Viva

...I must remember to transfer some icons over to my computer... it feels naked without.

So... I just returned from Las Vegas this past weekend where I caught up on three 100 Monkeys shows which has to suffice until I see them at the CD release party in late June.

I hadn't told anyone (aside from Lani) that I was heading into Las Vegas for the shows in hopes of surprising the boys a bit. Whether or not I actually pulled that off, I was happy to see them and they appeared to be the same... I caught up with them, exchanged hugs, my new hot pink hair got noticed, I had to remind the Bens that I didn't live in Tuscaloosa anymore since they said they were worried about me... It's a good thing to hear, though. Definitely good to hear.

...I think I snuggle attacked Jerad the hardest. It had been the longest since I had seen him. Hardcore. :)

Meet and greet hello time was good. Usually when Lani asks me if I have anything for the boys to sign I just say no because I literally have a box of autographs on random things... but this day I said, "actually..." and Jay replied, "your camera?" And I said with surprise... "Well, *actually*..."

I wanted them to sign my Flip video camera... while. it. was. on.

The boys loved the idea and agreed and I decided I would share the video with everyone. :)

http://youtu.be/DQlh_KeAzfQ

At the end of the video you can hear Lani ask if I would like a photo with the boys. I wonder how many people have said "No, thanks, Lani." :)

I feel like this should be a "caption this" photo.

The shows were excellent. I was put in the photo pit for both of them... quite a change from the usual of being pressed up against the stage... but! It was my very first photo pit! (Be proud of me.)

After I posted the photos the Las Vegas radio station snagged them up to post them on their website and 100 Monkeys re-posted the link on their Twitter and their Facebook to thousands and thousands of people... that's the biggest mention that my photos have ever received.

Follow 100 Monkeys on Twitter: @100MonkeysMusic
Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/100MonkeysMusic

You can see the photos posted here on the Las Vegas radio station's website: http://mix941fm.radio.com/2011/05/03/100-monkeys-live-at-the-cosmopolitan/

15 of my photos posted there. :)

Here's some of my favorites from that evening.

The next day the band had an instore at Tommy Bahama's... here's a few of my favorite photos from that.

You can see the rest of the photos over at www.facebook.com/jodieplatzphotography

One more little thing that's actually quite huge before I move on from 100 Monkeys... my friend Summer brought this to my attention today -- 100 Monkeys mentioned The Oh Noz! again.

http://youtu.be/MHH_znqPkCc

At the 6:12 mark there's some serious gushing that may or may not have been one of my favorite things on the planet.

If anyone questions why I go to every show I can, if anyone questions why I love these boys with every inch of my heart and soul; THIS is why. Because of all the love and support that I give them, I get this kind of love and respect back.

Swiftly moving on...

Twas good times... I had a great time in Vegas. My friend Julie let me stay with her at her hotel and the day after the 100 Monkeys shows we went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. Incredible!! I was so happy to get to go with her.

That shark is smiling for the camera. :)

Until next time... so long and thanks for all the fish.

The Official Vegas/100 Monkeys Blog

"He was just a city; she's just a dirt road
But that never meant a thing, 
Running from the country, 
She needed out but, he held that diamond ring, 
Cuz I can't sit and I can't talk 
I gotta leave this town and run to you, 
Curse these nights that speak your name
I gotta leave this town and come to you, 
Break this curse... she barely knew your name..." 

I am going to try and be as accurate as possible, I'm also going to try to get everything in the correct order... but yeah, that's not going to happen, so get over it. Also, there's so much that I could write about the guys, so many things that my mind replays over and over but you know what? I'm keeping most of those things to myself -- I want to show them that by sharing moments with me that it doesn't mean I'll go run and spill it all over my blog or my Twitter unlike some OTHER people...

So the trip to Vegas didn't exactly go as planned. First of all, Willow's flight out of Charlotte got cancelled. Not fun. I'm not impressed whatsoever. Of course, Willow and I are troopers; we will not let this get us down and we'll get back on the horse (so to speak) in no time flat. ;) Promise.

Jennifer and I were very excited to see Vegas again... I may have to edit this blog to include all the things that happened with her because lord knows I can't remember shit when I'm by myself. We stayed at the Motel 6 on Tropicana again, walking distance to the nearly everywhere that you want to go that's on the Strip. When we checked in, however, they gave us a map and fucking directions to get to our hotel room.

As I mentioned before, the Motel 6 on Tropicana is the largest Motel 6 in the world... well, we were in building 5. I was not impressed... twas faaaar!

It was almost surreal that we were in Vegas for the longest time - the experience of the first show went by very quickly. Jennifer and I waited outside and were 4th in line where we met two girls who had gone to the Salt Lake show -- Crystal and Alissa. They became our buddies for the day and we were inseparable.

When the doors opened we booked it to the front row, of course...




















The guys didn't have an opening act for the first show, played for about 30 minutes to about 15-25 people. They played "The Monkey Song", "Clippity Clop", "Junkie", "Gus" and "Sleeping Giants". (Not in that order.)During the improv we (Crystal, Alissa, Jennifer and I) suggested "Strangers With My Baby" based on a question he answered at TwiCon *rolls eyes at TwiCon*. (Click the link to view the video, tis hilarious.)
















When they took our suggestion Larry goes, "I hope no one sent out an Amber Alert..." XD And then after the improv he goes, "I hope you find your baby..." Larry was fucking ON.

After the improv Jackson looked right at me and said, "do you want to hear a joke?" I kind of paused for a minute, but he was still looking at me - oh, he was actually asking ME! Okay... "Sure, let me have it," I replied and he smiled, "what do you call a dog with no legs?" I shrugged. "Call him anything you want; he won't come." Everyone laughed, I giggled. He finished with, "I would call mine 'Doorstop'."

The boys went and did their meet and greet... the first thing I said to Jerad was, "first of all, high five!" And he high fived me. I said, "you know, I high five you every time I see you..." he goes, "I KNOW!" And I *beamed* -- he signed the picture that I had taken with him and Jackson in Tulsa with the silver Sharpie that I brought... as he was signing I said, "I can't believe you actually remember that..." and he high fived me again. ;) Then I said, "but I have something really serious to tell you too..." I leaned down and his face got very serious as he leaned in. I said, "you're my best friend now, plan your life accordingly." He nodded and smiled wide. :D Twas epic.

You know, I bet that a lot of people who don't know me think one of three things when they hear that...

1) That I was being facetious.
2) That I'm in love with Jerad.
3) That I'm insane-psycho.

