The Infamous Vegas Smile

Well, two months later, I'll let you know that Vegas was FANTASTIC! The infamous Vegas smiles, seen above, sums it up. I've been a bit of a BLOG slacker, so I apologize, but I promise you I've been thinking about my blog and making notes about topics to post about.

Vegas was simply great! The weather was perfect and was the ideal setting for some much needed R&R with a twist of fun.

Day One:

Our first night out we went to the Hard Rock Cafe hotel and visited Body English night club. We enjoyed VIP entrance and free drinks for an hour, thanks to BT's connections. Choe celebrated his birthday in style with plentiful drinks (see photo below). On the way back to the hotel we dropped BT and Choe off on the side of the road, per their request. We heard stories the next morning at the pool!

Day Two: Woken by a'knock, knock,knock' on the door, I open the door to see this:

Choe says, " I'm a hot mess!, as he chomps on a giant, chocolate covered strawberry. It was quite the site!

An few hours later, we have packed and traveled to the Red Rock Canyon. We decided to do a little hiking...after a long night of drinking; best idea ever! We thoroughly enjoyed the hiking regardless of pounding headaches (for some) and extreme heat. My favorite find during our hike was the waterfall. It was small and only had water trickling down the fall due to the dry weather, but it's something you don't see every day(see the picture on the far right side, hard to see, but it's the top of the fall).


The remainder of day two included pool-side napping, dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse (yum!), gambling, walking the strip and people-watching. We called it an early night; bad idea to hike several miles and walk the strip all in one day.

Day Three: Pool Day! We were entertained by the "Luxor Arc Angel" dancers, pool races, best tan-award and the DJ who kept the pool hoppin' all afternoon. We usually laughed at one of the dancers because she was always late on her dance moves. The best part of the pool is they allowed us to bring our own drinks to the pool. We loaded our back packs with drinks, grabbed a bucket of ice and enjoyed our refreshments. OH! by the way, don't' buy your liquor from the hotel gift shops. Our first night we made the mistake of purchasing a very small bottle of Absolut Citron and a liter of 7up, with a large tab of $30.00 bucks! We learned our lesson and found a liquor store the next day.

For dinner we tried a Mexican restaurant inside of the Luxor. The food was great going down, but a few hours later three of our crew were stuck in their rooms with food poisoning. :( The few who survived the storm decided to cab our way to the Palms for some nightlife. We visited three different night clubs, neatly stacked on the top floors of the Palms. The views were amazing and the atmosphere was perfect for dancing. Before we knew the clubs were filled with people and buzzing with conversation. At one point in the evening I counted 15 different Bachelorette parties happening all at once. Covered in their oh-so-classy Bacherlorette apparel and surrounded by swaying bridesmaids.
The picture to the left is the night club on the very top of the Palms. The retractable roof opened to the Vegas sky; strobe lights pointing in every direction and a little bit of fake snow feel to the floor.

Day Four: Our last full day in Vegas, we decided to enjoy the pool again. More pool-side entertainment with the dancers, drunk-Os and music... same play list as the day before. For dinner, we enjoyed a quaint Asian resturant in the MGM hotel. After dinner we meet up with friends who were also visiting Vegas at the same time. The boys and Amy gambled, while the rest of the girls enjoyed some 'tails at the Irish pub.

Day Five: Our last day in Vegas, was spent traveling back home to Minnesota. We arrived at home just in time to unpack and relax a bit before returning back to the work-place. I can't wait to visit Vegas again!

PS. The Infamous Vegas smiles provided by McDonald's late night dinning.

Viva Las Vegas!

Our Vegas vacation is officially 1 week away! I am as giddy as a 7-year-old getting ready to leave for a field trip! This will be my very first time visiting Vegas. The last time I boarded a plane and left the state (and the country) was May of 2006; far too long for this chica. And for the record, we are NOT going to Vegas to get married.

Why Vegas? Celebrating Choe's Birthday!
Travel Entourage: Choe, BT, Amy, Paul and I (plus several other friends will be in Vegas at the same time, ironically!)
Home Away from Home: The Luxor- our pyramid-shaped hotel, we'll call home for 4 days. I hear the elevators are quite a treat since they travel at an angle. Choe will be the Honorary-Button-Pusher in the elevator since he's the Birthday Boy!
My Theme Song: Poker Face by Lady Gaga- I don't play poker and probably won't play in Vegas, but I love this song and I will definitely be dancing to this song in Vegas!
Random Article to Pack: Face Masks for everyone! Or, maybe our plane will be empty since several people are rescheduling flights due to Swine Flu. I am not worried.

I am looking forward to laying by the pool, soaking up the sun and sipping on a cool, adult beverage. And in the evening, experiencing the Vegas night life! If you have any suggestions to add to our list, please do share!

