Tag Archives: Winners

Our Wedding Recap

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One month since this blissful day!

It’s hard to believe that exactly one month has already passed since Kirk and I got married. September 1, 2019 feels simultaneously as if it was just yesterday and also like a huge chunk of time gone. Nevertheless, it’s been a whirlwind these past four weeks.

We got to spend a few extra days with Kirk’s parents after the wedding, exploring the Rockies and Southern Alberta. Two weeks later, we were in Calgary for the weekend to check out the Beakerhead Spectacle (watch out for another post about that) and the final day of the Nick Cave: Feat exhibit at the Glenbow Museum, and, this Friday, we spent the night in downtown Edmonton on a staycation after attending the first of two performances by Elton John on his farewell tour.

Despite the endless hubbub since, I honestly look back at our wedding with the fondest of memories and, at this point in my life, it truly was one of the best days I’ve ever experienced. For our one month anniversary, I thought it’d be fun to do a quick recap of the what, where, when, how, and why of it all.

Venue

Ampersand 27 made for such an amazing venue!

In a previous post about Edmonton wedding venues, I shared our pick: Ampersand 27. It turned out to be the perfect size for us. During our initial meetings with the restaurant manager and hotel catering manager (from the Varscona), we had estimated around 80 guests. When we sent out our invitations, we actually nearly doubled the guest list. Yet, in the end, only 60 guests RSVP’d as attending. We were able to fit everyone into the main dining area for both the ceremony and reception without issue, so this is an ideal spot for those planning for a small to medium party.

The interior of Ampersand 27 is magical. With a gorgeously designed space, it requires very little extra decoration. There are twinkling lights and dangling balls on the ceiling, and the mantle place makes such a pretty backdrop. The lounge is also lovely for dancing and there’s a lengthy bar top to allow guests a place to perch when they’re waiting for a beverage. The hospitality suite at the back of the restaurant provided a quieter spot for people to chat and rest their feet later in the evening.

In terms of the food, we really wanted the dinner to feel like an intimate gathering and opted for a family-style dinner with large shared plates to be passed around the table and both red and white table wine. There was absolutely no shortage when it came to the starters (caprese salad, roasted cauliflower, and gnocchi), mains (rib eye steak, smoked salmon, and roasted chicken), sides (carrots, smashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and broccolini), and desserts (white chocolate cheesecake and chocolate brownies). Everyone praised the kitchen and left full. We also started the reception with a cocktail hour that served a mix of hors d’oeuvres as well as cheese and charcuterie, tea, coffee, and sparkling wine. Late in the evening, we offered a snack of mac and cheese fritters, Ahi tuna, and, our favourite, pork belly baos. Drink tickets were also distributed to our guests to be redeemed towards anything from highballs to beer and whiskey to cocktails.

Photographer

One of our awesome engagement photos.

Once we knew our venue and the date of our wedding, we promptly started looking for a photographer. There are a lot of options in Edmonton and the list is extensive. Since I tend to use Instagram quite a bit, I narrowed down the search by seeking out potential local candidates using hashtags. When I compiled my favourites, I emailed each of them to ask about their availability and pricing. That helped me to gauge if they’d even be a possibility. Our budget wasn’t large, but we also didn’t want to skimp on the person who would be capturing our memories. Once Kirk and I agreed on a few of them, we set up meetings to see how we’d get along. They were all great; however, one really stood out.

We booked Jennie Lea Photography for both our engagement and wedding photos. And, I highly recommend doing an engagement session with the photographer you choose. It’ll give you a chance to familiarize yourselves with each other, and become more comfortable in front of the camera. We’re no models, but Jennie made us feel like stars. She was also so good with giving directions, location scouting (we found ourselves at Made by Marcus and Malt & Mortar along Whyte Avenue), and she even drove me to meet Kirk for our first look (do this!). I love her and am happy to call her a friend now.

The engagement photos were so wonderful, and, what we’ve been shown from our wedding (everything you see here was shot by Jennie and/or Janice Saxon; the full set is estimated to take approximately 8-12 weeks after our wedding date due to it being the busy season) thus far has blown us away. The photos take us back immediately to those moments. They’re that special.

Additionally, I have to mention that, depending on the package you select with your photographer, it may even include a second shooter who will be there to capture the groom and his men getting ready. In our case, Janice Saxon took on that role for our day and she was awesome. Not only did she split off with the guys, but she was also there to provide a different perspective of the ceremony and reception.

Take your time trying to find a photographer that meshes well with you. Ultimately, it’s worth the effort and the money.

