Gettin Ready for Polk City...Yeehaw

Good morning on this gorgeous Vegas morning of Friday 30th March. Hit a bit of a glitch as Mr Fab has come down with the Flu. Never gets sick so decides to do it on holiday *rolls eyes* I have done my wifely duties and literally run to make sure he has medicine and relief. I thought I might share a few other snaps of the trip so far and tell you all what a bloody FABULOUS wife I am!!! This first one is the inside of the stretch Limo we drove to the Court House in. Pretty swish I can tell you. Do you see my husbands thong clad feet? Nuthin but class from the Greens......*blink* He is also suffering from sore feet after our walk to the Suit hire place. Poor baby. (Probably his system has gone into shock missing the Fabulous Burgundy Leather Sofa...do we all concur???) And of course its all MAN Flu / sore feet / fever etc etc. So this morning I grabbed Maria our room attendant and simply changed the towels and emptied the bins so he could sleep. I then loaded up with my Fab Bellagio Tote and started downstairs. First stop was The Cosmopolitan where our friends are staying when they are in Vegas. WOW AND WOW AND BLOODY HELL!!!! Its sooooooooooooo shiny. I am pretty darn sure they will be happy. Did my business there and might I add it is HUGE???? I walked for what seemed like a long time to even find the front desk and lobby!!! Then began the trek back to our Hotel to find medication and pain relief for poor old Mr Fab. $108.00 including taxes later and I was still blinking. I might pause to mention ~ The Bellagio is lovely of course BUT I think that because it is so big....things go wrong. We ordered some room service last night as Mr Fab was ill and it didnt turn up. We ordered breaky and it didnt turn up. All I would like is if someone would ACKNOWLEDGE they made a mistake. You all know me and I am not looking for anything ~ just accept some responsibility. Maybe I should not be polite and nice and decent and maybe throw a tanty? The Tanty throwers seem to achieve more.....

While I was waiting at The Cosmipolitan there were three people behind the desk and all were serving guest. One lady was sitting down waiting and me. Another lady came in talking LOUDLY on her phone about this deal and that deal whatever. Anyway ~ the chap at one server left and this woman walked over and loudly started demanding this and that. You all know me right? You all know how I feel about manners. So ~ not sure where it came from but I used my clear and consise voice and said:
Me: Excuse me Miss ~ That lady over there was next and I am after her.
Server: Oh!
Rude Loud Woman: But....
Me: *pleasant and serene smile* Thankyou
After confirming the Sitting Lady was all good I then proceeded to walk to the girl and start my business. After awhile I whispered that I hope I didn't embarrass her as that was not my intention and I certainly wasn't embarrassed. She was then my new bestie and went out of her way and ABOVE to help me. Gorgeous lovely girl she was. Not sure if the Rude Loud Woman gave me daggers or death looks as I didnt look.

 So finally back to the room after grabbing all the pills and medicines I could along with a Chino and a Roast Beef Roll for my hungry man. He has now taken everything needed and is laying in the bed not actually moaning but being a grizzleguts. He doesnt want to be ill or feel yuk for the next part of the trip which is Des Moine / Polk City. Had an email from our friends Mish and Mark letting us know of a couple of things they have organized and we are super happy with the itinerary. Oh and Mish if you are reading ~ may need a Nana Nap on Saturday arvo after getting up at 3 am to go to Vegas Airport? *lol*
Now lets talk taxes....bloody hell Fab readers ~ everytime you turn around there is tax!!!! We were looking at the hotel bill and while the room is perhaps this amount ~ every single day we pay Resort fees / Taxes / and Taxes on the Resort Fee. They dont miss ya in Vegas baby. You might buy a cuppa and its X amount PLUS then the taxes. We have become a bit immune to it and think that at least if we are buying a meal we can figure out the tip. In saying that? Its not in a grizzling way as we accept what is ....is. Just letting you know. We would come back to America in a heartbeat as we love the country and the diversity of what we have seen so far. The next leg is something we are both looking forward to as we want to see the real America and not the touristy bits. Some things like The Grand Canyon ~ sure. And Alcatraz while we are in San Francisco? Sure. But we also like talking to people and meeting folks and chatting to them about how they live and how we live. Get me?
I am now going to administer more Wife type stuff to the Fabulous Mr Fab and will check you all again ~ in Johnson ~ Polk City Iowa.

