Our 10 Year Anniversary Trip to Vegas!

Matt and I went to Vegas this weekend, as you probably know, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! We had a great time, and here I am going to tell you about it!

Thursday-leaving the girls and going to Sin City

....Matt worked on Thursday from 5a-noon, and I spent the morning playing with the girls. Brooke had one little "I don't want you to go" crying jag mid-morning but overall did fine with us leaving. I was a little sad putting Hannah down for her nap, and we both thought it was a little hard getting in our friend's car and heading to the airport! We were soon on our way--via a nonstop flight which was great. We just did carry-ons, which was a first for us. I kind of liked it, and I did just fine with packing light!

We got to our hotel-the MGM Grand, and got checked into our "west wing" room category. That place is massive and we knew it, but the pricing and deals just worked out right so we went with it. After getting our stuff dropped off, we decided to walk down to Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin). The sidewalk was torn up, lots of construction, a total mess--and we were thinking "we WANTED to come here!" We are kind of spoiled by the CLEANLINESS of Disney and it'd been 7 years since we'd been to Vegas.

We shopped in Planet Hollywood for awhile and got sanwiches at the Earl of Sandwich. We forgot how expensive things are out there! After we shopped a little more, we went back to the MGM to gamble...a.ka....lose some money.

Matt had been up since about 130a.m. Vegas time, so he was pretty much dead on his feet by about 9p.m. It'd been a long day so we went ahead and crashed for the night. This might be the City that Never Sleeps...but WE SLEEP!

Friday--Happy Anniversary to us!!

We woke up early on Friday morning because we were still stuck on Kansas time! We dawdled around the room and took our time getting ready, then went downstairs to grab pastries at Starbucks. That was the day we decided to be our "Strip" day. There is a monorail that runs from MGM all the way down to the other end of the strip, and it was $12 each for an all day pass. So we decided Friday would be the day we would get one of those, and use it well! We got on and headed down to the Harrah's stop so we could go to the Venetian. We were up so early some of the shops weren't even open yet! We strolled through there, and through the Palazzo area, then onto the Wynn. Hadn't been there yet and LOVED IT! It was gorgeous, and we liked the atmosphere of the casino a lot!

After we were done at the Wynn we went across the walkway to the "Fashion Mall." This place is HUGE! We checked out the Apple Store, some specialty stores, and this kiosk that puts a 3D carving/etching inside the big clear blocks. They are very neat and they could make one from a photograph....so we thought about that for awhile but ended up not getting one because our photograph of the girls was all the way down at the other end of the strip!

We made our way back to the monorail and took it to the Flamingo. I have family that always stays there and so I wanted to check it out. Not too bad! Liked the casino area. By this time I was starving, but we'd made plans to do lunch with a guy I grew up with-Chris who lives in Vegas with his wife. About this time he texted me that he was gonna be ready to do lunch in a little bit, so we made our way to the Paris for him to pick us up. I had wanted to go to Serendipity 3 at Caesar's because of their famous frozen hot chocolate; so that's where we went! We waited a bit for a table, and it was so good chitchatting with Chris, catching up on a few classmates, and just talking about life in general! I think we had better conversation than we ever did back in high school. It was great hanging out with an old friend!

Let me take a moment to tell you about this massive sandwich Matt and I shared. It was called the "Las Vegas Buffet Steak sandwich" and it was at least a foot long. It was a STEAK sandwich on toasted french bread, and it was divided into 5 or 6 sections each topped with toppings representative of different countries. Man it was good. Massive, but good! Thankfully I had found a coupon for a free frozen hot chocolate with a $10 purchase-- which was good because it was $10!!

After our late lunch we headed off to Bellagio. Part of that will get its own blog-post in a few days, but I just love the Atrium area there. It's just gorgeous. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

We made our way back to the MGM for a bit of relaxation; stopping at the CVS to buy some bottled water and snacks to save us a little bit of money! After hanging there for awhile; we got BACK on the monorail and headed back to Paris and Bally's to hang out. We ate a (relatively) inexpensive dinner, watched the Bellagio fountains, and did a little more gambling. Again...no winning! We took the monorail back to the hotel, and walked over to the Luxor to check things out for awhile. They've made a lot of changes since the last time we were there!

Saturday--too much food and a great show!

We'd decided that since we had a $25 food and beverage credit at our hotel, and because it was a good deal, and we wanted to eat dinner at the MGM buffet that night for the crab legs, that we'd buy their "eat all day" meal pass on Saturday. so for about $55 we got breakfast, lunch, and dinner at their buffet for the day. Too much food, especially since we had a later start to the morning, and had planned an early dinner for our 7p.m. show; but it was yummy!

