Category Archives: Love

May 23 2012
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Love, Vegas

What Not To Do At Your Wedding

When thinking about my wedding, there wasn’t a whole lot that was keeping me up at night out of fear things that were going to go terribly wrong. The main thing I worried about, aside from everyone having a terrible time and hating everything, was that I would be sick on the wedding day. I thought about how terrible that must be, and sure it has to happen to people, because it’s life and life is messy, but OH MAN how much would that suck? So could NOT get sick on the wedding day. For which I probably shouldn’t have picked a wedding in Vegas, but that’s neither here nor there, because ever since I quit smoking? Never been sick from Vegas. I get that crappy “I’ve been on a plane” dehydrated feeling, but never sick.

At least until the wedding.

We got in to Vegas on Wednesday; giving ourselves a day to do silly things like get a marriage license and have a nice dinner together before the family and friends arrived. Got in to airport, got car, got license, got checked in at Aria, got bumped up to a nicer suite but naturally I was unhappy with it because it smelled like smoke (you think I will store my wedding dress in this??) and also lacked the second bathroom that was what appealed to me about the suite type I *had* booked. Jason called down and explained it to them; that while we really loved that they tried to do something nice and bump us up a suite level; we kinda wanted what we had asked for in the first place. That, unfortunately, was not available, and so to compensate the lovely folks at Aria put us in the Executive Hospitality Suite, which OMG. Square footage-wise, it was bigger than our house; though a large bit of that was taken up by the giant boardroom in the suite. We should have video conferenced everyone in and called it day. It was awesome having that space, especially when it was wedding day morning and 10 women needed to be in one room, getting made up and hair styled. But I digress… Got ready for dinner and started to feel tired and icky. Normal for post-flight, so ignored it. Went to dinner and had a lovely time despite my grilling the waiters on where all the seafood is from and frowning when told it was from Gulf Coast. (I like my shrimp with two eyes, thank you!). Noticed on the way back to Aria that I was a bit winded. Now at this point I hadn’t been able to run for a couple of weeks (doctor’s orders) but even with that someone who has been running for 45 minutes at a time should not get winded walking from MGM to Aria. Something wasn’t right.

Decided a good night’s sleep was in order, got it and woke up Thursday still. feeling. crappy. At that point I then debated myself on if I would go to a doctor or not. I figured 90% chance I just had a cold and would be told such and sent on my way. But, my lovely Maid of Honor had herself been feeling ill earlier in the week and thought it might have been the flu, and if it was and I now had it I needed to get to the doctor ASAP! But it was probably really me just being a wuss. After debating for several minutes I decided screw it, there was really no better time in life than now to be *that girl*. Fortunately there are three (3!) urgent care clinics on the Las Vegas Strip (2 Walgreens, 1 CVS – file that away for later) so it wasn’t a tough trip at all. Short wait even! I expected to meet with the doctor, have her tell me I had a cold and to suck it up, and which point I would demand for some antibiotics anyway because sure it was a cold NOW but what if it got worse and hit right when I was on my honeymoon? It’s Las Vegas, it can’t be hard to get someone to write you an unnecessary prescription, right?

Lo and behold, when the doctor did her exam she informed me that in fact I had a sinus infection and would be leaving with all sorts of prescriptions, no begging required. Awesome! (Not really) On the plus side, I told myself I was catching it early and that since I was getting the drugs started now, I wouldn’t feel any worse than I did right then – just a low grade crappy. Crisis averted!

And it totally was, until Thursday evening when while I should have been enjoying party time with my bridesmaids and family, I was sitting in a corner feeling like absolute crap. No fun, party of one! So much for my plans to teach the girls all about the joys of yelling “Pai Gow” in a crowded casino. I went off to bed at a totally crazy hour – something like 10pm. Had I actually slept, it would have been awesome.

