Happy 2017 Friends! How has the new year treated you so far?

We spent NYE with fur babies, blackjack, a champagne taste test (Spoiler alert: a $150 bottle of Dom tastes nearly identical to a $40 Veuve Clicquot), pjs, a roaring fire, and this blissfully terrible Mariah Carey performance. Love her or hate her, you have to admit that was some quality entertainment.

2016 was quite an eventful year!

I had my wisdom teeth removed and looked like a puffy chipmunk for a few days:

We traveled to Chicago for a friend's wedding and got to fly in this super cool plane that had individual pod seats:

We clean up okay ;-)

I ate the most perfect slice of rainbow cake from Goddess and the Baker that I STILL dream about:

I saw Vegas for the first (then second) time:

I spent my 30th birthday at Disneyland:

Celebrated 3 years of marriage to my best friend:

Saw her majesty Beyonce in concert, and laid on a beach in Mexico with a drink in my hand on Christmas Day:

I have two goofball dogs I love more than life, and a supportive husband who sticks by my side through both good times and bad.

Bacon with her doggy cupcake from Sprinkles (above) and Maple (below) with hers. Spoiled much? Nah :-)

They say your 30s are some of the best years, so I'm ready to embrace this new decade. I want to get in better shape mentally, physically, and emotionally, and also learn to breath and let go of worrying about the things in life I can't control.

Last weekend was a tough one for me in terms of that. I lost my wonderful cat Bailey who was 14 years old and very ill.

I got her when I was only 16, and she was by my side for many happy years. She moved all over with me while remaining a happy little fluff ball who loved everyone, but especially canned tuna, any toy with feathers or jingle bells, and nose kisses. I miss her terribly.

Instead of holding onto that sadness and letting it consume me the way I normally would, I'm trying to grow and focus more so on the good times we had and not only the life I gave her, but how she brightened mine. I'm glad she's no longer suffering, and have been giving my girls extra cuddles lately.

As the lovely and talented Aisha Tyler once said, "in times of struggle we must remember that nothing is permanent. This too shall pass". She spoke about her father who is an optimist to his core, stating that if his house were on fire he would grab marshmallows and make the best of it. While I may never be at that level of ease, I do like the idea of rolling with the punches and not letting them take me down. We all face heartbreak and challenges, but I don't know a single person who doesn't come out stronger because of it.

OK! How about we lighten the mood a little bit now you guys?!

My sweet husband has a birthday coming up, and we thought what better way to get out of a funk than to plan a fun trip to Vegas?

Before we jet off again though, I wanted to catch ya'll up on our last trip which was over the Thanksgiving holiday.

It was only my second time to Sin City, and this time our friend came along which made it even more fun. My husband spends about 85% of his time in the casinos (taking breaks only to eat and/or sleep), so having her there too was the best because she enjoys the parts of Vegas I do such as seeing shows, swanky restaurants, and spa treatments.

We flew out the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, and got to the airport early so that we could pregame in the Admiral's lounge and take advantage of the open bar (I'm a bit of a nervous flyer). After a few vodka tonics, I was feeling good and ready to start our vacation.

We stayed at the Mirage, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice (and shockingly quiet!) the remodeled rooms were. Being an older hotel, I didn't go in expecting to have such comfortable beds and modern decor. It's in a great location too right in the heart of the strip.

I still think my favorite Vegas hotel is the sexy Cosmopolitan, but I would totally stay at the Mirage again in the future. After checking in, we walked down to CVS for waters to stock our mini fridges with. My husband then promptly pulled a Clark Griswold and took off for the casinos, while we instead decided to grab a late dinner at Pantry.

It was the easiest choice being located directly across from the bank of elevators that went up to our rooms. There was a line for a table, but the bar is first come first serve so we bypassed it to set up camp there. They serve breakfast all day which I'm always a sucker for, but was more in the mood for something naughty and their grilled cheese fit that bill.

Tons of gooey melted cheese on nicely toasted bread with thick fried potato wedges, a pickle, and pickled green beans. It was the perfect nightcap.

Thanksgiving morning I woke up next to my husband who got in way after my friend and I had gone to sleep, and smelled of cigarette smoke from the casinos and his late night feast of White Castle. Being the nice guy he is though, he went downstairs to fetch us coffee and breakfast wraps from Roasted Bean.

It gave us just the right amount of energy to fuel up for a fun day. Wanting to catch the Cowboys game, we looked around for a spot and finally ended up at the Alto Bar.

The bar was newer and didn't smell of rank cigarette smoke the way some of the others did. The furniture was modern and comfortable, and we were able to set up camp in a little nook right next to a TV. Miller Lite was $8 a pop, wines were around $13 a glass, and they didn't have a whole lot on their menu besides $7 kettle chips or a meat and cheese plate. The nice thing though was that they were fine with you bringing in outside food, so long as you were still paying for drinks.

Cozied up in the nook. (Don't mind the slightly buzzed and tired face)

We were discussing where we should have dinner that night, when I looked over and noticed Searsucker's special. $50 a person for an all you could eat buffet of the traditional favorites. I checked reviews and they looked good, so I fired up Open Table and made us a reservation on the spot for a mere few hours later.

Because we decided to wait to eat until after the game had ended, we were STARVING but wanted something to simply tide us over until our dinner feast. White Castle seemed like the best idea. I was even more jazzed since we don't have those here in Texas, so I had never discovered the magic of their onion packed mini sliders. DANGEROUS.

It's located inside the Casino Royal, so after eating we hung around to play some slots and check out their $5 blackjack table. None of us were winners, but it was fun nonetheless.

On the way back to our rooms to rest for a few hours and later clean up for dinner, we made a pit stop at Walgreens so that I could pick up some toiletries I forgot to pack. We also got bubbly and breath mints to use as chips for blackjack practice in the room. It was my first time learning the game, so I wanted to get more comfortable with it before going back out to the tables and machines and playing for real money.

We ended the night back at Searsucker with one of THE most incredible Thanksgiving dinners I had ever had. I'm so sorry grandma, but it's true!

Expecting to find a buffet style setup, we were instead treated to a cozy quiet booth and had waiters bring us as many plates as we wanted. They had white or dark meat turkey (or a combo of the two), creamy mashed potatoes with a sour cream sauce and chives, fresh green beans with crispy fried onion strings, homemade cranberry sauce, and a sausage stuffing. MAN was it good!

Full and happy :-)

We also shared a $5 side of their scratch made buttermilk biscuits, because why wouldn't you?

They came with whipped butter and honey and nearly brought us to tears. Absolute perfection. And on a whim no less! I love Vegas.

I know this post was a lengthy one, but I will return soon with Part 2. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy writing them. I want to get into the habit of posting more regularly, and have a few more trips in the works this year that I can't wait to tell you all about.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and are planning lots of good eats for Superbowl Sunday.

Personally I'm not invested in either team this go around, but I do love me some Lady Gaga and am looking forward to her halftime show. #SLAY

<3 Elyse