Saturday was "hang at our hotel/our end of the strip" day. We went to MM World because we love it and it's a good place to get souveniers for the kids. We picked up a charm bracelet and personalized stickers for Brooke, a little MM-guy figurine for Hannah and some MMs for them. Then we walked over to NYNY and found some good tshirts to bring back for Matt's parents since they were our babysitters.

Lots and lots and lots of MMs

After a light lunch at the buffet, we decided to go to the pool. ugh.

We should have gone down earlier. I got several "I told you so's" from Matt on this... there was not a lounge chair to be found! It was terrible! Finally I said "we're going to set our crap on this table and get in the water!"...so we did just that and took a spin around the Meat Market...er..Lazy River. I couldn't believe how many 20-somethings there were piled in there with their drinks. Groups of muscle-bound, chest shaving, tattooed, drinking college guys macking on/ogling the scantily clad, perfect bodied girls. It was nuts. Definately not our crowd. We got out of the river, found 2 lounge chairs, and baked in the hot sun for about 20 minutes. Then we decided (since I hadn't packed sunscreen) that we'd be better off going back to the room to take a nap. It sure made me feel old, and it really made me appreciate the family atmosphere at the YMCA!

But that's all fine and dandy, because our evening was FABULOUS. We had a yummy dinner at the buffet. I got to have crab legs, that's about all I've got to say. I love crab. Yummy. We had decided to dress a little nicer that evening, so Matt had on khaki shorts and a polo and I had a black skirt and cute top. We played a few slots between dinner and the show, and then went into the Ka Theatre as soon as the doors opened.

my dessert plate.




I have no photos from the Ka show--which is a Cirque Du Soleil show; because they absolutely do not allow any photography once you get seated. There was this guy pacing the front while people were (slowly) filing in; who was dressed in costume and in full character. If he saw someone take a picture he'd shout out in his funny accent "naaaawwwwwty Laaaaady!!! No photographs!" We spent 40 minutes listening to him say "naaaawwwwwty Laaady!!" or "nawwwwwwtty man!" and it was funny.

We got our tickets at half price so I splurged for the more expensive seats, and we were in the 5th row! It was awesome. There was this very complex scaffolding-like set up both sides of the auditorium. For the preshow, there were natives of "Ka" or warriors, banging on drums, diving off there. running thru the audience, etc. The show itself was the most amazing show I've ever seen. There were several LARGE platforms that made part of the stage that were on hydraulics, and they would tilt straight up and down like a steep wall that was probably 3 stories tall, and the dancers/acrobats/peformers would scale it. There was some incredible performance of people flying thru the air, including two of the main characters just tethered by their wrist straps. Amazing. Gorgeous. There was a big contraption that was two spinning wheels (like hamster cages) that went round and round and round; that was TALL and fairly fast; with guys running not only on the inside of the wheels; but climbing on the outside/ on top of the wheels and running out there. And jump roping while they did it. And walking on their hands. I cannot tell you how AMAZING this show was!!!!

If you EVER go to Vegas, splurge on the tickets for a Cirque show. They are incredible. Worth every penny. Fabulous. I can't wait to go to another one someday!

We didn't stay out very late on Saturday night because we had to be up at 6 in time to get to the airport and catch our flight. That's okay because we'd had a fabulous time, we were all gambled-out, had bought what we wanted to buy. It was great just to relax that evening and spend time together.

Our flight was about 30 minutes late leaving Vegas, but other than that it was uneventful. We were excited to see our girls! They had done fine for Grandma and Grandpa, but it was great to see them. We were so exhausted from the day of travel and the weekend catching up with us, that it was hard to hold it together till they went to bed! We both were so ready to crash when bedtime came around last night. Matt took today off too just to recover a little more, and as I wrap this up, I'm feeling sleepy myself! The girls were both a little out of sorts today, so we still have some "Getting back into the swing of things" to do...but we are thankful for a wonderful trip together, and glad to be back home with Brooke and Hannah!

Useful Souveniers

I'm sure I spelled souveniers wrong. If I wasn't so tired I'd open another window and check, but right now I'm just blogging. It's my blog so I can mis-spell if I want to. Probably shouldn't have hyphenated that. haha.

