Vegas, Volume One

So far, so good in sunny Las Vegas! We had a delay in our flight out on Sunday, but it didn't set us back too far. Once we got our luggage, got a taxi, checked in, and got to our room; Sarah had to jet off to get things ready for the conference, so I was left to unpack and get us settled. Our room is really nice: shower and bathtub, double sinks, king size bed, separate closets. No view, but that's okay. So Sunday evening we went to dinner with the whole HOW staff at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Postrio , at the Venitian. The food, wine, and company were all tremendous. We had a great time and by the time we got back to our hotel everyone was ready for bed. Matt & Amanda's flight got it around 9:00 pm, which was right around the time everyone else in our group was headed off to sleep. I had fully intended to go out with them when they got to their hotel, but that king size bed was calling my name and I succumbed to an early bedtime on my first night in Vegas!
Yesterday I got up (Sarah was already long gone) and walked around Mandalay Bay (our hotel) to check things out. I met up with Matt and Amanda and we went to breakfast at the Bay Side Buffet (you'll have to ask Matt about the bacon). After breakfast, we headed out for some fun and sun at the pool. It was awesome! They have a huge wave pool that creates a big wave about every three minutes. We had a lot of fun challenging each other to see who could best withstand the power of the waves (Amanda lost). After some good sun time, we headed back to our rooms to get ready for the evening.
We stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at La Salsa in Luxor (the same location as Katie's "rehearsal dinner" two years earlier. Nice trip down memory lane, btw) and headed over to the HOW Conference Kickoff session. We made a quick stop at the casino to put some money in the slots (which we left in the slots, no big wins... yet). Sarah was able to secure passes to the opening session for all three of us, it was great. They kicked it off with a Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin "Rat Pack" tribute trio who were very entertaining. We were in the front row and "Old Blue Eyes" kept making eyes at Amanda and Sarah.
Before the main speaker got up there, Sarah gave an awards presentation honoring their competition winners from this year. She was pretty nervous about speaking in front of a crowd of four thousand, but you would never have known it to see her on stage. I was so proud of her; she looked and sounded great. I'm really lucky to have the opportunity to get this glimpse into a big part of what Sarah does with HOW. I'm so proud of what she does, not just her public speaking, but being such an integral part of such a huge operation. I see why everyone she works with has such respect for her and so much faith in her talents and abilities.
The main speaker at the session was amazing. He talked about risk taking in work and integrated that overall theme into his talents and genius in the world of juggling. I can't really do justice to what he had to say and show us, but trust me when I say everyone was blown away and I left with a powerful message that really relates to what they do and why they are here.
After the HOW stuff, Matt, Amanda, and I headed over to the House of Blues for Rock Star Karaoke, unlike any karaoke you've seen before. They had a limited song list, but every singer performed with a live band! Matt and Amanda both got the crowd going with "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Get This Party Started" respectively. I refrained from hitting the stage with anything, but had a great time rockin' out in the crowd! We left around 12:30 (still a little lame for Vegas) but with the promise that tonight we were going to party much later. So we have planned some nap time this afternoon to get us prepared, what can I say, we're getting old!
Hope all is well with all of you. I'll try to keep you posted throughout the rest of the week!