Outdoors in Vegas

Immediately after taking my board exam and before annual calibrations (ie crazy weekend work hours) began, we had a few weekends off to have some fun.  The first free day we had, we went out to Lake Mead to rent a jet ski and explore.  Lake Mead is formed by the Hoover Dam and is the largest man-made lake in the US with 500+ miles of shoreline.  It's also a very short drive (or bike ride) from our house. 

Because we're Floridians and used to lakes being dark and murky, we are amazed every time we see the bright blue waters of Lake Mead.  The day we jet skied was HOT (as were most days here during the summer months) so we stayed cool by driving super fast and jumping in frequently.  We had the greatest time exploring the "narrows" which are skinny paths with rock walls on either side hundreds of feet high and canyons at every turn where people park their boats and hang out for the day. 

The views were incredible. 

We also managed to make it all the way up to the Hoover Dam.  It was one of the best days we've had and I want to take every summer visitor on a similar exploration!

hoover dam from the water

Another weekend, our planned camping trip to Bryce Canyon got stormed out so we turned to a local Las Vegas park instead: Red Rock Canyon.  The park is just on the other side of the Valley and includes a 13 mile scenic loop drive with tons of hiking trails at every point. 

We were never quite able to find the trail we planned on taking so we instead just spent a few hours exploring.  It was completely gorgeous and I'm so excited to get back out to other parts of the park!

field of crazy cactuses cacti

Before moving here, I never realized all of the awesome sights to see so close to our house!  Luckily, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous recently and we plan on cramming as much into our upcoming weekends as possible!

We're Building a House!

Ever since committing to making the move to Las Vegas, we've been debating what to do for living arrangements.  We went around and around with the renting/buying debate and quickly became frustrated with all of the houses we'd see for sale as the interiors seemed very dated and not at all our style.  That, combined with the crazy Vegas housing market, led our search to new construction.

After several days of non-stop internet research, we found a floor plan we loved and reserved a lot in a new neighborhood.  The month following that was what I can only describe as an incredibly stressful roller coaster.  Every piece of good news was followed by a setback.  My need to control and plan every detail of life was certainly not cut out for purchasing a house, especially from afar.  
 

first photo sent from our sales manager earlier this month

Fortunately, we survived the month and made it out to visit earlier this week.  As we were driving out to the new neighborhood I was so nervous that we wouldn’t like the house for some reason and all of the stress would have been for nothing.  Luckily, that was not the case.  We were able to go inside our actual house and see everything first hand (even if it's just a bunch of sticks, plumbing and wires right now).  One of the model homes in the neighborhood is our floor plan so we were able to see everything as it will be at its completion.  It was super exciting!

house exterior, lots of drywall ready for install

back of the house

entry stairs and front door

back of master bedroom

views from our neighborhood

After signing our names a couple hundred times, we were official!  We celebrated with a delicious lunch at my new favorite, Cafe Rio.  

Our next appointment of the day was spent at the interior specialists to pick out cabinets, granite colors, flooring, etc.  We quickly realized imagining these things is more difficult than it seems so we'll be excited to see how everything turns out!  

our pretty granite

playing with options

After all the house stuff was taken care of, we met up with all of my new coworkers for dinner.  They were all incredibly welcoming to Mike and I and it was a lot of fun.  They really couldn't be a nicer group of people and I'm so excited to become a part of their group.  

Post-dinner we headed back to the strip to meet up with Ryan and Mil who had just arrived for their vacation. We had lots of fun hanging out in the casinos for a bit.  

In the morning, we finalized our financial stuff with our lender and then got to take R&M out to see our new house.  We loved being able to share it with them and get opinions from people who have been down this road a couple times.  

The plan is to close on our house from afar at the end of June.  I can't believe next time we come back west we will be moving into our house for good!  

one last pic of Vegas area from above

An interview in Vegas

At the end of February, I had a job interview out in Las Vegas.  I flew out on a Tuesday night and checked into my amazingly pretty hotel room suite at the Venetian.

venetian at night

view of the pool from my window

hotel lobby

Wednesday was interview day!  I ordered room service for breakfast after realizing I'd probably get lost trying to find food and end up late to the interview.  Apparently oatmeal and a banana brought to your door rings in at 30 dollars.  Whoops.

at least it was tasty!

I spent all day split between the two clinics and had the chance to meet most of the employees there.  Everyone was really awesome and very happy with their job and the workplace atmosphere. The interview seemed to go great and I left feeling excited about the job. 

Because they encouraged me to spend some extra time in the city looking around, we decided to fly Mike out for the remainder of the trip.  (Bonus that it was his birthday- lucky boy!).  He arrived Wednesday evening just in time for dinner.

hubs is here!

One of the best parts of the strip to me is the food - so many good restaurants to choose from! After dinner we spent a fun night in the casino seeing how long we could last on a few dollars (answer: a very long time!).

officially a birthday boy

Thursday we were up early enjoying an amazing breakfast at Bouchon in our hotel and then off to explore a bunch of housing in areas we'd researched online.  We quickly realized all Vegas houses are the same- stucco with tile roofs and colors of the desert.  We had fun guessing whether yards with some green in them were real grass or turf.

A much needed break from the house stress was taken at Grimaldi's.  Ever since our meal here in Brooklyn, I've been dreaming of this pizza.  It was every bit as amazing as I remembered!

best pizza ever

We continued our housing tour for a few more hours, but overall it was less than productive.  I realized I would need to majorly adjust my love of southern style farm houses before my next search.  

Our afternoon and evening were spent back on the Strip.  We visited a few more casinos, ate an incredible dinner at Emeril's Table 10 (must go back immediately), and went to see "O" by Cirque du Soleil.

the Wynn

the Palazzo

Bellagio fountains- my favorite thing to see!

Bellagio atrium

Friday morning I met with the people from the job interview and received an offer!  I was so excited and couldn't wait to share the news with Mike.  We had a great last day in Vegas wandering around the Strip and enjoying the amazing weather.  70 and sunny? yes please!

free mimosas for him and bellinis for her

cosmopolitan crystal

After a week or so of discussion, we decided the opportunity for the job at such an awesome clinic was one I couldn't turn down.  We've officially accepted the offer and are busy making plans to move out west in July.  It's crazy to think of moving so far away from everyone we love but everyone wants an excuse to go to Vegas right? 

Vegas: 3

Our last day in Vegas was spent revisiting all our favorite places.  We started it out with breakfast in the Bellagio at the super cute cafe: bananas foster crepe and ham and cheese croissant.
 

world's largest chocolate fountain.

We went back to the Cosmopolitan to play the best game in Vegas...

video hold'em

We looked for these at every casino but only found it here.  Hopefully it will catch on everywhere!

trying to win a tesla.

I'd read about a new dessert place with frozen hot chocolate so we went to get Mike one.  Apparently it was awesome... good thing for 13 dollars!

donuts the size of dinner plates.  so getting one next time.

paris.

trying to see the bellagio fountains at the wrong time of day. boo.

We finished up our trip with lunch and using up the rest of our free gambling back at the Palazzo. 

After one more round of the wheel game, we got on the shuttle back to the airport.

Overall, I had a great getaway with the Mister and a really great break from the semester.  Hoping for a return visit soon!