Now, I'd like you to know that I'm none of the above. I really and very honestly just love and admire Jerad. From the first time I saw the boys live I knew that he was the ultimate rockstar. He's a fucking face-melting guitar player and he's always been so nicer than nice to me... especially this Vegas trip -- he kinda went "out of his way" to be nice to me, he definitely watched out for my feelings that day, *cough* but then again - that's what best friends do. ;)

Jennifer and I talked to Jerad for a second about Vegas and Tulsa... Jerad said to me, "[Jackson and I] got you sick, didn't we?" I said, "a little, but it's no biggie." It wasn't until later that I was like, "whooooaa... how did he know I was sick?" So I'm guessing... well, wait. I'll keep my guesses to myself.

Jerad passed the photo of us down to Jackson and he was about to sign it when I go, "No, no, no, no! Wait!"  He stopped and dropped the Sharpie, putting his hands up. "What did I do!?" He smiled. I plucked the silver Sharpie out of Jerad's hand and said, "I wanted you to sign it with this." He found it humorous... ;)

I talked to Jackson a bit about guitar slides with Johnson and gave him a DVD of the photos I took in Tulsa plus 2 CDs "for the road", he goes, "for the road!" And then my eyes caught Jerad's and he nodded, "you did good." He reassured me...

After the meet and greet we wandered outside to get something to eat and I flat out ran into Edward Cullen taking pictures with people. There was Michael Jackson just chillin' on the Strip and people would rather have their photo taken with the fictional vampire from Twilight... so I got my picture with him too. XD But I made him wear my sunglasses since it was sunny out and that would make it more accurate. ;) [I thought this entire thing was funny as hell...]

Hahaaa, he was actually British... super fucking tall, I'm 5'8 if that's any indication to how tall he is... probably 6'4.

After eating and calling Willow to give her all the deets we went to the Monkeys soundcheck... we were the only two people in there. (Besides the sound crew who were right next to us - Marty, who was so nice to let us watch it!! And Brady, who was chillin' at a table behind us.)

The guys played "Smoke" and I was uber impressed with their ability to soundcheck; Jackson takes musical direction beautifully. I really would love to watch him work in the studio. I'm sure he's very efficient.

The guys had two opening acts for the second show. The Rooks and Imagine Dragons. Both were pretty good, but Imagine Dragons was face-melting INSANE. Hard Rock fucked up their sound, but they pressed on -- they started late, ran over, but fuck were they amazing. They're playing SXSW this year and I am so jealous... I want to go.

They sound like a cross between The Arcade Fire, The Killers and Mute Math live. Wicked.

Dan, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons. 

The second show started off great - the boys seemed to have more energy this time around, seemed to be in good spirits and played like their lives fucking depended on it...

They played some great songs, "Wings On Fire", "Reaper", "Poison Oak", "Orson Brawl", "Sweet Face", "The Monkey Song", "Koldpix", "Looker", "Keep Awake" and the improv we suggested for "Lipstick On My Collar"... there was another one or two but I can't remember them...

A little ways into the show Jerad high fived me... he's epic. Did I ever tell you that?

During "Wings On Fire", for the chorus I always light my lighter... we were in the front row and I was right in front of Jackson for this song - during the chorus, while my lighter was still lit he came around the mic stand and got in my face, singing the words back to me as I held my lighter up - at the end of the chorus, he blew out my lighter. ;)

He's fucking smooth, let me tell you. That boy knows what he's doing.

Whenever the boys play "The Monkey Song" I always scream out, "I love you Spencer Bell!" and Ben decided to reply this time, he goes, "I love you too, but you know, from Spencer." It was adorable... so now? Spencer loves me. :) Ben said so. Are you going to dispute what Ben said? That's what I thought...

After "Reaper" I smacked a giant roll of duct tape on the stage by Jackson's feet, he smiled and looked up at me, "that's duct tape." :)

You read most of the rest in the last blog about what happened with the mic stand and all that - I'm not going to repeat myself here - we were very sad that they couldn't play the last 30 minutes of their set, especially since Johnson had promised Jennifer that he would sing "Twenty To One" for her that night... they all seemed excited about it, as well... Major bummer.

After the boys came back on stage to tear down their equipment, we got to talk to Jackson, Jerad and Johnson a bit -- won't go into those details, but god they're good boys. You know? How can you not love them?

Some of my favorite photos of the guys from the second show:

The next day we went out to dinner with Phil and his girlfriend... We met Phil at while working the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in 2008 and we met up with him again in 2009 when we were in Vegas for the 10 days -- it was nice that since we were only in town for a few days that we were still able to see him and Deanna.

We talked for over an hour and laughed our asses off. It was really awesome... one part particularly stood out though. Jennifer and I shared a burger at the restaurant and when the waitress asked if medium was okay to cook the meat to, without missing a beat I asked, "do you grind your own meat?"

Everyone went silent.

I said, "It's a legitimate question."

She said, "I'm not sure if we do or not." So I said, "make it medium-well then." And then I had to explain to Phil, Deanna and Jennifer why I asked that. "Someone's been watching too much Food Network," Phil laughed... I got hell for the rest of the night because of it... I think they were impressed that something like that came out of my mouth.

(Once meat is ground its exposed to millions of bacteria; if meat is ground fresh daily - it's not a problem to order your burger medium or medium rare -- which I would have done if I could have been assured that it was fresh...)

Later that night we went out to celebrate Jennifer's birthday and I took some photos while on the strip.

Check out the rest of my photography HERE.

And here's my official statement to the Hard Rock Cafe of Las Vegas:

Rock on,

Jodie

100 Monkeys At The Hard Rock Las Vegas

This is not going to be my official Vegas blog, this isn't going to contain the *wonderful* moments that happened with 100 Monkeys, this blog is just here to tell you all the SHIT the guys went through last night while playing the Hard Rock Cafe on the strip in Las Vegas.

NEVER SEE A CONCERT THERE.

NEVER EAT THERE.

They do not deserve your patronage.

100 Monkeys were supposed to take the stage at 1145p and apparently were supposed to be off the stage at 130a. The sound crew was apparently having the worst case of technical difficulties known to man because after the first opening act, The Rooks, the next band, Imagine Dragons, was literally on stage fucking with their equipment and trying to hear themselves in the monitors for 35 minutes. They still had not started their set when the Monkeys were supposed to take the stage.

[We had seen the 100 Monkeys soundcheck earlier in the day and it went on without a hitch, everything was fine -- a few adjustments were made, of course, but it was all fine... what could have possibly gone wrong?]

Imagine Dragons was very professional; they started the set even though they couldn't hear themselves in the 2 front monitors just because it was getting so late. They were worth the wait, they were fantastic. (More on them in the official blog.)

After each song the lead singer of Imagine Dragons would ask to be able to hear himself more citing that he "had no vocal on the stage", meaning that he couldn't hear himself at all -- that's an extremely important thing to a live performer in order to create the best show possible.

