Did you vote for me?

I am finally staring work tomorrow. Yahoo! I am feeling pretty healthy tonight finally. Yesterday was baaaad, today was just bad but I didn't get to rest because Ben was sick all night last night, Marcel is now sick & Evan was really clingy/grouchy/weird. Did I mention that my poor dad got the bug from us too & has been suffering since last night too?

I am so sleepy & I have to get up quite early while I try to figure out how much time I actually need to get myself out the door on time for this new career thing. When I washed my face tonight, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get all the mascara off of my face until it dawned on me that it was just the dark circles under my eyes. Oh my.

So what am I doing? Sitting on the damn couch in my American flag pyjama pants, watching CNN. Election night is like my Super Bowl. My boring, confusing, nauseating Super Bowl. Every time they drag James Carville to discuss "Flahrida," I smile. Every time John King starts playing with his fancy map, I ooh & ahh. Wolf Blitzer thrills my soul. I am a weirdo.

Anyway, Marcel still feels puny so he's in bed. Ben slept all day but is back in bed tonight - I doubt he's sleeping anytime soon but he's in bed & Evan is sleeping soundly for a little while longer so I'm celebrating Election Night all by my lonesome.

If you'd like to pretend you're watching with me (& why wouldn't you?), you can keep this picture up on your screen:

Hush your face, it's not easy to get a candid picture of myself! Please remember this is me post-face-scrubbing after battling gastro & taking care of sickies. This is the face I make every time they start on that overly detailed map that zooms in on every county in the country. 

Okay, I really am very sleepy so I'm logging off before I do anything silly like posting the ugly face picture I just texted to Marcel. 

Blech

So, guess where I am & what I did today! Was I at my job, working for the first time in 3+ years?
Of course not.

Cue that record scratching noise ...

I got a lovely bout of gastro. I'm in bed making a very sour face.

Our family has been miraculously healthy the past few months - some sniffles & mild colds but nothing major so we've been incredibly lucky. With the stress & exposure in packing, moving, travelling, settling in & changing climates, we expected health meltdowns - Marcel & I just stupidly made a remark about our kickass immune systems. Why do we get smug? It always comes back to haunt us.

Now, Evan was sick over the weekend. BUT we didn't spot it for what it was because we hit his head in a major way Saturday morning, which sometimes causes little ones to spew. So we spent the weekend closely observing him for signs of a concussion & other such fun.

Then last night I started feeling nauseous but thought it was fairly standard - I keep my stress in my stomach & between packing Ben off to a new daycare on the same day I start a new job, my stress levels have been on a roller-coaster. When I woke up at 5 bloody a.m. to rush to the bathroom, I was thinking maybe my stomach was stressing a little more than my brain.

It wasn't until I was laying flat out on the carpet outside of our downstairs bathroom - the ugly bathroom - that it finally dawned on me that I had seen my youngest little darlin' in the same flat-out position on the floor quite a bit over the last two days. Mother of the Year finally had an "A-ha, he's sick!" moment.

Now luckily little Evan is feeling much better. He got plenty of cuddling & extra care even when we thought he was just suffering a head injury so I guess we could be worse parents, right? Unfortunately, I've got the bug much worse than he did (wimpy baby's got nothing on me!) & haven't been able to keep my sips of fizzy drink down yet. Took a warm bath but it only seemed to make my aching joints angrier. I did get a good nap & am still taking shelter in my bed while Marcel has taken Evan to the zoo & to pick Benny up from his big adventure at the new school.

Just so you understand how truly pathetic I am, I took a picture of my lovely eyes. Well, just one eye. My brain wasn't functioning until about 30 minutes ago so I couldn't get my act together enough to take a picture of myself with both eyes closed? It was a disaster just figuring out one.

Those are broken capillaries, caused by the force of vomiting. DID YOU KNOW THIS COULD HAPPEN? I sure as heck didn't so I yelped out loud when I spied myself in the mirror before heading back to the internet to diagnose something for about the 5th time this weekend. Ah well, it only enhances the beauty of the dark rings below my eye & my darned freckles. And seriously, imagine this times two.