Friday I woke up having not really slept the night before and feeling feverish and exhausted. I told my lovely groom that perhaps it would be best if I skipped the wedding rehearsal. I know a lot of brides wouldn’t even DREAM of such a thing, but ladies, let me tell you – it sure is a great way to see how your guy does under pressure! And honestly, when you feel bad enough, you don’t even care. The bride really only has one part in the ceremony, and as long as my Dad knew what he was doing, we’d be good. I was totally confident that Jason and Dacia had it under control. [Also ladies? Make sure you have an awesome Maid of Honor. If you're not lucky like me and have a best friend who is also awesome at organizing and coordinating and getting shit done, then you have a tough choice ahead. Choose wisely!]

I felt absolutely terrible for not being there. I should have been there, it was my wedding for God’s sake. It was so upsetting. When I finally woke up and felt like moving to the couch in our RIDICULOUS suite Aria so nicely upgraded us to; it kinda hit me that I was missing out on the awesome wedding weekend I had planned. Aside from the significance of Las Vegas in mine and Jason’s relationship, aside from the fact that we both love it; a big reason for getting married there was because it would be FUN and we could hang out with our friends and enjoy time with our favorite people in our favorite place. And I was sleeping through all that.

I was able to rally for a cocktail welcoming happy hour for our friends and family, which was important to me as it really became the only chance I had to see folks aside from the big day. There’s a photo from that night, just me and Jason, and it’s my favorite from the entire weekend – because in that one shot is all the emotion and love that comes from letting yourself be vulnerable enough to want and need someone else. It’s tough to be that way, and often it’s only when we’re sick or hurting in some way that we show it (and by “we” I pretty much mean me and about 3 of you reading this) – but that’s what a marriage is about. Admitting that while you are awesome and wonderful you would in fact be better having someone awesome by your side. My hope for you, future bride or random person reading this, is that you don’t have to get sick on your wedding to figure that out.*

The wedding day itself was wonderful. It went by too quickly, and I didn’t get to see enough people or talk to everyone. But I got to marry the love of my life and be surrounded by friends while doing it; so I can’t really complain. I would have loved to have not been sick that weekend, of course, but other than that I think I wouldn’t change a thing. Well… there was one thing.

 

*But if you’re not sure, book it to the Imperial Palace with a pack of cigarettes and sit at the Geisha Bar for a few hours – smoke the whole pack, drink cheap wine, and touch everything. Breathe deeply. Rub your eyes.

Feb 14 2011
3 Comments
Emails from Scott, Love, Not Poker

Emails from Scott – Valentine’s Day

I have never understood the hate some people feel for Valentine’s Day. It’s a day dedicated to love – what could possibly be wrong with that? Oh sure, it’s commercialized, but so is Christmas. And sure, if your significant other is only getting their act together on this one day to tell you that you’re loved, you’ve likely got a problem. BUT STILL – love and flowers and chocolate! How could anything with all that be BAD?

I know many men find it to be a landmine of epic proportions. Naturally, Scott falls into this group.

So we made a deal on our anniversary not to get each other ANYTHING for V day. This was discussed several times over the last few weeks and she was adamant that I not get her anything and repeated to me until it was drilled into my head…

She woke me up at 2 am and gave me my gift! 2am!!! At a time that 100% guarantees that I cannot go out and get her anything at all. So on the way to work this morning after we dropped off the kids she asks me if I got her anything and if I am just setting up some elaborate something or other… I reminded her that she told me at least 75 times not to get anything and that we swore up and down that this year we were going to stick to it and even promised on our anniversary and sealed it with a kiss.

April & Wendy, one day you both will be married and on behalf of your husband’s I beg you to just tell them what you want instead of expecting them to read your minds and if you do tell them something 75 times and they do exactly what you tell them to do don’t trick them and then get mad at them.

And gentleman, if you feel the same, I’m happy to point out that Wendy is single and agrees:

I would neeeeeeeevvvvvver tell ANYONE to not get me a present… in fact I am kind of pissed that I don’t get presents daily just for being awesome. I also believe it important to just freaking say what you want because the rest of the games and bullshit give me a stomach ache.

Happy love day to all!

