Today I am participating in Where in the World Wednesdays, Classy in Philadelphia’s awesome weekly series. This week, I’m in Vegas!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world…it doesn’t have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

Since so many of you bloggers out there went to Vegas last weekend for BiSC, I decided to share with you my trip that I took last year for my birthday.

Last year, Vegas was necessary for my health. It was around March that my job went from awful to hell-tastic and I had an epic freakout because I was going to not only Vegas in May, but Wyoming as well. Tickets had already been purchased, hotel rooms already booked and all of this? Was going to be funded on a 20% less paycheck. I decided to go and have a good time though, and not worry about money. It was a good thing I didn’t worry about money because I spent a whopping $1,000 in one weekend.

Equipped with sun screen, sun dresses, flip flops, the need to relax and a list of casinos I needed to check out for work but never did, I arrived in Vegas just a couple days after my 27th birthday. I went with my best friend Steph, her husband Joe and their friend John, whom I had met at their wedding the summer before. I had never been to Vegas before; I was not really sure what to expect from this weekend but I knew that crazy shit happened there. We stayed at the MGM Grand, which was awesome. Now, I don’t care for casinos. Actually, if I never have to see another one again? I’d be pretty effing happy. But that may be for different reasons, not just because I hate recycled cigarette smoke air and gambling.

We ate at really awesome restaurants (Oh, hi, Emeril. I’m still dreaming of your pork chops a year later.), we went to a couple bars, we double fisted drinks before two Dave Matthews Band shows, saw Jason Mraz at the pool and ran the length of the pool to follow him, had pina coladas at 10am, and danced in the hallways.

It is safe to say that I stayed at the pool the ENTIRE time. I only hit the strip a couple times. The first night we went to New York, New York and wandered through the large casino, the boys stopping to play a couple games while we took in the sights. A couple days later Steph and I wandered down the strip a ways but didn’t even make it to see the Bellagio. The only other casino we saw was Pallazzo and that was because Steph’s brother worked there. So when I say we stayed at the pool? WE STAYED AT THE POOL.

And that is exactly what I needed. I rarely take vacations where I just sit by a pool, or on a beach. But sometimes it’s necessary when life gets so stressful you just need a TIME OUT. Vegas was exactly that–my time out.

Did I like Vegas? While it was fun and I had a great time with my friends, I did not like Vegas as a city. It was dirty, it was ridiculously hot (although I was enjoying the dry heat immensely), and it was crowded with tourists. Yes, I know I was a tourist too.

I did love being able to walk around with my alcohol outside, I loved seeing some of the odd buildings and to lie in the sun getting brown all day. I loved dressing up at night. I also loved the two DMB concerts we saw. They were some of the most fun I’ve had at a concert (considering I was drunk, and the second night also high) and I had completely lost my voice by the time the weekend was over. It was also at these concerts that I discovered my love for Jason Mraz. It was the first time any of us had rushed to a concert to make sure we saw the opening act.

Vegas was quite the trip and at the time, it was exactly what I needed. I still want to be able to attend BiSC some day but unfortunately neither of these two trips have been good timing for me. Hopefully next year I will be employed and not have gone to Vegas only the month before!

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures…

Steph and I at the DMB concert. Look how tan I was. And how high…

Fist bumping before the concert.