VEGAS BABY!!

I had only been to Vegas once for Heather and Jonny's wedding in 2006, so it was time for another trip...this time actually hitting up a club and of course seeing another Cirque show!

Me, Scott, Jill and JJ decided to meet up for a weekend there to celebrate Jill and JJ's upcoming March 14th wedding (kind of a mini bachelor/bachelorette party) and the weekend we decided to go just also happened to be my 29th birthday weekend (Feb 20-22). It was a perfect cause for celebration!

It was an awesome weekend to spend with 2 such great friends and was nice to get away for a little vacation. We got a great deal at Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin and home to one of the biggest and best buffets in town) and our room came with a bunch of buy-one-get-one-free drink tickets...perfect. Scott and I flew into town on Friday morning (our first Virgin America flight and I must say that it was the best flight we've ever had!) and walked around the Miracle Mile shops within Planet Hollywood (PH). My feet already hurt from walking and we hadn't even left the freaking hotel. Jill and JJ drove into town that evening and it took a little longer to drive thru town than normal, so we were sure to have drinks waiting in the room for them when they finally got there. Also waiting in the room (delivered while we were out walking around) was a nice bottle of red wine for Jill and JJ from her maid-of-honor, Michelle. It was so sweet of her to send something and definitely started out the evening right! Jill and JJ also had a little bday gift for me...my final Twilight series book - Breaking Dawn. :) Yaya!

After getting all cleaned up and ready to go, we had a fantastic dinner in a Brazilian-style restaurant in the Miracle Mile shops area. It was amazing food and we ate until we were almost sick cuz it was soooo good! It's the type of place where they come around to your table and carve you off big hunks of various yummy meats until you finally give in and say no. After letting our food settle a little, we then went back into PH used most of our free drink vouchers to get a free drink at almost every bar/lounge/restaurant in the hotel. Then we finally went outside the hotel and walked down to Treasure Island where our next destination of the night was...Pure nightclub. We had gotten on the guest list earlier that night and still had to stand in line from 9:30pm until they opened the doors to start letting people in at 10:30. It was way too long to wait and I still can't believe we stood there so long, but it turned out to be worth it. I still have no idea how it happened, but we ended up getting in for free (cover was $25 each) and also discovered that Pure had the Pussycat Dolls Lounge inside it so we got to see them perform as well. They were so fun and hot and really, really bendy...like little bendy straws. We also got randomly invited to sit at a VIP table right in front of the PCD stage with a couple that was there on business and had free bottle service (usually $800 minimum) for the night, but decided it was way too much for them to drink themselves. After the PCD was finished for the night and we got some pics with them...we headed into Pure with our new VIP friends to do some dancing. It was a huge club and it was awesome since it wasn't too over-crowded. We danced and drank like we were 22 again and then pretty much hit a wall at 2am. We hadn't planned on being out that late, but it was a blast!

Saturday morning we tried to recover quickly so that we could go check out the other hotels and things to do on the strip. It was a little slow getting going but we got to see quite a bit. Jill took us to see these really cool gardens that are in the Bellagio that I didn't even know existed. The gardens were beautiful with a Chinese garden theme. We also discovered that there was a Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden park in the Mirage. We got to see dolphins, lions, tigers, etc. and a really cute little leopard cub! After walking around all day and actually seeing the strip, we went back to the hotel to relax and take a nap. Then we got all dressed up nice and went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant in New York New York and then got to see a Cirque du Soleil show...Zumanity. It was an awesome show...I always love Cirque...and was a lot funnier than I expected. It was a more intimate, seductive, playful Cirque show than the others I've seen, but I still like Mystere the best. After the show (we went to a late one) it was back to PH for a night of much needed sleep.

Jill and JJ got up and left the next morning and Scott and I had a really late flight so we walked around and played some more the next day...even getting in some gambling which was fun but not very productive since we were scared to gamble any more than $50 of our own money. We did get quit a bit of free game play though so it lasted us a while. I also got to finally ride the NY, NY roller coaster! Soooo fun but waaayyy overpriced for a 2 minute ride.

