Vegas April & Oct 2021 look back

 As I came here to look back at Vegas trips, I see my 'all thing Vegas' post that collected all our trips up to that point, but not our last two in April and Oct 2021.  So as I prep for Oct 2022 I'm adding the trip reports I wrote on TripAdvisor for those.  And will need to do blogs on Yosemite and Oregon that I discussed in Jan blog as they were AMAZING! It's a rainy summer sunday, seems the perfect time to put down the memories for the next time I reminisce.

April 2021 - PH & Mike and Laura join us:

Sunday - arrived 11am with an uneventful flight except jumping at the opportunity to sit in an exit row for extra leg room.  Noon checked in at Planet Hollywood and got a free upgrade to a top floor suite. It was cute as the theme was the movie Casino so artwork was movie poster, shots of DeNiro, Peshi and Sharon Stone.  Complete with a Tangiers Casino jacket in a display case. Wasn't strip facing but I'll trade that for a living room since I've faced the strip last few trips. Slotted down PH, Paris & Bally's before walking over to Westin to pick up rental car at 2pm at Enterprise for 24 hrs. Later we had Easter dinner at Giada in Cromwell.  Cascio e pepe bucatinni with shrimp for me,  Mr. Juice had lamb chops & shanks special.  We shared an appetizer of bacon wrapped dates that were spectacular.  The cocktails were top notch and our waiter was attentive without overly hovering.  Aside from a quick $200 loss at tables in Cromwell we just slot played the rest of the night Cosmo to Ceasars and Flamingo to PH.

Monday - left at 6am before sunrise to visit Valley of Fire. Spent just over two hrs in park as my main goal was to hike to the fire wave.  And as mid to late 40s couple and me with arthritic knees and hips that hike was enough to tire us out.  It was cool and several other viewpoints we stopped at were gorgeous (rainbow vista, fire canyon, mousetank trailhead and the bee hives). Back in time for Lunch at Cafe Americano at Paris as our friends landed.  I had gotten them a comped room at Paris so needed to check them in and give a quick lay of the land as one was a newbie and the other hadn't been to Vegas in about 25 years.  We left them to settle in, later meeting up in Bellagio and showing them around center strip slot hopping.  Late night dinner back in the suite before bed from Earl of Sandwich.

Tuesday- we know our friends are late night partiers and not early risers like us so we grabbed a cab out to MB at about 630am and played our way back up the south strip casinos to PH.  Early morning in Vegas is our favorite time as not many people are up and about so we have the town almost to ourselves.  Met up with friends a little while after lunch to form our evening plan then grabbed a nap. Evening cocktails grabbed from the Heart Bar taken to our room to show them our suite & chat, cab to Venetian, and they treated us to dinner at Delmonico as a thank you for getting them their room. Seriously if you're ever looking for the best lobster bisque this is where it's at. And Mr. Juice highly recommends the bone in ribeye as this is his 3rd time having it and always says it's the best steak.of his life.  Slotted around Venetian, Palazzo & Wynn, then cab back to Paris.  There were no five dollar Mississippi Stud tables, only ten.  Thought about sitting at one at Paris but decided with how many cocktails we had, might as well head to PH and play at our home base.  Only to learn they didn't have a MS table open that night.  Too drunk & tired to walk back to Paris so a few more slots then off to bed.  Lesson learned, play the table where you are as you never know mid week what will be open elsewhere.

Wed- grabbed a Starbucks and hit Bellagio conservatory at 7am (always do this so there is no one in my pictures - again my favorite Vegas time!). Seemed every other early riser wanted to know where we got Starbucks.  It's great that PH was filled with younger partiers as it meant there was never anyone in line when we grabbed our morning coffee in the lower lobby. Every other coffee shop we saw had long lines.  On to Mirage & Harrahs as we hadn't hit them yet.  Lunch at Cafe Hollywood in PH (huge portions, over ordered ended up putting leftoversin fridge and ate as dinner before bed) Finally played some tables this day.  Miss Stud at PH, Flamingo & Paris, high card flush at PH.  I know at one session I left up more than double my buy in. And a few lasted a decent amount of time.  But last two sessions my $200 buy in left in record time. I'm talking 15 mins for one. After getting 4OAKs the last 3 trips; this just seemed wrong to lose so darn fast LOL. But the cards were just not falling my way.

