My skin is dumb...

Really, there is no other way to say it. Ever since eczema decided to surface its genetic self on me back in college, my skin has been a source of frustration.

Now, living in the Pacific Northwest, I face a new challenge--lack of continuous sunlight, which healthy skin thrives on (in healthy doses.)

So today I had an appointment with the dermatologist. My 3rd time seeing him since moving to WA. I explained to him how I'm ALWAYS trying to stay one step ahead of the itch and the scratch, trying to figure out which combination of creams, ointments, and pills to take to ward off the itch of the day.

He almost seemed excited. Apparently he attended this dermatology conference in New Orleans last week where they discussed a new kind of eczema, and what I was describing seemed to be it. I'm now on an 8 week course of new pills. Great. Now I'm an itchy guinea pig.

Did I mention that my skin is DUMB? (Scratch, scratch, scratch...)

A Vegas Valentine...

Guess who just had their 6 month wedding anniversary? Can you believe it?

The week after I got back from California, Eric and I were talking about the neat opportunity I had to meet Marie Osmond and all of a sudden he started to get that "glint" in his eye. Next thing I knew, we had VIP tickets to see Donny and Marie in concert at the Flamingo, reservations on Alaskan Air, and a room booked at the Flamingo for 2 nights. We're not especially spontaneous people, but this was a little spontaneous! It was also our first trip together since our honeymoon and our first time riding an airplane together.

It took some thinking about how to handle the pet situation, but we ended up boarding Bailey for 3 nights and setting the kitties up on the house's main floor with plenty of kibble, water, and clean sand. We had to take our chances with the kitty who isn't supposed to get much kibble. We also had to take our chances with the kitties not destroying the house while we were gone. Luckily, it was a fast trip.

We arrived to Las Vegas safe and sound and checked into our very pink hotel room at the Flamingo. I should've taken a picture of it. It was like sleeping in a Baskin Robbins ice cream shoppe. We had a great view though, of the pools and gardens.

After dinner we decided to see if there was a karaoke place nearby. There was! Right next door at Bill's Gambling Hall & Casino. Now, I have never been to a karaoke bar before. This was more like a stage off to the side of the casino than a bar. There were all of the poker and blackjack tables, the air heavy with smoke (cough! cough!) and a stage off to the side with about 12 tables in front of it. The guy running it was a good singer and he got things going. They had big spiraled notebooks of songs and Eric and I each write down something to sing. I couldn't believe I was going to do that. I hadn't sung in public in so long I couldn't even remember!

We were there from 8pm until after 11pm. I got my chance around 9pm to sing up on stage for 100's of people to hear. I was so nervous at first, but I actually calmed down and did pretty well. Fortunately, we have a karaoke machine at home and I there are certain songs I've practiced.

I did HOPELESSLY DEVOTED TO YOU (click to hear) and Eric did YOU'RE AN OCEAN (click to hear). He did great. Then later on we did a duet of ALWAYS (click to hear). All of these we've sung on MySpace, but it was still fun. We left tired and drained, after a really fun time and had a midnight burger at the Flamingo's food court.

The next day was the concert! We had several hours to kill before getting all dressed up, which we did by visiting different hotels. Then we had a quick early dinner and went to get into our evening outfits. With VIP tickets we were able to go to a special line and we had front row seats.

The show was a lot of fun. It was a tight 90 minutes with no intermission. Donny and Marie both look great for being in their 50's. They did 10 minutes of duets, then Marie sang for 20 minutes, then Donny had his 20 minutes, then a 10 minute finale. During Marie's segment she kissed a few men on the forehead, including Eric, leaving a big red smooth behind. We imprinted it on a napkin and asked her to sign it later at the meet-and-greet we got to go to.

After the show the meet-and-greet took place at a room down a ramp near the theater. Our time was quick, but we did get to meet them. Donny is a lot shorter than I thought! We were given 8x10 pictures for them to sign, which they did. Eric also had Marie sign the napkin with the lipstick. We were a little bummed because it seemed especially rushed, compared to my experience meeting Marie in CA and Eric's experience at 2 previous concerts, but we still had a great time.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed over to Mandalay Bay to see the Shark Reef exhibit, since our flight wasn't until 4:30. The exhibit was great, as always. I hadn't seen it in about 10 years.

We arrived home, happy that the house was in one piece, happy that the kitties didn't leave any unauthorized "gifts" for us, and just happy to be home after the over-stimulation of Las Vegas. Still, we had a very fun time!

Here are some pictures:
This last picture is of the doll I bought at Disneyland. So cute!