Oh To Be 21!

So we had a little Girl's Weekend. Averie, Caris, myself, and Caris' BFF Caitlyn. My sister was supposed to go, but she went and got all responsible without asking me and got a damn job. Sigh. I'm tired, but happy. There's something about spending time with people who have energy. It's contagious. We left home in our AWESOME rental car (my 14 year old, 200,000 mile van just wasn't fit to drive across the desert) on Thursday night and arrived in Sin City at 2am Friday morning. The drive seemed short, not at all the 4 hour drive it would normally be. It felt like one giggle and a few laughs and BAM! we were there. So much catching up to do since Averie now lives and works in LA and we don't see her as much. She helped pass the hours with stories of the crazy people in the movie industry she works with and now of her new offer of a job at NBC. She got the call only the day before we left and so she was in a great mood and so happy.

I'd been planning this trip for nearly 6 months; saving up for shows and entertainment. Got a comped room at Flamingo and they threw in a massage at the spa for the Birthday Girl. Our room was, of course, PINK, which is Caris' signature color. I told her that they designed the rooms with her in mind ::wink::



I got word that Jason Mraz was doing a one-night gig there and mentioned it to Caris, wondering if she'd like to see him. She reminded me that Averie was the BIG Jason Mraz fan and wouldn't it be great to surprise her. So she asked me to get the tix, but not tell Averie. I thought it was pretty generous of her considering this was HER birthday weekend and she wanted to do something nice for her sister. "Well, she's had such a sucky year, working for sucky people. I think this would cheer her up." So, for MONTHS we, Caris and I, kept the secret from Averie, telling her only at dinner before the concert. The look on Caris's face when we told Averie was gift enough. She glowed with pride at surprising her sister. Averie was beside herself. The concert was amazing. He's honestly incredible and now I'm a fan.



Went to see Tony N'Tina's Wedding at the Rio and of course, they couldn't wait to make my three girls a part of the festivities. The Best Man working them over to come join "Amateur Night" at "The Animal Kingdom" dance club. "Look at'chew Girls! Holy Shit! You're already workin' it!" Great fun.

I was surprised to see that Averie, now having lived on her own for awhile, can really put away the tequila (Ahhh, a chip off the old block). Especially when it's free. She figured out that if you sit at a penny machine and bet one line, one credit (which amounts to 1 cent), they'll just keep bringing you drinks. Tips, of course, are compulsory, but still, a great deal on a fixed budget.



We decided to have breakfast one morning at Margaritaville. Big mistake for me, ParrotHead that I am. My ringtone IS Margaritaville, so I spent a lot of time digging through my purse thinking that my phone was ringing everytime I heard Jimmy singing. It was a bit surreal to be sitting with my daughters and seeing them order drinks. We toasted birthdays, and new jobs, and good times to come. As strange as it was, it was good. I reflected on how fast the time passed between milk and cookies, and tequila and salt. I smiled. Charlie and I did a great job.

Saturday morning, I decided to go downstairs early before the girls woke and gamble a little. That plan went awry when the elevator decided to get stuck between floors. With me and a good'ole'boy from Texas inside. He was tooooo drunk to notice, and SO entertaining, that I didn't panic. I just watched. It took him about five minutes to realize we weren't moving, then he decided to push EVERY button. We were on the 20th floor. "Darlin'" he says to me. "I thank we're schtuck. Well, fuck." I waited. The show was just too good and he was just too darn funny, telling me not to worry, that he would take care of everything. He would be my knight in shining armor. It took 15 minutes, but they finally got us out. My "knight" staggered off without so much as an adieu. It wasn't the first show I got in an elevator, and it certainly wasn't the last. As I shared my stories of stuck elevators and elevator hookups (no, they didn't care I was in there with them) with the girls, they wondered if they should let me go out alone anymore.



Caris was fascinated that you could walk around on the strip carrying drinks. And so she did. After all, who DOESN'T want a 20 ounce Statue of Liberty cup full of strawberry margarita? Buzzed by 11 am. Luckily, there was lots of walking (and shopping) time between New York New York and Ceasar's.



Sunday came too soon. After looking forward to this trip for so long, it went by in a whisper. Okay, not a whisper. More like lots of giggles. But it did fly by. On the way home, I smiled when both my daughters talked about how they wished their daddy could have come. How he would have loved the concert, the show, the tequila. I loved being the one to spend the time with them. But I loved it even more that they have good and happy FAMILY memories. When we got home, I told Charlie that I'm glad that our kids like us. He smiled and said.."Hasn't that always been our goal?"

Yep.