SO.... I am leaving for VEGAS in less than 48 hours!! YIPPEEE!!! Matt and I are headed out there to celebrate our TENTH ANNIVERSARY! Ten years. Count 'em. TEN! We actually went to Vegas for our honeymoon, and our 1 and 3 year anniversaries! Haven't been back for seven years, and off we go.

Before I get into the title of this post... I have to say that I have an old friend/classmate that lives in Vegas. His life seems a whole 'nother world to me. We'd talked about him meeting up with us on this trip. I said "well...i'm just not sure where/when we'd meet up. We don't really drink so I don't know that we'd meet for drinks. We don't go to clubs so we're not going to suggest we go clubbing on Friday night. And you eat at much fancier places than we can afford!" His first response was "well, why are you coming to Vegas then?"...lol.... I said "to escape!". Plus we like to gamble a bit, see the sites, go to a show, etc. You can have fun in Vegas without alcohol... I've done it three times! But anyways- I think we decided to meet for lunch...

Moving on.....!

Ten years ago, on our honeymoon, I wanted to find a souvenier that would be useful in our new home. I'm big into useful souveniers. While we have our share of kitschy knick-knacks and such, it's the useful things I've schlepped home over the years that I like the most. This being said, I do think whole-heartedly that t-shirts and sweatshirts are useful. Those of you who know me, know that I practically LIVE IN my Disney Cruise Line sweatshirt through the winter months. BUT...10 years ago in Vegas I was not in the market for a sweatshirt. I wanted something for our home.

If it hadn't been a crazy evening, and if I wasn't tired, and the house wasn't all dark for the night already, I'd insert a picture here. Of my Las Vegas trivet! I bought a trivet/spoon rest thingy on our honeymoon. It sits on the stove to this day. It's one of those painted square ceramic tiles with the cork on the back, and that souvenier has survived the test of time!! It's been covered in baked beans, hardened peanut brittle that drips off the candy thermometer during Christmas, spaghetti sauce...you name it. If I've cooked it, it's probably been on this trivet. Now, I have a standing spoon-rest with a little bowl on the bottom of it (Pampered Chef), so that catches a lot of the stuff dripping off whatever spoon I'm stirring with now, but the trivet still gets its fair share of mess since the spoon rest sits on top of it.

So I'm thinking about what I might bring back this time that would be a useful souvenier. Now I have kids to bring something home for. And we need to buy my in-laws something for taking care of those kids while we're gone (did I mention this is the FIRST get-a-way Matt and I have had alone since we had Brooke over 5 years ago?!!?). AND we're only doing carry-ons so it has to be something fairly small.

Some old family friends of mine, that I used to babysit for, always bought a magnet from every place they travelled to. The entire side of their fridge was covered. I always thought that was a pretty neat thing to get, but thus far have not started that particular tradition.

I'm not sure what I'll get, but when I see it I'll know it. Maybe I'll get salt and pepper shakers! :) Well, that would be dumb because I use those grinders with whole peppercorns and sea salt. But you get the idea. Something I can use. Something that will remind me of our 10 year anniversary trip!

In the meantime, what's your favorite souvenier to pick up when you're travelling? Or your favorite souvenier of all time? And if you think about it over the weekend, say a little prayer that we have safe travels, that the girls do good for the grandparents, and that we all have a great weekend!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie thingys

We had a friend coming to visit today, and she was bringing me some homemade cherry jam. So I decided to have something for her to take in exchange, and made these Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Thingys. I should come up with a better name to start.

First I started off just making these:

Then I decided to make them smaller:

So that I could make these:

And these were FABULOUS--- of course so were just the cookies too. Here's the recipe.

The base is an Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie:

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup peanutbutter- chunky.

Blend those all together,

then add 2 eggs and mix well.

Then add 1.5 cups flour, 2 tsps baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well.

Then add a little under 2 cups of quick-oats. Mix well.

At this point you could stop and have yourself a fabulous cookie after baking at 350 for about 12-15 minutes. Or you could mix in Choc Chips for Oatmeal PB Choc Chip cookies. Those are yummy too.

Or you could make them smaller (in which case I used my small pampered chef scoop), and sandwich them together with your favorite chocolate frosting. You can cheat and use a canned frosting which is perfectly fine. I like the chocolate frosting recipe found on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder can. If you do 1/2 that recipe you'll have just the right amt of frosting to make this batch into sandwiches.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make them!

Top 10 Reasons I have been...