Fabulous Scents Gives Some Handy Travel Tips....

I have been thinking that every single thing we do....is a Travel Lesson. So ~ Let me share some Fab Travel Tips for Traveling in America.
1: Dont joke or speak to Customs. Be Polite and stand vewy vewy still when the dog walks past.
2: Listen. Yes Listen. In LA we had difficulty as quite a few people have accents not American
3: Dont pack more than maybe 3 shirts and 3 pairs of easy wash pants. You dont need it.
4: Wear and Pack comfy shoes
5: Always carry a jumper as the weather changes in a heartbeat

6: Change money into $1 bills and make sure you have HEAPS. You will use those for tipping.
7: Drink TONS of water
8: Lip Balm Lip Balm Lip Balm. Cannot stress enough..LIP BALM
9: Make sure your order is VERY clear if you buy a coffee...walk back up to the room with said Coffees because your husband is not feeling well...discover its black coffee...walk all the way back down...tell them politely of THEIR mistake ....They will CHARGE you more for the Chinos and then make you feel like a dick for even thinking about bringing it back. ( This may only be applicable to Gelatio at The Bellagio) (still pissed at that)

10: Try EVERYTHING at least once even if it sucks at least you tried it.
11: Have Fab American Friends you can email to ask what the tip is.......
12: Did I mention LIP BALM??????

Tune in again for more Fab Travel Tips ~ Brought to you exclusively by Mrs Fab Green

Lets Do the Fabulous Strip!

Hello everyone and welcome to Thursday in Las Vegas. Downstairs to the Bellagio Photographer to collect the pics. They were quite hard to go through but its now all done including some for the Mums. The lady who helped us ~ Alis ~  was super friendly and lovely. We had our favorite made into a Black and White which we collect tomorrow and we also purchased an Album. We then decided it was time to Do The Strip!!!! My god people ~ it is a MADHOUSE!!!! The crowds are just never ending and I can tell you now I am an expert in telling the GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS 24 HOUR GIRLS TO YOUR DOOR IN UNDER AN HOUR that no thanks ~ MY HUSBAND does not want one...or two......Every maybe 30 feet there is someone who looks incredibly bored and is offering girls. Made me laugh and Mr Fab just looked sheepish. We could not get over the hustle and bustle and I think our time in The Bah has turned us into country folk in the big city. We find it is all to loud and there is to much going on. Of course we had to have Mr Fabs pic taken with a Las Vegas Showgirl and they are on every corner in every color of the rainbow costumes.

He looks mighty happy doesnt he?????? The one on the left was actually an Aussie girl from Newcastle so I didnt even ask what the tip was he gave them........Bless him...he is a soft touch. We got about halfway up the Strip before his poor old feet became to sore so we turned around and walked back. As you walk across the road or rather OVER the road there are people every say 10 feet or so begging. They have signs ranging from " Cancer patient no insurance need Chemo" / " Vet with no pension" / " Disabled" ( the one leg kinda let me know that one was pretty definite ) and there was our personal favorite ..." Ok no lie ~ need it for booze and smokes". Had to admire his honesty. We decided to look in one of the Tshirt shops and picked up some Tshirts for $5 each!!!! Look even if they last a couple of washes we will be happy!!!! They have them for sale everywhere. We also found the Bar/ Casino aimed at the younger folks with live music and Barmen who twirl the bottles and throw the drinks around. Everywhere you walk you see people with huge frosty yard glasses full of what we now know is Vodka. Middle of the day and they just wander about with drinks in hands. The Blackjack tables there dont look as secure and the dealers wear tshirts and jeans rather than a uniform.
Mr Fab is also feeling a wee bit tired today and thinks he may have a small dose of a cold. So I am puttering around washing and updating the Fab Blog and letting him have a sleep. God I am a good wife yes????????

