Just got back from our 4 hour car drive from Las Vegas.

We had a truly wonderful, fun time with old friends and new.

Todd is the Cosmo King! This was our first time trying one (OK...more than 1) and it more than lived up to the big build up. Todd is an incredibly gracious host. No one's glass remained empty. Thank you, Todd, for a wonderful pre dinner party. Alan and I really enjoyed meeting you and I hope we can put together an LA dinner very soon. And, of course, we do hope we are able to cruise with you sometime very soon (how about DOF?).

Judy and John, our hostess/host for Friday evening's dinner at Carluccio's, did a fabulous job of coordinating our first evening's get together. Judy picked a terrific place and we had a blast. The food was great. The prices were better! Judy and John, we were so looking forward to seeing you both again. Thanks for not only the great time at Carluccio's, but your very sweet remembrance of my birthday. You are both special friends to us and we hope we can fulfill our plans to cruise together, again, very soon! We also enjoyed meeting your lovely daughter, Ann!

The cuisine at Mon Amie Gabi, our dinner location for Sat. evening, was excellent.

Seeing, once again, Marcie and Tom (our terrific friends and neighbors), Ngaire and Ken, Kim and John, Lawrence, and Suzanne meant so much to us. You are all great friends and spending time with you all was wonderful. Let's plan a get together again, very, very soon. And, John, your cousin Vinny, his wife, Ernie and his wife, were great dinner companions. We need to convince them to sail with us. What an awesome trip that would be!

Meeting Todd, Betty, Lyn, Doug and Lynne, Chip, Jody Dreyfuss and his wife (I apologize, as I have forgotten her name), John's cousin Vinny and his wife, John's friend Ernie and his wife, and the Doucetts (I apologize again for the memory loss of first names), rounded out a truly great group of people to spend a weekend with.

To those who were unable to join us, I am sorry that you missed such a fun weekend. However, we should make an effort to try to put these weekends together every so often. We are all friends on this board, and it's a real pleasure to meet up, face to face.

We did feel, however, that meeting in Las Vegas, had some challenging dynamics. It is one wild, spead out and crowded city. To coordinate reasonably quiet and economically feasible meeting places is difficult. Meeting in a city such as Las Vegas was quite different than meeting on a ship. Would we do this again? Yes, soley to be with our group and enjoy each other's company. Would we recommend doing so in Las Vegas? Probably not.

And, to Ngaire and Ken - You are both a CLASS ACT! Your warmth, friendship and integrity earn you both a very special place in our hearts. Thank you!

Denise...welcome home!

We've been thinking of all of you this weekend. So glad you had such a wonderful time. We enjoyed it thanks to Todds webcam and camera.

Thanks for a first-hand report!

Margo,

We are tired! A long drive both ways and late nights partying! We really did have a blast. Sorry you were not there to participate. Hopefully, next time!

Great to see that the webcam caught some of the madness.

It was a wild weekend for sure!

Welcome Home - and Happy Birthday!

Sorry we had to miss it, but glad you all enjoyed it!

You were really missed, Gil! Perhaps the next reunion will find you partying along side us all.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Lucky me - I'm a "Tax Day Baby." We lost in Lost Wages. No additional tax claims for us :(

Doug and I missed all of you and wished we were with you. We were there with you in spirit...in Dijon, Provence, Lorraine and Alsace, France.

Although we had a marvelous time, we missed being with our luxury cruise friends.

We're glad you all had a wonderful time and hope to make the next get together. Until BAT and DOF....

Hi,

Good hearing from you. It seems like it's been so long since you posted.

I hope you and Doug enjoyed your time together. One day we hope to visit those places, as well.

We missed you both A LOT, too!

Looking forward to cruising on DOF with you. If we have half the incredible time that we had on VOF, on DOF, it will be a blast!

Denise, thanks for checking in with those of us left behind. Because of my jet lag from my Asia trip, I missed the whole Friday night party as I laid down on the couch next to my computer after I was "on" the site for 15 minutes until it started, and woke up after midnight and it was over! From the looks of the pictures, you all had a great time. Poor Betty, I can't imagine how tired she must have been!

Betty looked to be the life of the party! Maybe what she needed to get over her jet lag was a little bit of the hair of the dog that bit her :)

Betty was the life of the party. I'm here to tell you. There was one waiter that she sent home with his tail between his legs

Betty is a hoot. The first night we met, she was dressed in Egyptian garb and looked wonderful. She's got a lovely sense of humor and speaks her mind - right, Chip? Thanks to Betty, that waiter has most likely been canned from Mon Ami Gabi and is probably now handing out "postcards" on Las Vegas Blvd.!

If any of you ever have the pleasure of meeting Betty, please ask her to show you how she drinks a glass of wine :D

She downed the whole glass. I couldn't belive it.

I am back too. Answered email and did a quick scan of the posts. It was wonderful to see everyone, what a group of really special friends we have become.

What is so nice is with each cruise or get together more people come along to join in. Finally meeting Dougburns who I have wanted to meet for so long and his lovely (and she is lovely) wife Lyn. Now I know why everyone likes them so much. Their friends, Karen and Joseph who are truly delightful just like the Dougburns.(Joseph is such a gentleman, escorted me to the ladies room and then waited to escort me back. Betty (who is a hoot and a lot of fun -check out Todds picture of her drinking her wine with no hands - now this is a fun lady). Chip was only there for the one night so our meeting was short but we got to visit a little. Looking forward to spending more one on one time with him in September.