Thurs - just more slot hopping mid strip but stuck to PH, Paris, Cosmo & Bellagio (where we tier matched to MLife gold to our CET diamond staus since they have that currently running). Considering staying there in Oct for Mr. Juice's 50th Birthday to see how Mlife stay/comps feel. Left before 2pm for airport. This time paid for exit row and happy to learn once boarded we had the row to ourselves.

Final thoughts/observations; don't know if because Sunday was Easter or if some places are still on Spring Break but seemed like a typical pre pandemic size crowd.  As I commented on another thread saw way more kids on Casino floor watching parents gamble which bothered me (especially the 10 year old girl at PH at 11pm bored asking her mom to go to bed as she was busy winning on Heidi & Hannah). Also saw a lot more dogs (on leashes, in strollers, even in front body carriers - what?). Personally I don't care if you bring your dog but why are you allowed to gamble with it on the floor?!

Restaurants- we had reservations for the two nice dinners. Elsewhere it was a 10-30 min wait but can put your name & phone number in, go gamble and get a text when its ready. 

Gambling- I will say this was one of- if not our worst trips.  Never won more than $100-$150 (except that one minor table win).  More often lost $40-$60 without seeing a bonus or if I did it just brought me back to even.  We went to bed around 11pm each night mostly because we'd run thru that days bankroll.  I don't expect to come home with money (although the last 4 out of 9 trips we have come home with 25-100% of our bankroll) but I at least expect to see one or two decent wins and to go to bed because I'm tired not out of money.  But I guess since October was our first trip coming home up, this was payback time LOL.  But even a losing trip to Vegas is a good time honestly so on to thinking of our Oct birthday trip.

Oct 2021trip - Amalfi & Prime 50th bday trip

Monday Oct 11th flew in from Chicago O'hare without a hitch landing at 945am.  Taxi to Paris (flat rate I believe was around $24?), left bags with Bellhop and immediate jumped on slots for a little over an hour before deciding at noon it might be late enough to checkin at the Diamond room as at this level they never charge us for early check in, there just needs to be a room available that's already been cleaned.  We got a smoking floor (16th) King at the south corner with partial view of fountains & Eiffel tower.  Unpacked and headed out to slot around PH, Cosmo, & Bellagio with the goal of ending up at Ceasars for our 7pm reservations at Bobby Flay's Amalfi.  We were slowly losing and by 545 it had been 12 hours since breakfast (had not been hungry around lunch time) I said let's just see if they can fit us in early.  They could!

Amalfi- while I miss my old favorites at Mesa grill, Amalfi was wonderful.  We had roasted prawns and focacia bread for an appetizer.  The sauce on this was the tastiest part of my meal that we kept using the bread to sop up the remaining sauce.  I could seriously drink that sauce straight, it was so delicious.  Mr Juice had black bass with the red pepper chili pesto.  The pesto was his highlight of the meal, he gave me a bite and I agree that was heavenly.  I had spaghetti zuccine which if vegetarian (or like me just have a tiny appetite but a love of carbs, cheese & veggies) was delicious.  Finished the meal with tiaramisu and espresso. 

It was a insanely windy and cold night walking back to Paris (windchill made the 54 degree night have a real feel of 37!) Finished the evening a bit early a little before 11 as we'd been up over 20 hours and our daily bankroll was pretty much gone (over half of it was lost at the tables after dinner in too quick sessions of $10 Mississippi Stud & $15 Let it Ride)

Tuesday Oct 12th - south strip & downtown.  We always awake early the first full day (thanks time zones) so hit the strip at 5am, slowly slotted from Cosmo to Mandalay Bay hitting every casino on the west side except for Park.  I was holding my own, hubs slowly losing but the saddest part was we only saw one waitress from 5am-1030am.  Got a coffee at Aria but then no one around once we wanted to switch to bloody mary's and mimosas.  Saw a walk of shame at 7am, but my sister in law informed us that a leopard print dress with slits up to the hips is more of a 'I got laid parade' LOL.  Ah, Vegas mornings.

Uber back to Paris from MB, 5 min wait at most, $12 before tip.  Played a little at Paris before deciding it was nap time from less than 5 hrs of sleep and up at 4am.

