On Friday, I headed out of the torrential downpour in Oregon and into the bright sunny skies of Las Vegas.  Thank god.  And I went with my great, great friend, Ann Marie!

We had an early flight so we arrived in Las Vegas at around 10:00 am.  Of course I forgot my dang sunglasses and hat (like a complete idiot), but we headed out to the pool anyway.  Thankfully, Ann Marie brought an extra pair of sunglasses so I was good for a little while.

Oh and fortunately, the hotel let us have about one million towels so I could make sure I didn’t burst into flames immediately.  It did get a little hot on my head, though, so I had to do this for a little while:

I know, don’t be jealous of how cool I am.

What’s even better, is that while I was there trying to cover up every single millimeter of skin, Ann Marie was next to me like this:

We were quite the pair together.

We had lunch and spent the afternoon walking the strip.  I bought new sunglasses and a hat so I could look like a supermodel at the pool on Saturday:

The supermodel thing didn’t quite work out, but I was so much more comfortable.  Here’s the thing, I love being in the sun and laying by the pool, I’m just terrified of what it will do to my skin.  And I got burned so many times as a kid that I think I’ve pushed the limits enough at this point.  So, no sun for me.  But there’s really nothing better than laying by the pool, reading a book and staring at all the crazy people around you.  The people-watching in Vegas is truly unbeatable.

We stayed at the Mandalay Bay and on Saturday night, Snoop Dogg/Lion and Warren G performed at the beach.  While our room was on the 16th floor, it faced the beach and we could actually hear (and feel the concert).  The windows were vibrating to the beat, which was pretty amazing.  Here’s a picture from 16 floors up:

Snoop DOGG!!!

Ann Marie and I tried to win millions…

But only managed to take beautiful pictures.

This one’s my new favorite:

I don’t know what the hell I was doing, but now I understand why people think I’m drunk all the time.

We had a ton of fun, the weather was amazing and it was so nice to get away for a few days.  Especially since it’s still raining in Portland.