in animes. I had never had it before. Cecile said that the sukiyaki is tastier since a sukiyaki sauce is used to cook the food. The shabu shabu uses water instead, so it’s not as flavorful. Cecile usually gets the Prime Rib-Eye Healthy portion. The lady recommended the Kobe Chuck. She said the meat is more tender. I’ve only had a Kobe burger once, so I thought Kobe sounded good. Cecile decided to try it as well. We both got the Healthy portion. The Hungry portion is twice the size of the healthy portion. I was hungry, but certainly not THAT hungry! Cecile ordered edamame for an appetizer. I haven’t seen Cecile since Halloween last year. So, it was great to catch up on our lives. Kobe cows are hand massaged and fed beer. I’d be a happy cow if I was a kobe cow. No wonder the meat has a great marble texture and it’s real tender! Each person has a hot pot in front of them. A person adds sukiyaki sauce to heat up. You can have garlic added if you want too. Of course, we both added garlic. I think garlic is a must for Filipinos. I just love the smell of it.

I was using the trainer chopsticks. I’m not that good with chopsticks. I use them with sushi. I usually drop my sushi or somehow I make my sushi fall apart. You’re given a variety of different items like tofu, mushrooms, onions, cabbage and noodles. Of course, you get a bowl of rice. You just put the food item in and cook it to your liking. We next got a plate filled with kobe beef. It looks really nice with the marble texture. It’s actually fun cooking it. I didn’t know what I was doing.. but I just made sure the beef was cooked. I didn’t want to cook the vegetables too long. I actually was doing good with the trainer chopsticks for awhile. The noodles are slippery and hard to get out with the chopsticks. So, I finally gave up and asked for a fork. It was a lot of food! Cecile loves the vegetables and got another plate of it. I had a lot of fun with Cecile. She’s so funny and sweet. I had a great meal. I was so stuffed.
I went home to rest and go online for a little while. I knew I’d be hearing from Mel or Shawn. We were going to meet that afternoon. Originally, we were planning to go to the San Gennaro Feast (Italian festival). But, they didn’t think we’d have much time before Shawn had to go to work that night.
I was only home for like 30 minutes or so. Then, Shawn called me to say we should meet at the Erotic Heritage Museum at 4 pm. Mel recently got out of the hair salon. I left shortly and drove to the museum. The museum is connected to the adult store Deja Vu. Outside of the museum, there was artwork and shirts for sale. It was some nice art. We walked inside. I asked if we could take pictures. The lady said we weren’t allowed to take photos. The first room is small and has cardboard cut-outs of porn stars. The dimensions were off. The cut-outs were really small.. almost my height (which is not even 5 foot!). There was various erotic art on the walls. The museum has big displays set up for Hugh Hefner or other pioneers in the erotic art industry. There was a big glass display with vibrators. I think the most interesting display was from The House of Gord. This guy makes these different things for women. For example, a woman can be strapped to a lamp.. so she’s part of the lamp. It was very interesting. It had some video as well showing his living art at his house. There was a lot of old books with erotic art. There’s volunteers who walk around and talk about the art. There was one lady (I think she runs the place) and she told us about the House of Gord and about some old art. She was really nice. We proceeded up to the second floor. A theatre plays pornography. There’s also a reading area with some books. A scene from a movie is set up with a few mannequins in compromising positions. Then, there was lots of great art. I really like the bronze statues. The statue consisted of a person with big legs and a small upper half. It was really kewl. The museum is filled with great art. I hope to go back before I head on my trip.

On Monday, September 15th, 2008 my family went to meet at Red Lobster. My brother’s birthday was on September 3rd and my sister’s birthday is on the 16th. We were celebrating both of their birthdays this night.

My family is big since there’s so many nieces and nephews. It’s a total of twelve people. It’s great going out with all of my family. The kids are so fun. I ordered the snow crab legs. It was really good.

I let Anissa and Arjay take most of the pictures. I did take a handful of pictures though. The food was really good. I haven’t been to Red Lobster in awhile.

I’ve been planning to get a new haircut right before I left. I had a haircut all picked out for awhile now. I figured I should do it before my last going away party (which is on Sept. 20th). I went to Lisa at Supercuts. She usually cuts my hair. I haven’t seen her in awhile. I used to live on the Strip, so it was hard to get on the other side of town. I told her that I was traveling for a year. She was really excited. She told me I better call my parents because they’re going to miss me a lot. She’s such a mom.. I got a great new hairdo. It’s shoulder length with choppy layers. I got side-swept bangs. It looks awesome!!
I’ve been trying to catch up with old friends before I leave. I contacted my old friend Karen. We used to work at Room Reservation at TI back in 2002. We trained together and just were instant friends. She’s one of the sweetest people I know. We met at Olive Garden that Tuesday.

