Months ago I agreed to attend the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show.  I was extremely hesitant about going for a few reasons.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the people I work with, but a “trip” to Vegas with my co-workers for a convention didn’t sound too thrilling.  Not to mention that my favorite travel buddy (Zach, in case you didn’t know) couldn’t even attend because we were sharing rooms between the 8 of us.  I had agreed to share a room with my girl Janette.  Then I remembered how much fun I had in Madison at the Sub Zero “trip” and made myself change my attitude.  Let’s just say the trip did NOT start off on the right foot.  I arrived to the airport in plenty of time, but had no idea that security would take 45 minutes to get through.  Thank heaven above for my husband, who has prepared me for the most efficient way possible through security and the bag check.  I joke that he is a Nazi about it, but thanks to him I MADE it on the plane with minutes to spare.

As soon as we landed and were taxi-ing to our gate, I turned on my phone to text Zach and let him know we had arrived safely.  As I am texting him, I get a phone call from someone at work letting me know there had been a huge mistake on one of my projects going out this week and it could potentially cost thousands of dollars to fix.  Awesome.  Pretty sure my ulcers made a come-back.  I was a stress case pretty much the whole morning.

We rode to our hotel at the Planet Hollywood in style, all aboard a snazzy black limo.  I have never actually been inside the PH Hotel before this, only walked around the Miracle Mile Shops nearby – and seen the Casino on the movie 21.  It was a gorgeous hotel and our rooms were awesome.  We didn’t even have time to test out our beds before we were off to lunch before the show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Walking through the Casino to grab a bite, the lovely Tiffany spotted Holly Madison near the Black Jack tables.  Don’t ask about what she is wearing (by far the most material I have ever seen on a Playmate) but she still is so gorgeous.

The show was a lot bigger than I expected.  We saw almost everything in 4 hours.  My favorite booths were Kohler, Toto, and Wetstyle.  There were aisles and aisles of hardware, plumbing, and cabinetry.

We soaked it all up before heading off to dinner.  Janette, Steve, and Tiffany are reps for the NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) and were invited to this fancy shmancy Gala where they were wined and dined – so Bonnie, Tina, Wyatt and I decided to go to the Rio for their Carnival World Buffet.  Not as good as I remembered from my younger days with my fam, but everyone enjoyed the crab, prime rib, and unlimited gelato bar.  Tina and I spent the rest of the night shopping at the Miracle Mile Shops because Bonnie got bored in about 10 seconds.

Day two we decided to go back to the show just to make sure that we didn’t miss anything noteworthy, like models dressed in granite jumpsuits perhaps….

Little did we know that the highlight would be that the featured celebrities were signing autographs in their assigned displays.  We got photos with Curtis Stone (America’s Next Top Restaurant) and Ed Sanders (Extreme Home Makeover).

After another couple of hours at the show, the women went to Fashion Show Mall and the men hit up the tables at our casino.  We all met up for dinner later that night at the Cosmopolitan at their STK Restaurant.  All around the best meal we had the whole trip.

Janette and I were not done getting our shop on, so after dinner we walked to the Forum Shops at Caesars.  We hit up the slot machines for a while – losing all our petty cash, got some gelato, and watched the high rollers drop the big bucks.

The last day I slept in, checked out of my room, and met everyone for lunch at Spago in Caesars.  SO delicious, a must if you ever go to the Forum Shops.  Bonnie, Steve, Wyatt, Tina, and Tiffany all left for the airport around 3:00 pm while Janette and I opted for the later flight.  I met up with my cousin who lives in Boulder City for some shopping and snacks and later met back up with Janette.  Her sister lives about an hour outside of Vegas and drove us all over, along with her daughter Brittney.  They took us on a tour of the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory, where we got to sample the goods, stopped at McDonald’s and got us some Diet Cokes, and even made a quick trip to Trader Joe’s for some necessities.  While in San Francisco I became completely hooked on TJ’s and their amazing selection.  The breads, cookies, organic items, every possible cheese you can imagine….

I left with dried white peaches, my favorite strawberry fruit leather, and mango butter.  The hardest part was turning away their amazing carrot cake inside out cookies and ice cream sandwiches.

We spent our last minutes in LV at a great little hole-in-the-wall sushi place Brenda and Brittney took us to before dropping us off at the airport.

It was so nice to spend a few days in the 70 + degree weather.  And even though I missed Zach the ENTIRE time like a 12-year-old girl, the time spent with my co-workers was both enjoyable and entertaining.  One thing I won’t miss…..

Hearing the phrase, “What happens in Vegas….?”