Invitations

 

Sign up for Vistaprint emails because you’ll eventually get a half price offer on your printed items. We skipped save the date cards, opting simply to order invitations that dictated the date and location of the wedding while directing our guests to our wedding website (created for free through WordPress) for further details and the RSVP form.

It took next to no time for our shipment to arrive, and when I wasn’t sure about the quality received, I reached out to customer service who proceeded to reprint my entire order under their satisfaction guarantee.

I even used the extra card stock (provided to protect each set of 10 invitations) to write out our whole seating chart, so nothing was wasted.

Wedding Dress & Accessories

My non-traditional gown.
Velvet heels and suede dress shoes
Cherry blossom studs to match the bodice of my dress.
Floral hair clips

As fun as it would have been to hit up some of the local dress shops throughout the city (who doesn’t want to feel like a princess in a few ball gowns?), I turned towards the internet for my dress. I looked all over the place, including BHLDN, which is Anthropologie’s wedding themed website. It was there that I found the one, but it wasn’t where I made my final purchase. I did more digging and I managed to locate the same dress on the Macy’s website for even less money. Plus, when I signed up for the Macy’s newsletter, I received a promo code for an additional 25 per cent off. While we waited for it to arrive, my mom was apprehensive. She was worried about the quality, especially after she saw another dress from the BHLDN site at the West Edmonton Mall Anthropologie that left a lot to be desired. Thankfully, it showed up and it was better than expected.

The lacy, embroidered, blush Adrianna Papell gown was exactly what I wanted. Sure, it had to be modified slightly to give it a better shape on my body, but it was relaxed, girly, flowy, comfortable, and had just enough detail to satisfy the fashionista in me. Jennie, my photographer, squealed when she saw how non-traditional it was. My friend said it reminded her of Rapunzel in Tangled and she wasn’t really wrong.

I went to My Style Tailor (14804 Stony Plain Road) for all of the alterations: sides taken in, cups added, straps secured, loose stitching fixed, and the hem shortened. It wasn’t a quick turn around time, but May got everything done in one go.

To complete the look, I went into an old box of accessories that I never unpacked when I moved. There, I found some floral clips used to decorate my hair. I wore a necklace given to me by my grandmother, and I donned a pair of deep blush pink velvet shoes purchased online from Forever 21 (I did lose a few jewels from the shoes, but it was barely noticeable).

Bridesmaid Dresses

A glimpse of the steel blue dresses that my bridesmaids chose.

I was quite nonchalant about what my bridesmaids were going to wear. I let them know what colour I was thinking of (dusty/steel blue) and said that they could go anywhere they wanted to purchase their dresses. They didn’t have to match. They just needed to be full-length and within the same colour family. I simply wanted them to feel comfortable and happy. I certainly didn’t want to dictate how much they’d be spending on a one-day event. Better yet, I wanted them like their dresses enough to be able to reuse them down the road, if they chose to do so.

I guess I was a little too lax with everything though and they wanted more direction. The four of us made a day of it, hitting up three different stores on a Saturday at the end of March. While there were some nice choices at the more boutique-like bridal stores we went to, the prices were a lot higher and the selection wasn’t as big. Our last stop was David’s Bridal at South Edmonton Common and that’s where they found their favourite dresses.

It took a second visit to come to a decision, but all three of them actually liked the same dress and opted to match. Silver shoes were chosen to go with their gowns and they accessorized with their own delicate pieces of jewellery.

Hair & Makeup

Long braided hair made me feel like Rapunzel from Tangled.

I left this until almost the last minute (practically). I have my bridesmaid Amanda to thank for reminding me to book this. We got Alice Tran to come from Calgary to do both services for all four of us girls. It made for an early morning, but everything timed out well and we were right on schedule. The day was relaxed while we snacked, chatted, did our nails, and got dolled up.

Groom’s Attire

Look at how handsome Kirk is!

Kirk really wanted a custom blue suit for the wedding, so we went to Indochino at West Edmonton Mall. He was measured in-house and he got to pick the fabric, lining, style of pockets/collar/sleeves/pants, etc. In all honesty, we had a tough go with the fittings. The first jacket was way off with the stomach; it could have fit me inside it as well. The second jacket just had the puffiest padded shoulders, which looked wrong and caused the area above his biceps to pucker weirdly.

The third time was the charm though, thank goodness! We started the whole process of the having the suit made near the start of April, and, by the time we received the proper jacket, we were nearly down to the wire. It all worked out in the end, but it was touch and go for a bit. Kirk looked really dapper though and I am glad that he went for it. He paired the suit with a pair of brown suede dress shoes and a wood tie clip that we found at Simons, which finished off the whole look.

Groomsmen

This photo is fire.