We were given a bottle of champers in The Lily Bar so we are going downstairs tonight for that. We also have to do the Fabulous Vegas sign......well cant NOT do it can we?????? We also want to see the Fountains show on eye level and the sharks at Mandalay Bay. So maybe a cab after a sleep?
This is Mrs Fab ~ signing off till next time *mwah*

Introducing ~ Mr and Mrs Fab

Well thats it ~ Done and Dusted. What a day. Started out with Mum Fab calling on Skype at 5 AM. Yep you read that right. Seriously ...MUM...Have you not heard of Googling Time Zones?????? We could not figure out what the annoying bloody noise was!!! We missed the call as we stumbled around in the dark trying to figure it out. We didnt call back but appreciated the gesture *blink blink*
Bit of a room tidy then I had to go and be beautified which was a long and arduous process. The gorgeous girl who did my makeup was Jill and she was wonderful. Absolutely beautiful to look at and extremely good at her craft. She has actually done the makeup of a couple of movie stars ........ not being a name dropper.........
Sam was my hairdresser and The Spa at Bellagio is very swish. I then had to kill an hour waiting for the whole thing to happen so I basically just went and sat out on the Patio.

Had a moment or two and had one where I simply wished I was home and curled up on the sofa but got over it and made the trek down to The Chapels. As you can see my flowers were seriously divine and I could not have been happier with them. Mr Fab just stood and blinked when I came out and just leaned in and told me how beautiful I was. I had to include a pic of the Fab Tote Bag because DAMN if it is not seriously Vegasy!!! Made me laugh out loud. The Photographer took us to a few other places to take some more pics. I must mention. I wore a bracelet loaned to me by Katy Redmond and I also wore my Dads ring. He was given the ring for his 21st Birthday so I kinda felt it would be the right thing to wear it. I wore Mums old Eternity ring that Dad had given her as well. We are both now exhausted ~ like now that its over we can both relax. Mr Fab told me I now have to be a good wife and do everything...then he realised I already do bahahahahahahahahahaha. Back at the room we found a sensational Fruit Bowl and Hand made Chocs from our wonderful friends, Ken and Vicki , and our much loved baby boy Dexter the Wonder Dog.

We got changed out of our wedding finery and went down to dinner at the Cantonese Restaurant called Jasmine. Oh My Gawd!!! It was beautiful and we really REALLY enjoyed our meal and the service was amazing. Came back upstairs and found a most amazing table with wine and choc dipped strawberries waiting for us with a note from our Katy and also a note from the Hotel Manager. All very nice I can tell you. Well Fab Readers ~ Mrs Green is buggered. I thankyou all for your kind words and wishes and wish you could have shared the day with us. It was very quick but incredibly lovely and mere words cannot describe how we both feel. Mr Fab just kept looking at me and telling me I was beautiful???? Oh and he winked at me a couple of times....saucy minx that he is.
Photographer at 10 tomorrow then a couple of errands and then we are going to Walk The Strip and just look at everything we can. I will load some pics if I can as I am not sure how that works. I know we get 12 photos but we cant upload until we get home!!!
Love and miss you all and again ~ Mr and Mrs Ron Green thankyou so very much for all your love.

Doing the Outlets? Yes Please!!!!

Today's major thing was The Nevada County Court House. We had to be downstairs at The Bell Desk by 10 am to catch the Limo. We had a Silver stretch and our driver was Micheal. He was lovely and chattered away the whole time. After about 5 minutes he said " So where in New York are you guys from?". We both blinked then fell about laughing ~ great icebreaker. He dropped us at the Court House and onward we went to complete the paperwork.

I had done all the pre wedding crap prior to leaving Oz so I had a special number which enabled us to go to The Express Marriage Line. Just writing Express Marriage Line is vaguely hilarious. It all takes place in your standard Govt building but the clerks are behind really thick glass and they speak to you through a microphone....I didnt have to yell so all good. Pay your $60 US dollars and thats it ~ all done. We have an envelope we have to give to Helen The Wedding Coordinator and she then processes everything needed. We paid the extra $7 US dollars to have a Certified copy of the certificate as Mr Fab is quite determined I will have to change my name. *shakes head*. He concedes that Fabulous Scents is fine to continue with my own name but in general.......he is doing the Great Aussie Male thing. If it makes him happy it makes me happy.

