i just can't get enough

in my (short and therefore limited) experience in life, i would say i'm a lot of different things.  i'm a daughter, and a sister, and a friend.  i'm sensitive, analytical, and (usually) smart.  i'm sometimes grumpy, sometimes cynical, sometimes peaceful, and sometimes adventurous.  but there's one thing i never thought i'd be.  i'm not proud, but i won't deny it: i'm a groupie.  yep, you read that right.  a GROUPIE.  wow, it's freeing to admit that.

how can this be, you might ask?  how does a normal girl, living a normal life end up becoming a groupie for a band.  and not just any band, but an 80's pop cover band.  an 80's pop cover band that wears red pleather and rocks mohawks.  it's a fun story, so let me fill you in:

last summer, i became good friends with a girl who used to live in my house.  she moved out 5 months before i moved in, and i'm still bummed she's not my roomie--because she's awesome.  but she now lives in the land of plastic--aka hollywood--and works for a major fashion label (ella moss/splendid anyone?).  so she's living a cool life, i guess i can't be bummed forever.  anyways, she and became good friends last summer, and she kept telling be about this band.  she raved about them actually:  they played every Saturday night at the Royal Hawaiian Restaurant/Bar in Laguna Beach...and when were we gonna go??

now my only other experience with an 80's band (as some of you reading may recall) was in Waco, and involved a certain person dragging me in 80's garb out the door to see this band.  the band that turned out to be 80's metal--not pop--much to the embarrassment of me & my side ponytail.

So, needless to say, I was hesitant.  I put it off weekend after weekend, but in the end my friend was persistent.  and she won.  so we got a group together, dressed ourselves up (in normal clothes this time) and headed to the Royal Hawaiian. The Royal Hawaiian is the best nightlife in Laguna, and that really doesn't mean much.  It's a quiet restaurant with bamboo on the walls and drinks with names like "lapulapu".  At night, they move the tables and convert it into a stage with a dance floor.  The stage isn't really a stage either, it's really a roped-off corner of the floor by the window.  And everywhere I looked, there were cougars ready to pounce.  You really haven't seen a cougar until you've seen an Orange County cougar.  We're talking plastic, spray-tanned, scantily clad, and really really aggressive.  Watch out!  Rawwr!

So I took in the scene as I walked in the door, and was a little nervous for the band to start.  We made our way to the bar, grabbed drinks, and made out way to the front of the crowd (in case you were wondering: yes I've seen some of the cast of Laguna Beach there.  one of them served us our drinks!).  A few minutes later there they were.....in all their red pleather glory:  Flashback Heart Attack!  Such a fun name, and an even better band.  Not only did they get the crowd going with some classics by Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and and A-ha, but they changed up the lyrics to create their own unique (and sometimes PG-13) meanings.  These guys meant business.....and we danced like crazy!  They sang everthing from Bryan Adams to the Ramones to Billy Idol to , and they were amazing. beyond amazing. One of the guys decided to single me out for the night, and danced with me as we both sand "Come on Eileen" into the mike.  I was SOLD. 

Since that first night in July, I've been to see Flashback half a dozen times, and they now recognize me and my friends. they usually come up & chat with us on their break. embarrassing? yes,  but i wouldn't trade it for anything.

And that, my friends, is how I became a groupie.......

what happens in vegas.....

Is it just me, or does 2011 seem to be flying by?  Where have the last 2 months gone?  Now that I think of it, time has been flying since I began working a regular 40-hour work week back in November.  Since then, lots of things have happened in my life--mostly good.  But, instead of catching you up on 4 months or so, I'll just continue my theme of talking about my adventures.  My latest adventure involved the infamous Las Vegas. 

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to go with a few friends to Vegas to see the Linkin Park concert.  One of the girls has parents who spend money at the MGM Grand, and as a result, they get lots of freebies.  This particular weekend, they got a free hotel room and four tickets to the Linkin Park concert held at the MGM concert venue.

Two friends flew, and me and another friend drove. It's about a 4 hour drive from my house--with no traffic (NOTE: this info will be important later in the story).  So, after hours of endless desert, we arrived in Las Vegas, fought for parking in the 7-story monster parking structure, dragged our luggage down the stairs, through the shops, and across the casino, waited for an elevator, and finally emerged on the 18th floor.  My friend had called to give us the room number, and, after looking at the numbers, we realized we'd have to trek to the end of the massive hallway (think The Shining style, only more expensive looking).  As you can imagine, we were tired.  And sore.  And a little sweaty.  With a bit of grumbling, we slowly made our way down the hall, looking for the room number.  As we approached the end, we couldn't find our room number.  Until we read the numbers on the double doors at the end of the hallway.  We knocked, and when the door opened, this is the view that greeted us:

That's right: we weren't staying in just any room, but a 2 bedroom suite.  It reminded me of the movie The Hangover. Luckily, without a tiger in the giant marble-covered bathroom.  And this was our view:

The Strip by Day....

...and by Night

Not bad.  Especially for free.  Yikes!  After our initial shock wore off, we got ready for the night & the concert.  At 8pm, we walked downstairs and across the casino to the show. and we had FRONT ROW seats!  Ahhh!  This weekend kept getting better and better!  Linkin Park rocked the house, and 3 hours later we left with a buzzing in our ears.

Next stop:  The Cosmopolitan.  The newest hotel on the Strip, the Cosmopolitan just opened in December, and we wanted to check it out.  After walking through the swanky lobby, we sipped drinks at the Chandelier Bar....

It actually felt like we were inside a chandelier.  So cool!

...and called it a night. Night 2 in Vegas was fun as well, but nothing compared the that first night experience. On our last day, we packed up and headed for home.  What we hadn't thought of was that everyone else was heading home too.  I've learned that Las Vegas is basically LA in the desert.  EVERYONE takes the same freeway back home.  This resulted in lots of traffic--we're talking stopping in a giant line of traffic in the middle of NOWHERE in the desert.  It made no logical sense, but what could we do? So we blasted the stereo & sang along while we waited.  6 hours later, we finally made it home.

The Vegas experience was one I won't soon forget.  I'm thankful for generous friends and new adventures.  What an epic weekend!