They wrapped their set and shortly after the boys took the stage, tuned their instruments and did their usual, "we'll be back in five," kinda deal...

They didn't end up going on stage until right about 1230.

They were constantly asking for more vocal, more vocal, more vocal - less bongos, less bass drum, more vocal.

It came time for the improv song and Jerad went down the line, he looked at me and my friends and I had decided before the show what we were going to ask them to sing, "Lipstick On My Collar". They took our suggestion...

About halfway through the performance and after asking during the performance for more vocal Jackson grabbed the mic stand -- now, I can't be completely positive but I think it was a combination between not being able to hear himself, being frustrated about not being able to hear himself and getting into the performance - he broke the mic stand. He slammed the base of it against the stage several times until the bottom of it broke.

After that he held the stand without the base until he became frustrated with that and tossed it aside.

It wasn't long after that - 145a that the guys said they were going to take a quick break and then come back on for their encore.

Before the guys came back on 2 guys came up on stage and started breaking down a few things, grabbing the broken mic stand and said that the guys would not be coming back out. A lot of people had left when they left the stage for the first time and this pushed out a lot of the others -- I knew that the guys were going to break down and pack up their own equipment, so we stayed put where we were in the front row.

Jackson's beer was setting by a mic stand and by the foot pedals for the guitar, when one of the guys was taking a cord apart, he knocked over the beer and soaked their control board for the guitar pedals. He didn't care, I grabbed the beer as quickly as I could, but a lot spilled very quickly.

When someone asked this guy on stage why the guys weren't coming back out he said, "because the band is being a bunch of assholes." I promptly stopped that shit right there and I snapped back, "don't call them assholes, if you're pissed about the mic stand maybe your sound guys should know what the fuck they were doing - it's just a fucking mic stand and you shouldn't be pissed at them for it, I'll pay for it if it's that much of a hassle to you, just don't fuck with the band." He stood there and just kind of stared at me.

A few minutes later they came back on stage and Jackson announced that they were not allowed to do their encore; that "the Hard Rock Cafe will not let 100 Monkeys play anymore" saying that he was so very sorry and thanks for coming out.

Jackson and Jerad came over to us, thanking us over and over, holding our hands and apologizing to us/the fans.

We got a moment to talk to Jackson about what happened with the Hard Rock - he said they were giving them a hard time from the moment they got here. He said to go online and make it known about what really happened. Johnson said they were upset, but just wanted to get out of there.

Jackson was so visibly upset, trying to control it, but this had made all of them so mad - he was standing on the left side of the stage when the rude guy started with him - Jackson looked & pointed to us and said, "[they] saw everything," and then I said back to him, "we are going to support 100 Monkeys; we're taking their side. That guy spilled your beer on your equipment." He asks me, "which guy, this guy?" I nodded. Jackson looks at the guy and starts to "rawr", he then quickly asked for his name - he replied (it was something with an "M") and then he extended his hand to shake Jackson's. Jackson walked away.

I pulled Jerad aside amongst the chaos and told him that the guy had spilled Jackson's beer. He lifted up the board and there was beer all under it. He asked who it was, I pointed and Jerad bolted over to him, asking his name, asking what the fuck...

Ultimately, I heard that the Hard Rock was mad because the guys were supposed to be off at 130 - however, they could have played had Imagine Dragons gone on stage on time. (The Hard Rock's fault; not theirs.)

The boys told us they had planned another 30 minutes of songs, but were asked to leave.

They were mad because Jackson broke the mic stand. (He wouldn't have done so had the sound been working properly, I firmly believe that. I don't think he was just *that* into the improv song about lipstick.)

[EDIT: I don't think that when Jackson picked up the mic stand that he had the intentions on breaking it -- I don't want people to think that, I think that shit happens and the stand broke - it was nothing that the Hard Rock should have gotten upset about.]

The boys were banned from ever playing the Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas again (not sure about the other Hard Rock's, but I would assume that they wouldn't want to associate themselves with the Hard Rock any longer) - but even if they weren't it left such a nasty taste in their mouth that there's no way they would ever want to go back.

At the end of the night, after all of this shit that had gone down - instead of 100 Monkeys leaving and the Hard Rock Cafe being happy to get rid of them, someone I talked to said she overheard a conversation with one of the employees of the Hard Rock and Marty (the "bananager") in which the Hard Rock was demanding that 100 Monkeys PAY. Pay for damages, pay because the DJ that was supposed to go on stage after the Monkeys couldn't - PAY.

Fuck. That. Fuck. You.

If you were at the show last night, please write or call the Hard Rock and DEMAND that they apologize to 100 Monkeys.

I love all of those boys with so much of me - it felt amazing sticking up for them and helping them out when they needed it.

Jodie

[Another edit: Anyone who wants to post this on their Facebook/MySpace/Twitter/Fan forum -- please feel free. Also, please go and read Willow Raine's write up on www.tengossip.com!]

An Open Letter To Las Vegas

"this necklace be the reason all of my dates be blind dates..."

Dear [THE] Vegas,

I would like to prepare you for what you are about to endure. You will have several highly intoxicated girls on your hands here in a week. You have one week to prepare for our visit, but I guarantee you that is not long enough.

You will rue the day that Willow Raine, Patty McAwesomeness, Jennifer Gammon and Jodie Platz all visited you together. Add to that mix 100 Monkeys... and us girls being there for The Monkeys... in The Vegas. Oh lord... we are what your mother warned you about.

This just got SRS. And personal.

In my previous post I stated that The House Always Wins and that you will never beat The Vegas, that The Vegas will always kick your ass -- but you'll always love it. It has been brought to my attention that I was wrong. I didn't foresee the current circumstance of last minute The Vegas trips with the collected awesomeness of all the people previously mentioned in this letter.

The world may implode from successive WIN!

Don't worry... I tell you what. How about we leave Fremont alone? We won't tear down Fremont. How's that for fair? And you know, you can keep Summerlin and all that... we're just taking down the Strip. ;)

Much love, hugs and kisses,

Jodie Platz

Pic Of The Day:

Normally... I do say normally... I would hate the fact that he's standing on a bed in his SHOES. However, I will let it slide this time because firstly: It looks like it's a hotel. Secondly: I'm sure he wouldn't do this to his bed at home...

Third, and most importantly:

He's wearing the Texas flag in his pocket.

PS - I do know Patty's last name isn't "McAwesomeness" I just didn't know how she felt about me posting her last name on my blog... so... I...uh... didn't.

Leave The Light On

"...the kinda morning that lasts all afternoon..."

Niiiine days! Wewt! Mnky, mnky, mnky!

