lately i've been enjoying the last few weeks of summer before heading back east for school. with all my friends leaving within the next two weeks, i am excited to have this last potluck tonight as a way of really expressing how much these people mean to me; this summer has been more than just a relaxing respite from risd hell, but almost this confirmation of the amazing hometown friends i have grown to really care and love even though we may be separated by college. even making acquaintances and new friends, or reunions are always more than welcomed...
i have been meaning to blog about my trip to las vegas two weeks ago. i had the distinct pleasure of being invited by jeff to spend a birthday weekend with him, supi, and sean to wreak havoc on the vegas strip. with an amazing aria sky suite, the hot vegas heat, and high roller privileges all at our fingertips (thanks to jeff & his amazing dad), we accomplished some crazy things; getting piss drunk for two nights & meeting/befriending random strangers on the streets of sin city, watching 3 cirque du soleil shows (including the 18+ zumanity.. possibly the sexiest show i've seen in a while... esp with the all cast orgy at the end..), getting the most amazing spa treatment of my life, as well as eating amazing delicious foods.
did i mention that all of this was free?
for the first night upon arriving, we had a nice dinner in the aria hotel at the jean george steakhouse. the amazing modern and eco friendly deco complemented the modern italian american fushion foods that were prepared for us. even though supi and i are both vegetarian, the chef was kind enough to prepare a very filling mushroom risotto while sean and jeff (both trying to affirm their manliness) ordered the steaks. (i think jeff had surf n turf along with a tuna tartare). i also ordered a delicious caprese salad (which the MOST MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH BUFFALO MOZZARELLA BALL) as well as these small fried potato and black truffle balls as an appetizer which jeff aptly describes as "a flavorful blast in my mouth" haha. thats what she said.
the next day, (hungover) we woke up later than expected and ended up skipping breakfast..instead we just ate at the buffet, which is definitely always a must do when in vegas. skipping the long line, we were immediately seated, went ahead. the selection was vast; they had foods from all over which i guess is expected at any vegas hotel buffet... what i enjoyed their asian section with the tofu salad and fried rice. sushi, crab legs, pasta, breads, crepes, baby anything you can think of...
skipping on to dinner, we joined jeff's entire family and his dad's clients (all of whom we hadn't really seen since we branched off to our own suites/thannng) at blossom. the cuisine was that of a traditional chinese restaurant (your usual peking duck, pickled radish and peanut appetizer, jellyfish tentacles, and what nots) obviously with this being said, supi and i didn't have much of a selection; so as always by default, we went with the chinese fried veggie noodles. probably my 38429789th time having that dish. but it never really disappoints. especially when i'm famished and willing to eat anything at that state. we were also short of time cause we had to catch two cirque du soleil shows; ka and zumanity so ordering more veggie things was out of the question.
even with all this craziness, sean and i were able to go to the jean phillipe patisserie down in the lobby and attempt to get jeff a birthday cake. we didn't really plan accordingly and were unable to get a large cake for jeff; instead, we bought a bunch of tiny ones and made this kickass castle looking cake. (thank you sean)
and yes. we surprised jeff.
oh sin city, you've been good to us.
