Vegas this weekend! The final info!!

Is is ON!

Okay, Slack Packers, we're now less than a week away, so I guess it's time to actually communicate some details, huh? The final guest list has just been decided, so the trip info looks solid. Viva La Casa is GO!

THE GUEST LIST

The final guest list is in. Sadly, some key people had to drop out (including Aaron, one of the birthday guys) for unexpected reasons, and we'll miss those who won't be able to make the journey. But we've still ended up with a pretty good-sized group of Slackers. And that group is made up of:

Tim
Stacy
Rich
Teresa
Chris K.
Tami
A.T.
Me
Adam
Chris B.
Ken
James
Brandy

THE ROOM SITCH

Looks like it's Caesar's for me, A.T., Tim, Stacy, Rich and Teresa. It's the Bellagio for Chris K. and Tami. Can't recall right now which hotel Adam is at. And I need to get all the final info on Chris B., Ken, James and Brandy, but I know at least a couple of them are at the Howard Johnson's. But everyone's definitely got a room at this point.

THE FLIGHTS

Everybody's got one! I just need to quickly get all that info (which I'll round up from people) so we can have all the info down and who's coming and who's going, and when. If I'm not mistaken, I think everyone's coming in Friday, and everyone except Chris K. and Tami are leaving on Sunday at various times. I'll be updating the flight page with the details.

DINNER

Saturday night is Dinner at Olives at the Bellagio! We'll nail down a time. This place doesn't take reservations, so we just show up and line up (so we're going to early!). This is the official birthday dinner, so not to be missed!

THE SHOW

The official show is "O". Looks like myself, Dr. and Mrs. K., Rich and T and Adam were the ones who got tickets, so we'll all be doing that after dinner on Saturady night before hooking up with everyone else after.

CELL PHONES!

Keep an eye on your email, as I'm going to be sending out a list of everyone's cell phone numbers, so we can all be able to coordinate and keep in touch during the weekend!

MORE TO COME

Final stuff will be filling in over the next (very) few days, so keep watchin'...and start countin'! The hours, that is. We are SO close to hot Vegas middle-aged action! YEAH, baby!

Friday Deadline for Hotel, Show Choice!

Okay, got to get some decisions going. So there's a deadline. Caesar's and "O" look to be the hotel/show combo, and we need to get our reservations in pretty darned early in both cases. There are still some who haven't hit/sounded off on the board, so those folks have until this Friday (3/21) to make themselves heard. Otherwise, the hammer drops like a Tom Jones encore!

Also, it's looking like the Friday arrival is going to be the way to go, and that decision needs to be made even quicker, so unless someone has a real big objection (no one has so far), that call will be made in the next day or so. Again, if anyone has some other opinion, now is the time!

And in other news, just finished up with a great weekend here in Sac with some of the out-of-town boys showing up for a manly gathering. The henceforth dubbed "Man-Sac Weekend" was a blast, and a great way to celebrate St. Paddy's. Thanks to Russ, Tony and Aaron for flying all the way to our town (where the weather cooled off just for them!) to hang out like the days of old. Good times.

If you haven't yet hit the board and announced your RSVP, please do so! Let's get the master head-count, and see whose names will be written in Vegas history!

Decision, decisions...the dice are rollin'!

Discussions move forward!

All right, we're starting to see some action on the message board. First, we've got some confirmations posted. I'm coming (duh). Tim and Stacy are in. As are Rich and Teresa, Russ and Chea-Yo, Kevin and Kendra, Cindy and Adam (but they're not, like, together anything...). Will YOU be on the list? If so, speak up!

We're zeroing in toward a hotel. It's starting to look like Caesar's, but there's still time for discussion and opinion. We're still talking shows, but "O" is looking good, and that ain't a cheap one ($150), so plan ahead in case it goes that way.

I've also started the process of granting attendees their Slack Pack names. It's a ritual thing that started on the first Slack Pack trip ten years ago...

Since a number of potential attendees will be hooking up this weekend for St. Paddy's Day (Russ, Tony and Aaron will be flying in to hang out with some of the Sac crowd), maybe some off-board decision will go down...but I'll be sure to post them all up.

And the planning goes on...and the big weekend looms ever closer... Tick, tick, tick, tock...

Vegas, baby, VEGAS!!!

Let…it…begin!

We are now live, with the main page, the message board, and this blog.

Live with what, you ask?
In case you’re not hip, this is the blog of the “Viva La Casa” event – the weekend coming up this October, where five former roommates are meeting middle age together by celebrating their birthdays in style…and in Vegas! Four of us five will be hitting the big 40, while A.T., turning 39, will spend the weekend pointing and laughing at us.

We’ve made plans to really do this celebration right, and decided, quite some time ago, that we’d do it all together in Vegas. Well, that once-far-away October is starting to show up on the horizon, so it’s time to start planning now! For us to plan, and, of course, for all of you who plan to join us!