Well, that's about all to tell and was pretty much a small novel...but it was a great weekend and a wonderful mini vacation. It was awesome to spend such a great weekend with such great friends. Can't wait for the wedding now in March and seeing more of Jill and JJ -- when they become Mr. and Mrs. Scott! :)

Academy of Sciences, SF

On a cool, windy weekend in February, Scott and I decided to go to the Academy of Sciences in San Fran (http://www.calacademy.org/). Scott received a free year's membership as a goodbye and thank you gift from Pentagram when his internship was up, so we decided to check it out since Pentagram also helped the Academy with redesign and re-imaging.

It was a fun day and took us almost 5 hours to see everything! They have a planetarium, a 3-D show, a rain forest walk, lots of animals and bugs, and an aquarium. They also have an albino alligator, but he was a bad boy and was fighting with the other alligator so he was in time-out when we were there. :-)

The Academy is also the greenest museum (zoo/aquarium/etc) in the world, so the first picture is us on the roof of the building where they have a "living roof" with plants/grass and solar panels to help provide the building's energy. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Playing some v-ball

Just thought I would post some pics of me and some of my PwC volleyball team mates (and friends). A couple of weeks ago we had our final game of the winter season and Scott was able to come along and take some pics. I also play softball with some of the girls on the team...Jeanne (in green top) is one of them and we also have fun going out for drinks. She rocks cuz she also took very good care of princess Kozmo (our cat) while we were gone for the wedding/honeymoon! And she has the cutest doggy that my sister Heather would just love! She a cute little yorkie pocket dog who is like half the size of Kozmo. :)

Anyway, volleyball is a great way to meet new people in my huge office (hence how Jeanne and I met) and also a great workout. Unfortunately, PwC is not able to sponsor our sports teams anymore (due to saving costs cuz of the stupid economy..blahblahblah) so if we want to play in more seasons this year, we have to fork out our own hard-earned money. Oh well, still worth it since I just love playing my sports and being active -- plus it's a great excuse to get out of work earlier some evenings. ;)

Scott's new job!

I'm so proud of Scott! This is a great start to our 2009...

Right before holiday break, Scott found a job after searching for so long in this crappy economy. It's been especially tough in the Bay Area where it's so expensive to live, yet none of the companies can afford to hire anyone. As Scott was just completing his 12-month internship with Pentagram Design by Xmas, he was called in for an interview with a neat design firm downtown called Argus LLC (http://www.argussf.com/). They hired him right away and he started on Dec 12, immediately starting to work on big projects like an endowment fund campaign for the Bay Area's Make-A-Wish Foundation. He really likes it there and his boss and the owner of Argus seems like a really great guy to work for. Him and his wife (who is currently on maternity leave) run the design firm. As part of a "good job Scott!" present, we got him a folding bike. It's really cool and he researched quite a while to find one he liked that was reasonably priced. It's basically a full-sized bike that folds in half and is very light. There have been a lot more commuters on the Caltrain each morning when Scott goes to the city for work and a lot more people are taking bikes and public transportation in general. There are only a certain number of bike cars on the train and when it fills up you have to wait for another train and be late. With a folding bike, though, it is allowed on any train in any car (not just the bike car). It's also lighter and he can just fold it and pack it up the stairs to his new office to store it.

We also got some new fishies (an orange one named Vitamin C, and a blue one named Electrolyte) for our fish tank and since I'm posting pics, I thought I'd show you our tank. Scott made this fish tank from scratch from an old-school Mac computer monitor! It's much bigger than it looks here as it takes up the whole top of the dresser it sits on.

Until the next blog...which will hopefully be sooner than 2 months... :)

Scott and I both start work again on Monday, Jan 5 so you never know...

Happy 2009!

