Treat Yo Self!

Forgot to mention that while in Vegas I treated mah self.

The nicest watches I've had since college have been Fossils...and, well, I've been years overdue for an upgrade.

Have had my eyes on Rolexes for quite some time, but still haven't quite found the right one...

But then while in Vegas the other day I wandered into a Tag store and realized they're just as pretty but only a fraction of the price!

TREAT YO SELF!

TREAT YO SELF 2013

My iPhone got stolen last night.

Pickpocketed right out of my jacket. (There's a sliiiight chance that I left it drunkenly in a cab. But I'm prettty sure I got pickpocketed.)

So I was feeling kind of bummed and hungover this morning. Dealing with AT&T, changing passwords, all that junk.

Then things started turning around.

I realized that because I bought my phone in November, my phone fell under Amex's Purchase Protection, so I filed a claim and hopefully will be reimbursed for the price of the phone!

Then, after a lovely afternoon drink with Caroline and friends (a month before we head to South Africa, woo!) I decided I wanted to go shopping.

I've been needing a "grown-up" winter coat for years now. Wearing a suit for an event and then throwing an Abercrombie ski jacket over it is just NOT CUTE on a 30 year old. But because I don't have a "real" job where I work in a business setting I've never felt super-compelled to shop for a new jacket.

But I've lusting after this trench coat for months now.

And in the spirit of full disclosure I will confess that I first saw this coat on Romeo Beckham and thought it just looked SO badass.

So yes. After drinks, I decided this wasn't going to be the day my iPhone got stolen and replaced. It was going to be the day I bought a beautiful new trenchcoat.

And as fate would have it...when I pulled up to Burberry, there was a parking spot waiting for me right in front of the store.

DESTINY.

And then of course they had it in my size and I tried it on and I loved it and bought it.

TREAT YO SELF!

Treat Yo Self 2012 - Las Vegas

You may or may not watch Parks & Recreation.

You may or may not have heard about Treat Yo Self 2011.



The best day of the year!

Or in my case, two days.

As I mentioned before, I was supposed to arrive in LA last Wednesday and run straight to a photoshoot. That photoshoot cancelled though, which left me with two days to kill, so I decided to hop a plane to Vegas and Treat Mah Self.

I checked into the Aria, a beautiful new hotel.






Lunch buffet? Treat Yo Self!



Whoopie Pie? Treat Yo Self!



Lounging by the pool? TREAT YO SELF!



Massage at the spa? TOTALLY Treatin Mah Self!



Bellagio fountain on repeat for an hour? Treat yo self!



Fancy dinner at Sage with ErikSorenson? TREAT YO SELF!



Bacon Bread! Treat Yo Self!



3-Day Marys. Treat Yo Self!




Wagyu Beef Tartare. Treat Yo Self!



Hamachi Sashimi. TREAT YO SELF.



Stuffed chicken. Treat Yo Self!



Filet Mignon with Hen of the Woods? TREAT YO SELF.



Fancy cake dessert? Treat Yo Self!





Late night showing of Cirque's O @ the Bellagio?

TREAT YO SELF!!!!!




Fourth row seats? TREAT YO SELF



OK, so one thing I didn't mention is that when I arrived at the hotel, the place was mayhem.

The computer systems at ALL of the MGM resorts had crashed.

It was literally like going back to the Stone-Age.

The front desk had to print out a 100-page list of the thousands of guests staying at the hotel for each check-in person. When it was finally your turn to talk check-in (I waited almost 2 hours) the check-in person would have to find your name in their list/packet and check you off and then go to the big map of all the hotel rooms and find you an available room and check it off.

Basically if you were dishonest and were willing to wait in line all over again, you probably could have gotten an extra free room by checking in with a different front desk person.

Insanity.

People were waiting all across the floor of the casino. And they were IRATE.




While waiting in line, I drafted an amazing complaint letter/diatribe.

And I have to praise Aria's customer service, because I received a response within the hour - while I was STILL IN LINE.



Basically they refunded me one night's stay ($172.48) and then gave me a $50 resort credit which I used for eating.

Yay!

AND THEN

Fast forward to yesterday (one week later).

I got another email from Aria.

Apparently they realized they had really effed up and pissed off a lot of people. So they are giving a complimentary stay to every single guest who was there last Wednesday and Thursday when their systems went down!




TREAT YO SELF!

Best Monday EVER: St Regis Shoot / Shopping Spree

Today was the day of the St. Regis shoot. The hotel hired me to take headshots of all its top executives for their website.



I was a little nervous. Not SUPER nervous. But nervous enough to wake up at 6am for the 10:30 shoot. After all, the St. Regis is kind of a big deal. It's a New York mainstay and has been featured in everything from Sex and the City to the Devil Wears Prada and a ton of other movies and TV shows.

For the shoot, they provided me with the gorgeous $9,000-a-night newly remodeled Tiffany Suite.






The view from the suite isn't so great. You can just barely make out Central Park. But whatevs I'm not complaining.



Every little light fixture or soup spoon or drinking glass or faucet handle was made of gorgeous Tiffany silver or crystal.






And the shoot was a breeze! Took less than 2 hours.

Four or five years ago I was desperately scrounging up headshot clients on craigslist for $150 a pop.

If you told me then that I could someday make a couple G's before lunchtime without breaking a sweat, I would have laughed in your face. (Though hopefully five years from now I'll look back on this day and laugh as I put a $100K photoshoot check in the bank.)

But the fine people of the St Regis seemed thrilled with their pictures and are adding me to their vendor list for fancy weddings and special events etc.

And then they treated me to the famous Red Snapper, their Signature Bloody Mary. (The Bloody Mary was actually invented here 70-something years ago.)



It was deeeeeelicious.



I then had a delightful sandwich lunch with Kimmy, with whom I went location scouting with to find good spots to do the headshots I'll be doing next week for HER hotel chain. Total coincidence that these two huge hotel gigs came up a week apart.

And then as if they day couldn't get any better or more fabulous, I went up to the 72nd and Madison to the flagship RL store where Mr Frog, my new BFF, is kind of a big deal.




Mr Frog took me on a shopping SPREE.



Literally we just ran through the store Supermarket Sweep-style (while sipping champagne) and I greedily pointed out all the pretty things I liked and he'd pull stuff in my size and I'd try everything on and I walked out with two big bags full of pretty new clothes.



Mr Frog HOOKED ME UP.



AND THEN



Mr Frog loaded my bags into a big black Mercedes and had me driven home by RL's very own driver.



Literally, the driver told me he had just driven RL somewhere right before me. Nuts!



I'm so excited (and scared) to wear all my shiny new threads!



I have never owned a $300 shirt before and now I have three!



OMFG!



I must have really good karma right now or something.

Thank you Mr Frog. Thank you St Regis. Thank you NYC!