So anyway, I'm not at my awesome new job & I have to say that I am mightily disappointed. I was really honestly so excited about getting started. I had my clothes & things laid out so everything on my end would be smooth sailing. I can never count on the boys to sail smoothly with me so I like to prepare myself as much as possible.

Add to the not working the fact that my parents are up to visit us & now are sightseeing on their own so as to not cross our quarantine line & catch the devil themselves. I hope it's not too late for them! I'll die if they came up to keep us company & end up sick as dogs instead.

Oh! Speaking of dogs, Ben had one of those adorable moments that make me wish I was the kind of mom to send funny stories to Readers Digest. My mom (Grammy) was telling him yesterday that she would have liked to bring their dogs Saffron & Sunny up to our house with them & asked Ben if he would have liked that. He didn't miss a beat & just asked incredulously, "Would they come in a little car?" BWAHAHAHAHA - I can't erase the thought of a tiny car buzzing up the interstate with a fat black pug & a little chihuahua barking away inside. Priceless.

Okay, this blog has exhausted me. So sad. But I'm going to take advantage of the quiet & see if I can sleep a few more minutes so I can be cheery when Ben comes home with tales of excitement from his big day. Please keep your fingers crossed that the bug will skip him & Marcel!

Working Class Ash

So, I have news. Folks, I have gotten a job! Can you believe it - little old me, back in the working world? Crazy. I'll give you more information after I start next week but I am very happy about where I'll be working, who I'll be working with & what I'll be doing so I'm just 100% excited!

Welllll, maybe 99% excited.

The other 1% is pure terror. There's the awful fear that I'm going to show up & my brain, which I assumed will still be capable of logistical and production tasks, will turn out to have shriveled away. If someone asks me about the status of a program, will I shout "Great fires of London!" like Fireman Sam? Will my office small talk be peppered with choice anecdotes like "... & then the BLUE Wiggle FIRED the yellow Wiggle & replaced him with the OLD yellow Wiggle, now they're all retiring anyway ...?" I'm a different person than I used to be. I can't possibly be more boring than I was before but I'm definitely different!

Most importantly, there is the feeling that I think most moms face when they choose (or have) to go back to work - am I going to ruin my kids? Are they going to hate me? Am I being selfish?

AM I A BAD MOM?

I think I've made it quite clear over the years that I'm not the most qualified woman in the world to be a full-time mom - there have been periods of frustration, rage and everyone's favorite, depression. I will never be able to erase the mental picture of myself (brace yourselves for this story) breastfeeding a wailing newborn Evan while I was on the toilet with gosh-awful diarrhea, sobbing because the stomach pains were causing my raw c-section incision to throb to new and unholy levels of agony. On my worst days, I let that humiliating time serve as a reminder that I can survive anything. And yes, I plan to trot that lovely story out as often as needed to remind my new coworkers that I'm not a lady to be doubted. Diarrhea/breastfeeding/surgery pain/crying stories are the way to impress new colleagues, right?

So yes, I have had some rough times as a stay at home mom and any time a jackass refers to being a mother as "the hardest job you'll ever love" with a patronizing smirk, I will be the first to say "Um yeah, it actually is." That jackass probably won't be worthy of my heroic tale of poopin' & boobin' but he or she will get the royal stinkeye.

Have I ever mentioned that I actually LOVE being a mom, by the way? I realize I tend to use this blog as a catharsis for the hard, the miserable and (thankfully) the hilarious but I seriously am so utterly grateful that I was able to be with Benny & Evan as long as I have. They are the coolest kids around & we've had some amazing times together - watching them grow into little boys is the best thing in the world. And now I'm weepy again.