Jan 26 2011
35 Comments
Emails from Scott, Love, Vegas

I have news

‘Round about last summer I went to Vegas for a weekend, part “see my reporter friends before they hit the downward part of the WSOP”; but bigger part – to meet up with an awesome dude I had met a few months prior, and maybe have a date or two and see if he was as good in person as he was on paper. We had our first date at the MGM West Wing Bar, followed by dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s, then rounded things off with a stop at the craps table because 1) they always seem to put those things RIGHT where you need to be walking, and 2) because he had been in Vegas for almost 12 hours at that point and hadn’t yet gambled other than a sports book bet placed on the NBA Championship, and “needed to feel like he was in Vegas”. So far so good.

He passed the first test with flying colors, so why not just throw him into the advanced class? The next morning there was a brunch with Dawn, then a trip to the Rio and finding an F-Train. Dawn and I then left him at the hooker bar while we explored the Diamond Lounge (which, in hindsight, is probably NOT the place to park a guy you just started dating), and then capped a full day off with a blogger meal – Spaceman, Caity, F-Train, VinNay, Jen. If you can survive that group and not walk away wondering what the hell you have just gotten yourself into, then we’re good, right? Or maybe I’m just so awesome it totally overpowers the sometimes odd antics of my friends.

At any rate, it was a weekend that went very well. As did the one two weeks after that, and the one a month after that, and so and so on. Long story short, the girl who was just a year ago was absolutely-not-looking-or-interested-in-having-any-relationship had herself one. A pretty great one. Complicated only by the fact that he was in California, and me, well, I’m in Texas.

But only for 45 days more. Because you see, it kinda sucks when you’re 2,000 miles away from the person you love more than anything in the world. And it sucks not having them there for the big stuff, the tough stuff, the fun stuff, the day-to-day life stuff. It sucks making a trip to the airport every month, and rearranging your life chores in ways that will maximize your frequent flier miles. It sucks flying in said plane next to a lovey-dovey couple and the turbulence is terrible and a little scary and she keeps hugging on him which makes her feel better; and you, well, you would if you could but you can’t. Because you just left your him. It sucks so much that you might even find yourself willing to leave your family, friends, amazing coworkers, life as you know it, and relocate to a part of the world that you’ve always loved, but understand they have some weird geophysical thing going on that sometimes shakes buildings and stuff without any warning. Also, they don’t have Tex-Mex. Or Whataburger. I really don’t get how people live.

Vegas and I will find out though, as we load up into the Mustang and start the drive to our new home. We’ll be traveling in March, and you know, Arizona is totally on the way, so perhaps I will now finally get to say I have been to Spring Training. Naturally, Scott was one of the first people I told, and naturally, he had questions.

1. You got a job or are you just going to be living off your looks as a trophy for your new man?

2. Will you be supporting local sports teams or like a good woman switch your allegiances to your mans favorites?

3. You are not pregnant now but when do you expect to be?

While I no doubt would make an excellent trophy, I’ll leave that status to Vegas instead, and am working on the whole work thing now. I will always be a fan of Houston teams, and while I may attend the occasional A’s game in honor of JoeSpeaker, I’m not really interested in the Giants and honestly didn’t realize the 49ers were still playing football. Jason’s teams are the Patriots and RedSox, one of which I was already well on board with due to Scott’s influence and some movie. The other, well, I can be convinced. I now have to learn about basketball and hockey. I’ve been to one hockey game so far; made all the better by the team mascot and the fact that hot chocolate is a totally acceptable sporting event beverage. Scott likes to mention pregnancy because he’s dying for cool parents that he can hang out with while the kids play, but as I keep reminding him, I will not be joining that club anytime soon. I make an awesome aunt though.

I’m excited. It’s a big change, and I know as it gets closer it’s going to get a whole lot more REAL, and I’ve tried to prepare all those close to me for the inevitable crying and freak outs. It’s absolutely the right thing to do though, and I don’t doubt it for a second. I love this man more than I ever imagined I could. One of the good things about long-distance relationships is that you get to the big issues fast, and communication is paramount and doubly important – all really good things to build on. I am, however, scared that it’s been the long-distance that has actually made us work – but I also know there’s no one I’d rather be with at the end of the day, every day. Luckily, I get to be.