Two hr nap then lunch at 3pm at Cafe Americano as I told hubs I was in the mood for grilled cheese.  Their bacon, tomato grilled cheese was HUGE that I couldn't even finish half of it after also ordering the crab bisque.  Another reminder they give you WAY too much food in Vegas.  Leftovers brought to room and would serve as "dinner" at midnight.

Downtown - Ubered to Circa $15, really liked this fresh new casino addition to downtown as I'm not a fan of how tightly packed & dirty the others are.  And the layout with all the big screens and Vegas Vicky was great. Won a bit here so I was now up for the day, also won a little in four queens.  Stopped in Downtown Grand, don't know how they're still in business as there were maybe 12 inside at about 6pm.  Stopped in Banger Brewery for our favorite El Hefe beer (but whoa they've made it spicier since 2019!) Mr Juice loves spicy where as it's now a bit too much for me.  Walked the 15 mins to Neon Boneyard (the one goal that's been pushed from several other trips to finally do this trip) only to learn tickets were sold out for the next hour.  Didn't want to sit doing nothing for an hour. Taxi back to the strip with the lesson learned, buy tickets in advance at least the day of (they said they'd sold the last two tickets for 645 30 mins prior).

7pm I was even for the day, Mr. Juice was down to his last $200 when he hit a handpay on a wonder four tower at Bally's from a line hit on Wicked Winnings.  Feeling great we hit the tables.  I won $400 at Miss Stud in Paris.  Off to bed at Midnight with our pockets full of cash. 

Wednesday Oct 13th- North strip.  Awake and in an Uber to Resorts World at 7am ($10).  Again a nice new casino so it's clean and decently laid out (casino in the center, food all around the sides) but without any theme, just a bit blah.  Other newish high end non-themed places like Aria, Encore or Wynn at least have the flower displays, fairly light trees, large art sculptures or seasonal displays. Something visually appealing.  This just has that big ball thing.  Which is just meh.  IDK maybe I missed something? But at least they had an attentive waitress early morning. 

Walked and played at Encore & Wynn and had breakfast on the patio at Tableau.  This was something I had wanted to do the last three trips but it hadn't worked out.  It was 62 and sunny so felt great to us Chicago folks but our waitress commented her toes were freezing with this usually cold week.  I highly recommend the Apple compote & cream cheese waffles with brown sugar crumble!

Rest of the afternoon continued slotting our way south until we decided to have dinner at Fat Burger and then cross over to Waldorf Astoria for cocktails at Skybar just before sunset (45 mins before sunset appears the perfect time to arrive as we were given the best table in the joint which was quickly snatched up as we left).  You can see south the entire strip from Aria to Resorts World.  For a high view bar it was great.  Closer view than Voodoo lounge, but less panoramic - more of a shotgun view.  Ended the day with full daily bankroll intact even with a losing $200 session of Miss Stud.

Thursday Oct 14th - Bellagio day.  We were double booked this day as we had tier matched last trip to MLife gold, and gotten an offer for fountain view room with $50RC and $100FP.  Checked in at noon with a center view smoking room (19th floor is apparently the only smoking floor which was great height for the view about 4 rooms off elevator).  Caught 7 shows of the fountains between noon check in and midnight from our room.  The room was very nice with a more comfortable bed than Paris and a gorgeous bathroom with walk in shower (sadly no large tub that I was hoping for).  What did strike me as odd was the furniture.  While nice and new looking I awoke the next day and realized the seaform green scalloped velvet couch was almost identical to one my grandparents once owned.  Sitting on it getting my shoes on, I looked around - and all of the furniture was of a art deco 50s look.  Like all of it would have fit in with my grandparents higher end house back in the day.  Funny.  Felt a little like I was in an early episode of Mad Men.

Prime Steakhouse for dinner.  This had been my idea for Mr Juice's birthday dinner.  We were informed that patio seating that I requested wasn't available due to a wedding reception (OMG the price of that wedding must have been huge!) And we were not seated by a window so was a bit disappointed.  While the food was very tasty the overall price tag of over $400 seemed too high for what it was.  Mainly due to 4 vodka cocktails being over $120 of it. WHAT?! We both had the french onion soup, I had a lobster tail, Hubs had aged bone in rib eye.  If part of the price is the view and you don't get it, well I just felt a bit jipped.  But was fun to get dressed up for a night. 