So... we *finally* got a fridge... Dude. We've only been living here for fucking two months. Yo. Still no stove, which is irking me because I'm so tired of eating like Hot Pockets and shit out of a can... At least now we'll be able to buy more than just a days worth of food at a time. Ick. And ice! Yo! We've been buying a BAG of ice a day and of course, the left over melts and we have to buy another bag each day... but dude... no longer.

We have a fridge.

Now... now we just need to work on getting a stove.

Man, this landlord is like, super slacker of the year. Does that mean he wins? I don't know.

So... VEGAS!

Willow, Jenn and I are fucking MAYJAH excited about The Vegas.

You see, [imagine me with glasses, this works better if you think I'm wearing glasses...] Vegas is so proper, so refined and mature (not premature... very mature) that Vegas (or the city of "Las Vegas") must be referred to as "THE Vegas".

You must RESPECT The Vegas. You must UNDERSTAND The Vegas. You must never underestimate The Vegas. The house always wins. You will never kick The Vegas' ass... it will ALWAYS kick yours... And you will LOVE it. ;)

Things I'm stoked to see in The Vegas:

-McCarren.

-Monkeys.

-Willow.

-Patty.

-Copious amounts of alcohol.

-The MGM. (The greatest place on earth.)

-Dollar margaritas.

-My convenience store!!

-The Bellagio fountains... again...

Willow and Patty have never been to The Vegas... meanwhile this is me and Jenn's 7th time... *counts on fingers, then nods* Yep. Lucky number 7. :)

ALSO!

This will be the very first time that we're going to The Vegas NOT for Justin Timberlake.

*INSERT LOUD BREATHY GASP HERE*

...Dude.

I know.

Shocked the fuck outta me, as well. But... we always have October... No worries, Justin. Howeverrrr... we WILL be in The Vegas for Justin's birthday... and Jenn's. Lordy... uh... how old is he? *hangs head in shame that I actually have to THINK about that...* 29? Lord almighty. 29.

We have a kinda system going with Justin and Jenn's birthday... Since his birthday is January 31st and hers is February 1st we do two shots... One at 11:59 and one at 12:01 --- celebrate his birthday, celebrate her birthday -- all at once.

Now. Justin has a habit of going to Vegas for his birthday... so... uh... hey, Justin... Don't.

So mah chickas... what are you most looking forward to in The Vegas? It can't be seeing The Monkeys... like, duh. ;)

Picture of the Day:

Plan your life accordingly.

Guidance Of Your Flame

"Interchanging mind control,

Come let the revolution take it's toll,

If you could flick and switch and open your third eye,

You'd see that we should never be afraid to die..."

11.

So... trying something 'new'... trying to have a birthday party again this year. Jennifer doesn't understand why I still try. Her constant faith is very reassuring. I guess I keep trying because I want to believe that people are busy and that they actually DO like me, they just have a schedule to keep up with.

Got a few RSVP's for 'yes'. Loadssss of 'maybe's, which made me still feel really good. Seriously, if like 5 people come to my party, I'm going to consider that a success.

One of the people to RSVP yes was Rikki. Rikki and I met freshman year and though we were pretty close in HS we've drifted through the years... one thing that Rikki has always done for me that I'll never forget though is that she's ALWAYS come to my birthday party when I've invited her. Each and every time. Some years she's been the only person to ever acknowledge my birthday.

Kristi always RSVP'd yes to my party this year. She's always been good at my birthday celebration too... So whereas I may not have the most consistent relationship with either of these girls... they're both so good to me that it hurts.

I invest so much stock in my birthday. I know that I do this... I do it consciously and though I know I shouldn't do it... I still fucking do it.

Every year my birthday is this huge event... spanning from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas... My actual birth DAY is my day of HOPE. I hope that it'll be better than the last year, I hope that people will remember it, I hope that I'll get what I asked for...

I can't tell if I'm stressing more or less this year. I reckon it'll end up being more stressful since I'm having an actual party... then when no one shows up and I get plastered on margaritas, I'll end up realizing that there are so many good people out there in this world and I need to move on from the people that I know who keep blowing me off and find the good people.

Now, please... I'm not ungrateful or unrealistic... I understand that not everyone can drop everything to come to my birthday party... please don't think I think that... I am thankful that people are actually RSVPing this year because in years passed I mostly went weeks and weeks without hearing anything and then just no one showed up. And trust... I'm not going to axe everyone in my life who doesn't show up for my stupid party.

I'll be 25 this year... wow. I talked to my Mama today and neither of us know when or how that happened. This is the first year that I've actually started to kinda freak over the number.

Jennifer is super relaxed over 25... I think she may actually be looking forward to it... not me... for reasons that I might discuss closer to my actual birthday, but they aren't too hard to figure out if you have half a mind.

It seriously seems like I just turned 21 yesterday. I remember that birthday vividly... Twas a good birthday... that was actually the last time I attempted a party. I had a good cake. That was before I had a digital camera -- I got the digital camera for Christmas that year... 21st birthday I got my Bella-dog... I still don't have photos developed from that birthday. Terrible.

Film is the devil.

I didn't really have a theme for my 21st birthday party... I had a tiara on my cake... I wore a beautiful, strapless blue silk dress with a sheer overlay and beaded bodice with glittered, strappy, silver stilettos. Wore a tiara, of course... which I've done every year since and I do believe it might be time to retire the tiara... can't tell yet. It just might not go with my party theme.

This year the theme is a beach house party... :) Jennifer and I are pretty stoked for it. At first I was going to have maybe an Alice In Wonderland theme, but I didn't think many people would give a shit... but a beach theme?! That's something that can please everyone!

I won't tell you loads of details, because for those attending, I want them to be surprised... but obviously... beach theme... gonna be balls awesome on the decorations! I can't wait to set it up. We maaay have found some inflatable things. XD margaritas, rum and Corona's galore! Cute little foods and cupcakes. :)

...Apparently, I have to make my own cupcakes... *rolls eyes* I kinda just wanted to buy them, but whatevs. I guess I'm making my own cupcakes. LOL I decided on cupcakes this year. Usually I am strictly a cake girl. Perhaps I'll be greedy and have both. Even though we both know I won't eat but like, a bite since I'm soo not into sweets, but it's just the point of the whole thing! Plus, Jenn loves cake. I know none will go to waste. ;)

Oh... and there's gonna be a pinata! XD Haven't had one of those since the very first of bad birthday parties... my 1st grade birthday party.

Picture Of The Day:

No one gets this.

No one understands it.

I stood atop the walkway for a half-hour while I tried to find a setting on my camera that apparently has gotten up, packed its bags and left me. I found my way around it to ultimately make the photo better... I took these open shutter photos after closing my eyes a few days before the Vegas trip and SEEING the photo... imagining it. Envisioning it.

