One Hot Weekend

This past weekend reached the 100 degree mark in some parts of the city. It seems way too soon to have century-club temperatures in April. This time is supposed to be the “perfect” weather temp around the 80’s, but I guess summer is eager to arrive. I am not a fan of the heat. I don’t care what they say… “It’s a dry heat.” It is still hot except it feels like an oven especially when you get in your car. No matter though, because I decided to live in the desert so I need to suck it up, which I did. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was places I went, and maybe it was the people I was with, but this was one of the weekends where I questioned… “Is this really my life?”

Friday I kept it pretty chill as I met my peeps at Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. With the heat, I kicked on the air conditioning for the first time, which resulted in some horrible allergies. I figured what better to knock them out with some vodka and lemon of course. Wahoo’s was one of my favorite places to eat when I lived in California. They opened one in Vegas a few months back with a full bar and gaming open 24 hours. I didn’t realize how busy the place would be. I walked into a full bar with every booth taken except one way in the back. After a few drinks and a couple of fish tacos, I realized my plan to kick my allergies wasn’t working so I figured sleep would probably be a lot better. On a side note, I saw that Wahoo’s has a Sunday brunch, only a few items like Huevos Rancheros, a Mexican omelet and unlimited mimosas for the first hour. Wahoo’s just opened a second located in Boca Park for those who reside in Summerlin.

Saturday I was starting to feel a little better, but not wanting to push it so I went over to my friend’s house, who I like to call Bellins, with Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy in hand. He has an amazing backyard with a large pool deep enough to dive in. Leinenkugel’s is from my birth city, Chippewa Falls, WI, so I try to stay loyal. The seasonal beer is made with lemonade and Weiss beer, which you would think would be disgusting. Alas it was quite tasty. It is popular over in the U.K., I learned that when I used to bartend. After a couple of hours of tanning and swimming I left to take a nap as I had plans later that night. The Cosmopolitan is having a summer concert series at the Boulevard Pool with a great lineup thus far announced. Florence + The Machine was performing Saturday night with a sold out crowd. I get very claustrophobic with large crowds so I was fortunate to get backstage passes to enjoy the show.

As I was upstairs with a great view of the crowd and The Strip, my friend, Cait and I discussed living in Las Vegas. Do you ever just find yourself driving down to The Strip or enjoy the neon lights from a distance and it hits you… “I live in Las Vegas.” Even though the city can have some negative aspects, we are really lucky and spoiled to live in a 24-hour city that has amazing opportunities. We get to experience things that people may not get to in a lifetime. Florence + The Machine was an amazing show and I was extremely impressed that she sounded exactly like she does recorded. It is hard to believe she is only 25 years old.

Sunday I was feeling back to normal and I took advantage of it. I met a group of my girls down at Wet Republic. The SpyOnVegas Hot 100 starts on the 27th, which means I will be spending a lot of my Fridays at the pool .I figured it was time to check out the crowd and see what to expect. I wasn’t planning on drinking, but then again it never works out that way. As a bottle of Absolut was delivered to our table my plan to keep things chilled pretty much went out the window. The later it got in the day, Wet Republic filled up quickly and we were moved to a daybed to get some sun in. After mingling with familiar faces, my friends decided it was time to go eat. I decided to stay and my second group of friends arrived. It was the first time I’ve ever stayed until closing at pool in my six years in Vegas. I usually leave a couple hours early to avoid the crowd stumbling out.

As we went out to valet, I ran into an Australian guy that one of my friends was talking to all day. After talking for some time he explained he visited Vegas a lot and invited me to dinner. I politely declined as my friends and I were planning to cook dinner. However that didn’t stop my friend from inviting him along for the ride. Five minutes later, I had a stranger in my backseat and a drunk girl in the front. She was explaining that locals do have normal life and we were about to show him how we really live. On the way there he shared some Australian stories and we learned some new vocabulary. We got to my friend’s house where her brother set up his music equipment. An hour later a full blown acoustic concert was going down in her living room. One of the girls and I went outside and started laughing about how random the day was. How did we end up with a complete stranger in the suburbs and a live concert going down in a living room? This is the life we live. Eventually it will end as we get older and move on. But until then we will enjoy every minute of it. I have a feeling this is going to be one amazing summer.