A little pre-indulgence indulgence

So the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we traveled to Vegas with a few friends. I like this whole vacation-before-a-holiday thing. We did that once by going to Hawaii right before Christmas, and loved it. The awesome thing about traveling right before a holiday is that the destinations are relatively abandoned. So it's pretty pleasant without the large crowds, plus you can get some sweet deals.

We stayed at the Wynn. I love the Wynn.

And we upgraded to the "tower suites," which normally go for between $800 and $1k a night. It cost us nowhere near that amount. 

 Here's the living room. 

Yes, there are mirrors on the ceiling.

 

The room comes with its own bar.

 Bed. Pretty comfy although the pillows were meh.

The coup de grace was really the bathroom. It was larger than most of the apartments I have lived in. I am not joking.

 Large tub with jacuzzi jets on one side.

Large shower with one of those overhead rainshower things in it ... I cannot tell you how glorious this shower was. I need one of these awesome overhead showerheads. Also, you can watch tv while you shower!

 View from the room on the 29th floor.

 Dining area we never used.

The MASSAGE TABLE in a SEPARATE ROOM OF ITS OWN. That we never used. Because we got awesome massages at the Mirage. I highly recommend the Mirage for this purpose. It was one of the best massages I've ever had and it didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Ham & brie crepes with scrambled eggs and hollandaise sauce for breakfast at Bouchon. It was really good although everything could have been hotter.

 Vegas was in the process of getting decked out for Christmas.

 This is a fancy water dispenser for absinthe. You drip water slowly onto a sugar cube and it disintegrates into the absinthe. Not my bag -- I had port.

 You can just barely see window washers near the edge of the building. Taken from my room.

Five cuts of wagyu beef at Craftsteak (owned by Tom Collichio) in the MGM. This restaurant is ridiculously good, and insanely expensive. It's worth it once a year or so ... Their parker house rolls are to die for. They bring about five delicious appetizers -- I even tried beef tartare and LIKED IT.

A gajillion desserts at Craftsteak. Everything is knock-you-on-your-ass good.

Another awesome meal we had that I don't have photos of was at Mario Batali's restaurant, Otto, in the Venetian. I suggest the salumi and prosciutto from the antipasti menu. Then get the ricotta fritters and some cheese from the cheese menu. Most of us ordered the specials of the day, the winner of which was the pizza. My pasta dish was delightful, although a bit salty. Still, it's hard to beat homemade pasta. My husband ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and it was delicious.

 Snow on the mountains on the ride home. So pretty. I'm ready to begin thinking about Christmas now ...