No one cares that I took this photo.

I told my Mama about the photo on the phone and she said "Awesome! It's great to hear someone excited about photography again... I haven't been lately." So then I emailed her the photo and she replied back, "cool!"

That's it.

Just "cool!"

I showed the photo to Jennifer and she goes, "neat..." in a dry tone. She really just doesn't understand my photography.

Perhaps it really is a very shitty photo... perhaps I suck as a photographer and everyone GETS that but me... but me? I cried when I saw this photo that *I* took... just a few baby tears of absolute astonishment that *I* could take something like this with my plain, mediocre camera. (Mama says it's the photographer, not the camera...)

I love this photo. I think it is the end-all be-all and the most amazing photo that I have taken to date. It's my wallpaper on my computer and my phone... I adore it... I just wish that others felt the same way...

Not that I want them to lie to me, of course... I just don't understand... or maybe I don't want to believe the truth that's right in front of me.

What Happens In Vegas... I Spill On My Blog

"Desolation... I don't even know my name,

And as the rain beats down, I think I've seen the ghost again,

Silver moonlight, soaking up the amber waves,

By the heat of the fire, I called your name.

Coast to coast, I will travel any length,

Through the Andes mountains,

Across the great, great lakes,

Through the grandest canyons,

And the highest craves,

Still I hear it's calling, it's calling out my name..."

**Please be warned... this is a VERY long blog... remember that it was an entire WEEK of my life... trust me in saying that it's worth a read. I dish about a lot of people and not all of it's good!**

I really had all intention to blog while I was in Vegas, however... we see how well that worked for me.

That had to be THE longest trip that I've ever been on.

We left the... um... 9th? And getting to Vegas didn't take as long as I expected it to. We actually got there early and slept in the car for 5 hours just outside Hoover Dam because we wouldn't be able to check into our hotel and we didn't want to pay for another night.

We took the southern route which led us towards Wichita, Oklahoma City then down to Amarillo, Texas and over to Albuquerque and Flagstaff.

I had never been to Amarillo, Texas (only Dallas) and I had never seen New Mexico or Arizona ever before, so on the trip there I was very excited.

The rest stop we stopped at in Texas was wonderful... it was huge and VERY nice... they claimed to have wifi, but I couldn't get their signal on my iTouch. :( While Jennifer went to the bathroom I went out into a field and took some photos which I posted on my site.

I saw a "moth" there that was the size of my hand! No lie. Everything really is bigger in Texas!

New Mexico was exceptionally cold. Texas was cold, but I expected it to be, we weren't that far south and I'm not stupid to know that Texas does get very chilly... New Mexico though? It's the desert and I honestly expected it to warm up the farther west that we got. Nope.

It rained and we broke one of our windshield wipers... that was just the tip of the iceberg as far as "Bad-Crap-That-Happened-On-My-Trip-To-Vegas" goes. I dubbed Albuquerque as "Not Much To See". I heard that it was like, a big city, but really... no. It was very... plain.

Arizona didn't warm up much at all but it eventually stopped raining. I was really hoping to see a cactus and that didn't happen. Very disappointing. Arizona was quite possibly the most beautiful drive of the trip. Winding roads through mountains, desert and wide open span of no man-made tainted lands... quite stunning.

We reached peaks of 7,335 ft. The elevation made my ears pop and made me antsy... in a good way... About 200 miles outside of Nevada I made Jennifer pull over to see the stars. I made her get out of the car and look up at the sky.

It. Was. Stunning.

I have never in my life seen so many stars that bright before. I could clearly see the Milky Way and all the constellations. The highway was pretty deserted so there wasn't any lights as far as you could see EXCEPT the stars. I'll never forget it.

We got to drive over the Hoover Dam at sunrise. I wasn't as moved by it as I had hoped or expected to be, but still it was quite amazing. Hoover Dam houses enough concrete to pave a two lane highway from San Francisco to NYC. It was huge.

We didn't have any problems driving in Las Vegas, which surprised me. Jennifer isn't the greatest driver and we actually didn't get honked at! Yay!

We were staying at the Motel 6 on Tropicana, (directly behind the Strip and right across the street from the MGM, it's the largest Motel 6 in the world and it's newly renovated with hardwood floors and plasmas! Plus, they accept pets free of charge. I pity those who spent $100+ a night when we only paid like $29. Hah!)

We got there Sunday morning and unfortunately our hotel room wasn't ready yet so we leashed the dog and walked to our favorite convenience store on the strip to get a beer... at 7a! (It's VEGAS baby! It's perfectly acceptable to start drinking at 7a!)

Everyone tried to come over and pet Bella... look, I know she's cute and adorable in her little shirt and all. I know she's like, the smallest Chihuahua ever, but YO. Don't touch my dog. People think that just because Bella is adorable that she's sweet. She is... she's very sweet and very loving and will lick your face of... if she knows you. Chihuahua's are very protective of their owners. They only obey one or two people and they are very loyal and think that all other people are a threat. So when these strangers come up and approach Bella, she growls and barks... strangers laugh at her because it's really cute to see a dog in pink barking at you, so they reach out their hand and I have to pull her back because she will snap at them. She doesn't know the difference! She doesn't know that you're complimenting her! She's protecting me. I'm her mama. That's all she knows. Children are the worst. Chihuahua's hate kids.

Eventually we got to check into our hotel and we got ready to head to Summerlin. They did things a little different this year and they held the golf clinic on Sunday instead of later in the week on Saturday.

We watched Justin golf for a little with Butch Harmon and I took a few good photos and some videos (someone remind me to get my ass to YouTube...) We were sitting right in front of Lynn and Paul and we laughed with them as Justin attempted to not make an ass out of himself.

We left early so we could go get our volunteer uniforms, which, ROCKED this year. Fitted and embroidered hats with the year on the back of them instead of lame tan hats like last year. A grey ACTUAL golf shirt that was tailored different for women than men instead of the salmon polo shirt like last year. And a black pullover jacket. I actually liked last years red zip up jacket, but the black one is one that I'm more likely to wear...

After we got our uniforms we went to the volunteer party and although I'm not going to say much about the volunteer party on here since this is public - I will say that Justin actually came this year... his table was right next to ours and we had a drink with him. That's all I'll say about that. :) Oh, and it rocked. I heart open bar.

Justin left the party early and then we met Phil there who volunteered with us last year. We had a few beers with him and tried to get as many of the cups as we could. On the bus ride back I told him that I thought we had about 42 cups. He said, "42 specifically?" And then I tried to explain to him the number 42 and the meaning of life...

When we got back to the hotel we counted the cups and we officially got 39... oh... sooo close!

