Vegas PL Pages // 6X8 Travel Mini Album

ALL we are doing is moving. We have so much stuff. I'm basically a hoarder at this point. I swear I've been getting rid of the excess, and I have more to sort even still... but my goodness. I've thrifted so/too many treasures.... oy. 

The goal is to finish tonight!! So that way we can officially start getting cozier in our new space. We have most of the furniture situated... but we are still working to unpack boxes (or store long-term).. so basically we have furniture set up.. but also just a ton of CRAP everywhere. Hoping hoping hoping to be done soon!!! 

I started this album back in July and I've been having so much fun with it! I shared my first four PL videos recently, they showed my Houston & Galveston Pages, my San Francisco Pages, my Georgia Pages, and finally my Nashville pages. Check those out! To learn about the process, supplies, etc. for my other sections, you can watch my videos. :)

What do you guys think?

I am also currently working on the last (small) section of this album, and then I am going to continue my 2016 Monthly Highlights PL album, which I am about half-way done with! I'll probably do something for 2017 as well.. .but since we are just moving right now... it will be easy to catch up on quickly!

Have you done any scrapbooking or project life albums? 

Have you been to Las Vegas? What was your favorite thing there?

Any fun trips planned for 2017???!?!?!

I would love to hear about it!

XO,

Alexandra

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

Snapshots of Downtown Vegas & Another Show // 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 3, we rented a car, and we all headed out to the Hoover Dam (see that post here) While we had the car we also ventured out to Downtown Las Vegas. It's a little gritter than the strip, and it also had some cool arts areas that KC and I wanted to see. We finished the night back on the strip, and took in dinner and another show.

Eat: Since we spent the beginning of this day in Boulder City, we ate there. We were downtown during the middle of the day...so we didn't really eat there. We had dinner at Chin Chin at New York New York. It was lovely. :)

See: Downtown (Fremont Street Experience), Old Neon Downtown, Emergency Arts Center, Burlesque Museum & Hall of Fame, and Container Park. We also visited the Welcome to Las Vegas sign, which is not near these things. 

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. 

• Burlesque Museum Gift Shop - Downtown - This museum is teeny and a donation type entry. I'll talk more about it later, but they also had some really cute post cards, stickers, t-shirts, etc. Along with some unmentionables in a little case. - Cheeky!
• The Downtown Container Park - Downtown - these boutiques are made out of old shipping crates! So cool. Boutiques range from unique restaurants to toy stores. It's a cool enclosed area with a playground in the middle, there is so much to see there! The toy store was our favorite!!

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!

• Cirque du Soleil - "KA" - MGM Grand - This Cirque du Soleil show is a bit different than most because it follows a plot. It's about twin warriors who are separated as children, and evolves as they come of age. This theater is much larger than the one at Treasure Island, so it was a bit harder to see everything that was happening, but overall this show has a lot of amazing effects. It is known for having it's rotating stage that at times tips, turns into a cliff, a mountain, etc. It's incredible to watch the performers interact with such amazing technology. 

Do: 

• Walk the Freemont Street Experience and take in the difference between downtown and the strip. Walk even further to the arts area and container park. Old Neon, Sculptures, and Street Art abound out there!
• Visit the Burlesque Museum - Downtown - This is a two-room gem of a museum currently residing in the Emergency Arts (Center?). You can chose a donation amount upon entry or exit, there is no set fee to visit this museum. The exhibit changes from time-to-time. When we went it was a timeline of burlesque. They have a collection ranging from photographs, costumes, etc. etc. Though the museum was small, it was very "Vegas" and very fun to see.

Favorites: Container Park, The Burlesque Museum, Seeing a bit of art in Vegas.

New Experiences: Learning about Burlesque, shopping in a shipping container, seeing downtown Vegas.

Have you been to Downtown Las Vegas? What did you think?

Have you ever been inside of a shipping container? - I think this trend is so cool!

Would you go to a Burlesque Museum?

Other Nevada Posts: Vegas Day 1 - The Strip, Vegas Day 2 - Museums & The High Roller (my favorite day!!), The Hoover Dam & Boulder City, NV, and Vegas Strip - Day 4.

Happy Travels!

XO,

Alexandra

Snapshots of The Hoover Dam // August 2016

While we were in Vegas we decided to rent a car one day, and take a trip out to The Hoover Dam as a family. We loved touring the Dam, seeing the scenery outside the city, and spending a bit of time in Boulder City, NV.

I don't remember much about the inside of the dam... but this is a HUGE pipe. :P

All the LOLs on this one... reminded me of Starshollow Museum meets Magic Mike. BAHHAHA.

I'm a grown up... 

You can see the line on the mountains in the background, in cooler months the water is up to the color change line! Woah.

anyone scared of heights...? Yikes.

Rubbing the toes on the winged guardians of the republic is supposed to bring good luck. :) 

The Hoover Dam:

We got there before they opened and waited in line. Once we got inside we purchased the shorter of the two tours, which started with a film about the dam. It was cool to learn some history and to see parts of the dam while we were inside.

After our tour, we went to different observation areas and took in the view. It was gorgeous!You can see how high the water is in the winter by the change in rock color! Crazy!

I loved the winged statues of the republic. Supposedly, rubbing their toes brings good luck!

Boulder City, NV:

Boulder City is pretty small, but we had a nice lunch at The Coffee Cup Cafe. They had a huge menu and it was a really cute place. Our waitress was really really nice! Gotta love that! :) I also had to appreciate the surf inspired interior. Very kitschy for Nevada. :)

We also walked a bit down their main street. We stopped into Grandma Daisy's Candy Store and Ice Cream Parlor. It was very cute!

They also have antiques and galleries, but we didn't take time to visit those.

On this day we also took time to visit Downtown Vegas, Kount's Kustoms, and the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. I've got a separate post on that for you guys next week!

Have you been to the Hoover Dam? What did you think?

Anyone else like superstitious statues?

Anyone afraid of heights?!

Other Nevada Posts: Vegas Day 1 - The Strip, Vegas Day 2 - Museums & The High Roller (my favorite day!!), Downtown Las Vegas, & Day 4 - Pancakes & J.Lo.

XO,

Alexandra