So far, I can tell you this. It will happen the weekend of October 18^th. We’re still deciding (discussion pending on the Message Board) whether it’ll be Friday through Monday or Saturday through Tuesday. As soon as that’s finalized, I’ll update that here, and on the main page. We know that we’re still choosing a hotel, and that we’d like to get as many people staying at the same place as possible (hopefully reserving a block of rooms). And while we want the trip to be nice and open so everyone can follow wherever the sirens of Sin City call them to, there will be one organized event. This will be a Saturday night dinner birthday celebration, followed by a high-end Vegas show (still to be decided). Beyond that, we can run around as a group, break off into smaller groups, or whatever! As long as everyone’s having a great time, that’s all that counts. So, as you can see, there’s still some things to be figured out, and that’s what the Board is for.

Let’s talk about these three pages real quick. First, you’ve got the main page at www.michaeloconnell.com/vivalacasa. This is where all the cemented info will be going, and it will be your main info source as the trip gets closer. There, you can read the history of the roommates (and our house, the famed “La Casa de los Chicos Blancos”), check out some handy Vegas (and gang) links, and even buy your own Viva La Casa merchandise to commemorate the trip (yes, we will have an online store up soon!). And you’ll also, soon, be able to get all the info on the hotel, check the trip schedule, and see everyone’s flight info. And when the trip’s all over, this is also the place where you’ll go to read the write-up on everything that happened, and see what’s sure to be a massive (and hopefully not work-friendly!) photo gallery. I’d bookmark the main page, since you can just click to the blog and the board from there.

A couple of acknowledgments about the page. First, big thanks to Canadian artist and graphic designer David Enciso for coming up with the Viva La Casa logo for me. I started making one of my own, but I was just getting too frustrated and…frankly…sucking it at. I decided to turn it over to a professional, and Dave came through for me big-time. I’ve used him for things before, and he’s a great guy with a lot of talent, so we thank him for sprucing up our pages (and the tee shirts to come). Also, you’ll see some art showing the five Chicos. That’s done by none other than Nice Guy artist (and Chico) Tim Watts, with colors done by Nice Guy colorist L. Jamal Walton. Thanks, everyone, for your awesome graphical assists!

Then you’ve got this blog. I’ll be trying to use this regularly, mainly as a place to sum up the Message Board discussions and what’s been nailed down. Hopefully I’ll be having too much fun to do any actually blogging FROM Vegas, but hey, this is me, so you never know. I may sneak on for some live weekend reports and pics. Be sure to check here often.

The Message Board I set up is where we need to work everything out. I’m still figuring it all out, but I think you need to register to post there. Try it without if you like, though, and see if it works. Basically, we’d like everyone who’s thinking about going to jump on and give their input, talk about stuff they’ve done and seen in Vegas in the past (like what stuff is cool to see and what places really blow). That will be the most active place about this trip, so I’d check back there regularly to see what’s shaping up. Let’s get a little community thing going on.

Things I want to point out as we get into this.

1) We want as many people to come as possible. We want this to be a celebration. We all want to step into the second half of our lives with optimism and fun, and we want all the people that continually help make our lives as great as they are to be there. Please consider it. We want you there.

2) This is not going to be cheap. There will be more detail on the Board about this, and Tim will be throwing out numbers he’s researching, but betweens rooms, flights, the show, food, gambling, cocktails, etc, you’re looking at a MINIMUM five hunny per person. Plan big, start saving now, and plan to make use of that big government check that’s coming this summer. I know I plan to. It’ll be worth it. How many of us have snuck into Vegas, sleeping five to a room, played nickel slots and just walked the strip a little? Don’t we all deserve to do it right? Let’s do it!

3) Speaking of style – plan now to dress up Saturday. This means the suits and ties, gentleman. This is the tradition that we in the “Slack Pack” began ten years ago on the 30^th birthday trip, and it continues here!

4) Try to make it for the four days. Seems a waste to just fly in Saturday morning, stay one night, and fly back Sunday. Some may have to, due to jobs, school, money, whatever, and of course we’d rather have you there for the big day than not at all. But if you can, give yourself a vacation. Don’t feel rushed. There’s so much Vegas to see. Let’s try to see as much of it as possible!

More thought will be on here, and on the board, as we get closer. But for now…let’s start talking and making some decisions! Don’t know about you, but I am officially PSYCHED and ready to do this thing! Our Vegas adventure awaits…La Casa style!

More to come!

P.S. That photo of me on my profile shot at the top of the page? That’s me at about fourteen on my first trip to Vegas with my Dad and sister. In that shot, I was at a Charo show with lots of showgirls. Saw my first bare boobies there. Thanks, Dad!