So, as it happens, Kirk’s best man and two other groomsmen were all in the best man’s wedding party a few years back. They all had matching suits from Moores for those nuptials and they all still fit in them. To make things easy, we told them to wear them again for our wedding, and it was perfect since the grey colour balanced out the blues and the blush. We even got them all matching pink ties from Simons to wear.

Florals

My bouquet with cascading ribbon!

While I went the DIY route for a handful of things with our wedding, I knew that, as a black thumb, I probably wouldn’t fare well with creating bouquets or boutonnieres myself. I shelled over the money to hire SWISH Flowers. They created beautiful arrangements for my bridal bouquet and three bridesmaid bouquets as well as matching boutonnieres and pin corsages for Kirk, his groomsmen, my dad, and our mothers.

I didn’t want anything too structured, so the arrangements were a little bit wild with greenery that wasn’t perfectly placed. We stuck with seasonal flowers like roses, gerbera daisies, and freesia. Mixed into the bundle was astilbe, eryngium, dusty miller, silver dollar eucalyptus, and succulents. The colours were white, blush, and shades of muted green and blue to match our outfits.

It’s definitely helpful if you go into the meeting with your florist with an idea of what you are looking for. In my case, I really didn’t know. There were a lot of bouquets I’d seen on Pinterest that I loved, but most included spring flowers that would have been out of season or too expensive to bring in. I worked with Lara at SWISH Flowers to come up with something that would fit the tone and style of our wedding and I was very happy with what we got.

A friend of mine even deconstructed my bridal bouquet later in the week, making a new vase arrangement and then replanting the succulents for me as a keepsake that I hope I will have better luck at keeping alive.

Music

He spun me around during our first look. We’ll pretend this is from our dance for now.

We did away with a live band or a DJ, and we used my Spotify account on Kirk’s laptop for the entire wedding. We had selected a few songs to play for the ceremony entrance, signing, and exit. Our friend/guest graciously agreed to handle the logistics of that. He also ended up becoming our impromptu DJ for the night. Even though I had asked all of our guests for song suggestions and compiled a playlist ahead of time with the majority of those selections incorporated, everyone ended up making requests and our friend just took it over and I was okay with that.

The speakers were rented from Long & McQuade for the weekend along with a lighting system to liven up the dance floor. It created the perfect ambiance for our party, which lasted until about 1:30am.

Marriage Commissioner

It’s an interesting process to pick the person who is going to officiate your marriage. We met with several people who were all found on the Service Alberta website (they must be appointed by the Government of Alberta) before we picked Pat Monilaws based out of Leduc. She was just so warm and friendly during our initial get together. With the concern and excitement of a mother and impeccable organization, we thought she’d be perfect. She did a fantastic job on the day. If you’re looking for someone to perform your ceremony, we’d certainly recommend her.

Wedding Bands & Engagement Ring

When we were first looking at engagement rings, we went to a handful of shops for fun. All of them seemed to push the trendiest and biggest options onto us. But, when we stopped into Independent Jewellers, Stephanie, one of the store managers, was awesome. She elevated our experience by clearly explaining the 4Cs to us and then she just started pulling out a bunch of different styles in various sizes, letting me try everything on. She understood that not every ring is suited to every hand. I have really petite hands and my ring finger is a size 3.5, so a large carat size might look crazily disproportionate on me. When we finished there, I’d narrowed it down to three possibilities and left the final decision (and proposal) in Kirk’s capable hands.

Probably about a year after we were engaged, Kirk and I popped into Independent Jewellers again to look for wedding bands. We were told that the selection was a bit scant at the time and it would be best to come back in the spring around May for more choices. Sure enough, when we returned, they had just stocked a brand new men’s wedding band that Kirk was drawn to right away. Brushed white gold on the outside with a shiny rose gold finish on the inside. I wanted to compliment my engagement ring with something that was still dainty, but also fun, and I chose a white gold bubble band with bezel set diamonds, which was custom made to my size.

I also love Independent Jewellers because they will clean my rings everytime I’m there (they’re so sparkly afterwards), plus they do inspections every six months.

Cake

With dessert included in our family-style dinner reception, we knew that our guests would likely be so full from the meal they’d just consumed that a big cake would largely be wasted. We thought it’d be best to go with a smaller cake, so we could do a simple cutting ceremony.

I did some research on different bakeries around the city and the prices for their signature cakes (not custom), and I landed on Milk & Cookies Bakeshop. With ten different flavours available, we elected to go for an 8″ Raspberry Lemon cake. For $50, it was already less than or on par with the cost of a 6″ cake at other shops. But, I paid an extra $10 to have the colours of the frosting changed to match the blush and blue of our outfits and to have sugar cookies (so delicious!) added to the top of the cake.

