Rolling the Dice

Dumm Dumm Dee Dum!

How fun is this!?  

I really wanted something Vegasy for the ring bearer (Leo) to hold...no boring pillow here please!

I think it turned out pretty damn cute!

What says VEGAS better than Dice!?

xo.

I love you from here to Las Vegas!

Welcome to 

Chad & Nicole's Vegas Elopement 

(with an entourage!)

(isn't he hot?)

October 7, Friday

We arrive at 6:46pm on Allegiant #537

Hotel: Holiday Inn Desert Club Resort

3950 Koval Lane (it's behind the Flamingo)

Reservation under: Neufeld

Nothing planned tonight.  Let us know if you want to "wing it" with us!

October 8, Saturday

(one more sleep!)

Chad would like to do something "boys only".  Details to follow.

That leaves us girls with some kids for the day.  Oy!  Ideas?

Saturday Night:

What's a trip to Vegas without going downtown?  If we take the Deuce, it's only $8 for hop on/off.   I'm sure the kids will want to Zip Line....weeee! 

Dinner location: TBA

Anyone up for the while we are there?

Plan: Eat. Tour. Light Show.

October 9, Sunday

(the i do. we do. day)

Wedding Ceremony 

Little Church of the West 

3:15pm.

Please meet in the garden and the staff will escort you into the chapel when it's "our turn" 

(only in Vegas do they refer to your wedding as "a turn" *snicker*)

Following the ceremony, please join us for a group picture 

at the famous Las Vegas sign!  Limo ride included.

                 

4-5:30pm.  

Photo shoot for Mr & Mrs Borne on the strip.

(eeeeeeeeee!)

 

5:30pm.

Planet Hollywood

BURGR

 Due to bizarre reservation rules & costs, we have decided to wing this part.  Burgr assures us they accommodate our 30+ group if we 'just show up'.  

Goal: sit by 6!

Randy, Jeff & Peter are nominated to ask for a table of 10 (each)

We'll pick up the food tab.  

Adult bevvy's are extra as ya'll are a bunch of  

.......not over yet.......

It's Vegas People!  No sleeping!

Please join us at our resort for further cerebration and bevvy's!  

(Gold Mine Bar onsite or BYOB)

Chad & I will have sneak away for a quick helicopter tour,

we will join you following!

9-10:30pm.

(please wave as we fly by!)

Today marks 45 years of wedded bliss for these two love birds!

October 10, Monday

(gobble gobble)

Many of you leave us today.  Safe travels!

If you are hanging out for the week....nothing fixes a hangover like breaky.

Folks...prepare for a Food Coma!

Hash house of Go Go.  @ the LINQ

Ridiculously large portions of pure deliciousness!

Line up guaranteed.  Meet at 10:30?

lazy day at the pool!

(weather permitting)

Dinner: We-Do-BBQ at our resort

(menu to be discussed!)

The rest of the week is open!  Leave your suggestions in the comment sections!

We fly out Friday @ 1:48pm 

**please leave your travel dates and hotel info in the comment section**

On behalf of the soon-to-be

Mr & Mrs Borne...

                                       

psst. I love you...

A little pre wedding chalk art to start the countdown!

summer... mixed tape style

Can we just enjoy this sweetness for a minute?  sigh.  

Meet Gemma and Leo.    

Don't you wish this was adult life?  weeee!

I fell in the Generation Gap!  Someone pull me out!

So this is a funny little ditty.  I went to leave for work and could not find my keys anywhere.  I knew they were last seen with Mallory when she (lovingly) went to get the mail for me.  So called her  (lovingly) at 7:30 *AM* (on a summer-sleep-in day *snicker*) to ask her where she put my keys.  In a sleepy voice I was told "on the counter".  

lies!

lies!

lies!

They were actually in the backseat of my car...I found them...two days later!

   What made this a giggle was a text I got from Katie....

I'm truly old.

This makes me pee.   

Of the entire deck of cards...guess which one Chad picked?

Someday I'll truly appreciate the dozens of selfies I find on my phone.  

(excuse me, my glasses?)

Line up is to the left boys!

Little life saver kids.

oy.  This happened.

I made this cuteness!

Goodbye summer.  

Nature is calling and we don't have WIFI

OH JOY!  Nothing like a week off,  no WIFI,  5 people squished into a camper, heading off on a 4.5 hour trek to enjoy nature!  This is family vacationing people!!  

(Disclaimer,  I *may* have used up my entire data plan for this month and (probably) for the next 3 months...damn you Pintrest!).

Destination: Sylvan Lake & Aspen Beach

We started our venture off by visiting my BFF in Calgary.  The plan was camp in the Walmart parking lot (read: cheap) and break up our drive to nature.  Now I have heard a lot of hype over the camp experience at Walmart, and the fact that it was free was definitely appealing.  So after a splendid visit we were off to set up. Yippee!

Oh.

Back in the truck.  Off (again) to find another Walmart to experience!!!  

Yippee!

Well the good news was that the next Walmart had no (rude) signage.  The bad news was, no one else was camping there (red flag).  No worries!  We are adventurous folk! We set up, got our jammies on, were brushing teeth...**BANG BANG BANG**HONK HONK** 

OMG... someone.is.at.the.window!  

This is a classic Walking Dead scene in the making!!!

I peek out.  Security.  

......And we are on the move again!  Yippee.

We made a U-turn and joined the other trailers out on the street BESIDE the Walmart parking lot. Pfft!  Who knew that Walmart camping is actually just a big fat lie.  I need add that there is something entirely weird about sleeping in the street.  It had a bit of a homeless feel to it.

Walmart street camping.  Take in that construction view people!

