VEGAS BABY, VEGAS!

On a gloomy day at the offices of Zapwater Communications, Allison and I daydreamed about sitting poolside in Vegas with margaritas, recounting stories from the night before. The upcoming Vegas birthday celebration of Allison’s cousin, Ben, was all the motivation we needed to turn that dream into reality. Within minutes…okay, seconds… of realizing she had a legitimate reason to make the trek to Sin City, Allison had convinced me to join her.

I hadn’t been to Vegas a.k.a. the City of Lights a.k.a. Sin City since I was 12 years old. Although this trip would not involve two nights with the family in the Excalibur hotel or water ballet recitals with floaties (to prevent an accidental drowning) in the hotel pool, I thought it would probably still be worth my while. When noon on Friday, October 10th finally arrived, it was off to Vicki’s for pedicures then straight to the airport for these two ladies!

Seven hours later we were landing at the airport with the strip in view. I might have missed it, but the woman in the seat next to me yelled “THAT’S THE STRIP!” multiple times. At our hotel, the Luxor (the world’s largest pyramid!), we met up with two of Allison’s friends. Emily “I thought it was an extension of the bench” Dritz and Andrea “I name my outfits” Blake joined us from Denver and Los Angeles, respectively. Our first night took us to Tao. To answer my little sister’s question: “isn’t that where all the celebrities go,” answer: Yes! We were with them.

Tao was an amazing blur of dance parties to Rihanna, Britney and T.I. and some unexpected spills. At 3:30 a.m. we decided to head back to our hotel room and conserve our energy for night two. On this night, Andrea “I name my oufits” Hunt introduced us to “Vegas,” a yellow and black glittery number saved only for the craziest of nights. And that’s when we knew… Saturday night was going to be, as they say, “off the chain.”

Susan Schreiber
PublicistThanks Susie, I’ll take it from here. As Susie said, we all knew Saturday night was going to be a night for the record books. After a three-hour fashion show in the hotel room where each one of us tried on 17 outfits (no joke), we headed out for what was going to be a great night. Susie, Emily “I thought it was an extension of the bench” Dritz, Andrea “I name my outfits” Blake and I met up with my cousin Ben for a late dinner for twelve at Ago in the Hard Rock Hotel. Just as I was biting into my chicken breast (which almost came alive and danced on the table), none other than Kardinal Offishall sat down next to me at the dinner table. We proceeded to discuss my love for his hit single, “Dangerous,” and Boxing Day, a Toronto tradition similar to our Black Friday. Who knew Kardinal Offishall was a shop-a-holic and such a sucker for a good deal!

With tummies full, we were ready to party! The whole group headed into Body English to dance the night away. With four tables all to ourselves in the center of the club, we were living the life with Sal Masekela, Clinton Sparks, my cuzo Ben and the whole Smashtime crew...get familiar! Clinton kept everybody in the club moving…I don’t think I stopped dancing for 3 hours! Kardinal Offishall performed and Ben and Sal represented on stage. The night was topped off with a lovely “Happy Birthday” serenade to Ben sung by the entire club…such a baller.

By Sunday the four of us were sleep deprived and Vegas’d out, but we still managed to hit up Pure in Ceasers Palace, and dropped some coin on the slots. On Monday morning, Emily “I thought it was an extension of the bench” Dritz rolled out of bed and onto her plane back to Denver. Andrea “I name my outfits” Blake drove back to Los Angeles in a total haze, stopping only to take a photograph of an actual eagle’s tear. And then there were two. I don’t think Susie or I remember the flight home to Chicago.

As we parted ways in the cab line at O’Hare International Airport, Susie and I looked at each other, laughed a little, and agreed (in the words of Ryan Schekler) that’s when we knew…this trip to Vegas…was the best trip…we have ever had.

Allison Evans
Director of Business Development