Our wedding was on a Sunday and the closest open date for pick up when I ordered our cake was the Thursday before. The cake refrigerated well and was still fresh and moist for the following week. Anything that remained, we froze for later.

To further decorate the cake, we picked up a ‘Mr & Mrs’ silver glitter topper from Michaels for about $7 after applying a 50 to 55 per cent off coupon.

Decorations & Party Favours

Last, but not least, were the decorations and party favours. I spent the better part of a year collecting items as I continued planning. We were lucky in that Ampersand 27 is already so well-designed that decorations could really be kept to a minimum. Anything that I did find, I could also use down the road as home decor.

Most of the pieces I bought, such as, the cake stand; a card box; wooden initials; a metal “love” sign; picture frames; and a table runner, were from Winners (paid for with gift cards I’d redeemed using my credit card points). We had a couple of our engagement photos printed at London Drugs for display in our seating chart frame and guest book picture frame. After months of calligraphy practice, the signage and place cards were all handwritten by me. Small chalkboard easels picked up from the clearance section at Michaels were used for the table numbers.

When it came to our party favours, we wanted it to be personal and something that would hopefully be treasured by our guests. It became a DIY project done with a lot of love. You can read more about them here.

 

I’ll update this post with more photos once we get everything. In the meantime, I hope that this inspires any brides-to-be, especially those in Edmonton.

Vegas Revisited

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On the High Roller with a view of the Paris Eiffel Tower.

On the High Roller with a view of the Paris Eiffel Tower.

A week and a half ago, my friend and I returned from our latest trip to Las Vegas. Booked relatively last minute for the two of us – a little less than a month before our departure – we used WestJet Vacations to get a flight and hotel package (we later found the same package for less through WJ, so we put in a claim for their new Price Drop Guarantee and were approved to get the difference back in WJ Dollars). Vegas isn’t necessarily a relaxing trip. Not the way we planned ours, anyway. But, it’s a good city to go when you want a quick and much needed getaway from the everyday. So, despite the fact that we were there together a mere eight and a half months earlier, we decided it was the perfect vacation. This time it was going to be filled less with debauchery (even though it was overlapping with Halloween festivities) and be more like a traditional sight seeing trip. We would catch all the highlights, wander the outlet mall, go on a hike, and, of course, the holiday was booked to coincide with one of the handful of shows Britney Spears would be performing this month. Everything simply fell into place. Rather than give you a day-by-day telling of what we decided to do this time around, I’ve broken our trip down into the following sections: accommodations, shows, nightlife, food and fun stuff.

The floral display at The Bellagio. Always gorgeous.
Dunkin’ Donuts stop on the way to Red Rock Canyon.
We also played slots a bit. This Pinball game was actually pretty good even with just one pay line!
Up close photo of the horse made of flowers in the display at The Bellagio.
Breakfast of champions!

Hotel

The Cromwell, a new boutique hotel (less than 200 rooms) on the strip, was pretty amazing from before we even left Edmonton to the day we departed Las Vegas. Part of the Caesars chain of accommodations, our experience was top notch. Prior to our trip, the concierge emailed asking if there was anything they could do to make our stay better, so I requested extra toiletries as well as the possibility of champagne upon arrival as we missed the complimentary champagne and tasting that occurs every Friday and Saturday at around 6pm or so. Without skipping a beat, they had glasses of champagne brought out to us while we were checking in and they had a gift bag filled with lotion, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and soap ready at the desk. We were also told that we could have sangria sent up to our room on the house (yes, please!). The receptionist then escorted us to the room elevators, pointed out the free tea and coffee stations, showed us how to scan our keys to get to our floor and sent us on our way. The service was quite impeccable and I could already see that it was going to stand out from the rest of the giants in town.

The Cromwell room key card.
Plush complimentary slippers in our hotel room.
The awesome shower with the rain head in our room at The Cromwell.
The mini bar at The Cromwell. It’s very well stocked.
Complimentary glasses of sangria as a welcome to The Cromwell.
Retro radio in our room at The Cromwell with a complementary glass of Moet champagne.
Bottled water and a bag of macarons left after the nightly turndown service at The Cromwell.
Our room at The Cromwell.