The next day we rolled into Sylvan Lake and set up camp at Jarvis Bay. What a great spot!  The sites are completely private and we scored with a lake view.  

Our campsite also had this monster rock in it which provided hours of entertainment for the kiddos

 (Child on the right is not ours, but she fit right in.)

Sylvan Lake has a huge bonus... waterslides!  Hello,this is truly kid heaven!  They also had this bouncy castle sort of thing out on the lake.  The kids went nuts for an hour and were dead tired.  Probably because they had to keep bouncing in order to keep their body temperatures barely over hypothermic levels.  So totally worth the $15/kid, right?  Cold, tired kids!  It's a win win!

After a few nights in Sylvan we moved over to Apsen Beach. We camped in the Brewer's campground and let me tell you, this is a 5 star joint!  3 parks, concession stand (read: ice cream), completely private sites, sandy beach, a huge shallow lake area for swimming.  Our kids would take off on their bikes and we wouldn't see them for hours!  It was fantastic!!! 

We had to pick up Chad's daughter Raedyn on Thursday and so that was a good day to waterslide.  (AKA...pick your own death...hypothermia or collapsed slide.  Neat!)  There is a reason it is scheduled for demolition next year.  OMG the metal was so rusted out even I (being a chick) noticed that.  I also have to say that the nurse in me has a distaste for shared water.  Just saying.  I went on *one* slide just so I wouldn't be out of the running for Mother Of The Year.   

Wee.

Doesn't it look delightful in the picture?  DON'T BE FOOLED PEOPLE!  It's a dilapidated freezing pool of death!  In all fairness, the kids loved it and it was a highlight of their trip.


Of course you have to have MOO's ice cream following....

The rest of the week was spent at the beach with family.

I will give myself a few extra gold stars for coming up with creative and fun ways to keep the kids busy during those "I'm bored" moments.

One.

Make a Scavenger hunt.  I made a list of things for them find and it kept them busy for hours!

(ie. is site 167 taken?  How many tents are in loop E.  How many washer/dryers are there?  Can you see the beach from site 110?  You get the point!)

Two.

Make Leaf pictures.  Aren't these cute?

And now we home and the amount of laundry I have is outrageous! Seriously, how many towels does one family use in a week of camping!?  

Off to detox from my weekend of buns and booze!

Let's talk eyeballs.

I love eyeballs!  I'm always on the hunt for products, lash miracles,
new looks....

So let's talk about my obsessions shall we?

Latisse.

*~**Hooray for Latisse! This stuff is a miracle in a bottle people!**~*  

Application: You put one drop into the cap and use the brush to swipe it across the lashes.  That's it! Hello?  So easy!
A bottle lasts about 3 months and costs around $100.  I bought mine from a plastic surgeon's office as you do need a prescription for it (in Canada anyways).

**okay, really I bought it from a Mexican Farmacia for a fraction of the price...but my NEXT bottle will be properly purchased from plastics office with an RX**

The only negative is that is can discolor the skin.  I do find that my lash line has a slightly darker pigment to it (noticeable only to me), but would in no way hinder my obsession.

This picture was from the first time I used Latisse.  My mom hates this picture, she says it's creepy, but I'm posting it anyways.  Usually my top lashes are no longer than the bottoms.  Check out that length! Oh la la!

My peepers on Latisse....

Please run out and buy yours today!

Waterproof Mascara

Okay here is my secret recipe to keeping your lashes curled all day.

Waterproof mascara!  

Before you go all "but it will dry out your lashes"...keep reading.  

1. Curl lashes.  

2. Apply *regular mascara*.  I'm loving Bad Gal lash by Benefit.  The brush is chunky and smothers my lashes with the perfect amount of mascara... making them oh-so-long and luscious!  Never clumpy.  

3. Now do the second coat in a waterproof!  See, the lashes are primed and protected so the waterproof mascara acts as curl setter.  It's like hairspray for your lashes!  So I am using Last Blast by Covergirl and I quite like it. 

I'm sure you are pondering: "Well why wouldn't she use Bad Gal Lash in waterproof?".

Excellent question! Well people, the answer to that is the waterproof version has this skinny, scrawny brush that does nothing to va-va-va-voom the lashes.  I find it bizarre the company would offer a water proof version that is nothing like the original.  I wrote a stern letter to Benefit people to which I was promptly ignored. 

I know, first world problems.

Prime those peepers!

This product was revolutionary in making my make up last!  I confess, I have greasy eyelids.  Who knew this was even a thing?  I tried "Gosh Prime'n Refresh" years ago and it's still my old faithful. Cheap.  Lasts a zillion years.  And in my mind, it conditions my skin to reduce wrinkles since I forever forget to use eye cream.  It has conquered my greasy lids from coast to coast!  Your eye shadow will look as fresh at midnight (if you are insane enough to actually need to be cute at midnight, I'll be in bed) as it does in the morning.  It's that good.  Keep an eye out for wicked Shopper's points with Gosh products.  Don't you just love points!?

Super Sexy Summer Shimmer

Meet Loreal's Infallible eye shadow in 'Amber Rush'.  Its a delicious eye shadow that I am loving for summer.  A perfect amount of shimmer.  Looks great with a tan (and just as good on fish belly white skin as I am currently sporting).  It brings out your color and makes your eyes sparkle.  I use it au naturel for work or I'll ramp it up with some liquid eyeliner for more wow! 

DeMascara

Please (please please) use a Waterproof Makeup Remover so you don't pull out all the Latisse induced lash lusciousness!  I have tried all the brands and Lancome is the only way to go. Warning...it is a splurge, but it's often included in the 'gift with purchase' bags (oh joy!) so its a win win if you go on a Lancome spending spree!

  

Go now.  Be sexy.

And may your lashes be long and luscious!