Fear not, they will be in capable hands. Ben is starting back to daycare on Monday - he'll be going full time at an Adventist school just down the street from where Marcel's mom is a Pastor so we're very excited to have gotten him in there. I hope he loves being full time as much as we think he will but if not, we'll be going back down to a few days a week instead.

Marcel will be home with Evan & freelancing a bit with his editing & graphics from his new, awesome home office. I'm actually so excited about the two of them spending more time together because a certain older brother usually prevents Evan from getting much alone time with good old Dada. Marcel is great with him as far as getting him down for naps, etc. so I think it will be a walk in the park for him.

Oh crap! I need helpful advice for one area - breast pumps! Yes, I'm still breastfeeding Evan. We talked about just weaning him now because he's darn well old enough (coming from the woman who nursed Ben until 19 months) & I think he'd be okay. I don't know if it's me being my emotional self who is a hippie when it comes to this area but I'm not really ready to wean him completely. This is going to sound completely backwards to most people but if I could wean his day feeds & keep feeding him at night for a few more weeks, I'd be happy. He's still sleeping with us from about midnight or so, which is SO much easier now that we have a king size bed by the way, but he doesn't drink too terribly much unless he's teething. Can you just wean day feeds like that or will my supply drop? I assume since you can wean night feeds & keep your supply up for just day feeds that it's totally possible to do the ridiculous opposite? I'll start by pumping milk for him to have while I'm gone so it's not a cold turkey situation then wind it down from there. Then when all the shakeup has settled down a bit & he's used to be being away all day, we'll start addressing the co-sleeping & night feeding. He'll probably be a champ but I'm not quite ready to let my last baby go!

And on the pumping note, does anyone have recommendations for good pumps? And because I don't plan on doing it for months & months, has anyone had good or bad experiences with rental places?

On that note, I am going to do a little bit of cleaning. My parents are driving up for a visit - YAY!! So it would be nice if our house looked a bit liveable & less like the tropical storm concentrated on our particular house. I shouldn't make jokes because I know how absolutely devastated New York & New Jersey are at the moment & it's heartbreaking. I've donated to the Red Cross & I hope you have too if you're able.

Have a lovely night & I can't wait to tell you more about my new job next week!

From the Other Side

Heavens to Betsy, I have missed you. Just so you know, I haven't changed a bit - I'm chomping away on a miniature LaraBar leftover from Boo at the Zoo Halloween festivities & am earnestly praying that eating that instead of the Twix I was eyeing will help the fact that my newly earned & celebrated smaller size jeans are way too snug now. I keep squeezing myself into them, mind you, putting their stretch capabilities to an unfair test. I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago & have gone once. Took a class, was so sore I actually cried a little when I had to get in & out of my car a few times (squats & lunges are the devil's handiwork!). Haven't been back but I hear it calling my name. And I somehow have to rewire my brain about eating again - it's like all the healthy food I was loving for so long is completely foreign. I literally can't think of what we used to eat all the time! I sense a return to Weight Watchers in my near future & quite honestly, I am happy about that. I miss the energy I had when I was eating well & I miss that awesome feeling of seeing the numbers (& sizes) going down, down, down.

So now that we've discussed the size of my ass, let me tell you that all is well over here. Hurricane or Tropical Storm or Whatever Sandy blew on through, shook up our trees & pelted us with rain but our area escaped with no drama. I am so thankful that we didn't get blown off the map so soon into our new American adventure!

I promise some pictures soon of our house. It's no palace, but it is pretty darn spectacular in my humble opinion. It was built in the 80s & that is very obvious in some areas so there is some work to be done but we're very happy to have a home that suits us so well. The boys have plenty of room to play, Marcel now has his own office & I am loving decorating this place from scratch!

The best part of our house, I have to say, is the gifts we're filling it with from our families in the form of hand-me-downs. I'm currently typing away at a little old desk from great-aunt Mary & we have paintings, knick knacks & furniture from parents, grandparents & attics. Mixing that stuff up with new stuff from IKEA, Target, West Elm & Etsy (we get so many deliveries that our UPS man recognized us on the street) is really making this place a lovely place to be. I promise I will share some of the transformation soon - I just want to get a little more progress made before I start putting out there for you to judge!