The last time I saw Karen was at my 30th birthday party. That was 2 1/2 years ago. We just talked about everything from her job and her boyfriend. I told her all about my trip. She was so excited for me! She saw a movie (I can’t remember the name).. but the lady sold all her stuff and moved to Italy. She would love to do that and move there with her mom. That would be cool. I’d love to go to Italy someday. It looks gorgeous and the food’s amazing I’m sure. I ordered the cheese ziti and added a sausage to the dish. The salad came out first. I love the salad. It’s just so delicious! The food came out quick. I didn’t even get to finish my salad. My main course was great! I’m so glad I got to see Karen before leaving for my backpacking trip. I just wish we’d kept in touch better. I just love chatting with her. She just makes me laugh so much.
I talked to my brother and I mentioned we should go to sushi soon. I didn’t get to see Dena (my sister-in-law’s sister) at my going away party. I wanted to spend some time with her. I told Arsenio to invite her for sushi sometime. He told me we could probably go this evening. Arsenio and Kara came by to drop off their kids. My parents were going to babysit them while we went for sushi at Sushi Mon. Dena and Kara left a few minutes earlier. Dena was driving. My brother and I went in another car. We chatted about the RTW trip and about life. We took the 1-15 to the 2-15. Somehow, we beat Dena and Kara there. Dena didn’t take the 1-15. She did take the 2-15, but ran into some traffic. We each got the all you can eat sushi. It’s fresh sushi with lots to choose from. You can even get appetizers and dessert. I had lots of fun talking with everybody. I love the food there. I ate a bunch of sushi. I didn’t eat too much since I had a big lunch. Arsenio, Dena and I each had some mochi for dessert. It’s so weird and tasty.

I went to go see Debbie at the Las Vegas Nail Salon on September 17th. I was going to get my hair highlighted. I’ve always wanted to get some red in my hair. She thought that the red wouldn’t really show up in my dark brown hair. I picked out a golden brown that she recommended. Debbie went to mix up the bleach. I asked her if she did the color yet. I told her I really wanted some red. She told me she’d mix some red into the color to make a unique blend. She first bleached my hair. I guess the foil that’s out now works pretty fast. I remember having to sit under the stupid hair dryer, so the color sets. Debbie put the color in all my hair. I wasn’t sure how it would come out. It’s always a little nerve racking waiting to see how the color turns out. It looked really good. It does look golden brown in regular light. But, if there’s a lot of light on the hair you can see the red. I really like it a lot!

More Crazy fun

I picked up Michelle from work on September 2nd, 2008. We were car pooling to the Smith & Wollensky event for Concierge, Bell Desk, Front desk and VIP. We arrived about 7 pm. We parked in the parking lot behind the Rosewood Grill since the valet was full at the restaurant. Michelle and I went inside the restaurant. We saw Ivy and Josh. We had to stand in line to register for the event. The restaurant was having a drawing. So, I wrote my information down on a card. Downstairs, there was appetizers. It was shrimp and a little pork roll. All of us headed upstairs to find more food and a table. The place was filled with people. I didn’t think there would be so many people at this event. We saw some people who used to work at TI. So, we joined them and used their table space. After I had my appetizers, I went to search for more food. I found a room with Caesar salad and the desserts. I got a salad and went back to the tables. I had a Sex on a Beach drink. I ate my salad. I wanted to see if there was more food in the other room. There was a line for the meats. It was beef at the first one. I saw people made sandwiches with the bread. So, I did that as well. Then, I got some turkey at the next table. The last table had different cheeses, crackers and blueberries and raspberries. I got some cheese and fruit. The sandwich was really good. Marie came to the party as well. It was nice to see her out, since we haven’t hung out with her outside of work in a long time. We had a good time taking a lot of pictures.

Everybody ended up on the dance floor. I was just drunk. I had a lot of fun. Josh was even dancing. He doesn’t really dance much.

The dance floor had a lot of people. It was swing, pop and R n’ B music. It was great dancing with everybody. I had a great time at the party. It was fun to eat good food, dance and drink with my friends.

Fun Bachelorette Party

I went to Tabby’s Bachelorette Party on August 29th, 2008. Tabby knew nothing about her bachelorette party. She did know we were meeting at the South Point. We were heading to Stoney’s Rockin’ Country for the big party. The theme was Tabby’s Last Rodeo. It’s a country bar. After work, I headed to South Point to meet Michelle in her room. Some of the girls got a room, so they could crash there after the party at Stoney’s. It was early when I got there around 4 pm. It was only Michelle and Taylor in the room. We were watching tv in the room. I also talked to Ivan since I couldn’t get online to chat to him on Skype. Karen called Michelle around 2:30 pm and said she was getting ready. It takes her awhile to get ready though. Michelle’s mom Debbie was getting off work soon. She was going to head over to the hotel after she got ready. Debbie got there around 5 pm. We were still waiting for Karen to get there. Everybody was hungry. We were trying to decide on two restaurants Baja Miguel (a Mexican restaurant) and the cafe.

We went downstairs to get a table at Baja Miguel. Karen was driving to the hotel. We told her to meet us at the restaurant. We all sat down and told the waiter that we were waiting for somebody else. We got two orders of chips. It came with three different dips: salsa, bean dip and guacamole. The bean dip was my favorite. It was really good. I think we were waiting for about 5 minutes or more and nobody came over to take our order. Finally, Debbie got a waiter to help us. He assumed we wanted to wait for the other person before we ordered. She was about to order and then the guy started helping a lady out with putting together two tables. How rude! We all ordered after we got his attention again. I got a combination plate with cheese enchiladas and a beef taco. Karen finally showed up when we got our food. The enchiladas were a little hard. So, I had to cut them with a knife. The food was decent. I ate so much food.