Friday- checked out of Bellagio, went back & packed up at Paris to check out.  Spent the last 4 hours with over 40% of trip's bankroll chasing another handpay but alas it was not meant to be.  Left with about 20% of bankroll which paid for all of our meals & room charges and leaves us with a start to our January Atlantis Bahamas bankroll.  Which is at least better than April when we walked out at the end of the trip with just $5 in tip money.  But not as good as last Oct when we walked out with more then 100% of the bankroll.  That's Vegas for ya. Win some, lose some, but always a good time.

Final thoughts- seemed almost normal crowd size.  There were actually convention folks at both Paris & Bellagio which was surprising as so many companies I know of still are not doing biz travel.  Only saw about 6 people on scooters that didn't appear to need them.  There were no 'mask police', there were signs everywhere and most people complied but saw enough blatantly not even attempting and never was once told to pull it up between drinks or drags of cigarettes like happened in in April or last October. I never felt unsafe on the strip.  There were about two homeless per pedestrian bridge.  And saw at least one obvious mentally ill person ranting to no one per day but they all kept to themselves.  Still saw a lot of dogs (even saw one take a crap on Bellagio's floor near baccarat as the owner was trying to sprint the dog outside at 7am) but thankfully only one on someone's lap while gambling (seriously people leave your pets at home!).  Much less kids than I saw in April but that was around Easter/spring break time.  Uber times & prices seem normal.  Restaurants didn't have much wait time, I honestly think during the week you only need reservations for higher end.  Was a wonderful trip but with 3 trips in the last 12 months I think we're going to skip a spring trip and just go to Atlantis Bahamas in January and will see Vegas again next October (unless of course we win big in Atlantis). 

8 months later - Basement Update

 Oh hell, wrote in Jan 2022 and forgot to publish. Not that anyone follows but anyway....now it's Aug and finally adding pics.

Boy I didn't realize the time delay a pandemic would have on shipping! 😆 The couch didn't end up arriving until mid October. But wanna hear something hilariously lucky? They have somehow so far forgotten to charge us for it. I'm almost done paying for the recliner and they informed us when we bought (and paid like 10% down for both items) that the rest of the charges wouldn't hit the account until the items were delivered. And sure enough when the recliner came in August two weeks later there was the bill.  But we've had the couch for 3 months without the charge. I keep waiting for them to figure out their mistake when finishing out year end bookkeeping. We shall see.* Aug update - they finally figured it out in mid February. It is now the only debt left from this hella expensive project. But it was but 5 years interest free and we are down to about 40% left to pay so in the end all my worries in previous post how to pay for it all has worked out.   

Oh and that front bar? Just arrived 2 weeks ago! I think the guy we found online got too many orders when the price of lumber was sky high and just put us off for as long as possible until we threatened to report it as fraud. But it's here. And we stained it to match the back bar. And soon we'll epoxy the top to look similar to the butcher block top of the back bar and wrap the outside inch of the tops in faux leather and add a foot rail.  With us luck in these final steps to complete & personalize it. 

But so now all items are in. And we have decor up in some places.  Including a autographed Bears Jersey of Mike Singletary #50 I bought for Mr. Juice's 50th Birthday. 

And I knew we'd enjoy the space, I just wasn't sure how often.  But Jeff has spent every Sunday down there enjoying football season.  And every Thursday a friend stops by for cocktails while his daughters have dance class two blocks away.  And we spend one or two nights a week down there for evening TV watching as it's a more comfortable couch then our family room.  Oh and Jeff plays his Golden Tee almost daily either during his lunch hour since he works from home or as I'm making dinner.  So everything has truly been worth it.  We're two months out from his bonus that will pay off the last of the debt of it all a year since it all began.  Depending on if/what of his bonus is left after we will either just be replacing the back fence or do that as well as the berm & pine trees we hope to add to the backyard. We shall see.  But I'll do a separate post next on travel expectations for this year.  Photos to be added later as I'm on cellphone.

Travel Plans 2022

 Another written in Jan 2022 but forgot to publish.

I'm so excited for this year's travel plans! 