The only issues I would point out, and these can easily be fixed, was: 1) when we were trying to find self-parking at The Cromwell on our first night there, one of the valet said to drive ahead; however, he didn’t let us know that valet was the only option for the property and that it was free. If we had known that, we wouldn’t have had to park at the Flamingo; 2) Housekeeping missed cleaning our room while we were out on the second day (we were gone for a good 12 hours or so). The good thing is that there’s usually staff on the floor, so we waved one of the housekeepers down and she promptly came to give us turndown service, including making the beds, changing our towels, replacing toiletries and dropping off bottled water and some macarons; 3) The walls are a little thin, so you can hear when people pass by through the hall, which wasn’t much of a problem late in the evening when we went to bed. It could be a bit noisy in the mornings when housekeeping started work though. The staff are all so great, so I hate to say that they should pipe down during early morning hours, but that would have helped. On the bright side, they totally ensured that we’d be up and out with plenty of time to do everything we wanted to each day. As a suggestion, maybe they can think about supplying earplugs with the free slippers they provide in-room.

Despite these few things, I have never felt more like a VIP than at this hotel. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Shows

Britney Spears: Piece of Me
She’s still not exactly giving the show her all, but I love Britney nonetheless. I grew up watching her and listening to her music, so to see how far she’s come after her breakdown several years ago makes me happy. I feel like she has pulled it together. Even if she’s not 100% at every concert, I’m still a huge fan. I’ve seen Piece of Me twice now, and almost all the costumes have been updated since I first saw her show in February. A couple of the dance sequences have changed as well. I love her shorter hair, too. I think the wigs were a little constricting  and another thing for her to worry during her previous performances. Fun fact: Comedian Kathy Griffin, who has been doing periodic shows in Vegas, was called up on stage to be Britney’s bitch during her Freakshow performance. I love Kathy, and while I wasn’t close enough to tell it was her when she was taken from the audience, I had a feeling that she was the sassy lady on stage, and I was right! My two favourite segments of the show are the sections that include “…Baby One More Time,” “Oops!…I Did It Again,” “Me Against the Music,” “Gimme More,” “Break the Ice” and “Piece of Me” because they’re the most dance heavy songs and she usually does a good job nailing all her moves. I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t see many fans dressed up in costume, especially because it was Halloween Saturday, but that’s okay. At least people get dolled up for the shows in Vegas.

Me in my "...Baby One More Time" school girl Halloween costume.

Me in my “…Baby One More Time” school girl Halloween costume.

Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil
I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a huge fan of the circus. Clowns especially scare me, so some of the more traditional Cirque shows are not exactly my cup of tea. I know all the showmanship is amazing no matter what, but I still have a hard time getting past some of the crazy makeup, costumes and contortions at times. This is why Michael Jackson ONE was perfect for me. I also grew up listening to MJ as a kid. I had his music on cassette and then on CD, so the music is not only upbeat, it’s familiar to me. While the show did have some fantastic acrobatics and trampolining, it also had fantastic dance sequences, which satisfies me immensely because I’m one of those people who loves competitions like So You Think You Can Dance and dance movies like Step Up. Right up my alley!

Nightlife

Drai’s Nightclub at The Cromwell

The two of us had initially planned on going out dancing more than we did during our trip, but the one night we did was at the new Drai’s Nightclub located on the top floor of our hotel. As guests, we had free access to the venue, which upon walking in was pretty packed. We were there late on Halloween Saturday, which likely contributed to how busy it was. Although, it is Las Vegas, and if there’s ever a place to party any night of the week, it’s there. From what I could tell, it was one of the few clubs on the strip celebrating Halloween all weekend long, and handing out big prizes for those dressed in costume. Most of the other hotels/clubs seemed to only have festivities on the Friday night before we arrived in the city. Full of raised platforms for Drai’s dancers, it’s a circular room where the middle is party central. Fog machines and laser lights were working overdrive and the music was pumped up to keep the ambiance going. Overall, I liked the space. If you needed some breathing room, moving towards the outer edges was a good idea. The club opens up to the hotel pool/beach club, which is cordoned off at night, but still provides a lovely view of crystal clear water and palm trees as well as some fresh air.

Brooklyn Bowl

This bowling alley/restaurant/bar/concert venue is new to Vegas. Located on the LINQ promenade, we decided to pop in and have a look. It’s a fairly large, open space with two stories of bowling lanes and a mid-size stage and dance floor. The band, New Age Tribe, that was playing was great, and had everyone there up on their feet dancing. It’s really dimly lit in the building, so it sets a mood, but I like the low key, laid back vibe of the place. They also didn’t charge cover that night…perhaps because it was a Monday evening?

New Age Tribe on the stage at Brooklyn Bowl.
The Brooklyn Bowl marquee.
What you see when you enter Brooklyn Bowl.
The bowling pin decor at the Brooklyn Bowl bar.

