Sneaks, Shows, and Shopping

Jason is a sneaky fellow. He’s come up with a crafty method for making each minute of his time off really count. How does he maximize his days off?

Jason’s new strategy regarding PTO involves utilizing multi-functionality. By getting sick right when we are about to leave on vacation he turns what would just be vacation days into all-purpose vacation/sick days, which saves him a lot of sick time. Maybe this habit is great for preserving his PTO but I find it trying. Sigh.

Jason’s only illnesses in the last year have been synchronized with our vacations. When we went to NYC in December he was fighting off a bug and when we traveled to Mississippi in February he was battling an illness that he generously shared with me so I could be sick on our trip too.

Last week I had to travel to Las Vegas for an SCC seminar and Jason tagged along. Considering Jason’s recent sickness patterns I was more exasperated than surprised when he informed me the night before we were leaving that he felt like he was coming down with something. Geeze boy! Ill or not, Vegas couldn’t be delayed so we did our best not to let his cold keep us from having a good time. Admittedly, this was probably an easier task for me than him considering I felt fine but I think we both fared pretty well in the fun department.

When Jason and I go to Vegas it’s pretty much a guarantee that we are going to catch a show. This time, however, we ended up seeing two. First, we went to Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. Although I have seen Phantom of the Opera live before I’ve had a hankering to see it again and thus I’ve been “suggesting” that we go see it the last few times we’ve been in Vegas. Jason finally caught on that my suggestions weren’t actually suggestions so he agreed to patronize Sir Weber with me. Phantom was delightful and even Jason was intrigued by its special effects. The second show we watched was Cirque du Soleil’s O playing at the Bellagio. We weren’t planning on checking out O this trip but, since we were staying at the Bellagio, we were too tempted by the ease of attending this spectacle that we have long wanted to see. It was a captivating program but it left me and Jason with a pesky urge to play in some water.

Even with our two shows there was plenty of spare time to go blow some bills. A lot of people go to Vegas to spend money and I do too, just not at the casinos. I can’t go to Vegas without doing some shopping and by “some” I mean many more hours than the average person could tolerate. The Vegas shops and I were obviously placed in each other’s lives for a reason. I’m pretty sure finding cute new clothes was that reason but I bought some jewelry too just in case I misinterpreted the will of the universe. Better safe than sorry.

The stores we perused were plentiful but the demands of fashion weren’t the only ones diminishing our pocketbooks. My stomach seems to think that when good food is present it needs to eat it and the Bellagio houses plenty of world class restaurants so you can guess the outcome of that scenario. The nearness of scrumptious food and my fondness for the stuff led to a chain of conspiring events that ultimately resulted in mass deliciousness consumption. We caught up with a coworker of Jason’s that happened to also be in Vegas at Todd English’s Olives for a nice casual lunch. The fig and prosciutto flatbread I ordered was a yummy combination of sweet, salty, and pungent. Mmmm! Additionally, we practically ate our weight in pastries, crepes, and desserts at the Jean Philippe Patisserie. We couldn’t help it; this award winning pastry chef’s shop also houses the world’s largest chocolate fountain and those 27 feet of molten chocolate kept calling us back. (It really is a Guinness world record; you can look it up.) We also stuffed our gullets with classy Cantonese dishes at Jasmine and while we filled our stomachs the manmade splendor of the Bellagio fountains filled our eyes.

Although we had barely unpacked our bags from Maui when it was time to pack them again for Vegas, and Jason insisted on getting sick just as we were leaving, it was still a good trip. Jason’s cold turned out to be pretty mild fortunately so it didn’t interfere with my shopping marathon much. With a little assistance from our friend Sudafed he seemed to feel almost normal and he didn’t sneeze on me enough to get me sick. Lady luck and the shopping gods must be with me!

I left a lot of money in Vegas but my butt and scarf selection grew substantially so I’d call the trip a success.