To Mexico We Go

What are your vacation essentials? 

I'm going to Mexico next week (I'M SO EXCITED!!) and in true form, I've already begun to plan my packing list and will likely start packing some time in the next couple days. Too early? Nahh.

These are some of my beach necessities.

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. A cute, comfortable, well fitting swimsuit is my key to being happy on the beach. (Well, that and the sun...)

2. Cascade Cool, a fun new color by Essie that I'm excited to try.

3. A great sun hat to keep the rays off my face. Wrinkles? No thank you.

4. A good sun block is a no-brainer.

5. A cover up for walking to/from the beach, around town, out to lunch...

6. Last but not least...A great book to pass the time on the beach. I love witty, humorous writing, and Mindy Kaling's musings are next up on my list.

Oh The Places I'll Go

Here's a list of places I'm traveling to over the next bunch of months, in chronological order:

1. Finger Lakes
2. California
3. Mexico
4. Las Vegas
5. Italy

These trips are all spaced out over the summer, with Italy in October to round out what is shaping up to be a ridiculously awesome summer. I'MSOEXCITED!

Now the question is...What do I pack?!

One Night in Atlantic City

Atlantic City. BF and I went this past saturday. He's an avid poker player and goes there fairly often, but it was my first time ever going, and I was extremely excited about it. Saying that luck was on our side this weekend would be a stretch, but it was a great weekend none the less.

To start with, we figured we'd borrow my parent's car to drive down there. No big deal, I use it all the time, they rarely use it. I called my mom at 8am Saturday morning (while BF was on his way to my house) to run it past her. And, oh, what's that? No? You're going to visit Grandma? Great. No car for us.

But it's ok, we make it to an early bus and get there by noon-ish.

BF usually gets hotel rooms compensated by the casinos since he plays poker there. Not this weekend. And what do you know, the hotel he likes the most is fully booked. Figures. We dole out $350 for a room at Harrah's. I can tell he's not too excited about this. I mean...would you be? 

We check in and go to the room to find this:

And this:

Ok. Maybe it's a little worth it. This hotel room is amazing. Do you see that shower?? And that king size bed??

BF showed me around the city. The boardwalk, the beach, the outlet stores. The weather was a bit gloomy, but it was a nice change of pace to see something other than NYC. And come on, it's Atlantic City!

It was a bit gloomy though, I must say. It was sort of like a watered down version of Las Vegas. All the same stuff, just slightly less...good. The sad underbelly of the casino and gambling world was more apparent here than it is in Vegas. The geriatric men and women sitting at slot machines are a fantastic example of this. So are all the over-weight, under-dressed woman with too much makeup. Ok, maybe they're more tasteless and tacky than anything else, but still.

Anyway.

Late in the evening, after playing in a poker tournament, BF and I went to a craps table and he taught me how to play. It was the quickest $100 I've ever lost. oops.

Soon after that, we headed back to our fantastic room to call it a night. Collectively, we lost more money than we were happy with, and we were drunk on wine from dinner and drinks from the casino cocktail waitresses, so calling it a night seemed like the best plan of action.

The next morning, after a fantastic shower, we packed up our stuff and headed toward the bus back to the city. A few dollars poorer, but a wonderful weekend to show for it. 

All in all, totally worth it.