Long time no see!!!

I haven't totally disappeared off the face of the earth... so where have I been?

Over the back end of March I was frantically trying to get things done at work before I went on holiday on the 1st April. It left me with little time for stitching and no time for blogging, beyond reading the occasional post...

On 1st April we flew to Las Vegas for an amazing 12 day holiday, followed by a week-long conference in Albuquerque fr me. Cue volcanic eruption... we got delayed by another week, and finally got back to the UK on the 26th April. Of course at that point I'd not been in work for almost a month, plus I had a meeting in Dundee to get to, and an interview in London last week... not to mention a weekend away in the middle! Shall we just say I've been a little busy since I got back? My personal highlight was working so late one night I got locked into the building by security, and set off the burglar alarms when I tried to leave....

So what have I been up to? I think I'll start at the beginning :)

So on 1st April we got up at 3am to get to the airport. The cheap tickets flying from our local airport (Leeds/Bradford) via Amsterdam seemed like not such a good idea when we flew over Bradford again 5 hours after we'd left... Hmmm. We got to Vegas and to our hotel in time for a quick meal out, then crashed out around 10.30... The next morning I had a lovely swim in the outdoor pool while Eddy slept in. We checked out of the Holiday Inn, picked up the hire car - and upgraded to a Dodge Charger (definitely a good idea) - then did my number one Vegas priority... stash shopping, at Stitcher's Paradise. Eddy was definitely acting as an enabler...

I bought:
7 Blackbird Designs charts (Bird in Hand, Rites of Spring, Merry Christmas Ella Vaughn, Peacock Pinkeep, Summer Basket, Sunflower charms, and Red Reindeer)
La-D-Da's spring needlekeep and fob kit, plus a little kit for Dragonfly Pin Keep
M Design's Las Vegas tree ornament
10 skeins of Weeks
4 crescent colours
13 skeins GAST
5 skeins GAST wool
2 skeins Belle Soie silk
Mill Hill beads and treasures
some Estaz glissen gloss
some Sweetheart tree charms
Some just another button company buttons
Some just another button company pins

:)

(I did a little more stash shopping later on in the trip - this was just for STARTERS!!!)

After lunch we went to the Bellagio and checked in:

Bellagio Lobby - behind the reception desk

We'd paid extra for a view of the fountains. It was pretty stunning without the fountains on:

View from hotel room, Bellagio

It was STUNNING when the fountains were on:

View from hotel room, Bellagio, at night

Overall I have to say Vegas wasn't really my kind of place, but I did love the luxury of the Bellagio. I don't really gamble I did lose $1 in the slot machines, but as I don't get them and found it boring I stopped there!). The following morning I had a wonderful swim in the Bellagio pool, followed by pancakes in the poolside cafe for breakfast:

Bellagio pool


Sculpture, by Bellagio pool

Afterwards we checked out and headed off to the Hoover Dam... at which point I'll sign off!