Food

Sushi Roku

I don’t recall how I happened upon this restaurant. But, I do know that OpenTable reservations are available, including 1000 point reservations on certain dates and times. However, they can only be made for the dining room and space cannot be reserved at the bar for Happy Hour. The Japanese eatery is located inside the Caesars Palace Forum Shops, so it was super close to our hotel. Dinner prices in the main dining room are quite a bit higher, so we opted to try out their Happy Hour menu, which was available from 4 to 7pm on the Sunday we ate there. For less than $30 I got two orders of maki cut rolls and two appetizers. While I’m sure the portions are a bit larger when ordering from the main menu, I doubt that doubling or tripling the price of each dish means getting two to three times the amount of food, so I think sitting at the bar was the way to go. Every item we ordered was fresh and delicious. The maki was especially good. I’d go back anytime!

The sushi bar at Sushi Roku.
Tuna Tataki at Sushi Roku.
Albacore sashimi at Sushi Roku.
Dining area at Sushi Roku.
Asparagus wrapped in filet mignon at Sushi Roku.
Salmon and avocado rolls at Sushi Roku.
Spicy tuna maki at Sushi Roku.

Feast Buffet

If you don’t have a car available, this will be hard to get to. Located at Red Rock Casino, which is about 20 minutes away from the strip, we rushed here after a hike in Red Rock Canyon. My friend had redeemed a voucher for two free buffet lunches through the myVEGAS Slots app. We managed to get in about 10 minutes before lunch was technically over and we piled our plates with various cuisines and salads. They were really good about letting people eat past the 3pm lunch cutoff though, so both of us didn’t have to vacuum down our food like we did. I’d say for the usual price of the buffet ($8.99 for an adult at lunch with a casino card), they put out a great spread. There was a decent variety and everything tasted great.

Giada

What can I say about Giada? This new restaurant is the anchor of The Cromwell hotel. The very first eatery from Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis, I would say it’s modern Italian at its finest. My friend and I ended up there on two occasions.

Our initial visit there was a surprise because we hadn’t planned to go out. This was on the second evening of our trip when we unexpectedly had to vacate our room, so housekeeping could clean what they had missed for us. Since the establishment was right there, we thought we’d go for dessert to kill time. We wandered up to the second floor where the hostesses asked if we had a reservation. As we did not, we had to wait for a little bit. However, the minutes passed quickly as we occupied them by taking advantage of the Giada photo booth. When our table was ready, we were led inside where you get an immediate view of the chefs in the appetizer prep area as well as the bar. The restaurant is quite beautiful – a lot of white, light woods, clean lines, neutral accents, a mish mash of seating (leather upholstery, booths, rattan chairs, colourful pillows), original art showcasing Giada, custom made lights with a Giada quote, “I eat a little bit of everything, and not a lot of anything” for added whimsy, and big windows, some of which can be opened up to let in fresh air, that frame the Bellagio fountains.

Posing in the Giada photo booth.
The interior of Giada.
The waiting area outside of Giada.
In the Giada photo booth.

The wait for someone to come by with our menus was longer than I expected, but once they did pop over to drop them off and explain some of the available items, service was top notch. In the end, we opted to skip getting dessert and decided to go for a couple of the cocktails (all named after films her grandfather, Dino, produced) and crostini appetizers. The drinks were tasty. My friend ordered the La Strada and, I, the Hannibal. Both were excellent drinks with 2 oz. of alcohol, which for $15 a pop should be the case. For the crostini, we went with the Vitello Tonnata – veal loin, seared tuna, caper aioli – and the Tomato & Strawberry Jam – paired with thick slices of feta cheese and a mint leaf. Both were wonderful, but I think the Tomato & Strawberry jam was my favourite. The simplicity of it, along with the salty/sweet palate made me want more. I also love feta cheese, but sometimes I find it can be overwhelming. The feta used here was a little more subtle and incredibly smooth. Oh, and I cannot forget the bread platter that was provided as a start to the meal. A combination of bread sticks, flat bread and a warm loaf, they were all superb on their own, but add some of the butter, pesto, chili flakes, sea salt and capers that accompanied the bread, and those flavours just stepped everything up.

The bread platter at Giada.
Giada’s Tomato & Strawberry Jam crostini.
The Hannibal and La Strada cocktails at Giada.

Our second meal there was something we had been planning on. An OpenTable reservation had been made for our last lunch in Vegas before we departed. Our server was fantastic, letting us know that the breakfast menu was still available all day long and giving us suggestions for a shared appetizer. Originally we had intended to go with something from the lunch menu, but the breakfast options completely swayed us. I selected the carbonara pizza, while my friend chose the polenta. My pizza was not overly large, but it really is quite rich. With nice fluffy crust, baked in cheese, crispy pancetta and a sunny side up egg, my belly was filling up fast, and I wanted to sample some desserts, so I left a bit of the crust behind. My friend raved about the polenta dish as well.

