November 13, 2020. It was a very belated Las Vegas girl’s weekend for my best friend Gwen’s 40th birthday bash that actually happened at the start of COVID in March.

We were set to go to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday in April with our husbands when all travel plans came to a halt. With plans to take in a show, relax and recharge at the Caesar’s Palace Qua Baths (my personal favorite escape in Vegas), and enjoy each other’s company without any adulting whatsoever, we were forced to take a raincheck and put our travel plans on hold until further notice.

Seven months later, we  found ourselves road tripping it with my mom and meeting up with her best friend, Lucy, who lived in Vegas for Gwen’s Birthday Bash Re-do.

I had all of these birthday plans for Gwen to celebrate her 40th doing all the things we loved – eating all-you-can eat, made to order sushi after some recommendations from restaurants marker (best thing ever at BF Sushi!), taking in a total spa day, and providing her with some sort of amazing experience.

Sadly, when we got to Vegas and started calling around to establishments to book the activities, EVERYTHING with the exception of the sushi spot (thank God) was closed down.

The Qua Baths and all other spa/bath houses were out of commission.

No shows were running anywhere on the strip.

And since Gwen and I are not big time gamblers, we had to find other ways to fill our three days with, which involved watching a lot of silly stupid TV (something I never get to do much of) and laughing until we were crying hysterically at the World’s Dumbest Inventions on truTV in jammies on the pull-out sofa bed in our hotel room. Ever seen a catheter you can wear to sporting games so you don’t have to wait in the bathroom line? Yeah, I hadn’t either but some crazy inventor created it!

This was a good life lesson to get creative, be our own best company and make do with what we had.

The timeshare had one enormous bathtub that three people could sit in. We quickly hit up the Target on the Strip and bought the essentials – charcoal masks, cucumbers, bubble bath, dark chocolate and mimosas. And there you go! We had created our own personalized bathtub experience.

Even though shows were out of the question, the one thing both of us had never done before was head to the top of the Stratosphere, which became our insane entertainment – riding three of the craziest contraptions ever while dangling 1200 feet up in the air while praying for dear life.

Then, heading back to the Sky Lounge to top it off with specialty martinis, basked Alaskan for dessert and a view from the top.

Point being? YES, plans change. It’s inevitable, and sometimes we have NO control over that. It is what it is.

What you do have is your creativity, tools right in your toolbox and the best company to make every moment memorable.

While this definitely wasn’t the Vegas getaway I had envisioned for Gwen’s 40th, it’s going down as one of my absolute faves because of all the “just go with it” experiences we did together for the first time!

And that, my friends, is how you do Vegas without a plan.


Rule of Life Lesson #134: