Sin City

In my quest to explore and travel more I went to Las Vegas with my best friend Esosa and a couple of her friends from San Francisco. At first I felt I was dealt the short end of the stick because they only had to travel an hour and I had to travel four (did I mention I dislike flying?), but in the end this trip was exactly what I needed. It was my first time in Vegas and in the weeks leading up to my trip I thought it was going to be tacky (topless bars and casinos). I could not have been more wrong. Vegas is super sophisticated and has something for everyone (except little kids, I have no idea why kids are there). I definitely used this trip as a way to plan for my future visits. Anyway, I stayed at Ballys, went to Lavo at the Palazzo(saw J.Cole), Vanity at the Hard Rock, and Drais. It was relaxing, fun, and I already miss it. Hopefully I will have another opportunity to go within in the next year (Birthday or Bachelorette Party anyone?). My future plans are to go see Cirque de Soleil, Penn and Teller, eat at some of the better restaurants, go to the pool parties, stay at the Cosmopolitan (see last post), and play the slots a lot more (maybe the tables). What do you like to do in Vegas? Any suggestions?

(My best friend and me! Girls Night out at Lavo!)

(View of the strip from hotel window)

(Ocean's Eleven Fountain outside of our hotel window)

(The Eiffel Tower was right outside of our window!)

(J.Cole at Lavo. I snapped about 50 shots of him!)

If I were a Hotel : The Cosmopolitan

(Aren't these beautiful? My three favorite things: feathers, pink, sparkle)

This past weekend I went on a mini-vacation to Las Vegas with my best friend and a couple of her friends. I am going to post more about this trip, but I have to comment about this great hotel I saw called The Cosmopolitan. I just know that if I were a hotel, I would be this hotel. It captured my essence in so many ways. I plan on staying here whenever I go to Vegas in the future (well, if I can afford it).

(Bond Bar... inside the main lobby)

(Chandelier Lounge... yes, a bar within a Chandelier)

(Yes, that is me in a shoe)

Ahhh... it is so beautiful. There are also three pools and a view from almost every room. The club Marquee is awesome, and the food looks amazing... I will stay here.

My Tumblr

I just rediscovered my tumbler today as I was doing my daily browsing of the internet. It is interesting to read what was written in what you consider to be dark places or maybe what you find important or inspiration at a point. I am still trying to discern how I will use my tumblr right now: quotes, pictures, life updates...

Maybe it will be everything. Take a look if you think you can tell what direction I need to be going in.

http://tresbienmonami.tumblr.com/

PIZZA MI AMORE

A couple of weeks before Christmas my friend Hilary decided to make our own pizzas, drink champagne, and eat home made chocolate chip cookies. It was great! However, now I have become addicted to making my own pizzas. They are especially nice on cold snowy days were you do not want to make a soup and delivery is not a feasible option. Check out mine and my ingredients.

Boboli pizza crust-I used the whole wheat version

Instead of marina I used olive oil and basil

Ingredients: Spinach, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and mozzarella

NEEDED: COCKTAIL AND CLUB ATTIRE

When I was in college I did my fair share of partying and clubbing. While I was not out there every weekend sharing my groove thing, I was out there quite a bit. Now that I am older I notice that my clothes to go out (which is once in a blue moon) is dated, old looking, and not flattering for someone my age. I was taking my mid day shopping break to check out

some items from Asos that I think I can enter my closet any day now. I plan on participating in some events in the upcoming months that require my wardrobe to step up its game! I partly believe that you should buy clothes for where you are planning to go in life not necessarily where you are right now. Luckily, Asos also has their Curve division for more voluptuous ladies like myself. Not to mention Eloquii by the Limited is also designing plus size clothes as well (not to mention they have a bomb sale happening right now). Let me know what you think!

My Vision Board

2011 was a year of growth. I finished my first year of working a full time job. I fell in love. I experienced my first horrible break up. I started to think about myself, my future, and what I really want. In other words, now I have a superfluous amount of questions in my head. And I realize that is okay and finding out the answer requires a journey. I am 23 years old and I have a whole lot of life to live and that is okay with me. I want this to be a year of self-discovery, self-renewal, self- love, and self-realization (pretty ambitious I know).

One of my favorite blogs had a couple of ideas that I have decided to embark on. The first was a vision board. Basically, you find pictures of what you want to accomplish for the year together into a collage and then put it up so you have a visual representation of your goals. I finally put mine together!

My sections revolve around career and self.

In terms of myself I really want to battle my weight. I am comfortable 50% of the time in the body I am, but my weight is holding me back mentally and I do not want to live my life like this anymore. However, I am not trying to be a skinny minny. I just want to be comfortable with myself. I want to feel comfortable and confident in myself. I put up women of all sizes because I believe you can be beautiful at any size.

My career and life plan is very much up in the air right now. I am at a crossroads between the public and private sector. I currently work at a charter school in a depressed area of Chicago. I want to continue working in education on the national level... I think. I also want to start my own business or company or be a CEO of a Fortune 500. Which one to choose? My goal is to contact some of the women on my vision board/ women on the Essence Power List.

I am excited for 2012. It will be a great year!

Whirleyball!!!!

Last weekend, one of my really good friends celebrated her 31st birthday playing Whirleyball. Afterwards we went to a great bar where I was able to do a little karaoke (Bootylicious anyone?)