Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I'm posting while on vacation.  Tough!  You are supposed to indulge in the things you enjoy on vacation and I actually enjoy LJ - more than I ever thought I would - so there :)

So far, this Las Vegas trip has been the perfect birthday get away.  The theme of the trip has been decadence and indulgence - two of my very favorite words and states of being.  mortgaged and I are staying at the Venetian, a fantastic hotel which wholeheartedly embraces our theme for the weekend.  The Venetian calls their lowest-end room the Luxury Suite and, believe it or not, it is just that - comfortable and luxurious, easily one of the nicest I've stayed in.  The staff is friendly and helpful and achieves that perfect balance of offering excellent service without being asked but without being smothering. 

I have found over the years, that I really enjoy the decadent - everyone go crazy, there's that theme word again! - feeling of being extremely pampered and well cared for.  In that sense, the hotel stay has been the perfect birthday present...and last night's dinner was even better.  Mortgaged took me to Aureole at Mandalay Bay, a restaurant which is itself an enabler.  We indulged - yep, it's a theme word again - in the Celebration menu of the day with paired wine selections.  Three hours and seven small but increasingly delicious and decadent courses later, we were both full - although not overly so, the restaurant plans their portion sizes extremely well - and practically purring with contentment.  Seared ahi tuna served three ways, roasted monkfish with winter truffles and froi gras, and filet mignon so perfectly prepared that no knives were necessary, oh my!  For dessert, they served us an amazing chocolate hazelnut parfait and a tangerine sorbet that had been molded back into the tangerine rind so cleverly that it looked like the fruit itself.

My husband, however, is still the best part of my early birthday extravaganza.  Even more pampering and indulgent than the hotel and the restaurant combined, he orchestrated this wonderful trip and surprised me with an early birthday present of beautiful garnet earrings to match the necklace he had given me for Christmas and continues to surprise me with other indulgences - I said it was a theme word for the weekend, what did you expect? - as the trip progresses.  He is, as always, fabulously too much and completely perfect at the same time!  *glows*

Now, after luxuriating in our beautiful room for the entire morning and a good part of the afternoon - talk about decadence! - I'm actually going to go get ready to go outside.