We all went upstairs to the room. Michelle set up all the details with the bachelorette party. There was a pre-party at the South Point room at 8 pm. Taylor thought it would be wise for us to get ready. Taylor is really good at doing hair and make-up. She said she would do our hair. She teases the hair and gives the hair volume. Taylor did Karen’s hair first. Karen started curling her hair afterwards. I was up next to get my hair done. It’s a process getting it done. But, it looks really good. My hair is fine so it needs volume. Michelle got her hair poofed up last. I got my make-up done by Taylor. She’s awesome at doing make-up. I had red eyeshadow and also some glitter. Taylor did Karen and Michelle’s make-up as well. Michelle wanted all the girls to wear matching shirts or something similar that said Bride’s Posse Yee Haw. Michelle made my shirt with a iron-on transfer on my black tank top. We all got ready for the party. I had a short jean skirt on with my tight black tank top and black boots.

Everybody looked really good in their outfits. Tabby got off work at 6 pm. She went home to shower and eat. She arrived at the hotel room after 7 pm. Taylor got started on teasing Tabby’s hair. She has really thick, long hair. Michelle gave Tabby a pink hat with a tiara that lights up. Also, she had cute false eyelashes for her. Other girls started arriving around 8 pm.

Michelle bought champagne, beer and margarita mix. Tabby opened up the champagne and we had a toast. The champagne was a bit strong but tasted alright. Michelle made up this oath stating that we would keep everything that happened at the bachelorette party at the bachelorette party. It was printed on glossy paper. It was a cute idea.

We left the room to head to Stoney’s Rockin’ Country shortly after 9 pm. Michelle brought the beer in the cooler. The plan was we were going to drink some beers before in the parking lot. It’s down the street from the South Point. Debbie drove me, Tabby, Michelle and Karen there. I was thinking of taking my car in case I wanted to leave earlier. But, Debbie said she would take me back to the hotel if I wanted to come back. She wasn’t going to be drinking very much.
We arrived in the parking lot at Stoney’s. This bar is really packed on Thursdays since it’s Ladies Night. Ladies can get any drink for $1. I’m glad the parking lot wasn’t that full. I don’t like big crowds like that. It’s hard to move around and it takes forever to get a drink. We drank a beer in the parking lot.

A few more girls arrived to the party. Everybody went in. There was a cover charge of $5. The bar had a lot of people but it wasn’t packed. The place is a huge place. There’s a realy big dance floor. In front of the dance floor, there’s two big screens that shows videos of songs that are playing. We decided to get a drink. Karen really wanted a few of us to do chocolate cake shots. It’s a shot that tastes just like a chocolate cake. You suck on the lemon that has sugar on it. Then, you down the shot. It’s soo yummy! One of the girls wanted to find a place to sit. There was a few couch areas and it fit almost everybody. So, it was a good spot to hang out in. Michelle brought a deck of Dare card games. Basically, you pull a card and do the dare. If you complete the dare, you get points. I don’t think anybody really was keeping track of their points. Everybody just thought the dares were fun. Everybody kept buying Tabby drinks. I had a Nuts and Berries next. It’s creamy and fruity at the same time. All the girls were playing the dare game. It was a lot of fun. I pulled two cards.. but I didn’t really feel like playing. One card said Get the bouncer to laugh at anything. I can’t remember what Karen had to do. But, she had to kiss a random guy. She picked a guy who was sitting at the next couch. I guess she liked him because she kept kissing him later on. Also, they talked a few times that night. Tabby had to find a guy to give her $10 to contribute to her party. She felt desperate doing this. But, she actually found her first boyfriend in the crowd. He gave her the $10. He wanted to keep the Dare card since he was giving her money. Tabby and Taylor went to dance a few times.

The bar plays music where you can do line dancing. The music is mostly country but sometimes they play some rock music.

Short Video of Tabby & Taylor dancing

It was hard taking the video above because the dance kept going backwards and then forward. I was a little confused. So, I only took a few seconds of video. Michelle’s dare was that she had to find a guy to say “I’m not a normal guy and sex isn’t important to me”. She actually found somebody to say that to all the girls.

Tabby & Michelle wanted to ride the mechanical bull. Michelle was up first. She had a difficult time trying to get on the bull. A big guy put her on the bull like she weighed nothing. It was funny. The guy shakes the bull to make the girl’s boobs shake. I was on the side so I didn’t have the best view. When, she fell off she tried to pull her skirt down really fast.

Michelle on the bull

Tabby rode the bull next. She was a bit drunk already. I think it’s hard to stay on the bull. You’re supposed to put one hand in the air and hold on to the bull with the other. Tabby was doing this. Unbeknownest to Tabby, her butt crack was showing. It wasn’t a lot. It was funny but everybody thought it looked cute. Tabby couldn’t hold on to the bull. It looked like she threw herself off. But, I think since she didn’t really try to stay on the bull she got thrown off.

