Las Vegas: I LOVE YOU!

I can't believe it's been a week since our Vegas getaway to take our engagement pictures. Around this time last Thursday (11:00pm-ish), Jon and I were DYING in my Mom's car! There wasn't an iPod adapter and the MP3 CD that Jon brought didn't play in the stereo! Just goes to show how dependent we are on our tunes. But imagine a 5 hour drive with no music - well, just the highway radio stations. It lead the way to very interesting conversation topics (mobsters and feces, to name a few). HAHA!

You know when you have an awesome weekend - the scenes from each day just keep replaying in your mind? This Vegas trip was one of those...

Friday: Our first day of the photo shoot. A friend of Jon's cousin (Talia) came over to do my make-up. I figure since I was being photographed it had to be done a different way. And....well...I wanted to pamper myself! I got all dolled up and Jon and I headed over to the Neon Museum with our photographers/friends, Ren and Rob. Ever wonder where the old Vegas neon signs go? They go here. To rest in peace. And we were fortunate enough to book a one hour shoot at the museum. The attraction is not yet open to the public - and once it is... they'll just be doing tours and such... so we considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity! It was so fun. Thank you to DayQuil for keeping me from blowing my nose every 10 minutes. Less than a mile away from the Museum is the Fremont Experience - the location for our second shoot. But before we continued "working" - we took a dinner break at the new FIREFLY Tapas Kitchen & Bar location at the Plaza Hotel... Let me share with you the goodness that is tapas!!
We ordered:
Ceviche of Shrimp
Manchego Mac & Cheese
Chicken & Chorizo stuffed mushrooms
Thai Beef Salad
Crispy Duck Rolls
Stuffed Dates
Steamed Mussels
***I may have forgotten a few items - maybe because of my yummy Red Sangria!

....and so the shoot continues on to Fremont Street. Holy Moly was that place crowded!!! We knew we had to deal with the regular crowd, but it was extra crowded that night. Ren and Rob were such troopers: sitting (practically laying) on the ground for some shots... Ren holding the 'soft box' for the right lighting... and even people approaching them asking if Jon & I were famous. hahaha! Good Times!! I will admit...it was a tad weird kissing Jon so many times in public. :P
Since we were "dolled" up - we figured it would be a good idea spend the rest of the night out on the town... but right after we dropped off Ren and Rob, we went straight home. We were so tired!! My muscles were aching too (maybe because I'm so not used to wearing 3 inch heels). On the ride home, Jon said: "Man, I'm tired. Being a model is a hard job." Oh mylanta! hahaha!

Saturday: Day 2 of our photo shoot. We started after lunch... first location: The Wynn! Jon and I LOVE this hotel! And plus, it is the location of our first kiss! *oooowww* It was at Blush (formerly called LURE) - aha... that word says it all. HA! Sparks of love definitely flew the night we partied at this hotel. After The Wynn - we went to the hotel where Ren & Rob were staying at: the Aria at City Center. My goodness gracious! When you are there, it sure doesn't feel like you're in Vegas anymore. What a beautiful hotel... and the surrounding architecture is breathtaking. We had no problems finding locations to take pictures (shoot, even the hotel room was a great place!). We ended the night and our awesome 2-day photo shoot with some "sexy" cocktails. They even made it into the photos!
OK - so if I look a little "full" in the photos we took this day... it's because Jon and I had lunch at SushiSamba at the Palazzo Hotel right before our shoot. OH MY GAWD! One of the BEST meals I've had in my life! We ate "omakase" style - so we didn't have to look at the menu. The staff served us their favorites. I actually took pictures of the food! If you're in Vegas (or NYC, Chicago or Miami), you HAVE to check this place out.

BoBo Brazil Roll:
seared kobe beef, avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion, chimichurri

Moqueca Mista:
shrimp, squid, sea bass and crayfish with coconut milk,
roasted cashew, dendê oil, chimichurri rice

Miso-Marinated Chilean Sea Bass Skewers:
with a side of Peruvian Corn

Green Bean Tempura:
with black truffle alioli and grilled spicy peppers

Yellowtail Seviche Taquitos:
shiso, avocado, roasted corn miso with spicy aji panca sauce and fresh lime

I am a happy camper!

My fiance!

A sweet end to our lunch:
Peruvian Hot Chocolate com Crème:
served with traditional churros

Thank you | Erin Stellmon | Media Coordinator at the Neon Museum | She was super helpful and sweet...and definitely helped to make our first photo shoot experience a pleasant one.

Thank you | Ren and Rob Quitasol | Our photograhers...and our friends! We had the most awesome weekend in Vegas, because of these two. It was so important for Jon and I to have our engagement pictures taken in Las Vegas and we are so thankful Ren and Rob were there to make it happen! We loved working with such patient photographers, who are passionate about what they do.


Jon and I had an unforgettable weekend - it was like falling in love again. We were able to block everyone out - and just focus on US. Makes you wanna take engagement pictures all the time!