On Monday after Xmas, during our nice holiday break, it was a beautiful day out (sunny and 60) so Scott and I took a trip down the coast about 2 hours from our apartment to Monterey Bay. The drive on Scenic Highway 1 was so beautiful and we hadn't made the trip down the coast with Robert and Liza about 2 years ago. We walked on the beach and watched all the crazy little kids go into the freezing cold water with their bare feet. I mean, it was 60 degrees out and sunny but on the windy coast in northern Cali...that's like 40 degree water!

We walked around the cute little coast town, went into a candy shop and I swear the guy that worked there was like a native american version of Jonny Depp as Willy Wonka...he was kinda creepy and way too nice. That was interesting! We wanted to go to the Monterey Bay Acquarium, but the line to get in was like 30 minute wait and tickets were the price of a concert or something. We decided to wait until there were less people and I could find a discount through my company. The acquarium there is one of the best in the US, but only when you don't have to fight with strollers and pushy 5 year olds to see the fish and penguins.

While wandering around enjoying the beach, little shops and Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae, we came across a brand new iMax theater and decided to go watch a show. I'd never been to a 3-D movie and there was a History channel movie on prehistoric sea monsters that looked fun. We had a blast waiting for it to start and making fun of everyone with their humungo 3-D glasses. We are so hot!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 ----------- HAPPY NEW YEARS' EVE!

We met up with a friend from MSU, Josiah, his girlfriend Julie (who we met briefly on Halloween about 4 years ago), and a few of their friends in San Fran on New Years. We had some awesome Thai food at a restaurant near Julie's apartment and then headed to a bar on the Embarcadero (piers closest to the Bay Bridge) called High Dive. Other than Josiah's friend, Chip, being arrested by an over-zealous cop (ordinarily I would side with law enforcement, especially in SF - but in this particular case I think the cop was having a particularly bad night and needed to take it out on our poor friend), the night was fun and mellow and we got to see fireworks at midnight!

We miss and love all of our family and friends, especially those that we missed during the holidays, and want to wish you all a happy, healthy, fulfilling 2009!

The Holidays with the newlyweds

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009 to everyone!

Scott and I didn't go home to Montana for the holidays this year, but decided to save money and vacation time for a trip back in the summer instead. It was our first holiday by ourselves, as newlyweds...and we had a lot of fun together!

Melissa's busy season at work (which is mainly Nov-Dec time frame) finally came to an end on Dec 19th and we were so glad to have some time off without stressing about work. I was sick and tired of working 10-15 hour days plus weekends...a time of the year when I always ask myself why I'm still in this career. But in the end, the 6 weeks of torture are worth the rest of the year's perks. :)

And Scott started a new job - yes after 6 months of interviews and searching during a time when others are getting laid off, he finally found a job - with a small ("boutique") graphic design firm in the city called Argus. He worked for a week at Argus, just in time for us to both have holiday time off from Dec 19-Jan 5. We both really looked forward to the time alone together without traveling around or having to deal with airports or schedules. It was a much needed vacation after the non-stop stress of work.

We thought we'd share some of the pics we took over the holidays...our apartment all decorated (yes, it was actually cold enough to warrant a real fire!) and opening our presents on Christmas eve, which is tradition for both of us. Kozmo got a new collar and she was lazing around like the princess she is...she's so cute and always gets away with it.

On Christmas day, after some baking and good eating, we headed to downtown San Fran to go ice skating at Union Square. It was pretty chilly, but not cold enough to keep the ice properly frozen for any length of time. People would ice skate on the fresh zambonied ice and 5 minutes later there were skate grooves everywhere...making it a little hard to skate. It was fun but we mostly just watched all the other people try to skate for the first time ever and also wondering how many poor souls had never experienced real snow or ice!

We then went around town to our favorite sight-seeing locations to look at all the prettiest trees in town. From Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf, to Union Square, to the Westin St. Francis hotel lobby.

Our last part of the journey on Christmas night was up to Coit Tower to overlook the city lights. This is my favorite photo and it's so cool that all of the buildings are outlined in xmas lights each year.

Hope you had a merry, merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the newest Abels!

XOXOXO