...such a blog-slacker!!!
10. I'm feeling uninspired and low on creativity
9. We are kind of in our summer routine, so things are pretty "same ol, same ol"
8. All my exciting news I've been putting on facebook; that I've run a mile or more all at once a few different times lately, the girls are doing good, I became an aunt, etc.
7. Hannah has been c-r-a-b-b-y-- I'm really hoping we get some new teeth soon as we have not gotten any since our cruise!! She still just has 6 and she's 17 months old!
6. I've actually been trying to do a little house cleaning and organizing, and maintaining it!
5. Matt and I spend a lot of time vying for computer time once the girls are in bed. We sooo need a laptop.
4. The weather is cooler so we've been doing some walks (wagon rides) in the evenings, along with the usual sprinkler time, etc.
3. I've been working on stuff for the Mothers and More Open House, which I am chairing again this year. I find if I start early and do a little bit here and there, it is easier to handle.
2. I've been busy doing a lot of other random little stuff; getting quotes on the roof that will hopefully get replaced via insurance, some travel agent work, some planning of our Vegas trip, some kindergarten preparation, etc.
1. I have developed a serious(ly ridiculous) addiction to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. It is taking up way too much of my time and attention!

Forgive me, loyal reader(s)! And what have YOU been up to?

I'm an Aunt -and- the Banana Cake Story

YIPPPEEE! I became an aunt (finally) at 143 this morning! My brother and sister-in-law welcome Brayton Joe to the family! I don't know when I'll get to meet the little guy (they are about 6 hrs away), but I'm excited he's here! My bro and I are 8 yrs apart, so I had to wait awhile!

Now....onto the "Banana Cake Story."

Today I am making banana cake for Matt. He's been a little crabby about work lately (albeit always happy to have a job!), and the heat doesn't make things any better. So I try to keep him supplied with yummy baked goods to cheer him up when he gets home.

There are 2 reasons I am making this particular goody-- the first being that I got a new recipe from our friend Michelle and happened to have all the ingredients, so decided to give it a go.

The second being because banana cake is something Matt will never live down. Let me insert a note here--Matt doesn't read my blog....and the upcoming story is one that he would probably be mortified that I told on my blog. So--blogreaders-- you have now become part of our secret bananacake story society. Never let on to Matt (or his mom!) that I posted this story ;)

Even back when we were brand-spankin-new newlyweds, I had a hankerin for baking. I made "hello dollies" for dessert. Matt got a call from his mom asking if we wanted to come over for dinner. Fine with me, I hadn't come up with a dinner. When we were getting ready to leave I said "hey! I made hello dollies!" (and I think I suggested we take them with us). Matt's reply- which he will never live-down was "You can keep your hello dollies, Mom made banana cake!". Now depending on the inflection you put on this sentence, it might not be a big deal. But when he said it, it was an enthusiastic-can't wait-for mom's banana cake which will beat hello-dollies anyday- tone of voice! I looked at him, this new husband of mine, with an "I can't believe you seriously just said that to your new wife." He backpedalled real quick...but that statement will forever live in infamy.

Not much banana cake has been eaten since... his mom doesn't really make it much, and after that I didn't bother to try. But today, because I'm a rockstar wife even 10 years into this marriage, I am making him banana cake.

And he damn well better LOVE IT!!!!

Little Supermodel

Some of you may have seen this on facebook, but I'm blogging about it anyways...

At the pool last week, a lady approached me commenting on how cute Hannah is and her gorgeous eyes. She said she is a photographer and does mostly weddings but is starting to do more babies and is working on a new website. She wanted to know if she could do some pics of Hannah to use on the website.

She was concerned I was going to think she was crazy or that it was a strange request, but I was too busy being flattered and excited about the prospect.

Hannah and I went this morning to do her pictures, she did a great job...well-- as great as a toddler would do!

In return I'm going to be getting a CD with some of the best images so I can get whatever prints I want. In the meantime, she's posted the pics online and here is the link for you to view my little supermodel!

http://www.tmproof.com/hannah/

Now if only we could get her college education paid for!

Meatball Smothered Mac-n-Cheese

I started working on a concotion today and decided to food-blog it for you. First let me tell you- this is not a quick-make. It might have gone quicker if I did it all while the girls were napping, but I had to do it in steps to accomodate my children's need for mommy's attention.

Two much-loved dishes in this house are macaroni and cheese, and anything with marinara meat sauce. I decided to make a combo dish.

I decided to blog it after I'd gotten the meat mixture put together, so let me tell you what is in this bowl:

1 lb hamburger- the 85/15 kind.

lb italian sausage

one egg

3/4 cup bread crumbs soaked in 1/4 cup milk

italian seasoning

onion powder

if I had grated parmesan and fresh garlic, there'd be about a 1/2 cup of parmesan and two or three cloves of garlic. I didn't have that, but I found in my cupboard "Pampered Chef Parmesan Garlic Oil Dipping Seasoning"...so I sprinkled some of that in. Whatever works.

