Snapshots of Tulsa, OK // August 2016

Wayyy back in August, KC and I + my friend (and ex-roomie) Jessica headed to Tulsa to see Coldplay. (see the concert recap, here.)

This was a bucket list item for her, and I really wanted to see them again, of course.. just a few weeks later they announced a show in KCMO... which would have been easier... but oh well! :)

We spent just a day in Tulsa, but we had a few good meals and lots of fun!

The BOK is the COOLEST looking arena!! 

see?!

Eat: We had dinner at El Guapo's a Mexican restaurant downtown. It was really good and had a fun atmosphere. A bonus is that it was a short walk to the BOK center for our concert. The prickly pear margaritas were great! We had breakfast at Dilly Diner which was GREAT and had HUGE pancakes. I loved the retro (yet modern...?) vibe in there! It was farm-to-table too which was a plus.

See: Downtown, BOK Center, Philbrook Museum of Art (& Gardens).

Shop: We really didn't shop much. We stopped in the Philbrook gift shop. There is a HUGE used bookstore there (Gardener's) .. .but we did not stop... 1) time, and 2) book ban. : / 

Do: See a concert at the BOK. Visit the Philbrook Museum of Art.

Favorites: Coldplay, prickly pear margaritas, the garden view at the Philbrook.

New Experiences: Traveling with a friend, a lack-luster airbnb experience.

Have you been to an arena concert?

Have you seen Coldplay live? See my recap of the concert, here.

Do you travel with friends or in groups?

Happy Travels!

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