John bought his cousin VINNY and yes he does suit that name "cousin Vinny" and another high school friend and Todd has his friend John along too. They were all great and we enjoyed meeting them. Todd is working on John to join us on MINT, he has never cruised.

What a great group of people!!!! Looking forward to MINT now to see everyone again and meeting some new people.

I agree with Denise. Las Vegas is too big a place. Like being on a massive cruise ship you cant find each other. However, not having been there for 10 years I enjoyed seeing it again and all the new hotels.

Hi Everyone

It was fantastic. I think the jet lag is finally hitting hard today but had to check out the board tonight.
Who was that fat bloated cow dressed in some Egyptian garb that Todd so graciously captured in pictures? Oh yes, that was me - about 17 lbs heavier just from water retention. And Mr Demille (Todd), I think I should have waited for my close up on Friday. Or maybe had 1 or 2 less Cosmos. Those are really fine!!!!
Was lucky & caught a early plane home so am off to bed.
And now eveyrone should be practicing their ability to drink an entire glass of wine without use of hands. I think Chip is still in shock.
Such a great weekend & Richard's brunch today was awesome. Those who missed it, really missed a treat.

Betty, I'm not sure we can keep up with you on NorFjor723! Welcome back to Texas.

Luke

All I can say is OH MY!!
Las Vegas didn't know what hit it!

We had a wonderful time!! We're worn out, but smiling....

Welcome back, all of you! You were all missed very much!

Masaki

Welcome back to LCT all the Lost Wages group. So glad you had such a wonderful time. :)

Betty

Welcome home everyone!!!

Welcome back. This board was pretty quiet while you were having so much fun!

In keeping with the theme of the group ... who lost their wages, and who hit the jackpot and no longer needs wages?

Luke

Good question Luke!!!!

Many thanks and a hearty WELL DONE to everyone who helped put that wonderful weekend together. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Our special thanks to Todd, John&Judy, Richard&Lyn, and Ngaire&Ken for all of your efforts in making it memorable. For those that missed it, the brunch at the Turnberry on Sunday was fantastic. Made the drive home much easier to take.

Sounds like so much fun. Thanks for sharing your warm memories.

Glad you all had a great time. You were all missed. There's no place like home....

Joanne

We too just arrived home this afternoon (Monday). Luke, I'm happy to report that my husband Tom was a big winner all 3 days. It really was his weekend! No matter what he played, he won! Unlike me who lost here, lost there, lost everywhere. Luckily, Tom's winnings more than covered my losses! Last night we topped off our weekend with a quiet dinner in our very favorite restaurant in the world...Michaels! Not sure who else won?? NOT ME!

Denise has done an excellent job of recounting the weekend. It was so great seeing wonderful "old" friends and meeting new ones!! I agree with the others that LV is not the best place for a large gathering. As beautiful as the suites are at the Venetian, the casino area is HUGE and built like a maze. It is next to impossible to find someone and there isn't a central meeting area like on our cruises. A smaller hotel with a much smaller casino might work but not the large ones. Spending a week together on cruises is much easier.

Ngaire and Ken were fabulous!! They truly are the Queen and King of kindness and class!! For those who may not yet have had the pleasure to meet them....you are missing a real treat!! It is so comforting knowing we have a TA for LIFE!

Again, Denise covered everything so well....just want to add how great it was seeing old friends and meeting new ones! A huge thank you to Judy and John too!!!

All our "kids" were anxiously waiting for us with tails wagging and slurpy kisses when we walked in! It's so nice to be missed!

Marcie,
Tails wagging and slurpy kisses - and that was just from me! You should have seen how her animals greeted her!

We lost our wages, unfortunately. However, we did hit the jackpot with a great weekend spent with wonderful friends!

Welcome home all! Yes..do an L.A. event!

I think an L.A. get-together/dinner would be super!

It was great seeing everyone in Vegas. Being back home is a bummer. Count me in on anything you do in LA. I may need to make some mileage runs as it is...

Thank you Marcie and Tom for getting us those great rates! I saved over $100 plus tax per night by getting Marcie and Tom's HOT RATE for my Rialto Suite. Thank you Judy and John for the Carlitto's event night one. Thank you Host Richard from Cruise Critic for hosting the Wine Party on Sat and arranging the Mon Ami Gabi Dinner. Thank you Denise for providing the munchies at my party. Thank you Ngaire and Ken - for so much! I am so happy you - Ngaire are my travel agent and for you and Ken for just being you! I had a GREAT time!

oh and who is doing what in this webcam pic???

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RADhAh4UM6djwDf5oBOXkpH0lmw8tb7f3OSStrhGt5ZPyCcnkelKKLLF0xSWxkvPo8l3CDwD*9rvxVhXVM6NIHxOIBVuNgnfbFlLLMXb!QA/177.tiff?dc=4675467701732093403[/img]

Todd, you are so welcome!! Meeting you FINALLY was worth the entire trip!! Now I know why you are so adored by all!

OK,

The plan was that he would jump, tossing his drink, I'd stick out my empty Cosmo glass, and, voila...instant refill.

Unfortunately...not all the men in the room were aware of my plan...

LOL Suzanne!!!!!

Todd, that was one of the photos on my cutting room floor - glad you posted - now we know the REAL story!

We know who the "she" is but who is the "he"....I was there and I don't know??

Todd - ROFL! Suzanne - good plan ... so I'm taking it that the plan didn't work then?? :)

Masaki

That's sounds like a good idea. LA. I am always up for a trip to LA. Especially when Tucson descends into the fifth level of hell during the summer. Lets work on that.