Micheal picked us up and then after getting permission from The Bellagio he dropped us at the Northern Las Vegas Outlet Stores....*blink blink* Bloody hell Fab Readers!!!! I came close to fainting a couple of times I am sure!!! Managed to get Mr Fab some more shorts ...like he needed them.........for about a 1/4 of what we would have paid at home and Levi to boot. He brought two pair as apparently they were awesome. I finally have new Reeboks and paid $68.88 for TWO pairs!! Seriously. TWO pairs. I also managed to sneak in a True Religion T shirt which I would NEVER buy normally. We were stopped by a chap named Don who was the SERIOUSLY best sales chap I have EVER met and I would love him to be selling Fab!!! I ended up paying some ridiculous amount for a deabrasion skin care range which I would never do but DAMN if this stuff doesnt work??? Bloody hell I looked at one side of my raggady old face and then the side he had worked on and nearly passed out in shock. Even Mr Fab was blinking. Maybe its a quick fix but hey I am vain enough that it was enough to make me open my purse. I had to stop him though because it was a bit buy this and get that buy that I will do this cose you are wonderful and a gorgeous woman.....*yeah yeah rolls eyes*. When Vicki goes to Vegas I will be giving her some money and asking her to get me the moisturizer as it is seriously divine. The last lot he tried to sell me worked out to be $600 (but apparently more than half the normal costs and he was apparently throwing in heaps for free) and as those who know me well...I dont easily part with money so I was feeling ill by the time I finally said "Please stop I know your product is awesome I can see it but I simply cant justify spending $600". Thats when he gave me a deal on the the special stuff he used on one side of my face......Its lopsided..I didnt have a choice *looking innocent*. I certainly cant bring myself to spend that kind of money. As much as I would have liked to it just doesnt feel right. Also grabbed a sensational Fossil purse which I literally fell in love with. Went to Guess and Ed Hardy but everything looks so darn small???????
Grabbed a cab Back to The Bellagio and Mr Fab by this time had his Not Been Fed Face. Yep you know the one. Vaguely scarey and not a happy boy. The Cab driver was hilarious and  Mr Fab mentioned politics.....well this maybe Mexican? Hispanic? chap ~ he got quite worked up about American Politics. It was interesting though. We just shut up and let him rant..........he was lovely though. So we finally braved the Buffet Line. Now this line has been doing us in since we arrived as it is usually out the door and up the walkway but today at 2.30 it wasn't all that bad. The Buffet is absolutely unbelievable and has food that dazzles you!!! We had a try of everything then back upstairs. We were both stuffed and had a nap. Its now about 6.30 at night and we are going to shower and go downstairs and have a look around as everything is open all the time.

We have decided to make the trek out to The Fabulous Vegas Sign on Thursday and walk the Strip. We need to get the wedding out the way tomorrow and then we can relax a bit...tomorrow....*blink* I am booked in at The Spa from 11.55 am and go straight to the Dressing Room. Geez it must take a heck of a long time to make me gorgeous which is depressing *lol*
I will post some pics and let you know how it all goes!!! This is Tracy Hamilton ~ signing off for the last time.

Random Vegas Randomness

Good Morning Las Vegas!!!! The ducks were just walking across the street randomly..........I had to take a snap. It struck me a quite odd. A day of complete random nothingness but still super fun. So lets see ~ start with a huge pot of coffee at 7 am delivered to the room. You dont have tea and coffee facilities in the room as they want you out there spending that money baby!!! We decided to return the hire car at what we now know was one day early. We lost money of course BUT what we saved in Mr Fabs stress levels from NOT driving in Vegas traffic? Priceless!!!! We both almost had a mini breakdown driving ACROSS the road to the Paris. We delivered the car and wandered about the Paris which is basically ...a Paris street INSIDE a building complete with sunny blue skies????? Its quite bizarre but ohhh ahhhhh woooowwwwwww sort of thing. We decided to walk the supposed two blocks to Paradise street to get Mr Fabs suit. Now 2 Blocks in American speak is way different to 2 Blocks in Aussie speak. Start at 9.40 arrived at destination at about 11.15 but happy that we walked and at least got some exercise???? *gag spit cough*. He selected his suit and the Rental lady was about 3 feet tall so I amused myself as I am want to do at Mr Fabs expense.....