*I had gotten to Thursday and then I had to scroll back up and add this in there! I nearly forgot to tell y'all this...

Jess from WorldofJustin.com was supposed to be staying with us. Jennifer was on the phone with her when she booked her airfare and she walked her through it slowly since Jess had never flown before.

So when we're at the volunteer party and Justin was there, Jennifer text Jess and told her that she should have booked an earlier flight so that she could have been there. I can't remember if Jess replied back or not. Anyhow... so the chick just DOESN'T SHOW UP! WTF? Then she texts us the next day and says that Hotwire.com fucked up her plane tickets or something and that she's catching a flight out on Tuesday or something... okay, okay... fine and dandy... Let me just tell you... the week came and went without her showing up.

Now tell me something - who just doesn't come to Vegas? For Justin? When you RUN a Justin fansite and I KNOWWWW that you're a huge Justin fan? Who? Well, apparently... Jess. More on that shit later.

We continued drinking and then decided we were going to go spread our awesomeness on the Strip again and we found ourselves walking through the NYNY. I can't remember why we were but it was all gravy when we got pulled into Coyote Ugly! I was wearing my tiara that night and not 2 seconds after walking into the bar the bar girl pulled me towards the stage and asked me what the occasion was... I told her that I was just there to party and she turned around and on the mic she said, "this girl thinks she's the princess of Las Vegas!"

TWAS AWESOME.

Later we got HELLA shots and danced on the bar! :) When I told my Mama that she goes, "wow, you areeee my daughter." XD

We left when I was plastered and then went to Denny's. I then ate the best pancakes I've ever had in my existence. However, they didn't taste so great coming up once I made it back to the hotel.

I have a firm belief: Never go to bed with alcohol in your stomach. Ever.

After drinking obscene amounts I'll honestly admit here that I force myself to throw up so I don't go to bed spinning. I have no qualms in admitting that. I'll also admit that I only eat when drinking so that I have something to throw up...

Monday morning I woke up at 730a. Why? Because the alcohol/hangover god HATES me. I always wake up early after drinking... lord knows why... I chugged some water and made myself throw up again.

Later I had Lays plain potato chips and an Arizona iced tea. Usually my hangover food of choice is Lays plain potato chips and a red Gatorade, but the tea was on sale and actually was quite tasty. :)

It was cold Monday and I stayed at the hotel while Jenn went to her first day of volunteering. She fell down in the Suncoast parking lot and hurt her knee really bad. (It STILL looks gross. You can see pics on my Facebook.)

Justin didn't show up Monday so I didn't miss anything. Actually now would be a really great time to tell you that Justin didn't show up for ANY of the tournament. The only days he made an appearance were Sunday for the golf clinic/volunteer party, Wednesday for the celebrity Pro Am and then Sunday for the trophy presentation.

Last year he actually came and watched his own tournament. Just sayin'...

I spent the day in bed with the spins and watched movies on HBO all day. Jennifer and I have decided we now need to invest in a television AND premium cable. We heart HBO. After Jennifer came "home" we went to In N Out.

Jenn had never had In N Out... I had it last year when I was in LA and lurved it. (It's a West Coast thing... you wouldn't understand.) Jenn was brave and had Animal Fries. I tried one and nearly gagged -- their "special sauce" is like 80% mustard. *barf*

That night... I can't remember if I drank anything or not but we walked the Strip and I took my open shutter photos. :) I am soo proud of those pictures. You have absolutely no idea. When I uploaded them it literally brought tears to my eyes.

Tuesday was my first day of volunteering. I had to get there HELLA early because of Jennifer and her stupid Marshals scheduling... I sat around and listened to my iPod for like 3 hours soaking up all the free Figi water I could hold.

Special Events had the same chairperson from last year so I was happy to see him again... unfortunately this year there were soo many more Justin fans volunteering. One chick even came to the volunteer party in a Timbershirt. Not. Acceptable. No. I think on the volunteer application they should put, "how big of a Justin Timberlake fan are you?" and if you even answer the question you're not allowed to volunteer.

I heard that most volunteers came and picked up their credentials and their uniforms and then never showed up for their shifts... Nice. Real classy, peeps.

My job for the day was wrangling children who were there to meet the pro golfers. I love working with the kids, it's soo rewarding. These kids were so cool and fun to talk to! They seemed so nervous to meet the pro golfers. I got to stand by Chris Riley for like an hour and I was like, "WHOA". Just sayin'...

Something else unacceptable? I saw so many volunteers asking for autographs while in uniform. There were rules about that last year and since there's so many fangirls on the course now, I guess they're out numbered?

That's a good segway into Wednesday -- I was supposed to work Wednesday but problems and issues later: I didn't. I did however get to see Justin play two holes. (I wasn't about to follow him around to all 18 like the other crazy bitches...)

At hole 10 I saw something that made me GASP. Three or so volunteers asked Justin to take a picture with him... WHILE HE WAS GOLFING. He walked away from one of them and she goes, "shit." He turned around and came back to her and said, "Well we should do this now then... I heard you, 'oh shit!' Let's do this." I know it doesn't sound like much as I'm typing it, but you should have heard the tone in his voice.

He was so cranky and irritated the entire week and I'll bet everything I have that it had a lot to do with the volunteers.

Also, in something that's potentially unrelated, this year seemed much more disorganized than last year. I heard many people say that it was more awesome than last year, but no, no no... they're wrong... Who knows, maybe they weren't even there last year. This year just kinda blew chunks all over.

Wednesday I got my picture with Chris and Alice Cooper. Both awesome. :) I got to hang out with Chris and his people for a good 30 minutes while he practiced his putting annnnd his Mama was there! You should have seen him run up and give her a hug! It was adorable! And then he was like, "watch me do this..." it was soooo cute!

On out way back to the hotel we got a flat tire. Fun. Stuff. The security at the Suncoast was nice enough to change us to our donut. Oh boy was our mini van awesome cool then!

That night we went to dinner at the Excalibur's "Tournament of Kings" dinner show with this chick named Diane. She was a fellow volunteer from LA and I *thought* that she was cool beans, but as you'll find out later in the week, she's not.

So!

At the volunteer party they raffle off items and whatnots... she won this dinner for 4 at the Excalibur. It's like a $200 dinner and she didn't have any friends with her or anything and I guess her and Jennifer had talked a lot during volunteering so she invited us to go to dinner with her.

We get to dinner and we're in the front row (how cool is that?!) The dinner is presented like in Renaissance times without any silverware. Diane bitched about that, but I thought it was pretty badass to just eat with my fingers. :)

I felt like the waitstaff should have had an old English accent, but unfortunately they were not in character. The dinner was exceptionally dry and bland and the show was good and entertaining, however the costumes looked like they were on sale at a discount warehouse. I never would have paid the $55/ticket price for this out of pocket. If I did I would have been PISSED.

