"Yo, baby! Hot shooter!!"

Does anyone recognize the lingo? I'll give you a hint. It involves money, a fuzzy green table, a few dealers and some dice. If you guessed Craps you are correct! I decided to spend President's day weekend (not Valentine's weekend for me since I was with my bro the whole time) in fabulous Las Vegas. We basically had to drag ourselves to the airport Monday morning, we were having so much fun.

The highlight: Seeing the Wynn and sister hotel, Encore. Breathtaking!! They say the Encore is the Wynn's hipper, cooler sister, and I would have to 100% agree. While the Wynn has an incredible entrance and very cool lounge, the Encore absolutely stole my heart. The casino had a swanky, hipster vibe with bright red chandeliers and gold trimmed tables. The music had this jazzy, ambient, latin thing going on that I can't seem to get enough of. And the restaurants just seemed to be more welcoming and laid back than at other hotels. The entire restaurant Switch changes colors/themes/decor every 45 minutes, how cool is that?!

Total Vegas Moment: Saturday night, we were crossing Las Vegas Blvd. to go from our hotel Monte Carlo to MGM for dinner at Craftsteak. Usually I'm not big on steakhouses, but this palce is incredible! My buddy Tom Colicchio sure knows what he is doing! Anyway, while waiting to cross the street, this man comes running around the corner like a bat out of hell. I thought to myself, "wow, that guy is moving!! I wonder why he's running so fast?" Now people are in the middle of the road as the light had turned red and it was our turn to cross the street. Next thing I know, this car comes around the corner, cutting across moving traffic, causing an accident along the way, it was chaos. People are stopped in their tracks thinking they are about to get run over when the driver pulls down her window and screams "Please let me through! That man just hit my car and I'm chasing him down!! I'm gonna find him..." Only in Vegas!

How we spent most of our time: At the craps table. We gambled for roughly 24 hours of our 56 hour stay in Vegas. Kind of impressive if you ask me. We jokingly told each other that sleeping was not allowed on the trip and we were only there to gamble. Oddly enough that became our reality. We were mostly at the Aria casino. It had a very urban chic atmosphere, with dark lighting and your typical top 40's music in the background. It was full of young professionals just kickin' back with drinks and friends. Not my fav, but enjoyable none the less.

With the help of a few gallons of coffee and sugar free Red Bull, we survived our own crazy antics! We came across a lot of ridiculous characters and had some good laughs along the way.

I'd recommend the Monte Carlo to anyone planning a trip to LV, especially for it's prime location right between the new City Center and The Bellagio. After gambling through the night Sunday and catching our 6am flights home, when I reached my apartment I couldn't get in bed fast enough. I ended up sleeping 17 of the next 20 hours. If you ask me, that's the true sign of a Vegas trip done right!