Tabby riding the bull

Michelle’s mom previously said she would ride the bull. But, I think she changed her mind. A lot of people were watching the girls ride the bull.

Karen had to find a nerdy guy to do a shot with. We found one guy. He said he’d do the shot, but he’d be around and just find him. I think we might have scared him because we couldn’t find him a few minutes later. Karen found another willing guy. He didn’t look nerdy at all. But, it didn’t really matter on all the specifics of the game. She ordered a blowjob shot at the bar. She took the guy to the couch. I didn’t know what she was doing. I thought they were going to take shots together. I read the card wrong. She was going to take a shot with the guy. I’m almost sure the guy didn’t know what was going on. Karen was putting the shot between his legs. He must have gotten scared or something.. because he dropped the shot and only the whipped cream remained. Karen still went down and put the shot in her mouth and drank the whipped cream. She was pissed because it’s an expensive shot that was wasted. It was crazy though. The guy looked rather embarassed afterward.
Tabby seemed really drunk. I guess one of her friends said that she would make sure Tabby had a drink in her hand at all times. Actually, she would have like 5 drinks at a time.

She would give some to Michelle or Taylor to drink. How nuts! Tabby was having a great time. She was posing, laughing, dancing on the table and talking to random people.

I was a bit drunk myself. I had a Sex on the Beach. I forgot how good those drinks taste! I was dancing to country music. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing though. Karen and I would go out there. I tried to follow the steps. I really didn’t care if I was doing it right. I just tried to do it. It was actually a lot of fun!

Tabby pulled another Dare card. She had to find a guy to take off his shirt and show his muscles. Michelle, Tabby and I were trying to find a guy who would actually do this. At one point, Tabby said what about that guy. I went to go grab the guy. Michelle and Tabby had moved on because they wanted to find a guy with some big muscles. I told the guy he should do something for me. I brought him to the girls. We told him he needs to take off his shirt. He took off his shirt but not all the way. I said we need to see your muscles. He took it off and flexed his muscles for us. It was too funny.
It was a really good night. A few people left. Michelle told me we were going to leave. It was only about 12:20 am. Tabby was hungry. Debbie drove me, Michelle, Tabby, Taylor and Karen to Del Taco. I ordered two small green burritos. Michelle ordered a bunch of food for Tabby. She was really drunk. We went back to the hotel room. I think everybody was really tired at this point. Taylor went home even though she was welcome to stay in the room. Tabby ate her food real fast. She said she felt better. I ate my food as well. I was just really tired. I didn’t want to drive yet since I was still a little buzzed. Tabby and Karen were on one bed. Michelle and Debbie were going to sleep on the other bed. I laid down on the edge of the bed. It was perfect for me sleeping sideways. I didn’t have a blanket though. They had this decoration thin blanket but it didn’t really cover me much. I was watching tv.. and I got really tired. I was planning to get up and leave but I just couldn’t get the energy to do that. So, I finally put some of the blanket on me and fell asleep.

I believe we woke up around 10 am. Most of the girls decided to take showers. We were trying to comb our hair out. You have to do it with a wide toothed comb to make the hair smooth after that hair teasing. It took a little while. We all decided to go eat in the cafe for breakfast. There was a little line. Tabby waited in line. Debbie, Michelle, Karen and I walked to our cars in the parking garage to put our bags in our cars. I came back and Tabby was at the front of the line with Karen and Debbie. Michelle was checking out of the room. It was nice to hang out and get some food in our stomachs. I had a nice scrambled egg and bacon croissant sandwich. It was pretty tasty. Almost everybody was having coffee to wake up. I only drink french cappuccino at work to wake up every now and then. I don’t like the taste of regular coffee. We finished around noon and then all went home. What a great, fun night!

Shopping and Pizza

Alisa invited me to come over for dinner on August 20th. It was a last minute thing, so I didn’t have any extra clothes with me. I would have to go back home, get changed and then go to her house (which is far from where I live). I told her I would have to pass this time. She told me I could borrow some of her clothes. Beazus, Alisa’s sister, is now living in Vegas with Alisa and her husband Jay. We were going to head to the mall before dinner. I met Alisa at her house at 4:35 pm. I tried on different pants to match it with the shirt I actually bought her for Christmas. It’s a shirt from my sister-in-law made from her company called Feminine Line. It’s a great, cute shirt. I found a pair of comfy beige pants. I think they’re meant to be capris but they’re almost full length on me. Alisa says she uses them as workout pants. The outfit actually looked good together. I had some brown flats in the car so I wore those. Alisa even let me borrow a small purse. I usually bring a bag to work since it fits so much more than a purse. Alisa drove us to the Galleria Mall. I was trying to find a specific gift for Ivan. I think I found something good. I’ll have to come back to the mall and decide what to get.

I tried to find small nalgene bottles to hold different liquids (for the trip) at Dick’s Sporting Goods. I didn’t find anything though. Alisa, Beazus and I all shared a jalapeno pretzel with cheese from Auntie Anne’s. It was just so good.

