I Inspire Someone...It's about time.

On my weekly blog-reading spree yesterday, I found that I was featured on:
                      
                              Flip Flops and Combat Boots
On it, I made some recommendations about some of my favorite things and guilty pleasures. It's a great blog.

Other than that, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas full of holiday cheer and little to no family drama.

I won't post again until Monday, due to holiday travel. (can you sense my excitement?)

Can you have a Christ-mas without the Christ? You can if you're heathen.

I can't seem to get in the holiday spirit this year.

Last year was much the same, but Andy was deployed, so it's to be expected when that mess is going on. This year I don't really have a reason. I never really feel like it's Christmas until I see two movies:
Bing Crosby's White Christmas
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

When I was growing up, I thought I hated being forced to sing Christmas carols and go to church. Now I find myself missing it. I grew up going to church almost every Sunday until I was about 12. I have rarely taken my kids to church, mostly holidays. One of my many shortcomings as a mother. I always said "once we get settled" we would start taking them to Sunday school. I don't like going every Sunday, but the kids should have a chance to learn the basics about Christianity so that they can make an informed decision of what they believe in when they're older. The problem is that I never quite have felt settled somewhere. I'm a moving junkie, and always looking for my next fix.

We are heading to Washington DC to spend the holidays with Andy's mom. It's been a rough year for her, and we are trying to be good children. The great thing about Andy's family is that they drink. My parents rarely have a beer or glass of wine, but when you spend time with Canadians, it's expected.

We are also going to visit my sisters, grandparents and mother in PA for two days heading down. It's not easy when your parents and your husbands parents are divorced during the holidays. We could spend all of our time going between them all, like the movie "Four Christmases". And so next year, I think we are going on a cruise for Christmas. Just us. Time to relax, be in warm weather and sunshine, and maybe pick up a church service or two.

Like having another baby...just without gaining 40 pounds!

I am so happy (and relieved) today to announce that my new blog, "Bacon in my Suitcase" has been born!!

CLICK ON THE LINK

Bacon In My SuitcaseI was a moron for going through Word Press since I have little to no experience creating websites, and I got so frustrated dealing with the "themes" and "templates" and "headers", I finally just ended up going on www.elance.com and hired someone to do it for me! Let me tell you, it is so much easier to use Blogger to manage all the gadgets, etc... on a blog. I ate an entire container of chocolate Haagen-daaz last night, and I don't even like chocolate ice cream.


Thank you to Abe at Eugene Web Solutions for putting up with my temper tantrums, frustration and meltdowns, and for doing an amazing job creating my theme!


I decided to split up my blog and move the travel and food parts in able to feature them more prominently. "Glamorous" is more of my personal blog, "mommy" blog if you must, military-related blog.
"Bacon" is to feature kitchen/cooking product reviews, opinions, recipes, wineries, wine education, restaurants, food in general, travel, vacation reviews, travel on budget.


Where did I come up with "Bacon in my Suitcase" for a title? It came to me in an Ambien/Xanax-induced half-coma. If I had to travel with my favorite food, what would it be? I think anyone would be hard-pressed
to NOT say bacon.


Anyway, you will notice my travel and food pages disappear from this blog soon, and you will have to give me a week or so to get things rolling, but thanks for your support through it and CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG!!!!!

My Travel Tips for Las Vegas, NV

I love to go to Las Vegas. Even if you don’t want to gamble, there are plenty of things to keep you busy for weeks. So I figured I would share some info on how to roll like you’re rich in Vegas…or at least have a really great time.

Hotels: I almost always use Priceline for my hotels, and “Name my own price”. You can specify where you want the hotel located and what Star Level. Request, and receive a 5-Star Hotel for $100/night. Last time I did this, we stayed at the new Trump International and had a suite with a full kitchen! The bathroom in this thing was the size of a normal hotel room. Pros/Cons: No Smoking Hotel, No Casino in this hotel. For a cheaper hotel, use Priceline also. Name your budget and come out with a bit nicer place.

Other Hotels I Recommend: Paris, The Luxor, The Bellagio, The Wynn, The Palms and The Hard Rock Hotel

Gambling:
The best places to gamble are definitely downtown. The slots are looser, and the table minimums are much cheaper. One shining star I have found on the Strip, is the Sahara. This is one of the oldest hotels on the strip, so they compensate by having $3 Blackjack. You can sit down with $100 at a BJ Table, and unless you hit a horrible streak, you can play on this for hours at $3/hand. If you have to play slots ( I do too) then make sure you play the Max Bet. Yes, your money goes faster, but I can’t tell you how many time a $300 win would have been a $3000 win, had I not been a cheapskate.