It definitely was not as expensive as we thought it would be and it was lovely to see him get a little bit excited. He selected what color he wanted in the tie and vest and I must say he made an excellent choice. Looked mighty handsome I can tell you! We grabbed a cab back to the hotel which was also a pleasant surprise as the driver was a helpful chap who sent us in the right direction for a few things we wanted to do. One of which is the Outlet stores. Thats tomorrow after the Limo ride to the Nevada courthouse to get the license.

Have I mentioned you can smoke EVERYWHERE here????? Its quite disconcerting as we are used to non smoking everything. Oh and we had been told by a few people that cocktail waitress will walk around and give you free drinks....well maybe they do when you can find one. Mr F finally got it all sorted and was happilly drinking rum and coke and giving everyone tips *rolls eyes* when I last saw him.

I also grabbed some snaps of The Cosmopolitan Hotel for Vicki. Its HUGE and next door to The Bellagio. We also found Sephora. Our youngest wanted Sephora Makeup and accessories for her birthday (she had given us a pretty darn clear and concise list)  so we popped in and enjoyed shopping for her bids and bods. We mentioned she was being spoilt for her birthday and the lovely girls there popped in some surprises which was nice. Every time I said OK that's fine...they showed Mr Fab something and he said Oh ok yeah toss that in to........sigh. Didn't take them long to figure out what a softie he is. ( Bit like our Fab girls back in The Bah).

So back to The Bellagio to drop everything back in the room. Downstairs for some lunch and we decided to go and check out the Chapel to see whats happening on Wednesday the 28th March at 4pm........We met our Wedding Coordinator ~ Helen. It still does my head in that we even have a Wedding anything let alone someone who organizes it all. The Chapel is small but its just us and there is a gorgeous stain glass window at the back. We are emailing Mish and Mark to ask them how much we tip the Celebrant as they are not allowed to tell us a figure for fear of losing their jobs???????
Mr Fab then wanted some of the Tracy Fab Winnings so he could play Blackjack. I eventually got incredibly bored so came back upstairs and have not seen him for quite some time. I figure he needed some Mr Fab time to smoke and just chill and I know he enjoys playing Blackjack. He asked me for more but I said I didnt have any on me......*whistles loudly*
Suffice to say ~ left him over an hour ago so he must be doing ok!!!!

Oh and this picture of gorgeous glam ciggie lighters is just because I absolutely could not resist the bling of it all and HAD to get one for our friend Vicki as we know she is like me and attracted to shiny things....bahahahahahahahaha. Black and Diamondy for her and Pink and Diamondy for me! Scuse me I have to light a ciggie...............

Viva Viva ~ Yeah Baby

Started the trip in the Shoebox with full intentions of going the direct route to Vegas......nope and yes you guessed it. We drove around for an hour to discover we were headed to Santa Monica which is near the beach......
OK then ~ back on track and heading on down the road to Las Vegas. Finally arrived after about another 4 hours!!!!
We stopped for petrol about halfway and had no idea what to do. Heather had mentioned about going in to pay so I asked the service lady what to do. Sigh......she barely spoke English and I could not understand what she was saying so finally I just handed her $20 and said that would do. We grabbed the $20 worth and started back on the highway.

WOW is all I can say ~ WOW!!! Vegas just jumps out of nowhere!!!
Finally found The Bellagio and parked the Shoebox. Thats when my happy levels dropped a wee bit. Zillions of people. I have not seen so many people in ages so I was stressing as not real good with crowds. After standing in line for what seemed like ages....oh and of couuurrrrssseeeeee the people in front of us had to have issues and need them sorted....sigh.
The chap we dealt with was probably stressed so I tried to forgive his attitude.....
Me: Ummm why are you charging our credit card $1700???
Him: You may have charges and I cant find that you have paid a deposit
Me: But here is the reciept
Him: Your not listening to me....
Thats was as far as he got as I was seriously polite as you would all know me to be and I said ..."No stop please and and please dont speak to me like that as I am listening or I would not have heard you say you are charging $1700 to my credit card"
I am not a big fan of uppity people who try to treat me like an idiot.
Me: Thanks so much ~ this is a super start to our so called Bellagio Wedding Experience.
I thanked him for his time and smiled pleasantly and walked away. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr DONT EXPECT A TIP LOVE!!!!