We went to a few clothing stores. I was trying to find a nice lightweight dress. I didn’t find anything good. Alisa got a few links taken off her bracelet so it would fit better. We went back to Alisa’s house.
Beazus started making the pizza and Alisa helped make the salad. Beazus said she forgot to buy pepperoni. I was watching the Food Network channel. There was an ice cream contest playing on tv. We al ate salad while watching Iron Chef. The salad had nuts, cheese and mango. It tasted great. The pizza had red peppers and mushrooms on top. The pizza tasted really good. I love pizza. Jay came over to talk and watch tv. We watched all of Iron Chef to see if Mario Batali won the Mango Challenge. Alisa’s doggie Polly started acting crazy. This dog is so hyper. She was biting me on my wrists (not too hard) and then jumping over me. I’m was thinking what is wrong with this dog. She’s just so lively. I love hanging out with Alisa and her sister. We always have lots of laughs and a great time. Alisa said I could keep the pants. I asked her Are you sure you don’t need your workout pants? She said she has lots of workout pants. She has a lot of clothes. She loves working out and has the biggest workout DVD collection I’ve ever seen. I went home at 9 pm since I had to work in the morning.

Spinning, Good Food and Games

The girls from work wanted to do the Stripper 101 class at the V Theatre on August 2nd. The people who were planning on going were me, Rainee, Marie, Michelle and her mom Debbie. Rainee had to cancel at the last minute since she was going out of town. I invited my friend Alisa. She had to cancel as well. I tried to get Charisse to go, but she couldn’t make it. Michelle invited her friend Tabby. Tabby and Marie cancelled because they both didn’t feel well. Stripper 101 is a class where an instructor teaches you lap dance moves and moves on the stripper pole. I met Michelle and Debbie at the V Theatre at the Miracle Mile Shops located in the Planet Hollywood Casino & Hotel. I picked up the tickets and then went to the store to get a Monster energy drink. I was tired, so I needed something to wake me up. The tickets came with a free drink. Michelle and her mom each ordered a slushy margarita drink. We had to a sign a liability waiver. We went inside at 6 pm. It’s located in the back room. We walked in the back of the V Theatre. At the time there was the Fab Four Live show going on. The room was dimly lit and all the chairs were facing backwards to the stage. I thought it was weird that there wasn’t much light in there.. but it’s supposed to be dark like a strip club. All the girls straddled the chairs. The room looked full. There was a few bachelorette parties and Debbie was celebrating her birthday. The instructor’s name was Kindra. She worked in strip clubs for 10 years, so she had a lot of experience. The first part was learning different moves on how to give a proper lap dance. Michelle and I kept laughing because we were supposed to be sexy and touch our bodies. It was hard to hear the instructor since the show was loud. Also, a few Mexican women kept talking loudly. The instructor was funny. She was great at showing us the moves. There was a good move that had a roll, a snap and a hip dip. I forgot the name, but I remember how to do it. We got pictures taken if we wanted to do it. Debbie and I declined to do the individual picture. We wanted to do the group picture though. Michelle took a nice individual picture. The room was pretty loud. All the girls were having a great time. The next part, we learned two moves on the Stripper pole. The first was the squat spin. It was actually easy to learn. The second move was called the Fireman’s Spin. Basically, you have your hand high on the pole and you go around the pole. Then, you throw your outder leg onto the pole and it makes your legs spin down the pole like a fireman. It’s sooo much fun! I kept doing it because I enjoyed spinning around so much. It made you dizzy though! Kindra told us we would get a certificate with our Stripper name on it. She gave us a list with suggested Stripper name. We checked out the list. Debbie picked Elektra. I liked Jasmine. Michelle came up with Vixen. Kindra asked how many x’s she wanted and she picked three. We also got to pick up a page with general notes of the class and a fortune cookie. It was a great class. You get to learn, laugh and be sexy. It’s a really fun class. It’s perfect for bachelorette parties.

How did the fortune predict I would have fun at the class?

We checked out our pictures. Michelle’s individual picture was really cute. The group picture wasn’t good. We didn’t end up buying any pictures.

On August 3rd, Maria was having a birthday party at my parent’s house. Maria is the daughter of my brother and sister-in-law. She was turning 2 years old.

Maria is such a girl! — Maria must put on her make-up

My mom cooked a lot of food. There was chicken and pork BBQ and of course, her famous shrimp tempura. Kara brought salad (she makes awesome salad!), 10 layer dip (my brother made it) with chips, strawberries with cream and chocolate chip cookies. Charisse made brownies. Kara’s mom, Karen brought her delicious signature dish baked ziti. There was so much food! I ate so much baked ziti. Karen knew I loved her pasta and told me to save some for later. I’m glad I did! I ate way too much food! Everything was so good, I kept eating more. There was a lot of people there that I haven’t seen in a long time. My brother’s friends Scott & Stephanie, Dennis & Kelly, Rocco and his wife and Joseph came. It was greating seeing Kara’s family – her mom Karen, dad Richie, sister Dena and grandma Mimi and Uncle Kim.

There was a bunch of kids in the house at one point. The kids always seem to entertain themselves by playing games and running around.

The adults were playing board games. They played Apples to Apples for awhile, which is always fun.