The Excalibur in general is just a poor excuse for a hotel/casino. It's classless and cheap. I hate it. I hope it's the next to get torn down.

Diane was loud and obnoxious during the whole dinner and I didn't get to sit by Jennifer which irritated me.

Thursday Jennifer was supposed to work at 530a but that sooo didn't happen. We instead went to Walmart to fix her flat tire. Jennifer's dad gave her a credit card for "emergencies" and told her that "pizza was not an emergency"... Well after Jess didn't show up Jenn knew that she was going to have to use the credit card for some gas money home since Jess wasn't there to pay for her part of the hotel or the pass to the tournament that she was going to sell her...

The tire people at Walmart told her that her tire wasn't fixable and that she'd have to get a new one. Whatever... tis on Daddy's credit card. So we got a new tire. Yaaaay.

While waiting for the tire we went to get a drink at the McDonalds in the Walmart and they have hot and spicy chickens there! I just HAD to try one and oh my yummy. They also had pumpkin pies, which were... interesting. Jennifer liked them though.

That night we went to dinner with Phil and Paul. (We had drinks with Phil at the volunteer party earlier in the week. Paul was also a volunteer from last year, but he didn't get to this year.) Phil brought his girlfriend (which made Jennifer jealous) and Paul brought two of his friends from back home in Liverpool that had just flown in.

We all had a great time catching up... until Paul said that he was getting deported back to Liverpool in January unless he got married. :( I reckon that just gives me another excuse to go over to England. Gemma and Paul. :)

After dinner with them we went back to the hotel and changed and then went to get a drink on the Strip and walk around. I love just people watching in Vegas. It's very calm, ironically. Most people wouldn't see Vegas as calm but as I'm walking down the Strip my mind is clear. I think the bright lights, the people rushing and the ding-ding-ding's from inside the casino just take me away from all the bullshit that awaits me back in my real life. I adore it.

Around 1230 that night we went to Hooters (the casino/hotel is next door to the Motel 6) where they have 25c wings at Dan Marino's restaurant. We waited a good half hour to be seated at freaking 1230 in the morning! I reckon that's what Vegas is all about! The wings were great! I'm kinda sad we only went the one time... 25c wings?! Who can beat that?!!

Friday... Friday... I can't remember what happened Friday day... I think that was the day I hung out and watched movies while Jenn volunteered. I watched Fred Claus that day... strange that it was on, but it was soooo sweet... so sad. I loaded my photos that day. I spent like the whole day Photoshopping.

That night we went to Fremont.

I had been to Vegas 6 times and I still had never seen Fremont. It was definitely [as they say] an experience...

2 seconds after we parked we had 4 bums asking us for money. It smelled worse than NYC. (I didn't know that was possible.)

We found a place that had 99c everything. Jenn had a 99c deep fried Twinkie and I had a 99c frozen chocolate dipped banana. I *think* mine won on being healthier. :) It was super delicious!

We tried to find a good place to have a drink. The entire Fremont area had $2 Corona and Heineken bottles so we went into this place that had a 99c margarita and I ordered a Corona and a margarita. (Jenn wasn't drinking.) The bartender said, "$4... well, $3 plus tip." I kinda just eyed him like, "um... loser" and Jennifer paid. She gave him $3 and handed me my drinks. He stood there and waited for a minute and then took the money and said, "thanks... for nothing." I had to storm off before I ripped out his fucking hair!

Let me tell you something about the 99c margaritas in Vegas... they're awesome, no lie. They're 99c and well... you get what you pay for. They come out of a machine like a slushie and they're in tiny solo cups like you get for water at Starbucks. So this dude puts the cup under the machine and pulls the lever for 3 seconds, opens a fucking bottle of beer and he expects what? A dollar? AND he has an attitude?

No, dude, you DID NOT earn your dollar tip. If you were POLITE to me and you actually did something to be a bartender, not a bottle opener - THEN you would have earned your dollar. I hope every slob in Vegas stiffs you, asshole. What a prick.

We got some beads from a few casinos and walked the whole length of Fremont before deciding that it was awesome yet lame at the same time and we left.

Not being able to decide where to go for dinner we settled on the Denny's down the street from us on Tropicana. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I have an "awesome" story to go with it...

We order and get our drinks. Our waitress was exceptional. She was sooo nice, pretty and polite. She was one of those "above and beyond" waitresses that anticipates what you're gonna need. She was being extremely patient with the drunken family that sat across from us. (There were like 8 of them and they were all very loud and not very nice, yet she never wavered and was always gracious.)

Behind me as we sat down the lady behind me was just getting her food as her phone rang. She answered it and talked very loudly to her apparent boyfriend. He was wanting to come and see her and she kept telling him, "well get in your car then, I'm not telling you where I'm at until you're on you're way... you always tell me that you're coming to see me and you never do... all my friends think I'm stupid for taking you back all the time..." Blah, blah, blah... she was going over to his house in the morning to do his laundry... She complained that she wasn't going to talk to him while she ate and then she ate her entire meal while yammering away on the phone.

It was one of those situations where I tell myself, "if this bitch says oneeeee more thing, I'm gonna turn around and say something." Then she was done with her meal and she hung up and left... didn't tip the waitress...

But I learned more about this chick before I got my dinner than I needed to. I basically learned that she has no standards and she's a loud mouthed whore. She told her boyfriend, "sweetheart, when you get drunk every time you drink at your age... you have a problem..." blah blah blah... I wanted to turn around and say, "you just put this asshole down a hundred different ways, but you still fuck him! What does that make you?! You ain't no better, bitch! Shut the fuck up."

That's what I WISH I had the balls to say.

Saturday Jennifer worked and then came back to the hotel to get me when she was done. We got into the Hill and I finally got to try Justin's tequila, 901. :) Twas goooood. I had three palomas. Can you say, yummy?! I definitely was buzzing early on that day. I hadn't eaten anything, but whatevers. I got tipsy, so yaaay!

That night was the concert. Diane was supposed to come over to the hotel before the show and she was going to give us a ride over there and stuff... she gets there like .2 seconds before we're supposed to be walking out the door and then she wants to use our bathroom... use our hairspray... borrow eyeliner... do this... do that... blah, blah, blah... It was 30 minutes until the show and Jennifer and I were getting antsy. We're USED to this. We're GOOD at concerts. I know we don't do many things well in life, but we're fucking GREAT at concerts. Especially Justin concerts. We're PROS at Justin concerts...