We dragged our baggage upstairs to Floor 19 room 19010. The view out of our window is nothing short of amazing and the room itself is bloody gorgeous!!!!
We decided to do a reccie downstairs and see whats what. Mr Fab walked around for what seemed like an hour with me trailing behind him. He finally settled on a machine and started playing. He kept putting those $20's in and I plodded along on my Panda machine which happened to be the one next to him. He said it was boring...hmmmmm well after the first 86 free games he kinda started to pay attention............It gave you a choice of either taking the free games OR taking the chance option of an amount of coins. The next time it won 265 yep 265 free games and I pointed to the screen at the Choice option which would give you anything from 1000 ($10) coins OR 99000 coins. Well it seems my finger must have brushed the touch screen which up until that time we didnt know it was a touch screen...
Mr Fabs Face: *blink blink blink*
Me: Oh bugggerbugggerbugger
Machine: KACHING 99000
Us: YEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWWWW

Mr Fab was then my new bestie and moved over to "help me" play.......
We then decided to go and find somewhere to eat and The Buffet was packed at 4.30 in the afternoon so we went to Cafe Bellagio. Quite nice.
Back upstairs and on the turned down bed was a note from the Manager welcoming us and an absolutely divine box of hand made truffles in a red Bellagio Box......tooooooo scrumptious!!!
Tomorrow we are off to find the suit for Mr Fab for The Wedding. We also have to go to the Nevada Court House to get the marriage license *rolls eyes*. We are both buggered so its off to bed and get ready for a huge day. *mwah* Miss you all!

Next Stop ~ Vegas...Ohhhh yeah

Today is overcast and grainy for want of a better word. Its actually quite chilly. Actually had to buy a windcheater yesterday as I was freezing. Wont go astray I am sure. We picked up the hire car and I gotta tell you we both had a minor nervous breakdown driving on the wrong side of the road. We went around in circles doing laps ~  turn right ,turn right, turn right ,till Mr Fab decided to be brave and do some left turns!!! Woot woot!! We could not drive to Vegas doing only right turns bahahahahaha. I had to take some snaps of the car as it is seriously hilarious. Its a Nissan Cube and looks like a little box on wheels. Pop the muscular *cough blink* Mr Fab inside and I could not stop laughing. Its a bit like seeing Arnold in a Volkswagon........
Drives well and has plenty of room. Took Mr F about maybe 20 minutes to start to feel comfortable with the various dials and handling of the car. He now says he is good to go but a little to nervous to negotiate the heavy traffic.

This afternoon Heather Leach and I finally  connected. Now I met Heather ~ as weird as it sounds ~ about 3? or 4? years ago playing a game on Facebook called Yoville. We kinda connected. I have been asked if I am nervous about meeting Mish Stochl as we are basically internet mates. Nope not at all.  Heather and I didnt pause for breathe!!!! Mr Fab and I are definitely extending our time in San Fransisco to make sure we get more time with Heather and her hubby Rob. <<<< Pic proves we actually met and drank Margaritas and Californian wine (DAMN if I am not enjoying the Californian wine). I also gave her a Fabulous Scents Palm Pillar.......... taking it from the Mish Stochl housewarming supply. (Sorry Mish but Heather didn't mind bahahahahahahahaha).It was really quite odd as I have never experienced meeting someone and feeling like "you saw them last week". Does that make sense? It was not even vaguely uncomfortable and it all flowed. The conversation jumped around at an amazing place but it all made perfect sense.
Tonight is staying in and having room service which we have figured out is wayyyyyy cheaper and far more economical than eating out.
Tomorrow ~ the journey to The Wedding Begins.........
PS: Missing our boy very very much.

Universal Presents.....

