Vegas Vacation

Brad and I just returned from Worsham family vacation, Vegas style! We spent the past 4 days in Las Vegas with Brad’s parents, brother Todd, grandmother Patsy and Wanda. It was such a blast – although admittedly, we did come back a little bit lighter in the wallet than when we left the East Coast (c’est la vie)!

We stayed at the Bellagio which is famous for the Chihuly flowers that suspend from the ceiling of the hotel lobby.The Bellagio is also famous for the fountain show which performs multiple times daily and is easily one of the coolest things in Vegas. What makes it even greater is that it is free.

Anyway, we had a great time with the fam … eating some absolutely amazing meals, gambling (Craps and Blackjack were the games most often chosen to relieve us of our money) and walking around the various hotels to take in the over-the-top décor that Vegas is so well known for.

We toured some of the hotels on the main strip – we were really impressed with the décor at the new Wynn hotel and the Venetian – as well as down on Fremont Street where we took in the older hotels and the psychedelic light show. We even got to see a show one night – Spamalot starring John O’Hurley (Eileen’s boss J. Peterman from Seinfeld) as King Arthur.

Brad also took the opportunity to break in our new high speed lens. While he was touring the Vegas strip taking pictures of the sights one day (see some of his fine photos below), I luxuriated in the Bellagio spa. I worked out in a meager attempt to counteract some of the food that we had been eating and then spent a few hours lounging in the hot tub and hanging out with Le Anne. Seriously, I could have stayed there for at least a week.

But alas, as is always the case with vacations, the days flew by and before we knew it, the time had come for us to pack up and hit the road back to good ol’ VA. We had a great time and can’t wait for the next Worsham family vacation!

An Intense Read

I (Erin) just finished a seriously intense book – “A Beautiful Boy” by David Scheff. It’s a true story of a father (David) whose son (Nic) becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol by the age of 17 and goes through several rounds of rehab before the book concludes with Nic tentatively clinging to sobriety. I decided to read the book after hearing a radio interview with David and Nic one morning on my way to work and was amazed by how candidly and matter-of-factly they were discussing their harrowing tale of addiction and of a family trying to hold the pieces of their lives together.

As a side note ... I later found out that Starbucks was carrying David’s book as part of their recommended readings series. I seriously have no idea how Starbucks chooses their books – its like they say “here, have a seriously overpriced (although fairly traded and sustainably harvested) coffee and while you’re at it, read this heart-wrenching story of someone’s life going to heck and back again”. I also read another of their series, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” (a story about a boy growing up in Sierra Leone who gets caught up in the civil war and becomes a child soldier by the age of 12), which was equally unbelievable at times and too crazy to believe that the story actually happened to someone and they lived to tell of it. Anyway, back to the book at hand …

Besides the obvious heart-wrenching story of Nic’s addiction and the pain that it causes his parents and, probably most sadly, his little brother and sister (at one point, Nic steals his little brother’s piggy bank savings to go score), its also fascinating/horrifying to hear how normal and smart and conscientious Nic is when he’s not high. Besides a messy divorce, his life seemed pretty normal – swim teams and carpools and school plays and parents who loved him - but some inner demon led him to addiction. Long story, short – it’s a good read but certainly not a fun one. Probably would make any parent with grown kids count their lucky stars that their kids didn’t go through what Nic did ... and would make any parent-to-be or parent of young kids catch their breath and hope that those lucky stars align for their family as well.

Nic also wrote a book about his addiction, “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines” – I’ll probably read that one day just to get the counter-tale to his dad’s book. But for my next read, I’m thinking that I may choose something off a “friendlier” book list – Starbucks is making my head spin, or maybe that's just all the caffeine ;)

A Sunday Fashion Show

Although I no longer work with DISA, I still keep in touch with my client Joe and his wife Claire. Claire is an aspiring fashion designer and recently completed her first line of bridal and bridesmaids dresses. When I got an email asking if I would help out at her first fashion show, I thought it'd be fun, so of course volunteered to lend a hand.

Fast forward to this afternoon and I found myself in a scene straight out of "The Hills" (yes, I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I watch that show obsessively!) Anyway, they are always showing behind the scenes of fashion shows where chaos is reigning supreme and there are people running around throwing on and off clothes and running off to the runway. Well, I was the one trying to make order out of the chaos today and helping the models get in and out of their assigned dresses. It was actually all quite entertaining and I was glad to help Claire out at her first successful show!

Ginny's Bridal Shower

One of my best buddies, Ginny, is getting married in about 6 weeks. Today was her bridal shower up in MD - definitely a fun afternoon!

The shower was hosted by a family friend who went all out with this amazing spread of food. The best part was that the foods were all somehow related to Ginny's life ... Maryland crab cake sandwiches since Ginny is from MD; North Carolina BBQ to celebrate the good ol' Duke days, etc.

We also played some games include making "wedding dresses" out of rolls of toilet paper so that Ginny could pick the winner. The girl who is second from the right won - her's was the only "dress" that actually stayed on by the end of the game! My team made the dress on the right - a good effort but was basically falling off her at the end!

And of course, most of the shower was spent opening presents and ended with Ginny wearing the bows and ribbons from all the presents. Here she is with her sister and maid of honor, An, and her mom, Susanna.

I Am Officially a Worsham!

After taking the day off last Friday to spend several hours hanging out at the local Social Security office (if you ever want to make some fun new friends, I highly recommend SS offices!), I just got my new SS card in the mail.

Sayonara Maureen! (I never felt much like a Maureen anyway) Instead my middle name is now an homage to the last name that I have always loved (and which half my friends refer to me by)! So Erin Layburn Worsham it is - love it!

Ok, so Social Security card - check! Now I just have to deal with the DMV, passport agency, credit cards, banks, insurance companies, retirement plans, telephone bills, blah, blah, blah ...

Widespread Panic - Can I Get a Fist Pump

Tonight Erin and I went to the Warner Theater to see Widespread Panic. Considered one of the most beautiful historic venues in Washington DC it is a stunning place in and of itself. My company, Clark Construction actually renovated the space before I started working there to revamp its look to the original condition.

Widespread Panic is a band that we do not listen to very often and have only seen them a couple of times. In fact I think we have seen them 4 times and 3/4 times they had a different lead guitarist. So let's just say the direction of their overall sound has been in flux. Well the most recent addition as the lead guitarist is a well renowned player in the jam community and personally think he is their best lead guitarist by far, although many a 'spreadhead' would disagree with me.

For most of the show Erin and I did not recognize many tunes and most songs sounded similar to each other, a typical complaint of their music. Erin and I were more fascinated with the insatiable desire of panic fans to pump their fists up in the air when a good part comes on. It is unlike anything I have ever seen at other bands live shows. We were also disrupted a lot by the couple next to us who I think must have consumed a keg by themselves. Overall a decent night with some serious rockin music:

DC Cherry Blossoms - A Beautiful Sight

Today I had a meeting in the city that ended around 3:30. Considering that it is the peak viewing time for the DC cherry blossoms and I had just got a new lens for our camera, which is seriously becoming an expensive habit but worth it (see below), I decided to head down to the mall to see for myself. For Those that don't know about the cherry blossoms:

The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the 1912 gift to the city of Washington of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrate the continued close relationship between our two peoples.

For a small period of only 4-6 days the cherry blossoms, which litter the tidal basin and up the potomac river, are considered to be 'peak viewing'. Thousands of people visit each year and it makes travel in the city a nightmare. Let's just say I wasn't the only one with a camera down there.