Mix it up good with your (clean) hands. Then take a small scooper like the one shown in the picture, and start making little meatballs to put into a preheated, pam-sprayed skillet:


Keep going. This makes lots of little balls. You could make big balls if you think size matters, but I wanted a bunch of little ones, like this:

After they brown on one side, gently turn them over either with a spatula or tongs. You have to be gentle with them at this stage in the game, they are still tender. After they brown some more, you can rough them up a little bit more. At this point, I'd put the lid on for quicker, more thorough cooking.

When they are done, pile them up on a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

If you're well organized, while they were cooking you might have gotten a pot of water boiling and boiled 1 lb of your favorite pasta. You could go with the traditional macaroni, today I decided rotini sounded good.

Meatballs and cooked macaroni--set aside.

Let's make some cheese sauce!

In your now-empty pasta pot, throw in a stick of margarine or butter and let it melt. Don't let it burn. Once it's melted, whisk in about 1/3 cup of flour. Whisk it good so it doesn't get lumpy. Now...here is something I learned from the chef on our cruise; let it cook! "It" being the Roux you just made of butter and flour; it needs to cook a bit. About 5 minutes, it'll be all bubbly, pay attention to it and whisk it periodically.

Then, add some whole milk.... probably about 1 cup. I didn't do a lot of measuring today. I have whole milk because I have a one-year-old. When she outgrows whole milk, we'll probably be making this with the family-preferred milk of 1%. Whatever you've got I'm sure will work. Whisk it in and let it thicken up a little, but don't let it get too thick. If it does, add a little more milk.

You need cheese for Mac N Cheese. Today I chopped up about 10 oz of Velveeta and used about 2 cups of shredded cheddar. Stir it into the cream sauce and get it all melted.

We need to season this sauce. I did not take a picture. I don't know how Pioneer Woman does that. It has to take her hours to make a recipe. I don't have that kind of time! Anyways, season it with some salt, pepper, a little red pepper, maybe some lawry's. Whatever you choose. That's what I put in mine. I kept tasting the cheese sauce and adding more salt and pepper till I decided it was tasty. You can do more red pepper if you want some kick, but I need to keep this batch little-kid-friendly.

Dump in that previously cooked-and-drained pasta. Stir Stir Stir.

Put into a sprayed baking dish. Sprinkle with some more shredded cheese. I am doing two 9" square pans today; one for my family and one to take to my friend Debbi's new house so her kids don't have to search thru the moving boxes to find dinner tonight.

Remember the meatballs? They need a bath. Grab the skillet and wipe most of the grease out with a paper towel. It's okay to leave some stuff in the pan. It's just flavor. At this point I would tell you to use your favorite spaghetti sauce. If you make some from scratch, more power to ya. I usually have a can of Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce or Prego in the cupboard. Got to this point in the recipe and *gasp* no spaghetti sauce. Crap.

But I did find a can of tomato sauce, so I threw it in the skillet, doctored it up with some garlic powder, salt, onion powder, and sugar. Now it is close enough to spaghetti sauce.

Throw the meatballs in the pan and swirl them around in the sauce to get them coated. I did a few at a time because I had intended on not using ALL my balls for this recipe and freezing some for future use... but in the end decided to use them all.

Put them nicely on top of your macaroni, but don't get a lot of excess sauce, we just want the flavor not the full-on spaghetti effect. I was trying for rows but gave up. When you have the meatballs evenly distributed, spray a piece of foil and cover your pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until it is hot all the way through. (The baking time depends on if you assembled this and put it right in the oven, or if you it has been sitting in the fridge for awhile).

Now if you think about it; I have taught you two recipes today. Meatballs. and Homemade Mac N Cheese. You didn't know it was BOGO day here on littleworthwhilemoments did you!? You can easily make this batch of meatballs, and freeze half of them for future use in a freezer ziploc bag. Then you've got the makings of meatball subs, or spaghetti, or another batch of this, or whatever!

I really think you should try to make this version; but if you're ever in a pinch you could certainly get a box of shells-and-cheese, make it, top if off with some frozen meatballs that you've nuked in a bowl of canned spaghetti sauce, and serve it all together. But I think this would be yummier ;)

Enjoy, and if you make it, post a comment and tell me what you think!