Food:
Vegas is one of those places you can eat really cheaply, or really high-class. For a cheap, but awesome meal, go to Lucky 7’s in the Hard Rock Hotel and ask for the steak special. It’s a steak, salad and potato for $7, but is NOT on the menu. For another cheap steak dinner, go to Ellis Island for their famous $6.99 deal that includes one of their micro-brews. Up partying til 6am? Eat a meal in the middle of the night. After 11pm, you can find $2-4 Breakfast deals at almost every casino. For a more memorable dining experience, try Nobu at the Hard Rock. It will run you about $100-150 per person because everything is a la carte. But it’s amazing Asian cuisine, and you cannot miss the Kobe Beef Tenderloin!!!! Another more pricey meal not to miss, is the Gourmet Buffet at the Bellagio. It will run you about $35, but rest assured that this is the BEST buffet on the strip.

Entertainment:
If you have money to spend, I highly recommend ANY of the Cirque Du Soleil shows. I have seen KA and O, and both worth the $100pp. Still want to see a show, but not rolling in the dough? Go see the Follies Bergere at the Tropicana. It’s the longest running showgirl act in Vegas, and you can usually find a deal to pick up tickets for about $30pp. You can also try the Last Minute Tickets Booth on the strip for day of the show specials. Still don’t have enough money for a show? Head over to the Rio All-Suites Food Court, where they do a Mardi Gras performance right there for free. See the acrobat performance at the Tropicana, watch the fountain show at the Bellagio, see the Pirates show at TI, the Lions Exhibit at the MGM, the Tigers at the Mirage, the light show at the Freemont Street Experience. Simply walking through each hotel gives you something interesting to do, and you will NOT have time to see it all. There are roller coasters and rides at New York New York, Circus Circus, and the Stratosphere. Whatever your budget is, there is plenty to keep you busy.

Nightlife:
This is where it will be a bargain for you to go VIP. Make arrangements before you travel with a VIP Host, either one you find online or through the hotel. NEVER PAY A FEE FOR THE SERVICE! Tipping once you get there is up to you. Decide beforehand where you want to go, and reserve a table. You will be required to purchase a bottle of liquor. Prices run about $300 per bottle. But if you have 4 friends per bottle, then it brings down your cut to about $120, including the gratuity. You are going to pay $10-14 per drink in Vegas and there is nowhere to sit for free. You might as well have your own cushy couch, table, all your mixers are included and you make your own drinks right there at your table. Plus, you have security to watch your purse while you dance and your booze. Definitely worth every penny. And who doesn’t want to party like a rockstar when they’re in Vegas???

Countdown to KP Duty

So, Andy comes home last night and tells me we are having 13-15 people over for Thanksgiving.

While this is not a new feat to tackle, I had hoped to keep our guestlist to a minimum number of single soldiers this year. I was thinking, 3 or 4. Instead, he invited ALL of the single soldiers and even a few couples. I am not a mean person, but I don't have room for all of these people. All night long, I find myself wondering "would it be wrong to make my kids, my parents or the soldiers eat in the other room?"

After I had my 5-minute freakout...I realized this is manageable. After the first several times you host large groupings of men in their late teens/early twenties and you see how much they eat, you don't feeling guilty handing out assignments as to what they can bring with them. Married couples have cooking facilities, so they are more than capable of providing some sort of side dish. Always give your husband the menu so he can relay what you are already making, dodging the awkwardness of "oh, ANOTHER jello mold!" (Okay, so no one makes jello molds anymore, but you get the idea.) Single soldiers can bring the rolls, the pies, the drinks...things that don't require cooking and that they can pick up at the store.

Another word to the wise, unless you want these people at your house for the next 24 hours, plan to eat around 1 or 2pm. Army guys have a tendency to like to drink beer, and before you know it, they are playing poker or watching football or napping while you trying to tame the carnage that is left. One New Years Eve, we had invited a couple over (my first time meeting them) and not only did she leave her drunk husband at my house for the night....she came back the next day with bags full of groceries, let herself in, cooked breakfast in MY kitchen while I was asleep, and proceeded to stay the entire next day until about 10pm!!! She didn't even bring her husband a change of clothes! I will never invite these people over again because I don't know if they will ever leave.

Buy yourself a bottle of wine and save it for after the dishes. Or better yet, put your feet up and enjoy a glass while your husband leads the platoon in KP duty.