Procrastination...Temptation Tuesday

This weekend Mr R, my Mother In Law, and I went to Vegas for the Previous Mrs. R's 70th Birthday! So in honor of our trip, here are a few hotel/casino temptations from Vegas Baby!

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas!

The beautiful Bellagio.

 The exotic Luxor.

 The stately Ceasar's Palace.

 The ever rockin' Hard Rock.

 The Oh! So Chic! Paris.

 New York, New York never sleeps.

 This is where we stayed. The elegant Aria.

 Fireworks from atop the Aria in The City Complex.

 The Vegas Stip. Alway hip. Always happenin'!

(all photos via)

It was such a great trip and a fantastic birthday weekend! More about our trip and what we did to come...

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Precious Girl Darla's 6th Birthday! Mr. R, my Darling husband, thinks I am completely crazy for making even a mention of this. Why? Well, if you have looked at the photos of our children you will find that My Precious Girl is actually a dog. (DO NOT tell her that!)

I never really understood before her how completely attached you can become to your "pet". I kind of thought that people who treated animals like they were children were more than a little crazy. But, now I am in love! Sometimes I wonder if I will love and fuss over my human children this much. (Probably.)

Anyway, take a look at this face and tell me what's not to love...

(poor thing was still drugged from having teeth removed)

(this is her serious shot)

(she's a sleeper -just like her Mom- and loves to nest in any clothes she can find)

(snuggling with her best stuffed friend Elephante)

(she loves to travel)

(this is her scruffy puppy "I didn't do it " face )

So, with a face like that and inspite of my husband's laughing at me, I want to wish my little angel a very Happy Birthday!!!

and the Destination was...

So you know that Mr. R was taking me away for my Birthday last weekend, but none of us knew exactly where to, not even me, not even as we headed North along California's 101 Freeway. Darling Mr R had a horrible headache so he asked me to drive and only told me head toward Santa Barbara as he nodded off to sleep. The possibilities narrowed only slightly and my head swam as I sped up the freeway.

Closing in on Santa Barbara, I woke Mr. R and feeling better, he took over the driving. We made a pit stop in the adorable town of Solvang, CA which is modeled after a Dutch village. We stretched our legs and browsed the bakeries and shops. I was quite surprised to find this among the cuckoo clocks, marzipan, other other European themed beer steins:

(this photo was taken with a certain Prairie Princess in mind)

After a fantastic dinner, we climbed back in the car as this was not our ultimate destination. Following a brief (not that brief) detour in an attempt to drive along the coast as the sun set we were somewhat back on track. Note: I am usually the navigator with my superb powers of direction and map reading abilities, but since I did not know where we were going Mr R had to make due.

Later that evening we reached...San Simeon a tiny town along California's Central coast. This area has beautiful coastline, gorgeous hillside views, and is the site of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst's Hearst Castle.

Saturday was a beautiful day and we visited the castle.

Next we saw the elephant seals coming in for their yearly trip to the area to shead their fur for the summer. By this time, even though the day was still beautiful, we were freezing as it was a lot colder further North and along the coast than L.A.'s 108 degrees! I didn't pack anything except cute strappy sun dresses so it was too cold to pose for any more photos.



The rest of the weekend we spent wine tasting, tinkering around the area, and relaxing. I thought it was a wonderful weekend; however, Mr. R was a little disappointed because he didn't think it lived up to our past getaways. He says he is going to do better next year, but it was just what I needed.



I am such a lucky girl!

Guestblogging: Laura's Mysterious Birthday Getaway

Today is our sweet Laura's birthday, and as such, she has hit the road with her hubby, Mr. R, to enjoy a great birthday weekend at a yet-to-be-announced surprise location! In her absence, while she's off cruising through California to an amazing weekend, she has asked me, Lacey from Lacey in the City, to guest blog for her. I hope I do my big sister proud...

July 16th is seriously Laura's favorite day of the whole year. Ever since I've known her (going on 23-1/2 years now), she's always been ecstatic about her birthday.

Mr. R has done a fantastic job of treating her like the princess she always wanted to be by taking her away for each of the three birthdays that they've been together to toast the big day. Two years ago, he whisked her off to Big Bear Mountain; last year, he wowed her with a Mexican getaway; and this year, well, you'll have to stay tuned to hear about that one straight from Laura when she returns to us on Monday.

Okay, so the clues that we have from Mr. R are that she should prepare to be gone for two nights (Friday and Saturday), and that they will be driving. Not much to go on, if you ask me. If you know LA, then you know it is so conveniently placed on the map that this leaves an innumerable amount of places he could be taking her! My mind has been swimming ever since I heard of this mysterious excursion, so I'm going to share a list of my top guesses. I can't wait to hear on Monday if any of these are correct!


Santa Barbara, California (2 hours north of LA)


Palm Springs, CA (roughly 2 hours east of LA)


San Francisco, California (6 hours north of LA)


San Diego, California (2 hours south of LA)


Las Vegas, Nevada (4 hours east of LA)


Catalina Island (an island 26 miles out from the coast of LA)


What do you guys think that Mr. R might have up his sleeve???

xoxo,

guest blogging for

Happy Birthday David

We love and miss you always.

Birthdays

My Dear Lovlies, it is almost that time of year again- MY BIRTHDAY! I am an absolute Birthday fanatic. This year I have shown incredible restraint by not shouting the Birthday countdown from the rooftops every day for the last month. However, that does not mean that I am not terribly excited, I only didn't want to appear to be too spoiled since I did just have a fabulous wedding and honeymoon only 2 1/2 months ago. It has been so difficult and I think since the Birthday is only 2 (two!) days away. I can now start celebrating.

Birthdays are very special. I never regret, try to hide or overlook (just the thought makes me shudder) my Birthday. I don't look at getting another year older as a bad thing. I think it is GREAT! The older you get the less people try to tell you what to do. The older you get the more you know, understand, and appreciate yourself. The older you get the more fun you can have!

Birthdays also have rules and customs.

1. There is always a countdown

2. The Birthday officially starts at 12:00am. You can never be mad at and should expect people to call with Birthday wishes at Midnight.

3. The Birthday doesn't end at 11:59 pm. It does not end until you go to sleep or (see #4).

4. When you get a card, present, or "Happy Birthday" from someone even if it is not actually yet/still your Birthday- you get to celebrate that whole day as well.

5. Technically, I think it shouldn't be Birthday, but Birthmonth.

6. Calories do not count on the Birthday.

7. There is no guilt on the Birthday.

8. There must be a "Birfday" dance.

9. There must be cake.

10. If you are married or in a relationship, the Birthday must NEVER be overlooked by your partner. That is grounds for some super seriousness! (I am not saying it has to be extravagant, but it sure as heck better be well acknowledged!!)

Number 10 brings me to my Dear Husband, Mr R. He gets the importance of the Birthday. I don't think he ever truely understood until he met me, but luckily the other Lovlies Ladies in my life impressed upon him its signficance in time for my 1st Birthday we shared (his Birthday was our 1st date). I think he was feeling the pressure, but he came through with flying colors! He is really terrific and always does a wonderful job of making me feel special and planning something fantastic. AND it is always a surprise- which I totally love! Last year he took me to Puerta Villarta and the year before that we went to Big Bear. This year he has another surprise trip planned. I never try to figure it out I only ask him what I should pack. I enjoy watching him try to tempt me and the excitement building. I think he gets a kick out of it too.

We are leaving Friday morning for a long weekend. Where do you think he is taking me?!