Sweetness in Seattle.

Last weekend I returned to Seattle for my little brother's big 21st birthday. The other two times I've been there were both so special in their own right, so I was really looking forward to going back. This trip was no different, except that it may have been even MORE special because of a few select guest stars - Uncles Prescott & Paul, and my best friend from high school, Katie, who's living in Washington this summer. Side note: Seeing her was the best part of my summer, hands down. If love equals happiness, then this girl is the love of my life. For sure.

It was a quick 3-day weekend, we flew in on Friday afternoon and flew back Sunday afternoon (in time to pop off 3 episodes of Orange is the New Black which everyone on the trip was raving about. Turns out it's my new obsession, but back to the point). We got to spend some quality family time and explore the city a bit, which I've decided I need to come back and do more of. The next time I make the trip up to the Pacific North West, I'm staying longer than 3 days and hopefully will have a back healthy enough to walk around the hilly city and see it all.

Seattle is such an inspiring town. It's so big compared to Downtown Las Vegas and there's so many unique things I have yet to explore. It's a dream of mine to get lost in the city on a rainy day, pop into a coffee shop, and just let my fingers flow for hours. I think I could imagine living there one day, and each time I go back I'm reminded that I CAN live there, if I ever decided to take the plunge. Eeeek.

Anyways, my baby brother is 21 now and I got to take him out drinking for the first time ever. This is a big deal people, because Connor doesn't drink. Not that I wanted him to turn him into a lush, but I wanted to have that experience with him and now I'm looking forward to sharing a beer with him over dinner, or a glass of wine on Christmas, or taking him into a bar in my 'hood next time he's in town. The possibilities are endless. I remember when I was 20 and all my friends were legal except for me and I felt like I was missing out on the whole world because I couldn't set foot in a bar. I'm excited to be able to share the places I go and the social aspect of sharing a drink over some good conversation with Connor.

The first-ever sibling shot: A Buttery Nipple. Let this go down in history.

Cheers, little bro. I love you more each day.

Birthday Madness in Vegas

Well it's been about a week since I've updated on here but it's because I've been celebrating my 21st birthday in style in Las Vegas!

It was an incredible weekend with my entire family and a couple of my best friends (although I wish Katie could have been there!!) and we all had so much fun!

The first night my God-sisters Courtney and Lindsey took my friend Cory and I to this place called Lavo where we got free dinner and a cocktail and then free drinks and dancing all night! It actually turned out to be "Latino Night" at Lavo so we pretended to be Latino and Salsa dance all night and it was hilarious.









The second night my whole family went out to dinner at Hussong's where we had 2 for 1 margaritas all night and sang drunken tunes with the Mariachi band (there are so many pictures from that night but I'm gonna try to keep it minimal!). These guys from New York bought us all a shot of tequila because it was my birthday, then Cory bought all the girls a Jello shot, so by the time we left dinner, we were well on our way!






After Hussong's the girls (me, Cory, Jill, Courtney, Lindsey, my sister Ashley and her friend Karen) went out to this new club at the Hard Rock called "Vanity" where we had a table and bottle service all night.









It was really awesome! We danced the night away all over the club and got a little crazy.









On Saturday, we rented a Cabana by the pool and just relaxed and laid out in the sun all day. It was just what we all needed to recover for the new night's festivities!










Saturday night we had a cocktail party at our suite in the Luxor (after moving rooms because our air conditioner didn't work and the lights blew out in the bathroom from all us girls getting ready).







We were joined by a whole bunch of other family members and family friends which made the party the best! We all just took shots and sang karaoke for hours before heading out for more dancing.








We then headed downstairs to a club in the Luxor called the "Cat House" (that I kept calling "Cat Walk" all night for some reason....) which was so much fun! Again, we got free entrance and bottle service thanks to Courtney who totally hooked us up all weekend! It was a blast dancing with my whole family and being silly.





Of course I got some gambling in.. lost everything I put in in less than 2 minutes so it's safe to say I had no beginners luck and wont be gambling again! But it was still a good experience and tons of fun (I even got carded for ordering water once - NO JOKE!).

All in all, it was probably the most amazing weekend of my 21 years thus far. I was so lucky to have my whole family there celebrating with me and it meant so much to me to have them there. I will never forget it!