So these two girls from LA are about to give us a ride... we're now sitting in their car and for whatever reason, I can't remember why... but we aren't moving. One LA bitch is whining about perfume or a necklace or something and the other LA bitch doesn't know what to do with her bag... Jennifer goes, "y'all don't go to many concerts, do you?" I was actually thinking it as she said it. It was miraculous. They laughed and said, "no, does it show?" I said curtly, "Yes."

Finally we started going and LA bitch number one nearly ran us into like, 4 cars... then she was going the wrong way.

Let me tell you something people... Mandalay Bay is not hard to find... it's right next to the Luxor... you know, that giant pyramid with the light shooting out the top of it? Yep. I coulda walked there faster...

Then this dumb broad decided to turn around in the MGM... okay... and then she pulled into the taxi cue where we SAT. And SAT. AND SAT!!!!!! I nearly got out and hailed a cab, no lie. I wanted to strangle this BITCH.

So FINALLY we get to the Mandalay Bay and she pulls into the parking for The Hotel, which is Mandalay Bay's sister building... I'm thinking that we're going to have to walk for like, evaaar... so we're in this parking garage and finally by the elevators I just fucking got out. Jenn followed, I never looked back and we never spoke to them or saw them again.

I don't care how good their intentions were. Their lack of brain cells were not going to make me late for Justin. NO ONE makes me late for Justin.

We got to the show and stopped by the bar before heading to our seats... I had another 901 and Jennifer had a Jack and Pepsi. All was right with the world.

Our seats were in the last row... again, this year. I don't care. Honestly, I don't. I saw him from the front row 7x during 2007 and I have it on the HBO DVD to prove it. I am more than happy to sit in the last row of his ONE concert in 2008 and 2009 because at least I'm there.

The show was good... I got a lil worried about Justin (even though he's a big boy and can [sorta] take care of himself...) because he was basically plastered at the show. It was humorous, but I don't really wanna laugh at him for that. He changed around some lyrics in Like I Love You from, "you will know the difference when I touch you," to "you will know the difference when I fuck you," I reckon he wouldn't have done that sober... just sayin'...

He did my favorite Nirvana guitar riff and I jumped along with him. :)

He started Cry Me A River out with Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody"... a song I haven't listened to since... well... in a long time. I wasn't sure I could handle it. He did it well... I was proud of him for it, but unfortunately it kinda ruined my favorite live song for me.

I cried three times during his set... for reasons that I'm not willing to discuss with you, but it was just... emotional.

After the show we went back to the room and drank. A lot.

(We went to his after party last year and it blew chunks... course most of that could have been the company that we were with...)

Sunday was our balls to the wall day... we had a plan. We had a damn good plan. It failed. *Insert Mute Math's "Backfire" here*. So instead of seeing Justin on Sunday we got facking parched, drank a liter of Aquafina in less than five minutes, left the tournament early without saying good bye to our friends and headed back to the hotel.

We went swimming for a while. Twas good. :) Later we went to the Strip... of course... since it was our last night we were going balls out, babes! We had drunk times, watched Death Race, had Panda Express (yummmmmy!) and called it a fucking WEEK.

Monday morning Jennifer woke me up waaay too early. (8a LOL) She had claimed that she wanted to leave by 8a... that didn't happen. I got dressed, didn't get a shower, but figured that I wasn't THAT dirty and that we would be home in a short 24 hours anyway. Jennifer was supposed to close at work on Tuesday night... so we HAD to get home... right?

We stopped at the gas station across the street from our hotel and Jennifer filled up the tank... with E85.

For those that don't know... APPARENTLY E85 (85% Ethanol) isn't supposed to go in all cars! And since it's 60c cheaper than regular unleaded, Jennifer thought this was a bargain... $46 in gas later we were on our way down Las Vegas Blvd when the car wouldn't accelerate... For whatever reason it wouldn't go higher than 25mph...

I'm going to shorten this down since it was a LONG hour or so before we figured out what was wrong with our car... three mechanics later we ended up with them all telling us it was the gas we had put in and that the gas had to be taken out and all the fuel lines flushed or it could do major damage to our car...

$500 and 4 hours later...

Yep. Thank god for that emergency credit card, eh?

We went and hung out at Bagel and Bagel for 4 hours. We sat outside... it twas VERY windy... dusty... we drank loads of soda and ate hella bagels.

Even with being 4 hours behind schedule, there was still potential that we were going to make it home in time for Jennifer to close... or so we thought.

We head home and think the worst of everything is behind us. We chalk it up to being a bad week and we had a whole year of being not so great to people to we called this our karma payback. That's fine. I accept my karma'd fate.

We stop and napped for a while when Jennifer got tired and waited for the sunrise in Oklahoma... as we were about to get back on the road Tuesday morning, hoping that Jennifer was just going to be a little late to work -- we had ANOTHER flat tire. Yep. Okay, universe... I get it... we need to be nicer to people. Duly noted.

Jennifer didn't make it to work Tuesday night. Or Wednesday morning.

Thankfully we did make it home however without any other major problems or issues. We got baths, we got food that didn't come in a wrapper and we got a real bed... we spent like three days in that stupid van and quite frankly, I don't want to ever road trip again!

So that was the trip, ladies and gentlemen! I just have one final thing to say before I end this novel...

So many people promised that they were going to be in Vegas this year. I can count at least 5 of them off the top of my head... and you know what? NONE of those 5 people showed up. All five of those people were somehow worked into our trip and it somehow caused a ripple into OUR trip.

Let me just say something here... I know that Justin isn't at the top of the priorities list for everyone, believe me, I GET that. But you don't cancel a major trip like Vegas 13 days before you're going... or fuck... THE day that you're supposed to be there.

Jennifer and I plan out our trip a year in advance and there would have to be some mayjah money issue or a death in the family to cause us not to go.

Although we considered this year to be shitty, we STILL WERE THERE. That's more than you five people can say. We learned a lot this week, honestly. We learned that the karma we have put out into the universe has finally come back to bite us in the ass and you know what? We're fine with that. EVERYONE gets what they deserve and we are not above that. We're already actively trying to better ourselves. We learned that we are NEVER going to be friends with Justin fans ever again. (Unless we're already friends with you... you're safe.) We are just too protective over that boy and can't stand how people treat him. We also learned that we're NOT inviting anyone on any Justin/Vegas trips with us ever again. We can't afford the backlash of it.

...So if you thought "hey I didn't go this year, but maybe next year Jenn and Jodie will help me out..." You're wrong. Sorry. But no... and also for the fangirls out there that might volunteer at the tournament 2010? WATCH IT. You break the rules or do something stupid towards Justin and I swear I'll break your face.

I'm going to get Jennifer to blog later because she has even more stories that will make you hate on the fangirls.

Thank you sooo much for taking the time to read this. I really appreciate it and I would love you forever if you took the extra time to comment. :)