Maria opened her gifts and wanted to play with the toys.

I played one round of Apples to Apples. My brother, Arsenio asked if we wanted to play another game. He brought Balderdash and Sequence as well. I suggested that we make two teams and play Cranium Wow. Cranium is so much fun because there’s a variety things you do. It’s a long game though. I like when you draw with your eyes closed, sculpt different things and act like characters from popular culture. It was cake time. Maria didn’t blow out the candles though.. Kara did it for her. She had a cute Dora cake. The kids were all playing the Wii at this point. I had a great time at the party. There’s more pictures from the party on Flickr.

I was at work on Monday, August 4th. I came back from break to get my iPod. I usually take a nap on my break so I listen to Ocean Surf to help me relax. Brandon says there’s a surprise for you. He covered my eyes and took me to the surprise. It was a fruit basket. I’m like who is this from? It was a lovely gift from Ivan.

How sweet!! I took it home and shared it with my parents. The fruit was soo delicious.

Jam-packed Weekend

I met Alisa and her sister Beazus at Stratosphere on July 24th at 11 pm. It was Beazus’ birthday.

We were going to the nightclub Polly Esther’s. Alisa’s sister was in town for a few days. I invited Charisse. I told her to bring a friend if she wanted to. She was running late, as usual, since she had to pick up Victoria. Alisa had a friend who had a hookup with the club. Charisse told me she invited Joseph and he was going to be there soon. So, I thought we were going to get in for free and the wristband (for the $40 all you can drink for the whole night). Alisa met up with her friend (I forgot her name) and she had a friend with her. Alisa’s friend had a friend at the door so he waved us in. I told him my cousin Charisse and her friend were coming as well. He said it’s fine for her to come in for free. We went inside. I love the Brady Bunch display where you can be Alice in the middle square.

Alisa’s friend was talking to her friend about the wristbands. We went to get money for the wristbands since we would have to pay. We figured we’d get one $40 wristband and then just buy drinks for the other people. We go back inside the club. It turns out the wristband was going to be $20 each and we had to buy five of them since we told them how people we had in our party. Joseph (the guy who changed my tire) met us at the club with his friend. He was going to buy one wristband. I was a little peeved because I thought it would be free or we’d only have to buy one. The guy who was selling it was being a jerk. Alisa kept apologizing. I know it wasn’t her fault since she didn’t know. I was just mad at the situation. We find out that we only have to buy two wristbands since Joseph bought one. Alisa and I bought one. So, Charisse finally arrived with Victoria. We told them that we’d buy them drinks and they could just pay the tip for each drink. We were at the bar waiting to get served. The lady at the bar ignored us and kept helping all the men. I was mad. I said just coz we’re not a guy, this stupid lady (I know I said something more colorful haha) isn’t serving us right away. I was in a bad mood. It was great to finally have a drink. I got a Blue Hawaiian. I just needed to relax.

We danced a lot. It was a mix of pop, hip hop, 80’s and rock. The DJ was playing some good songs. Beazus met a cute guy and they were chatting all night. Victoria also met an Irish guy. It was a great night. Alisa, Charisse, Beazus and Victoria are all so fun. Alisa’s friend was so standoffish all night. She looked really manly in her shirt. Charisse had a hat on. Random people kept wearing her hat.

Charisse & an Australian guy wearing her hat

I kept trying to take the hat back. I was thinking I hope she doesn’t get lice. Hahaha. Charisse was trying to find Victoria outside of the club. Joseph and I went to meet her. We were thinking about getting some breakfast. It was 4 am in the morning. We went to the Stratosphere cafe. Thank goodness for 24 hour cafes. I invited Alisa and her sister to go. Beazus actually needed to get to the airport by 5 am. Charisse, Joseph and I went to the cafe. We were waiting for Victoria and the Irish guy to come. We weren’t sure if they would make it or not. We were just chatting and trying to decide what to order. Victoria and the Irish guy arrived. I ordered some pancakes and bacon. I was craving some bacon for some reason. We had a great time chatting about life. Joseph really likes to talk. He had some great, interesting stories to tell. The food was really good. I didn’t get home until 6 am.

I met up with my friend Robert on July 25th to have dinner and go watch a movie. I hadn’t seen him since October 2007. We met at the Cannery Casino & Hotel. We at the the Italian restaurant called Vino’s Ristorante and Deli. We chatted and got caught up with each other’s lives. We both ordered the Chicken Vesuvio. It was so tasty! We hurried to get our tickets for X-files: I Want to Believe. Originally, we were going to watch The Dark Knight at the Imax. But, I forgot to buy tickets early and the theatre was sold out. I liked the movie. It had a good plot and some action. I think I missed some stuff because I was confused on Mulder and Scully’s relationship. Robert thought there would be aliens. I wanted a spooky movie, but it was a little twisted.

I went to Alisa and Jay’s house for a BBQ on Sunday, July 26th. I got to meet Alisa’s dad and her parents-in-law. There was also her friends and Jay’s friends there. We were watching great shows on the Travel Channel. It reminded me how I’d love to see the Angel Falls sometime in Venezuela. The food was really good. There was a great 3 layer dip with chips. There was also beef ribs and burgers. I ate so much food. It’s great to hang out to chill and chat about life.