A New Favorite Recipe

This is Paul & I's new favorite recipe. Inspried from an all chicken recipe book Paul received as a gift from my parents (he likes chicken, a lot). I saw something similar in the recipe book, but the prep time was far too long of a wait for our tummy's liking. I threw this together and it turned out quite well. It's a quick, easy and a very tasty dinner.


Jolene’s Garlic Chicken and Rice
(Serves 2)

2 boneless chicken breasts
Olive Oil
2 garlic cloves
1 C Ranch dressing
½ C Chicken Broth
Rice (white or brown)

Cut up chicken in bite-size pieces while warming pan on the stove. Use small amount of olive oil on pan to keep chicken from sticking. While chicken is cooking, start to cook your rice. When chicken is almost cooked through, add garlic to pan. Add chicken broth to pan and bring to a slight boil. Add in Ranch dressing (more if you desire) and cook on low for 5-10 minutes while rice finishes. Top the rice with your chicken and ranch sauce. Paul's rating: 5 of 5 stars! Enjoy!

My New Endeavor!

Two weeks ago I stumbled upon a new challenge I am quite proud to be a part of. The company is called Melaleuca. I am not only a preferred customer, but I am what they call, a "Level 2" entrepreneur (AKA- 2nd part time job for me). A very nice lady, named Martha, called to follow up after submitting my information on website. We scheduled a phone appointment where she introduced me to the company and their fabulous products. I was instantly impressed by the company and their products. I signed up as a customer and ordered my package of goodies.

In short, Melaleuca manufactures and sells products that are completely non-toxic, chemical free and are truly considered to be "Green". I have been using a variety of their household and beauty products for a whole week now and I am in LOVE with ever thing!

Now, you may ask, "when did Jolene become a tree-hugging, hippie-kinda gal?" I believe I have secretly always been this way, but didn't unveil until I changed my college major 15 times and then found myself in the Housing Studies program. If that major confuses you, you're not alone. In a nut shell, my housing studies emphasis focused on building homes more efficiently and learning about renewable, green products which make a home environmentally friendly. Just about every class focused or mentioned our ever-changing Green Society. It caught my attention, kept me intrigued and I was hooked! After college, my goal was to find a career related to green-housing, or something, anything (getting desperate here...) green-related. To say the least, I didn't have much luck and now I work at a water park. No hard feelings, Mr. Water Park, but you're not exactly what I had in mind.

As you can imagine, I am VERY excited to finally be a part of a green company. Martha, who I mentioned early, is now my mentor. She is helping me train as I travel through my entrepreneurial adventure. If I've caught your attention and you're interested in learning more about Melaleuca, I'd love to share with you! I am seeking volunteers to practice on!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers to Me!

One of my New Year resolutions was to start my blog. It's now April 14, 2009 and I am finally getting around to posting the first entry. Cheers to me! Along with starting my blog, I made a resolution to begin a workout schedule and stick to it(just like everybody else). This has been extremely difficult since I don't have a regualr schedule, working a full and part time job, but I am consistently working on it.

For those who may be reading and aren't familiar where I spend my days, I will share. I work full time at the Water Park of America and Radisson hotel [click the Radisson link for my nerdy picture]. I started with the company by coordinating birthday parties; I eventuatlly slid into group sales and continued with birthdays. Most recently, my position has been altered, once again and includes: group sales, overseeing birthdays, managing staff and water park admissions. I don't have a clear title, but pretty much do anything and everything related to getting our guests inside the water park.

In the evening, I wear my retail hat and work for a company called Storables. This store is absolutely AMAZING! If you love to organize or wish you were organized, this will be your next favorite store (after Target, of course)! You must visit if you haven't already done so. The company is wonderful, my co workers are fantastic and the discount is much appreciated! Even though the days and weeks can get long, I am thankful to have 2 jobs in this economy.

You might think I am slightly crazy and wonder if I ever squeeze in "Jolene Time". And, I most certainly do! Here are some of my highlights for 2009 thus far:

• Ringing in the 2009 @ Cheapskate Roller Rink- frequently visited in my elementary days
• Hailie Ramona Oberg was born- Proud Parents: Becky & Justin
• Crysta and Jo's 26th Birthday Celebration- we went all out for 26, just because we could!
• 3rd Annual Dinner Party with college buddies- Steph is an amazing cook and hostess
• Girl's Weekend in Breezy Point- mani & pedi at Glacial Waters Spa, wine and relaxing
• Kara & Jeremy's Wedding- great ceremony, reception and DQ Blizards!

It's hard to believe we've already zoomed through January, February and March! I'm looking forward to the warm, sunny months ahead of us. I hope you'll stay tuned as I sharpen my blogging skills and share my stories.

~Toodles! JZ