First up will be a trip in late May to Yosemite for two days, Lake Tahoe for a day, and Reno for four.  I was 18 the one and only trip I've had to Yosemite and didn't fully enjoy the sheer wonder of this place at the time as I didn't realize that there is nothing like it anywhere else...because let's face it - at 18 few thing impress you because; well I don't know. Maybe you think you'll continue to see new things like this more often as you discover the world. But looking back you realize nope. So I'm thrilled I'll now see it from a appreciative mid 40 year olds eyes. There is a picture my late father took of me in the Valley with one of the waterfalls behind me that I plan to recreate! I have (perhaps) too much planned for the less than 48 hrs we'll be in the park but feel it might be my last chance to see it all so trying to pack it in.  I have several short hikes planned for our 1 full day totaling over 6 miles. Which may not seem like much but with arthritic knees & hips and our general laziness this should be interesting. And of course staying a night in Tahoe on our way across the Sierra Nevada mnts, please! My favorite place in the US! I don't mind that it's just a day since we were there for 5 days two years ago. Reno I will enjoy as it will have been 9 years since our last visit. It may not be the most exciting or beautiful place but I enjoyed our trips there as newly engaged and married couple back when Jeff went there for bowling tournaments.  So it is a town that holds special memories. 

Then in early July my bestie and I are going to Oregon!  In late August I was with her at a pool taking about Mr Juice leaving for a guys golf trip to the north woods and she lamented that there are no 'girls trips' and I explained I was waiting for our friends kids to be old enough for the girls to feel comfortable leaving them and she exclaimed "They're old enough!  I'm ready now!" 🤣 well they are like 12 & 9 so planning begun. Within a day I thought of Oregon as she's always wanted to see Astoria where the Goonies was filmed.  And we finally pulled the trigger in December buying flights and reserving rooms. 4 days. And our plans are a bit crazy with 3 hrs of driving per day basically to hit several points in the NW corner of the state.  I hope it's EPIC! And because it's without Mister J it's way more nature and hiking and no gambling. Don't get me wrong. I looove my trips with the hubs and love gambling but my mom laughs that I always rope him into a nature excursion (which she thinks is great) and I agree but wonder if I'll ever get him to go somewhere without it. 😆 The last/only one I can think of was our honeymoon over 13 years ago. 

And we'll round out the year in October in Vegas as always for his birthday because...well we're addicted and 2017 was the last year we went without a trip to Vegas and honestly I don't know if/when we'll ever have a full year again without it.  

I did tell him this October that going 3x in a row (Oct 30, April 21 and Oct 21) was too much and I needed a break! So first we thought a return to the Bahamas. But flights were super expensive so we started looking at 3 options; Boston, New Orleans or our Yosemite/Reno trip. I let him choose as I had already been to Yosemite & we'd both been to New Orleans independently and he had been to Boston. I kind of was leaning towards Boston since I'd never been and honestly didn't get my hopes up for Yosemite (even though I really wanted to go) as I thought it might be too much nature/ out of the way in J's mind so I was thrilled when he picked it! We can save the other two for other years.  

I saw a video of regrets most retirees have and #1 is not traveling when they're younger and more able bodied. And I am glad to have my thoughts validated. Travel as much NOW! If the girl trip goes well I hope to make a 4 day weekend excursion a yearly thing. I promised my other bestie that next year it will be to Georgia to see her so even if my other friend can't join me I got 2023 lined up 😆❤. #wanderlust.

Basement, fitting furniture issues and new job

 Wow. Alot has happened since I last blogged. The basement is finished.  Or at least the structure itself.  Stuff in it? Well that's gonna take some time.  

So we painted it ourselves and installed the vinyl plank flooring.  What a cluster that started out as but after 2 days and 8 hours of missteps we finally found our grove and knocked it out the next two days and it looks fantastic.  We're still waiting to do the stairs when the a little more of the furniture etc is delivered.

So lets talk the furniture. We went over budget and picked a really nice bar & back bar out. I looked at the dimensions hard core and knew it would fit thru the door down to the basement. You know what I didn't consider? The angle of the ceiling going down. You have to tilt the bar at an angle and the closet top opposite the basement door is not tall enough (ie there's a wall in the way.) So the movers didn't even take it off the truck as they saw there was no way it was fitting. When I explained "but I measured!" They politely explained that even if they fit it thru the door itself then a) all the weight would be on the guy on the stairs (it weighs over 300 lbs) and b) it'd then have to tilt to clear the height down and then the top corner would hit the door frame.  Math is hard.  

