Snapshots of Las Vegas // Pancakes & J.Lo // August 2016

In August KC and I headed to Vegas with his parents, his sister, and her (then) boyfriend, (now) fiance. :) We planned a mixture of together and "on our own" time, and were able to fit in so many cool places and things.

On day 4, we started with a family breakfast. My in laws were flying back home, and the rest of us were staying for the J.Lo. show. We didn't do a ton on this day, but I wanted to do a short post anyhow. :) 

My SIL's fiance... laughing at me taking food photos ^^ hahah

Even though Britney wasn't there... I needed a photo with her too. :P 

Eat: We ate at a great breakfast place in Mirage called Pantry. RUN THERE FOR PANCAKES! So so good! :)  We had Shake Shack... again.... and it was still awesome. We stopped for an ice cream at one point, it was just ok. It was outside Mirage and called BLVD Creamery. We had Mexican food for dinner. I don't remember the name of the place (it was in NY, NY)... but it wasn't very good. : / 

See: The Strip and Shops, and J.Lo. 

Shop: Most of the shopping in Vegas is reminiscent of mall shopping elsewhere in the US. Those shops that do not resemble it are likely ultra high-end shops. Think Valentino, etc. Not my jam, but cool to see if it is yours! :) Here are a few shops that I enjoyed for my typical (post card, souvenir, quirky or unique items, boutique type shops) shopping. 

• Houdini's Magic Shop - New York, New York - a fun shop of magic and prank items. The shop workers double as magicians. 

Shows: Vegas is known for many things, but one I'm particularly interested in, is the insane amount of shows available! We saw three shows while we were there, and enjoyed all of them. There were handfuls of others that sounded great as well. Here's a quick review of the ones we saw!

• J.Lo.'s "All I Have" - Planet Hollywood - We knew we wanted to see a big pop star while we were in Vegas. Most think of Celine or Elton John, but neither of them were there during our stay. We also thought of Britney (who shares this theater with J.Lo.), but J.Lo. was the one in town, so we decided to see her. She puts on a great show, there is a good review of her hits from the '90's to now, but the real treat is to see her and her back up dancers pull off all of that amazing choreography! It was incredible. Read more about this show, if you are interested, here.

Do: 

• I'm going to be honest... on this day we went to check out Luxor, walked a bit, and then proceeded to pack and sleep before the concert. We would have stayed one less day, but J.Lo. only performed on that night of all our dates.

Favorites: Pantry, Shake Shack (again!), and J.Lo.

New Experiences: Going to a magic shop, seeing a Vegas residency show, seeing J.Lo. at all.

Have you been to a pop concert? Have you been to one in Vegas?

What is your favorite Vegas casino? -if you've been

If not, what do you most want to see in Vegas?

Other Nevada Posts: Vegas Day 1 - The Strip, Vegas Day 2 - Museums & The High Roller (my favorite day!!), The Hoover Dam & Boulder City, NV, & Downtown Las Vegas.

Happy Travels!

XO,

Alexandra

Have You Heard? // Throwback // J.Lo. - "Waiting for Tonight" & "Play"

When we heard we were going to Vegas we made sure we would get to see someone fun in concert. We had initially thought we would see Britney, but she wasn't doing a show during our date range. J.Lo. was though, well almost, so we stayed one extra night to see her show. I'm so glad that we did!

If you're close to my age I am sure that you grew up listening to J.Lo. on the radio, she had tons of singles over the years and continues to crank out dance hits as well as movies and TV shows. As a result seeing her perform live was super fun!

Throughout the show she did some of her older hits like, "Jenny from the Block" and "I'm Real" complete with an Bronx styled stage set. She also did a "Vegas" type set where she and her dancers were mostly doing a strip tease. Unexpected, but when in Vegas, right? She sang some of her more recent hits, and even a song she did for the movie Home and a cover of "I Hope You Dance" which she dedicated to her children. She also did a segment with some of her more Latin hits. All of the sets were really, really good. I also loved how she talked to the audience as she performed, I've always liked that. She even said to one guy, "Go ahead baby, get your selfie!" - so cute.

Overall, the show was really awesome. For one, the theater is much smaller than I had expected, so we felt pretty close, while not being in the front. Two, damn J.Lo. can dance! She's really a talented performer, and she's incredibly fit as well. It's super inspirational as she just celebrated her 47th birthday. If I could be anywhere close to half that fit before 47 it might be a miracle. :P - all jokes aside, get it J.Lo! The stage, dancers, sets, costumes, etc. etc. were all very impressive and fun. It was definitely a Vegas atmosphere and they went all out. Appropriate as she titled the residency, All I Have.

We had a blast, and should she tour again someday, somewhere near us, I would go. :) If we go back to Vegas sometime soon, we will definitely look into seeing Britney - but I'm certainly not at all disappointed that we made it to J.Lo.'s show instead!

I don't really have a favorite J.Lo. Song, but you really can't go wrong with "Waiting for Tonight" right? It's definitely a classic.



Ok, so I also love this one.... I think I had one of the "NOW" CDs with this song on it, so it's a feel-good favorite. hehe



I hope this gives you a good start to your weekend or week! :)

OK, and because I can't help myself, this is her new single, called "Ain't Your Mama," it's so catchy and fun - and hilarious.

Also, when we got home, Scali was in love with the J.Lo. program. he wouldn't stop laying on it. I don't know if he likes it because it's smooth, or the same color as him or what. What a little stinker.

Are you a J.Lo. fan?

Have you seen a Las Vegas residency show?

Other Posts This Week: July Reads & Back from Las Vegas.

XO,

Alexandra