Hypnosis, Dancing and Tire Problems

On July 15th, I went to go see Marc Savard with my cousin Charisse. Hypnotist Marc Savard has a new show upstairs in the Trader Vic’s. It’s located in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. Marc was one of Ivan’s hypnosis teachers at the International Institute of Hypnosis. Ivan wanted me to check out his show and buy the DVD so I can send it to him. The show is for 12 years old and older. You do have to be over 16 years old to go on stage. The showroom is small. So, he can only keep like 6-8 people. It’s an small, intimate showroom. It seems to generate a lot of energy in the room. Marc is a great hypnotist. He’s so funny. I really enjoyed the show. You have to check out this show. It’s a funny, entertaining show. I like going to hypnosis shows because they’re always different since there’s always different people on stage. The view from Trader Vic’s is beautiful. You can see the Bellagio fountains and the Eiffel Tower. I said hi to Marc at the end of show. It was nice to see him again. I’m so glad he has a new show on the Strip. He used to have the Mesmerized show at the V Theatre.

I went to see Marc Savard’s hypnosis show on Monday, July 21st. Marc was actually out of town and Buzz Collins was doing the show for the week. Ivan actually told me to see his first show. He knows Buzz since he met him in the hypnosis class. Ivan also wanted a DVD with the show. I sat in the first row so I could have a good view. I saw Ty (Ivan’s friend who does the video and sound for the show) talking to a girl. The girl looked really familiar. I just smiled at Ty from across the room. I was just waiting for the show to start. The girl who I saw came over and said I don’t know if you remember me. I looked at her closely and then said Shannondoah? It was Ivan’s friend from the hypnosis class. She is a masseuse. She gave me an awesome massage once with hypnosis. No wonder she looked familiar! She was asking if I was with any friends and I told her I was alone. She told me I should come sit by her. She was seated on a red couch on the side. She asked how Ivan was. I told her I recently visited Ivan in England and that we went to Scotland. Shannondoah always wanted to go to Scotland since that’s where her dad is from. She told me I should go on stage. Ivan didn’t want me to so I could experience the show and tell him about it. She said I’m easily hypnotized so it would good for me to go up. She was planning on getting hypnotized. I told her that I wanted to watch the show for Ivan. I said I’d probably come back later in the week to be hypnotized. Shannondoah invited me to go out with them after. I said I couldn’t go since I had to go home and sleep since I worked in the morning. Marc’s wife Joanna came to the show. Another student from the hypnosis show was there. I forgot her name though. Shannondoah did go on stage and was picked. She goes really deep. I thought Buzz would have the same script as Marc’s show. It was slightly different. Shannondoah was funny. The group that was picked was really boring. Usually, there’s two or more really good people. But, Shannondoah was the only good one. Buzz has a good stage presence. His jokes were falling a bit flat though. I think it was a tough crowd. The show was alright. It just wasn’t as entertaining as last week. I enjoy the VooDoo doll and the horse racing parts during the show.

I went to see Buzz Collins again on July 24th. I met Charisse and her friend Victoria there. I was planning on getting hypnotized. My stomach hurt. I have stomach problems so sometimes it will boil. I didn’t know if it was that or the fact that I was nervous about going on stage. I think it may have been a little bit of both. I haven’t been on stage in a few months. I’d rather go on stage to sing or be hypnotized.. than reading a speech. I was trying to convince Charisse to head up on stage too. When it was time for volunteers to go up, I took Charisse’s hand and took her on stage with me. The funny thing was.. I was going to sit by Charisse. But, I know I shouldn’t sit by her since I know her. I was left with no seat. This guy said you can have my seat. I almost didn’t get to be a part of the show! Of course, I thought later that.. the hypnotist moves people around anyway.. so I would probably be sitting by somebody else. Buzz did the induction and kept only the best people. I was chosen and Charisse was sent back to her seat. I feel really relaxed when I’m hypnotized. You hear the suggestions and you just feel like you should do them. You do have a choice of whether you want to do them. You’re not being controlled by the hypnotist. There was one guy who seemed like he was drunk or something. He was rather strange but funny. I danced like a River dancer. Buzz would shake the hand of the guy next to me. When he was shaking his hand, the guy would get a horrible case of jock itch. I kept trying to cover my eyes so I wouldn’t see it. At one point, we went to the audience and showed off our modeling skills.

The people in the audience were allowed to use their cameras to take pictures of the models. Buzz said sleep and it put us back into hypnosis in the crowd.

Slumped over - Hypnotized in the audience

He woke us up and we were wrestlers. I went on stage and started yelling at the other people saying I was going to beat them up. I kept screaming at this guy saying I’m going to get you punk! He kept yelling at me too. Buzz said that the night had the most people. Charisse said it was a really funny show. Charisse ordered the DVD so I could have a copy. I said Hello to Buzz Collins. He said I was great during the show. A few people came up to me and said I was really good on stage. I saw the guy who I was screaming at when we were wrestlers. He said I remember you. I remember yelling at you a lot and wanting to beat you up. I said Yah, I kept saying I’m going to get you punk! He told me he was sorry. I said it’s all good, I’m sorry too. I didn’t want to be rude. Haha. We were hanging around the showroom to pick up the DVD.