It's wonderful to be back in Washington, I do have to say. I am planning on a quick blog rundown about the place soon & I'm sure I'll end up with many entries on the topic. I'll also give you more information about the suburb where we live so you can get a better idea of our life these days.

But right now, my eyelids are getting heavy I should go to bed & get my beauty sleep. Some of us need more than others! Apologies that this little note wasn't very deep or exciting - I'll get back into the swing of things. I honestly feel like I'm finally snapping out of the fog these days. Moving overseas with two tiny ones is traumatic, I can't stress that enough. We have had some rough days that I'd rather forget but aside from a little post-traumatic stress disorder, I think we're going to be okay!

And if you have emailed or sent me a message on Facebook or by carrier pigeon & I haven't replied, I apologize with 110% of my sincere little heart!! I have read your notes - sometimes many times - & they absolutely make my day but then when I go to reply, I just go blank. I think I could just never figure out where to start.

Anyway, if you're in Australia please know that we miss you so much! Enjoy the sunshine for us as we're going into our second straight winter & give your nearest kangaroo a hug for me please.

shaking with anitici.......pation

My, how I've missed you guys. As rambling & nonsensical as this blog tends to be, the simple act of writing is so gratifying to me. My rants, raves & lame stabs at humor come from a surprisingly deep place & I swear that I physically feel better if I've spewed my little words. I'm pretty sure I store part of my mind in my fingers & once they've had their typing workout my little brain can relax a tiny bit.

How's that for obnoxious?!

Anyway, I either missed typing or I missed sharing every boring minute of my life with you so I'm back.

And none too soon, I tell you. So much to tell, so much to share, so much inspiration I need from you before I lay my head down on the floor & give up being useful.

For those of you who haven't heard the grand proclamations (seriously, if my mom owned a megaphone you would have literally heard the news straight from her)(by the way, never buy my mother a megaphone), we are moving back to America. That's right. Yes, it is true. Uh-huh, we'll be Yankee Doodle Dandies once again.

You have follow up questions? Of course you do. Unfortunately, I have no answers. No real idea of when, what we'll do, what jobs we'll have (the rumors that Marcel was offered a GC job are not true - he was on the list of possible candidates but it went to someone else in the end, which is absolutely 100% fine with Marcel), where we'll live, etc. are wiiiiide open.

Well, we're moving to DC unless any of you Tennesseans manage to corner Nicole Kidman & convince her to let me be her assistant. How perfect would that be?? Both Nashville/Australia gals with our handsome husbands - she has two lovely girls, I have two goofy boys. The natural partnership writes itself.

So yes, we'll be in DC. More job opportunities for us both there. Our house is on the market here (http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-kariong-111102339 just in case you're looking for a wonderful little home on the Central Coast) & as soon as it sells, we'll be on our way. Oh yeah, we also have to get rid of absolutely everything we own too but hey, nothing hard about that. Nope, no drama.

But seriously folks, I'm not one to let a little stress get to me but the build up to this move is a bit much. I realize that moving from one side of the planet to another is hard & it's a gazillion times harder in the other direction once you've bought a house & belongings & suddenly you have two little hangers-on who depend on you for their every step in life. Therefore, when I wake up with a new zit, a cold sore or a visit from the IBS that I thought was loooong gone, I am not surprised. I am also blaming my current string of bad hair days on stress & will kick you in the shins if you try to convince me otherwise.

Anyway, that's my quick update. I'm watching Evan stir on the baby monitor - that's right, I still haven't gotten him into his own bed as I swore I was going to do. He's basically in his own crib for his nap now but I don't have the strength for the nights yet.