So back to building it ourselves. Awaiting back pieces to arrive Wednesday. Front bar won't arrive til mid summer.  Ah shipping issues during a pandemic.  Patience Kati, patience. 

Knowing this new found wrinkle we went in search of a couch that would fit the tight turn and tilt. Looked everywhere until we realized it would have to be modular and not only that but the backs need to be removable. Thus La-Z-Boy is our only option.  Found the perfect one in the perfect fabric. Only issue is it won't arrive until late August/early September. But the recliner will arrive in June. Oh and it's more than double what I wanted to spend.  And like 40% more expensive than our family room furniture. Damn! La-Z-Boy ain't cheap!

But the game arrived and fits so my husband feels that's all that matters for now 😆 and we have the TV, fireplace and beer fridge.  So a bar stool or bag chair will have to do for now.  

We've taken on the attitude of "fuck it, pay now on credit to do it right" so while we've paid 100% in cash for the construction everything in it is going on credit as we did not win a thing in Vegas (figures-the one year I want/need it, it doesn't happen).  But I said 'ok but this probably means no home improvement next year as we'll just be finishing paying off all this stuff with some of next March's bonus.'  It is what it is and I finally relented that I'd rather have it done really well to enjoy the next 20 plus years. Perspective Kati, Perspective.  

Now I'm on to looking for artwork & rugs but feels like maybe I shouldn't order anything until more stuff arrives. IDK.  I almost think I should make a vision board.  Which is just a clear sign I've watched waaay too much HGTV. 😂

Oh, but I started my new job 2 weeks ago after basement completion so no time to blog at work as thankfully I'm too busy.  Days go so much quicker when you have actual work to do.  The raise will also help fund all this.  Looking forward to next year when the extra money won't all be allocated to debt. 

Basement after 5 days of work

 So work started Monday. Monday and half of Tuesday was just cutting the cement floor trench to add the halIf bath.   Did not know that concrete cutting took that long! But then the next 3 and a half days - massive progress! Plumber did 90% of his work, electrician did over 50% of his work (these two contractors on just Thursday) and Brian framed the whole basement walls and 75% of saufets (sp?l on the ceiling. Just has half a saufet left and a grid for the ceiling left before ready for finishing electric & plumbing (half day) then drywall can begin.  

 I still don't understand the grid on the ceiling because it's drywall, not an 80's drop but whatever, we'll find out. We had the new water heater installed  yesterday which means today we're dealing with iron rust sediment in our water. So I couldn't take a bath this morning and I've now filled and emptied the tub 5 times cleaning out this red grainy sand like substance. He assures me it will flush out but like dude how long does this take? I'm tired of repeatedly cleaning it without the benefits of a nice long relaxing soak or you know - being clean. He also says it's not harmful so I could take a bath or shower but how can I feel clean with this nasty grit? Hoping I finish flushing it out tonight. 

He also still says 4 weeks total but we think he's under promise / over deliver as we don't see how with how fast it's gone so far that drywall, doors and trim can take 3 weeks with only half a day needed for the rest of plumbing & electric. I guess nothing but to do but watch and see.  But he'll be working week 3 while we're in Vegas so we won't see the progress then.  

I can't seem to add photos when doing this on my mobile phone so will try to remember to edit this tomorrow to add pics of progress.

Day Dreaming - European Trip

 So I've said for years we should take a trip to Europe for either our 15th or 20th anniversary.  (We'll be celebrating 12 years this summer so we're a few years off from either).  But when thinking of what I'd like that two weeks to be.... I've come up with a itinerary that might be overly ambitious but honestly I don't know.  But with a lot of my random thoughts I kind of want to put it down somewhere to remember it so here we go. 

