viva las vegas

let me start this off by saying i am not a gambler.

i went to vegas this past weekend. holy heck, it was 108 degrees! i just had to throw that in there. thank goodness for the pool at the Bellagio and the frozen pink lemonade & vodkas. and all those bottles of veuve clicquot.

but i digress.

i have only been to vegas once before, 3 years ago for my sister's bachelorette party. and the closest i came to really gambling was losing $100 on the wheel of fortune slots. i hate to lost money, so i just don't gamble.

but this weekend my friend amanda introduced me to black jack. oh dear! we stayed at the tables til 5 and 6am. and we both won, too! not too much, but a few hundred dollars doesn't hurt. it actually feels good. real good.

i now officially love vegas. i am already planning another trip.

a few of my faves

these are some of my favorite pictures from our trip to south africa.

we had such an amazing time over there. they say Africa awakens your soul, and i have to say that it truly, truly does. being in the bush with the wild animals is such a humbling experience, and like nothing you've ever seen before. this was absolutely the best trip i have ever had.

i want to go back. but i'd like to be beamed there, scotty. because 22 hours on a plane is not so much fun.

Here we are in the winelands outside of Cape Town.

Hippos in the water... just ears & backs.
A rhino with 2 oxpeckers on his head.
A big male leopard up in a tree.
Lioness and 2 lion cubs.
An old buffalo, napping.
Herd of elephants on the move, and eating trees as they go.
A big, big, big male lion. Half of the wildebeest he killed 12 hours earlier was nearby.

jetlag

we spent about 36 hours getting home from south africa. we left "the bush" at 1:00 on Friday, and returned yesterday afternoon. the trip was absolutely the most amazing holiday i've ever had.

unfortunately my body is still in the south african time zone. i went to bed at 8pm last night, which was really like 4am according to my body. i've been up since 2am checking email and watching my tivo'd shows. i hope i get back to normal soon.

pics and more to come. it was such a fascinating time, i just don't have the brain power to do it justice right now.