I will try to blog more regularly now that I have new things to report. In the meantime if you know of anyone looking for a motion graphics editor (Avid, FCP & all the necessary programs) or some sort of assistant/coordinator/girl Friday, let us know will ya?

And if you'd like to buy a house or furniture or a car or lots of baby clothes, etc. let us know & we'll cut you a deal (well, not on the house)(& not if you're in America because we're not shipping or bringing it over, sorry).

In the meantime, please pray that the cleaning fairy comes along to keep our house nice & tidy (yes, we've cleared out tons of knick knacks & clutter & we make sure all the kids stuff is either in their rooms or hidden away so we can appeal to everyone) for us. Also please pray that we don't lose our minds before this is all over. That is all. Amen.

Smashin' Fashion

I am not a fashionable person, I am aware of that. 

But it's not for lack of dreaming. 

I don't want to toot my own horn (much) but since I've been doing well with my Weight Watchers, my eye has been wandering towards some slightly more exciting clothes. 

Let's be honest, I'm not looking to break out of my jeans & t-shirt uniform too often but I could always broaden my horizons to a few more fun options.

Would be nice if my budget jumped on board too!

Anyhoo, a few celebrity looks have caught my fancy enough lately that I felt compelled to share with you. Don't ask me why because I don't have an answer for you - I'm just going through a phase.

I have only recently jumped on board the Jennifer Aniston train.

I never had anything actually against her & wasn't sporting a Team Jolie shirt or anything because that shit ain't my business.

I found her style more boring than classic.

Now that I have a few more years under my belt, I truly love that classic look.

I also love that she embraces the jeans & t-shirt uniform - I secretly pretend I look like her when I'm getting dressed. *sigh*

I am not so in love with those wedges with this outfit but I'm probably wrong about that. Also, I completely forgive any fashion sins committed while travelling. No one is at their best when involved with air travel, no matter how hard they try.

Oh yes, she also has inspired MAJOR blazer envy for me.

I see myself owning several new snazzy blazers as soon as I can afford to do so.

Elizabeth Banks is EVERYWHERE this year & I am a fan. 

I am also a fan of this crazy-ass dress.

Oddly, my first thought upon seeing it was "That looks like something I would wear." 

I'm sure something that exciting & colorful would look simply stunning on a stumpy gal like me. 

I have never been a fan of Blake Lively & I have no reason for this.

I have never seen Gossip Girl & I fell asleep during The Town before she came on.

That's not a judgment on The Town because it looked awesome & Marcel said she was good.

My point is ... I completely forgot. But yes, I wasn't a fan.

On the other hand, I am a HUGE fan of this dress. 

Like, this may be the greatest dress I have ever seen - it was everything I desire in a dream dress. 

I love it, I love it, I love it!!

I'm sure my terrible posture & rump would look a-mah-zing in this.

Until next time, may all your fashion choices be zingers.

**I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS! I JUST TYPED IT WITHOUT THINKING & THEN READ IT BACK, SHOCKED AT THE BIZARRENESS. ZINGERS? 

Shout Out West

Today I have a to-do list that's a mile long so it's natural that I would be inspired to come to my blog instead & just avoid any of that pesky work! Lucky you, right?

I'm having a bit of a blog meltdown these days. Life is a bit nutty & has left me at a loss for words - well, not a total loss but my words have been confused, negative or of the four-letter variety so my radio silence is a good thing, trust me. 

So, I'm trying to decide how to handle the blog from here on out. I realize this shouldn't be such an issue as it's just an electronic brain-fart & nothing more profound but I usually enjoy it. But now that Ben is getting older (3 is ridiculously old to me!), it feels a bit like I'm talking behind his back & that's not so nice. Also, I think you know I've had some struggles with his toddlerhood & I really did not like that every blog entry was complaining about someone who is literally one of the most exciting humans that I've ever had the joy to love! 

I thought maybe I'd focus on Evan until Ben settled down a bit & keep this as a more baby-centric blog for a while but I quickly realized that we've been there & done that. Do we really need another round of me wondering why my child refuses to nap & how the hell did he end up in our bed, drinking all night after he was sleeping through the night in his own space for a few months? 