First off I will say Jeff and I are both lucky in that we've each individually already been to Europe as teens.  I went to England and Wales as a 12 year old as well as having went to Hungary when I was 18.  My best friend is Hungarian and I saved for months working at JC Penney to pay for the flight and spending money (I remember I had like $400 for two weeks LOL) but we stayed in a condo her family keeps for relatives and food was seriously cheap there.  Plus some relatives feeding us here and there so the money lasted and that's all that mattered.  Jeff went between his Junior and Senior year of High school as part of a touring Team USA in soccer.  They went to like 3 or 4 countries for soccer tournaments over 3 weeks.  I've never heard him say that his team won anything so I'm guessing compared to the teams out there they were not that great.  But still; I'm married to an international soccer stud. LOL

That said, I've never been to Paris and would like to go.  Jeff has been as it was one of their stops and he has a picture of his team in front of the Eiffel Tower.  I figure Paris can be done (maybe not thoroughly but well enough in 3 days).  The obvious high points being the Louvre and Eiffel.  Walking along the Seine.  And eating lots of bread and cheese. If you figure we spend most all of day one flying over, day 2-4 in Paris From there I am thinking a train or flight to Nice. It's a six and a half hour train ride or a quick flight.  Either way I think and afternoon/evening in Nice is all that's needed.  But um, Monaco is 20 mins away.  And we like to gamble.  And I think at least one day in Monaco is totally required for us.  So depending on cost of hotel we might do two nights in Nice and just day trip into Monaco.  Or two nights in Monaco and spend an afternoon in Nice.  You get the point days 5 & 6 done.  So that leaves 7 to 8 days for Italy and flying home.   I'm thinking 2 days Venice, 2 days Florence and 3 days Rome.  

The main questions in my head are to rent a car, fly or train all the rest of the way after Nice/Monaco?  It's a 6 hour drive from Monaco to Venice.  but there are towns like Genoa or Verona (Juliet's balcony?) we could stop on the way.  But then that takes away from our time there for 2 days...so a flight that only takes 70 mins out of Nice seems the obvious choice.  BUT from then on, Venice to Florence is only 3 hours.  And then Florence to Rome is only 3 hours.  And these are the towns it seems best to have a car.  But you can also take speed trains and it's only 2 hours between cities.  So then it's - is enough stuff walkable or taxi? And how much to save for such a trip?  I figure $20k.  Flights, hotels, food money & spending money.  Yowza that's a lot of money.  But it's once in a lifetime trip.  Five cities.  Can we do it?  Will it happen or will it remain a dream?

Have you ever been to any of these places? Thoughts on "must sees" or amount of time are welcome in the comments - even you're complete strangers that stumble upon this page.  I'll need to start a bit of researching eventually but 3-8 years is plenty of time to learn more LOL.  For now, it's fun to day dream. 

Basement costs - OMG

 So were we BOTH waaay off. OMG this thing is gonna be hella expensive! I thought my husband was crazy insisting the walls, plumbing & electric would be less than we paid for our kitchen granite counter and travertine backsplash. But he was so insistent that I figured giving space it would cost $1k-2k more...so I guessed that would come in around 7-8k.  Nope! Double that shit. 

We've now downgraded from tankless to just a new tank water heater. And now we have to add couch etc since old furniture won't fit thru the door. 

Thankfully his bonus was really nice. And we should get the full stimulus $2800 this weekend. And we will probably end up charging about the $3k I said in previous post was my limit. So there are 4 possibilities on how to finish financing this project. We have enough to pay for all NEEDED items. The amount we'll be needing to charge and over is for the bar & couch and golden tee arcade game etc

Option one - don't buy the stuff til next year when we have full on cash for everything all at once (seems unlikely as who wants a new beautiful space with nothing in it?

Option two - buy $3k on credit and the rest use the money I have ear marked for a 12th anniversary get away in June and instead stay home. 

Option three - sell the stocks, spend 3k on credit and maybe still need to borrow some from anniversary trip.

Option four - we win big in Vegas and have no issues. 😂🤣😆 now admittedly last trip we won enough for this option but will lightening strike twice? 

My guess it will be a combo of coming home from Vegas with some, spending some on credit, and taking some from anniversary stash. We both agree we don't want to touch stocks unless absolutely needed. And we agree instead of paying interest on our current credit we can do a no interest for a year type deal wherever we buy the couch sectional from so it's not horrible.  

Work probably starts next week. Eeek! Will be complete to the point of ready for Jeff and I to paint, and install floors and trim ourselves (to save money) about a week after we return from Vegas. We hope everything is complete in time for when we host Mother's day to show off to the family.  Oh but the layout has also changed and now the cousin will be installing a back bar with sink. And the layout changes will help make the room feel larger/ not as sectioned off into areas. And he convinced Jeff on an actual ceiling- which I wanted originally. Getting real excited now that I've seen the chalk outlines on the floor etc and really laid everything out.