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 Las Vegas // Day 2 // Museums & The High Roller // 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.

You can read about Day 1, here. 

On day 2, we split a taxi with Kels and Jacob, and the four of us did a tour of the Neon Museum and then hit the Mob Museum. We had lunch together before parting ways until we met up again for the High Roller observation wheel in the evening. Day 2 may be my favorite day of the trip! We visited such neat places! :) & the view from the High Roller stole my heart!

just a little light graffiti. :) 

blurry but I like it! 

a little more...

Eat: Ah, so many great places to eat in Las Vegas! 

• Triple George Grill
• Sprinkles... if you're into that kind of thing... 
• BBQ at Ellis Island - so, so good! & I'm not a huge BBQ person!

See: The Neon & Mob Museums, The view from the Linq High Roller and the strip at night.

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. 

• Neon Museum Gift Shop - Downtown - This shop had so many cute post cards, and other souvenirs that had designs based on the vintage neon signs. Also, lots of fun books for design or mid-century modern lovers. Much needed water bottle purchase location after a tour in the summer!!
• Mob Museum Gift Shop - Downtown - This shop has TONS of stuff. Much of it is mob or gangster related. Tons of Italian themed items too. I enjoyed the variety, and the shop was huge! I got a shirt that says, "Mangia, mangia!" - which means "eat, eat!" :) HAH

Do: 

• Walk the strip and through the casinos. Tons of cool reproduction architecture. :) 
• Visit the Neon Museum - Downtown - You can do a day or night tour, and you can also get combo Mob Museum & Neon Museum tickets. We saved about $10 per person that way! The Neon Museum is the type of museum where you purchase your tickets for a specific tour time, so it's best to book in advance! (if you buy the combo and visit the Neon Museum first, the Mob Museum ticket can be used at any time within 7 days of your Neon Museum tour). You gather inside the gift shop, and wait for your tour to begin. A knowledgeable guide will walk you through the "Boneyard" on an hour long tour. You'll get to see the massive signs, and learn a good bit of Vegas history along the way. As a bonus they have a stock of umbrellas that you can use to shade yourself from the sun. - a big deal for a super pale person like myself! Some people think that this museum is sad, because these signs are no longer in use in the casinos, etc. but I think it is really cool that they have a new purpose! They aren't thrown away, or blown up, they are displayed and used to teach! - so, depends on how you think of it, I suppose, but I choose to think "half glass full". :) 
• Visit the Mob Museum. - Downtown - (again we purchased the combo ticket!). This museum is in an old bank(?) and contains three floors of mob history. From early days of immigration all the way to current issues related to organized crime, this museum covers SO MUCH INFORMATION. It's filled with traditional exhibits, video clips, simulations, interactive exhibits, etc. I was really amazed by all the different things they did, and how thorough it was! I really didn't know anything about mobs or organized crime, but it was so neat to see and learn about. I thought it was especially interesting that they have part of the brick wall from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in the museum. - wow! As a word of advice, the museum does contain some content that is a tad graphic. It is avoidable if you want to avoid it, but you may not want to bring super young kiddos. - totally up to you, just a head's up!
• Ride the Linq "High Roller" - The Strip - This was hands down my favorite part of our time in Las Vegas. The view from the top of this wheel is INCREDIBLE! This is the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, and boasts an incredible view from 550 feet in the air, on a worth-the-money 30 minute ride. You are in an enclosed pod, complete with seating, windows all around, screens that tell you how far up you are, and a truly great soundtrack. We were in a pod with 8 total people, but there was quite a lot of room for walking around. We never felt crowded! They also have special offers, like riding in a bar pod, doing yoga on the wheel, and champagne + chocolate to accompany your ride. I felt that this was 100% worth the splurge. Book online if you can to save money.

Favorites: The view from the "High Roller" and The Neon Museum.

New Experiences: Nevada, Vegas, Learning about Neon Signs and Organized Crime, Riding the tallest Ferris wheel in the world.

Random Tips:

• Order tickets in combos or online when possible, you will save money. 
• Don't go in the summer unless you LOVE the heat.
• Plan a mixture of "VEGAS" things and things you normally like to do when you travel. Balance is key!

We were so glad to have a fun family trip to Vegas! Glad to get to see a place that my in-laws love so much! :)

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

Are you a high-end shopper? Or do you prefer small shops?

Have you been on a large Ferris or Observation Wheel? Where, and What did you think?!

Other Nevada Posts: Vegas Day 1 - The Strip, The Hoover Dam & Boulder City, NV, Downtown Las Vegas, & Day 4 Panckaes & J.Lo.

Happy Travels!

XO,

Alexandra