(Sidenote: I actually honestly have no recollection of what brought him into our bed but there are dark days of sleep training ahead of us so I might blog those for my own sanity)

Anyway, so for now I'm keeping the blog to just special occasions or when the spirit moves me to share some stupidity or if my fingers need a good stretching round of typing. 

Which brings me to this entry. 

We went on a wonderful, amazing, out of this world vacation recently. Well, most of it was fantastic - part of it was awful & heartbreaking but such is life. I'll fill you in, don't you worry. 

Obviously I've been living inside my head a bit too much recently. Let's be honest, living inside your own head for ANY amount of time is dangerous to your health so I'm trying to focus outwards & be present in life but when it comes to this little blog of mine, I'm still taking up residence in ye olde cranium. Can't quite decide how to break down the trip to do it justice so I'm just starting to throw things out there for you - some of my favorite aspects of the trip, in NO PARTICULAR ORDER, usually just happens to be what order the pictures happened to fall.

Soooooo, wrapping up the most painful introduction of all time, I give you ....

Our Western Adventure

JOSHUA TREE

Joshua Tree is literally one of my favorite places on the planet, if not THE favorite - I'm usually one for clutter & hubbub (remind to use that phrase for a future album title) but the desert gets me every time. There is something in the air that makes me ridiculously happy - probably the total lack of humidity so my hair actually lies flight - & I feel totally at peace, as dorky as it sounds.

I don't think I ever told you that we were thisclose to naming Evan "Joshua" instead. Totally were but then I thought my cousin Josh might get a big head about it & that's the last thing the world needs so we went with Evan. Just kidding, I love my cousin Josh & would have been happy to have a son sharing his name but Evan won in the end anyway.

The very very very best part of visiting J. Tree with the family was Ben acquiring a new hobby - he stole one of Ilse's fancy shmancy cameras & decided he is now a photographer. It was awesome. He was awesome. I am currently creating a photo book of his pictures from that evening because some of them are amazing. Some are hilarious but none of them are boring. 

I'll never forget the little bit of time we spent there - it is a very special corner of the world!

DISNEYLAND

I know there are plenty of parents who are not fans of Disney & its influence on kids, plus the idea of a day in any theme park is hell on earth. We are not those kind of parents. For the record, we are also a-okay with those ugly clunky plastic toys that last forever & the kids love but look sloppy in your yard. We can still be friends, right?

Anyway, our day at Disney was perfect. PERFECT. I am terrified to ever go again for fear it won't live up to this trip. Ben was a grouch as the day started but after his first ride his smile got bigger & bigger & we had a blast. Lines weren't ridiculous for a weekend in June & I think we all almost got out of it what we wanted - mostly we were just there to watch the kids experience it, which helped.

Anyway, we watched the evening fireworks & just kept going, figuring we'd head out as soon as either boy started melting down but they never did so as the park closed at midnight we came around the corner & stumbled upon some special friends so I think this picture sums the day up quite perfectly:

I will post most Vegas pictures in a future entry because there aren't many. That was my family's leg of the journey & we are not ones to take pictures - not a big deal but not really helpful when I'm trying to blog about things we've done!

The first part of the Vegas portion was a blast! We had a huge condo in the Hilton building attached to Planet Hollywood & we shared it with my parents & brother, sister in law & their kids so we had the whole gang together. Amaaaaazing that we all managed to pull it off.

Unfortunately, the Vegas section of our travels was cut off as my parents had to rush back to Tennessee to be with my grandmother who fell ill the day after they left to come out to see us. She died the next day so I'm very very glad that they chose to go home to be with her but I missed them terribly & spent the next few days trying to ignore my terrible funk, grieving for my wonderful grandmother & feeling very guilty for dragging everyone out to see us & away from her while she was sick.

