Pab* and I arrived in Vegas late (the result of having left late largely due to my deciding to last-minute shop). Last minute packing meant we took everything we could lay our hands on.
We're old hands at the drive now, so it took just over four hours to get from Santa Monica to the hotel. Okay, okay, it took Pab 4 hours. I was along for the ride. Thankfully the hotel is on the west side of the strip so there was no need to drive through 5pm Vegas traffic. We'd stayed at the Gold Coast when we met Niki Flynn in Vegas in November** so had a pretty good idea of what the rooms were like. Our premium king room on the 4th floor was better than I expected, though it still had the problem of all the remodeled room in the hotel -- no bath tub and a weird sliding bathroom door which was not at all sound proofed***. Bridget called to say she and HH were still out exploring the beauty of Death Valley, so I was relieved we weren't going to be the last to arrive.
Not that my friends think I'm flaky or anything. But Niki's always where she's supposed to be when she says she's going to be there.
So a quick shower and change --wore a jean skirt (last minute charity shop $6 find), pink button down shirt, green sweater, brown tights and brown ballet flats)-- and then headed to Paul and Lucy's room to help tie ribbons around the "Wheatley Manor" DVDs. This is a three hour epic spanking video. Three hours! Niki did much of the work -- she's the organized one of the two of us -- but I think the neat lemon Stoli I brought helped move the job along. Meeting Lucy and Paul was great -- they made a good impression even though they were clearly harried trying to get ready to set up their table and do the (god only knows how many) shoots they were arranging this weekend. Lucy looks lovely in photographs but they definitely do not do her justice. Each time I was face to face with her, I was knocked out by Lucy's blonde good looks and stammered like a school girl.
Okay, about to start to gush, more on Lucy and NS later.
We went down to the fair and were greeted by Tony and Butch. Niki and I (wo)manned the NS table briefly while the rest of the NS contingent went around and greeted. I felt long lost, rusty retail skills returning as I encouraged people to buy the DVD set ($50) while the video played on a large MacBook next to us. I haven't watched it all the way through yet, but based on what I was seeing at the table, there definitely is plenty of girl on girl action. Smoking hot!
NS's table was next to Kitty's vendor table and all her lovely but deadly paddles. As I examined a gorgeous burled black walnut one, a tall hotel waiter stood behind me. I turned and commented on how lovely the wood was, wondering what the staff at this hotel would think of us -- did we seem like weird freaks? He smiled, looked down at me and said
"Yes, but the problem is finding someone to use it on."
(!!!)
I stammered, blushed and said brightly "this would be the room to look." Nothing further happened -- I was too shy to follow up.
At this point two things happened. Suddenly the room was filling up and at that exact moment, the vodka I'd drunk hit my head and made me giddy and a bit dizzy. Those of you who know me know I don't drink very much or very often. Niki, while certainly no lush of course, had poured our drinks with a generous hand. She was fine, but as the vodka hit I remembered I'd not eaten anything but a latte and protein bar all day. Eep!
Fortunately the food opened up right at that moment. There were many yummy things, but I keyed in on the swedish meatballs, something I can't seem to cook right and never get enough of. Iris came down with M and I was excited to see them. I think M recognized my bright cheeriness was a little more alcohol based than it should be, steered us toward a table and gallantly fetched more of the life-saving meatballs. Suddenly Pablo was there too with Bridget, HH and the fair became a reunion.
Over at the SL table, Eve introduced me to David, who made a video for SL, called "Punishment Book" with his partner Lizzy. He was charming and we chatted about the PB and how the use of punishment, even within the scene, can sometimes be hard to explain to those who don't do it. It was a great conversation but I had to cut it short when my anxiety got the better of me (it's really hard for me to meet new people) and I had to head back to our table. Ironically, when I got there, Iris and Bridget were deep in conversation with Lizzy who was trying to figure out if she should tell her family about the spanking element of her relationship with David.
After the fair, Pab, Iris, Bridget, HH and I went to have a late dinner in the bar at TGIFridays. This bar became something of a party gathering point, the defacto place to go when looking for other people looking for a place to go. We ate and talked, catching up over great food and lots of water. The lights and noise were too much for Iris though. Vegas and casinos aren't a great place for someone prone to headaches.
As we left, I thought of going upstairs to see if a suite party was still in progress, but it was already after midnight so I decided instead to go back to the room, play with Twitter a bit and go to bed. Drifting off to sleep, I whispered to Pab about my evening's adventures...
(Saturday's adventures to be continued with details of having my hands strapped in a crowded room by a beautiful blonde haired matron.)
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*I know generally I call my husband by his real name, which is Paul, online, but I am going to refer to him as Pablo or Pab in this party report because we spent a good amount of time with Paul of Northern Spanking and I'd rather this party report not become more farcical than it already is.
**I never blogged about it (shame!) but Pab and I were lucky enough to get to meet up with Niki in Vegas when she filmed Hot Seat with Keith Jones. Sitting by Tony and Eve's pool listening (and sometimes watching) Keith spank Niki for a few hours was not an unpleasant afternoon. In fact, I recommend it.
*** I've got a a huge number of issues about being heard in the bathroom so ended up wasting much water by turning on the tap full force to cover any noises. Sheesh! Though, as another attendee pointed out to me, unlike her at least I didn't get trapped inside.
