Last weekend,  Chucklebutt and I headed to Vegas.  Actually he left late on Tuesday night in order to be there by 1pm on Wednesday.  He was attending Adobe Photoshop World and was super stoked about the drive ahead of him.  Have you seen Swingers?  It’s one of my favorite movies — I have a huge crush on all things Vince Vaughn.  Anyway, fast forward the below video to about 0:50.  This is sooo Chuck!

I flew out on Friday night after work to join him.  We stayed at Bally’s and with the exception of The Venetian, it’s my favorite place to stay.  It is right in the heart of everything and just a hop skip and away from some of my favorite shopping — Ceasar’s Forum.

Alas, I was super bummed that my favorite antique mall had closed up — another victim of our crappy economy.  The gals at the Goodwill told me about some other shops so I headed to Charleston Street.  Wow!  What a surreal experience.  I felt like I was walking into the movie “Needful Things.”  You know, the one where Max Von Sydow plays the Devil who owns an antique shop?  I walk into the store and the items are all covered with dust as if no one’s been in inside the shop in years.  The owner is an older Argentinian man and he is talking to a younger woman.  They are both wearing dark glasses so it’s hard to see their eyes.  Creepy.  Things are way overpriced and I wonder how he even makes a living.  Perhaps he harvests souls for “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”  (I can’t wait for the new Harry Potter!)

I did find a small bag of interesting beads that had been part of an old necklace.  The price was a 1.99 and I figured that was a deal.  When I went to pay, he told me the price was 22 dollars.  What?!?!  He then muttered something about “wishful thinking” and “his poor eyesight.”  I paid him and he stiffed me a buck, but I figured since I still was in possession of my soul, I made a beeline for the door and didn’t say anything.  Weird.

That night, Chuck and I went to see. . .

I am a Cirque du Soleil junky!  This is my 5th show and they never cease to disappoint.  Afterwards, we headed to our favorite sushi joint where Chuck had a surprise waiting for me.

The gal right next to me is Jennifer and she is the friend I have kept up with the longest — I’ve known her since she was 12!  She and Chuck had been scheming to surprise me and Isella (her girlfriend) for weeks.  We had such a good time visiting with them and after dinner, we had a mini photo shoot.

Chucklebutt’s Angels.  😀

We took the fun to the streets and Chuck put me in charge of the strobe and diffuser.   While inside, there were other folks from Photoshop World milling around.  Once outside, we definitely stood out.  I’m sure they thought Jen and Isella were some Hollywood power couple.

They didn’t think that about us.  ;D

This is a little bit more dignified.

The following day we met up for lunch and ate at the most decadent buffet ever.  It was ridiculous how much food there was and the variety — the crab legs and crepes were my favorite.  Chuck then taught Isella how to play craps.  Jennifer and I watched patiently as the two seriously analytical minds went to work.  Isella is in medical school and is one sharp cookie.  She won over 100 bucks while Chuck only won 40.  Ah, the student has surpassed the teacher.  😀  My gal Jennifer is no slouch either.  She’s an amazing artist — check out her website!

We left late on Sunday night to head back to sunny AZ.  It was pretty cool seeing Hoover Dam at night.  I had never been this way and Chuck was excited to get some good shots.

It was very spooky crossing it at night.  I found everything to be quite disorienting.

Check out the bridge in the background.  Pretty soon you won’t be able to drive over the dam because of Homeland Security.  As it is right now, they stop every car going in either direction to make sure drivers aren’t carrying anything illicit.  It took Chuck awhile to get his shots, so I chilled out in the car.

Around 12am, I started to argue with Chuck that we should pull over for the night.  His driving was making me nervous — I know that he was exhausted.  He wouldn’t listen and instead got some nasty beef jerky and a Dr. Pepper and said he was good for the duration of the evening.  I crawled into the back seat of the car and fell asleep.  I warned him that if I met an untimely death and he did not, I was coming back to haunt his ass.  We made it.