The Polenta en Cocotte at Giada.
The Carbonara Pizza at Giada.
The Giada place settings with a rainbow.
A starter of the chicken marsala meatballs at Giada.

To finish off lunch, we ordered two desserts to share – the cookie platter and the zeppoles. The cookie platter had an assortment that included chocolate chip, chocolate with blueberry filling and lemon ricotta. They were all toothsome, but the best, hands down, was the cake-like lemon ricotta, which were soft and moist “cookies” covered in a zesty icing that gave it a great tangy taste. The zeppoles, which were also citrus infused, are like doughnut holes, but airier. Served with a side of hazelnut spread, it was heaven on a plate.

The zeppoles at Giada.
The assorted cookie platter at Giada.

If Vegas didn’t have so many other amazing restaurants to try, I’d say that Giada would, otherwise, make my list each and every time I visit.

This is a cupcake and ice cream shop chain. The Las Vegas location is, again, found on the LINQ promenade. For quick pick ups, you can try out their awesome Cupcake ATM machine, which will distribute your selection, boxed, after you swipe your credit card. Once delivered, it plays a stupidly catchy Sprinkles branded song. We watched as someone purchased their snack from the ATM, and then we danced to the music with them, but my friend and I ultimately opted to walk into the store to buy ours. I sampled a full-size triple cinnamon cupcake because I cannot pass up anything with cinnamon. It was surprisingly fresh considering how late we were there. The cake was so soft. The icing was pretty sweet, maybe a little more than I like nowadays, but they don’t slather on too much. In fact, I think the cupcakes there have the perfect amount of frosting as the layer is just thick enough, so that you don’t see the cake beneath. As we were sitting there devouring our cake, I noticed the ice cream on the other side of the shop. The feature flavour was pumpkin – cinnamon ice cream with pumpkin cake and frosting mixed in. Being that I was on holiday, I decided to indulge further and went ahead and bought myself a scoop. It was awesome. My friend ate the red velvet cupcake that evening, which looked scrumptious, too. The next day, our last in the city, we headed back because my friend wanted a salty caramel (available through November) one before she left.
Scooping my ice cream at Sprinkles.
The exterior of the Sprinkles Cupcakes shop.
A scoop of the featured pumpkin ice cream at Sprinkles.
The Cupcake ATM machine at Sprinkles!
My Sprinkles triple cinnamon cupcake and my friend’s red velvet.

Fun Stuff

North Premium Outlets
This place is chock full of stuff from big name brands and designers. The sales weren’t really that great though, and it’s likely because Black Friday hasn’t rolled around yet. However, some stores offered additional markdowns, but most of them were minor. Despite the lack of slashed prices, I still walked away with a few choice items from Ann Taylor and Max Studio at some excellent prices. I also got in a lot of cardio because I walked over 16,000 steps that day, mostly at this mall.

Red Rock Canyon

With a rented car, it made it easy for us to venture anywhere we wanted this time, so we planned to take a drive to Red Rock Canyon. Only 20 to 25 minutes from the Las Vegas strip, we reached the National Conservation Area where we paid $7 for access to the scenic drive and a number of hiking trails. Like a mini Grand Canyon, the mountains are washed in colours of red, orange and yellow, making the route through the park quite the site. We pulled off at the Willow Springs stop and headed out for a hike. I think we ended up on the Lost Creek Children’s Discovery Trail, which joins up with the Willow Springs Loop because it turned into an uphill course that led to a spot where I think there is a seasonal waterfall. The water wasn’t really flowing for us, but it was a really nice trek in an area that, although there was little sunshine, shielded us from the high winds that day. This particular hike was also one of the shorter ones, which was perfect for us because we needed to make it to Red Rock Casino before the lunch buffet ended and we were kind of tight on time. Both of us really enjoyed the canyon and would love to go back next time to try another hiking trail.

A bunny garden display at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center.
A view of the Calico Hills in Red Rock Canyon.
In Red Rock Canyon.
The mountains of Red Rock Canyon as the sun came out.
A map showing the scenic drive route and stops at Red Rock Canyon.
In Red Rock Canyon.
A lizard in the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center.
Displays at the Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center.
A view from our hike.