Luckily Vegas is a good place for distractions & we had fun dragging the boys all over the place to see the hotels & do some shopping & eating lots of yummy food.

I've been to Vegas several times & love that place, even as a gal who doesn't drink, doesn't care for the clubs, burns in the sun & can't afford to gamble much. It's just a carefree city, I guess. But this trip there was one surprise for me - a hotel I hadn't visited before ...

THE COSMOPOLITAN

We didn't stay at The Cosmopolitan (I'll do another blog later about the various places we called home) but we will absolutely try in the future. It is the coolest hotel/casino I have ever seen. I was seriously smitten.

First, they have a bar/lounge that takes up the entire center of the shopping/casino/whatevs area called The Chandelier. IT IS COMPLETELY ENCASED INSIDE A GAZILLION ROPES OF CRYSTALS SO IT LOOKS LIEK A GINORMOUS CHANDELIER!! I abused the Caps Locks so it's clear that I was shouting that at you. Normally I attempt to keep my cool in trendy places & not act like the total yokel that I am but I could not stop gawking at the 3-story chandelier that people were walking around in & hanging out on comfy couches. We tried to get pictures ourselves on the iPhone but it didn't capture it well enough (IT IS GORGEOUS!!). I kept wandering back over to the railing to look out over this place - is it possible to have a crush on a place? Cos I think I'm in love with The Cosmopolitan thanks to this sparkly piece of heaven.

If that weren't enough, while roaming around I spotted this machine:

I was a little surprised because I didn't think cigarette vending machines were still a thing, especially at such a trendy place. Then I spotted the name & looked closer. OH ... MY ... WORD! It was at this point that I physically grabbed Marcel & started shrieking at him in my way too excited voice "Oh my gosh, it's art, look at the tiny little pieces of art. Howmuchisit?Ohmygoodnessit'sonly5dollars.Iwantamillionofthem.Doyouhave5dollars????"

Thus began my obsession with Art-O-Mat.

This was our first acquisition, an adorable little oil painting of a bird! They all have to be the size of a cigarette carton so they fit in the machine & at $5 a pop you are a fool, A FOOL, to not snatch up some pieces for your own art wall. We went back to the two machines we found in the hotel a few times - two were kinda duds as one was earrings (my ears aren't pierced) & one was a friendship bracelet that looked like a demented scrunchie so my one piece of advice is to only choose ones that say oil painting (or whatever you want) not "random" or "surprise." 

During my last art shopping spree, which sounds much better than cheap vending machine emptying, an older dude who works for The Cosmopolitan came up & told us a bit of the history of Art-O-Mat &  how it's actually a really great way to start your art collection. I don't know who he was but I like to pretend that he's a wacky owner/manager eccentric gazillionaire & if I had found the right combination of words, he would have shown us the secret back areas of the hotel & let us borrow his private solid gold golf cart to tour the property. Alas, either I was wrong or "Oh my gosh, this machine is AWESOME!" wasn't the secret code he required.

Anyway, I wish you would visit the Art-O-Mat website & see where you can find one to visit yourself (Washingtonians, there is a Smithsonian location!). http://www.artomat.org/

Aside from the lounge dripping in crystals & the cheap art souvenirs, this place just had a good vibe. Apparently the restaurants are famous ones & the clubs are world-class, which is right up our alley ... not. On the top floor is a little game area with a pool table, big comfy designer looking chairs & no one scolded us for spinning Benny in them like they were made for commoners like us. If I could transport that little game area with their awesome chairs & funky tables made of giant vintage-looking dominoes I would totally take it. 

Kudos to you, The Cosmopolitan! I love you.

I will be back to blog more later, I promise you that but I make no guarantees of when. I think almost all of our trip photos are up on facebook anyway except the handful of wonderful photos that my mother in law took of everyone in Vegas (the Eisele part of the clan was only there for one day) so THANK YOU Debbie for taking so many pictures for those of us doofuses who don't.