Go Gonzaga... G-O-N-Z-A-G-A!

I hope you're not too sick of Las Vegas pictures, because I have a few more left to share!

The real reason we went to Sin City was to watch the WCC basketball tournament, featuring the Gonzaga Bulldogs!
SFS and his buddies all graduated from GU- and they all happened to live on the same floor of their dorm freshman year... isn't that amazing? While we were in town, we got to watch the Zags play two games, which was really fun- I'm even starting to learn some of the players' names! Take that Matt Bouldin and Will Foster!
And while the basketball team is extremely talented, I've got to admit- the Bulldog mascot has some crazy moves... check out this stunt!
There were so many Gonzaga fans filling the stadium over the weekend that the arena was crazy!
Unfortunately, GU lost the last game of the tournament... so to console ourselves, we headed to the second floor of the casino for a little bowling.
Really! It was a blast- and I'm a much better bowler than I remember, which was a total perk!
But the basketball games didn't take up all our time in Las Vegas... so we had plenty of time to explore other things: like the brunch buffet at the MGM Grand.
Man, was that a spread! We had so much fun filling our plates with a little bit of everything...
From seafood, to ham, to roast beef, to hummus... it was the perfect meal!
Complete with unlimited champagne for $2.50! Talk about a deal- as Joey says on Friends, "here's where I make my money back!"
We also had fun checking out a few more hotels on the strip. I was pretty excited to see the Venetian.
Not only was the interior beautiful...
But there were canals on the second floor, complete with gondolas!
I mean, who does that? A whole series of water features on the floor ABOVE the main casino floor... Vegas is amazing!
Later on that night, we crossed the street...
And visited the Mirage.
It was a really beautiful casino...
And the interior reminded me of a jungle!
We proceeded to hang out in one of lounges, just outside the Beatles' theater...
And while we hung out with his buddies, SFS smoked a cigar. I took a million pictures trying to capture his smoke rings... he can really do them!!
I still can't get over the fact that I just got back from Vegas a week ago- it was such a fun, whirlwind of a trip! Thanks for visiting this blog and checking out my pictures- I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Casinos galore!

Since last weekend was my first time in Las Vegas, I was keen on seeing the interiors of as many casinos as possible! Lucky for me, SFS and his buddies were completely fine with visiting a myriad of establishments along the strip.
One of the first casinos we visited was The Paris.
I visited Paris back in 2007, so I was pretty stoked to see the Las Vegas version- complete with the Arc de Triomphe...
And Tour d'Eiffel!
Things inside were just as accurate- the walls were lined in building facades, imitating the look of Parisian streets! And with that beautiful blue sky, it was easy to imagine that I was strolling along any ol' 'rue' in Paris!
And don't even get me started on the lobby... those chandeliers- mon Dieu!
After we'd had our fill of the French, we headed across the street to the Bellagio.
Once there, I realized there was a pretty wicked view of Paris...
Don't you agree?
And since we happened to find a nice spot along the water, we decided to hang out for a minute and wait...
For this!
The Bellagio's fountain includes the most incredible water show! If you haven't seen it in person, I bet you've at least seen it on Ocean's Eleven.
The show was absolutely amazing... and I might have taken a million pictures of the different water formations!
When the show was over, we headed inside. I was instantly distracted by the Chihuly ceiling in the lobby- talk about breathtaking!
And a little further inside, we had the opportunity to check out the Bellagio's garden. When we were there, they had it decorated for the Chinese New Year.
Can you tell it's the Year of the Tiger?
(And don't worry- in addition to being made out of plant product, that tiger was fully animated... it would have been perfect on a Rose Bowl Parade float!)
The garden was absolutely amazing...
They had even sculpted topiaries to look like panda bears- can you say cute?
After the Bellagio we headed back to our hotel- the Monte Carlo!
The outside was nice, and included dozens of these sculptures:
And inside, the place was quite pretty...
Although my eyesight might have been a bit blurry from the penny slots I was playing!
We had such a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas- I can't get over the fact that we returned a couple days ago! Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Cruisin' the strip

When SFS and I first arrived in Las Vegas, I was a little overwhelmed. It was the first time I had ever visited the city, and there was SO MUCH to take in! Lucky for me, SFS' uncle has lived there over 30 years and knows a ton about the area! Being the nice guy he is, he drove us up and down the strip and showed me the lay of the land. And, being the kooky girl I am, I stuck my head out the window and took a picture of every darn thing I saw!
Don't believe me? Check these out:
Here's the Stratosphere:
Treasure Island:
The Mirage:
The Monte Carlo:
New York, New York:
Excalibur:
The Luxor:
(Complete with an obelisk...)
Mandalay Bay:
And the MGM Grand:
Towards the end of the our tour, we even got to visit one of the most famous landmarks in Las Vegas...
The Welcome to Las Vegas Sign! (I bet you didn't know that was its official name!)
As if it wasn't cool enough, there's even a little mound in front of the sign which offers a perfect picture opportunity... so SFS and I posed for a quick one!
Many thanks to SFS' uncle for showing me around town and not minding a crazy tourist hanging out his car window all afternoon snapping away with her camera! I hope you're having a great day- thanks for visiting my blog!!