Trader Joe’s and Nordstrom Rack

Before we left the Red Rock area, we stopped at Trader Joe’s, which was just a few minutes away from the casino there. I’d never been to this grocery store before, but it sort of has a cult following in Canada. Their branded products were actually more affordable than I expected, and for a smaller store, they carry quite a variety of items. I was especially impressed with the relatively inexpensive yet huge pieces of Ahi tuna steaks that could be found in the fish aisle. I would have packed some home if I could have. The outdoor shopping area also had a Nordstrom Rack, which is similar to TJ Maxx and Marshalls or Winners, if you’re Canadian. I wasn’t super impressed with the clothing department, but they had a ton of shoes in my size, which ranges from a 7-8, and I ended up walking away with two pairs of shoes for less than $100.
Tantalizing packs of Ahi tuna steaks at Trader Joe's.

Tantalizing packs of Ahi tuna steaks at Trader Joe’s.

Neon Museum

This was probably the number one thing we did on this trip. We pre-booked tickets for a nighttime guided tour of the Neon Museum Boneyard where old neon signs have found a second life. Many of them are past the point of ever being used again, but some have been restored, and all of them seem to have a fascinating history. Our tour guide, Paul, was full of interesting facts about how the signs were made, who designed them, where they came from and why they were of importance. I walked away from the museum feeling ever more knowledgeable. For any photographers out there, this place is wonderful to hone your skills of night shoots and working with the bright neon lights. If you’re getting married in Vegas, think about coming here because the signs provide a really cool backdrop, including the chopped up marquee of the defunct Moulin Rouge Hotel whose letters now spell out “in love.”

Sassy Saloon’s neon sign at the Neon Boneyard.
Part of the old Stardust Resort and Casino neon sign with a bit of the script from the Moulin Rouge Hotel sign in front.
Using the Neon Museum photo booth.
More derelict signs at the Neon Boneyard.

High Roller

The new High Roller, a giant ferris wheel, now surpasses the Singapore Flyer as the world’s tallest observation wheel by a mere 9 feet. Having missed the opportunity to ride the London Eye last year, I really wanted to see what it was like, so I was pretty excited to see that Groupon had a deal. The voucher we bought allowed for two different passes, but we went with the Happy Half Hour selection. Our tickets gave us access to a car with a bar and bartender and as many drinks as we could fit in during the 30 minute ride. The views were pretty spectacular and since it moves relatively slowly, you had ample time to take it all in. Should you choose to do the Happy Half Hour, I would suggest that you refrain from pre-drinking because if you imbibe too much, you may have trouble making it off the car when your ride is over. The cars never dock – it is in continuous motion – so if you’re at all drunk, you could find yourself lying in the net that has been strung up below the wheel.

On the High Roller.
About half way up on the High Roller.
The entrance to the High Roller ticket counter and my ticket for the Happy Half Hour ride.

The LINQ Outdoor Promenade

This area of the strip is very new. It’s situated in between the recently renovated The LINQ Hotel & Casino and the Flamingo. Filled with various restaurants, bars and shops, it’s pedestrian and family friendly. When we walked through after our ride on the High Roller, it is where we found the Brooklyn Bowl and Sprinkles. On our last day we also dropped into the Polaroid Fotobar, where you can use the computers to upload photos from your phone or social media and have Polaroid sized prints made. The store also houses a Polaroid Museum that happened to be closed for a private function when we were there. The promenade was also being set up for Britney Day festivities, which were taking place on November 5 when Britney Spears was getting the key to Las Vegas.

A view of the High Roller from near the entrance to the LINQ promenade.

A view of the High Roller from near the entrance to the LINQ promenade.

Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat

My friend and I both redeemed loyalty points through the myVEGAS Slots app for full passes to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage. I was particularly excited to see the three white lion cubs that had been born just six months earlier. It really isn’t very big, but we spent probably an hour to an hour and half in there. The pass allows you access all day, so you can come and go if you choose. They had lions, white tigers and leopards in the garden. Truthfully, I was a little bit sad to see them all caged up behind fences, but they did seem very well cared for. The cubs looked like they were having a great time with the trainer that was playing with them in their space. In between viewings of the giant cats, we stopped to watch a dolphin training session where a lady had paid for a VIP dolphin experience. Her dolphin was adorable as it used squirt bottles to paint her a picture. As we wandered around I couldn’t help feeling like I had deja vu. When I got home from my trip, I asked my mom if I had been there before when we’d done family trips to Vegas and, sure enough, I had. That’s where my beloved white tiger stuffed toy had come from.

A dolphin painting during a VIP experience in the Mirage Dolphin Habitat.
A white tiger posing for a picture in the Secret Garden.
A white tiger playing with his big red ball in the Secret Garden.
Well, this was quite the rundown of my holiday. If you’ve been to Vegas a number of times like I have, I hope that this post gives you some new ideas for your next trip. It seems like there is always something new, unique and interesting to do in that city. Why not try them all?