Last Week's Trip to Vegas

Last week is pretty much a blur - I was so busy at my conference and had so much going on, and that coupled with the fact that we were in Vegas - the world of over-stimulation, created an exhausting weekend!!!

I had such a great time seeing all of my friends and colleagues around the country that I don't usually get to see more than once or twice a year.  Seeing them is such a rejuvenation to me and I love having the chance to catch up with everyone!

My friends and I ate at some of the best restaurants I've ever been to in Vegas - places that I would definitely recommend!!!

Monday a friend of mine and I went to Holsteins in The Cosmopolitan.  He had a burger and I had a radicchio steak salad and the we shared an alcoholic milk shake - DELICIOUS and pretty reasonable for Vegas.  We explored the hotel and found and area where we found great views...

On Tuesday, 4 of us went back to the Cosmopolitan for lunch and ate at Wicked Spoon.  It's a $26(ish) buffet, but everything is served as small plate portions, which is amazing because you didn't load on too much of one thing and waste it if you didn't like it.  The food was fantastic and they had everything from breakfast, to shrimp coctail, to rissoto, to sushi and a great dessert bar.  I will definitely going back there!!  I didn't need to eat for the rest of the day - could have been the 5 trips back to the buffet!!

Wednesday was the night that we had the celebration of my mentor's retirement.  After the party, I got kidnapped by a small group and taken to, what they call, the Per Diem dinner.  When traveling to a conference for work, I get a certain amount of money per day to spend on food.  The point of the Per Diem dinner is to spend your day's worth of money on dinner.  WELL, I didn't quite do that, but I definitely came close!  We went to THE Steakhouse at Circus Circus... I ordered the petite cut prime rib, and this is what I got...

There is no way in the world that I would call this petite.  I didn't eat a bite of carrots and I may have tried the mashed potatoes, but I pretty much just ate the steak - it was gigantic!!!

We had meetings and educational sessions and socials that filled up the rest of the week, but I did manage to spend a little bit of time in my very favorite place in Vegas...

... the Fountains at the Bellagio.  We were there at the end of the night so we got to see 3 shows in less than 45 minutes - Time to Say Goodbye (Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman); All that Jazz (Chicago); Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston).  I tried to find a video to show those of you who haven't seen them, but you just have to go - photos and videos don't do them justice.

I'm back home safe and sound and have a few days off before we leave for our next adventure!!!

Vegas, here I come!!

Life has felt really busy lately.  I'm not even really sure what I've been doing for the last few weeks/weekends, but I have felt like I've been pulled in all different directions.

We were up vising my parents' last weekend so I could go shop for my upcoming trip to VEGAS!!!  I'm hopping on a plane Monday and I'll be there until Friday.  It's for a conference, so it's technically work, but this is my favorite time of year - I get to see a whole bunch of my colleagues from all over the country, who I only see one or two times a year!

We'll be staying at...

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I've been to Vegas a few times - stayed at New York, New York, Excalibur and The Luxor.  So, this will be a new place to stay and the conference spans between Planet Hollywood, Paris and Bally's.

I don't know where else I'll venture while I'm there, but I sure am looking forward to it!!!  A week with some of my mentors and favorite people is exactly what I need to re-energize!!!

It's GAME DAY!

I've always been a Hoosier Basketball fan, and I am so excited that they are back to being a power in college basketball!

Today is a big day - #1 Michigan is in town... SO big, that College Gameday came to visit!!

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Students and other fans work up to about 3 inches of snow on the ground, but they braved the elements to fill Assembly Hall at 8:00 am... it's so cool to see our fans on Gameday... it's been a long time!!

The game is at 9:00 pm tonight - I'm going to have to take a nap so I can last that long!!!  GO HOOSIERS!

Valentine's Day Decor

I don't usually get into Valentine's Day, but for some reason this year, my house felt so empty once I took the Christmas decorations down.  AND someone gave me a hard time last year for having a "Christmas wreath" up in February - since when is an evergreen wreath with pines cones a "Christmas" wreath - it's a winter wreath!!!  But anyway, I got a small amount of inspiration this year and came up with some fun stuff...

Simple (a.k.a. cheap) centerpiece

Hobby Lobby purchase - I love that store!

JoAnn Fabrics purchase - another fav store

AND, for the DIY in my Valentine's decor... I wanted to make a wreath, but my door is a deep red so the pink/red/purple I was seeing everywhere was just not speaking to me.  But, I was inspired by a wreath that I found on Take Heart and had to make it.  It was so easy and I just love how it looks!!  

I was going to give my own directions, but her's are fantastic, so if you'd like to make your own, check her out!

Close up of the cute paper flowers!!

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day????

DIY Ottoman

My mom came down a couple weekends ago to help me get my house decorated.  Yes, we've lived here for a year and a half, and it's not like I didn't have anything on the walls, but there were a lot of rooms that were just incomplete.  I couldn't get myself motivated to get off the couch this morning and take pictures of our house (plus, not everything is done yet) so instead,I decided to share one of the other projects that my mom and i worked on... some ottomans for my craft room.

So this room is a work in progress.  It's the bonus room over our garage, so it's a big room.  We've got my craft table in one corner, a desk in another.  We also have a couch and a bunch of book shelves and a TV so it's a great multi-purpose room!

I've seen a bunch of DIY ottomans made out of IKEA side tables on Pinterest so I decided I'd give it a shot.  In case you want to try it, you can follow along.

What i used:
2 IKEA Lack side tables
2" foam squares (trimmed to be the same size at the table tops)
2 yards white muslin (54" wide)
2 yards home decor fabric (54" wide)
heavy duty staple gun with 1/4" staples
scissors

Make sure your fabrics have been ironed and cut them in half ( 1 yard x 54")

Put one square of muslin down on the floor and set the foam in the center of the fabric.

Set the table (top down without legs) on the foam.

Cut squares out of the corner of the fabric so eliminate bulk

Fold the muslin up and attach to table with staples - start with the middle of the fabric and then left and right.  Do this all the way around the bottom of the table until it looks like this:

You'll be able to see the foam and the table on the corner
edges, but this is ok!!

Use your scissors and poke holes in the muslin where the holes for the legs are located.

Next, lay out your home decor fabric (face down) and lay the table on to (face down).  If your fabric has a pattern, be sure you're centering the pattern as well as putting it on straight.

Fold the fabric up to ensure you have enough to staple (approximately 2 inches) and if you have more than that, you can trim it so it's easier to work with.

Fold up your first edge and attach with 5 staples across.  Do the same thin on the opposite side of the table.

On one of the edges that have not yet been attached, start by folding and attaching the corners so that they look like this:

My first instinct was to fold and wrap the rest of the fabric like a gift, which would have made it look like this:

Instead of using the more triangle like folds/angles, I used my fingers to slide the flaps folds wider and it squared the fabric off a little more.  Then I stapled in the middle first, and then along the rest of the fabric. 

Kind of hard to see, but the fold in the fabric is
very close to the corner edge of the table

Then i poked the hole again where the legs would go, and I reinforced the fabric between the hole and the edge of the table with an extra staple... it helps to hold the fabric in place while you're tightening the legs.

Be careful when putting the legs back on - you may have to hold the fabric down as the top of the legs get close to the bottom of the table, and you probably won't be able to tighten the legs all the way.

Here is the finished product:

I probably could have shortened the legs on the  tables just a little bit, but overall I think they look great and they are so comfortable!!  So, what do you think???

Coming soon - Valentine's decorations  : )