On the show tickets, there’s a coupon for a free appetizer if you buy two drinks. Charisse, Victoria and I wanted to take advantage of this. We headed to the Trader Vic’s patio area. We saw two Australian guys who were also in the hypnosis show. Charisse and I both ordered a Mai Tai. Mai Tai’s are my favorite drink. They were created at a Trader Vic’s. The bartender made them really strong. We ordered some lobster pot stickers for the free appetizer. The dish was really good.. but only came with four pieces. Victoria talked to their friend Cory and she was going to meet us at the bar. We were planning on going to Krave. It’s a gay bar that’s attached to the Miracle Mile Shop at the Planet Hollywood. We decided to get another appetizer. Charisse and I picked the Calamari. One of the bartenders turned out to be Charisse & Victoria’s friend’s roommate. What a small world! The Calamari was soo good. It was a little spicy. The sauce was wasabi and aioli. There was tons of Calamari. I was addicted to it. We sat for a little while chatting. Cory came. Soon after, we decided to walk to to Krave. Krave is the only gay club located on the Las Vegas Strip. The club wasn’t crowded, but there was a good number of people there.

Check out the video I made of a dancer at Krave –

He really knew how to dance. It’s nice when you’re at gay clubs. Mostly, there’s only gay guys so they don’t hit on you. We danced so much. It was a mix of popular music and hip hop music. Charisse’s friend Aaron stopped by the club as well. We just kept dancing. Charisse told me that they wanted to go to another gay club called Goodtimes. It was goth night.
We all drove there to meet. I was waiting for Charisse to get there with Victoria and Cory. We were talking in the parking lot. Then, we heard a Ssssssss’ing sound. I said What is that? Somebody said it sounds like it’s coming from that white car. I said No, that’s my car! So, we walked to my car to see what was going on. The sound was coming from the tire. Cory tried to touch the valve but it was hot. We noticed that the tire was flat. I said Oh, great. I looked in my trunk and cleared out some junk. I had to find my spare tire. I couldn’t find a jack though. Good thing, Charisse had one in her trunk. There was a guy named Joseph in the parking lot who decided to help us change the tire. It was kind of dark in the parking lot. There were street lights, but it wasn’t that bright. I tried to pull the spare tire out of the area it was in. It was on a metal area that was made to keep the spare in. It wouldn’t budge at all. Aaron tried to pull it out as wll. This strong black guy (who was in the club earlier) helped us get the spare out. One of the girls went inside the club and got a flashlight. Joseph puts the spare on. Guess what?! Yah, it’s flat too. I couldn’t believe it! The guy who lent the flashlight to us starting talking to me. He said I’m the one who lent out my flashlight. I was thankful. He said he thought I was cute and if I wanted we could talk in the bar and have a drink. He thought I was cute because of my height (okaay, whatever). I said Sorry, I have a boyfriend. He said he thought he’d just throw it out there.
Aaron kept saying I should call to get my car towed and deal with it in the morning. There was a lady who said that there was a place down the street that was run by Mexicans. I could get my tire fixed there since it was open 24 hours. The area we were in wasn’t the best part of town. I certainly didn’t want to leave my car there overnight. I know getting a car towed can be a bit expensive. Joseph was really nice. I told him I’d buy him a drink for helping me change the tire. Joseph gave Charisse his number and said he liked meeting new people. I think he liked Charisse. I asked Charisse if she would take me to this place. Aaron wanted to go home since he had to work later that day. All the girls wanted to go with me. They didn’t want me to get mugged by the Mexicans. I said I’ll be fine. I’ll just mace them (although I don’t even carry mace). But, I do know how to take care of myself. It was only five minutes away to the place. It was empty except for the two Mexicans who worked there. I told one of the men my situation with the tire. He said he would look at it. I sat down while the girls stayed in the car. It only took a few minutes. One of the guys was trying to explain it to me, but I don’t think he spoke much English. The guy who fixed it told me that the valve broke. I said does that happen often. He just nodded. I don’t even know if he understood me.. but I think he did. I asked how much. He said $8. The tire had air again and he even washed it. I was happy and put the tire back in the trunk. We drove back to the Goodtimes parking lot. I haven’t changed a tire in years. I remember doing an instructional video of how to change a tire (and other problems you can encounter) for Driver’s Education class in high school. My brother helped me and my classmates make it. My teacher kept it to show future students. It was funny cause in the middle for some reason it had my dad playing tennis. I guess it was an old tape that we taped over. Anyway, Victoria was jacking up the car. Charisse had texted Joseph that we were back with the tire all fixed. Victoria did a good job of jacking up the car. Joseph came out of the club to help us out. He jacked up the car more and took off the spare tire. Then, he put the tire back on. Everybody wanted to get home since it was really late (or early in the morning) like 4 am. I felt bad and apologized to Charisse, Victoria and Cory. They said it’s fine. We all hugged and went home.