We still must be adjusting as we slept till 9.30 this morning!!!! Decided it might be the day to go all touristy so headed off to Universal Studios.Took a cab from the hotel ~ $45 US including tip to be dropped at the door. We decided to have lunch at The Hard Rock Cafe and then do the Universal stuff. We opted for the $77 US standard pass which allows you entrance into the park and access to all attractions.
First stop ~ The Haunted Attraction. BLOODY HELL!!!! I have to admit I jumped about 2 feet in the air and managed to drop the odd SHIT or BLOODY HELL and apparently I said the F Word but deny it. They have people dressed as horror movie characters like Frankenstein or Micheal Myers or Chuckie. They jump out at you in a pitch black maze of hallways. Geeeezuz let me tell you I was over it by the time we got to the end and I say once again ~ Chuckie the Doll is seriously creepy specially when he lunges at you with a knife.......

Next stop was the Special Effects show which was really good. They show you how they make the movies using special effects both from the latest movies right back to early Classics. We then did the Back Lot tour which was seriously AWESOME!!!!! They take you on little buses around to the movie sets and sound stages at Universal. The absolute BEST part was the King Kong 3D where you wear glasses and are in a dark tunnel when all of a sudden GIANT bloody T Rex and Velocer Raptors lunge at you and SPIT all over you!!! The T Rex lunging at the mini tram which rocked and bucked was amazing. Then King Kong comes jumping over the mini tram which shakes and rolls. Extremely EXTREMELY exciting. There was a little girl about maybe 5? After we made it through all the excitement and being covered in Dinosaur drool I looked at her and said :
Me: Wow how scary was that???
Little Girl: Its not real spit you know but way cool.
Me: *LOL* Indeed it was way cool and so was the spit.....
We both then just laughed and wiped Dinosaur drool ~ real or not~ from our clothes and faces.
The Jaws bit was also pretty cool as well but NEVER will anything be as cool as the King Kong 3D....*still blinking*.

By this stage we were happily tired and needed a coffee. Grabbed a chino and also whats called a Churro? I think? Its a long stick of some sort of hot biscuit absolutely SMOTHERED in cinnamon sugar. Delish!!!!!
Even Mr Fab has been somewhat adventurous with his food. We all know he doesn't do change very well so I am well chuffed at how adventurous he is being. He sometimes has "The Face" but still gives it a go.
Taxi back to Crowne Plaza and now its jammies and a cuppa before tumbling into our beds. Yep we are just luvin the huge separate beds........

Its the Same but Different......

I have been remiss in not mentioning ~ the toilets and light switches. They are all back to front. They flick up for on instead of down and the toilets flush backwards. Yep ~ completely did my head in after the first order of number two business was completed. I have reached the stage where I have to close the lid and not look.....swirling mass of....*ugh*We have decided to stay in tonight and Mr Fab wants to try room service. Bless him. He is getting quite upset because the people cant seem to understand why he needs a million sugar satchels and a million coffee thingos. We have a sort of cute little coffee machine which takes a little tray with a coffee bag in it. Its fine for me but he does so like his coffee.

I wanted to add a couple more pics from Rodeo Drive to show you how clean and gorgeous it was. The people look amazing as well and its quite easy to pick the regulars and then the peasants like us. I took the Guess ones for our friend Corinna and the Prada one for Miss Vicki.

We are thinking we may go to Hollywood tomorrow and do the Universal Tour along with the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I actually have enjoyed walking about and just looking at everything. The picture of the car is one that is apparently worth a million dollars or something. It was pretty cool but .................................*shrug*. Must be a boy thing.

Good Morning America ~ Lets do Rodeo Drive

We decided to just chill and wander about today as we are both still a tiny bit ...hmmmmm...not 100%? Just a bit headachey and tired. So first of all we walked down to the somewhat famous Factors Deli. Amazing service and Fabulous food!!! We decided to have a go at something we have never had before so I settled on the Factors Famous Horn. Its a traditional Jewish kind of roll made of bread and toasted. The outside is crispy and sort of sweet and the inside is light and fluffy even after toasting. Paige ~ our waitress~ said I had to try it with cream cheese and jelly which is of course jam.........ummmmmmmm well cheese and jam???? Are you serious??????*sigh* Ok Ok lets do it!!!! Gotta tell you Fab Readers its was bloody scrumptious. They plonk down coffee and a huge glass of water as soon as you sit down and the food seemed to take minutes to arrive!!! Brilliant!!!

Mr Fab went with eggs and some kind of potato dish which ~ and I am quoting him ~ was very scrumptious.

Needing to walk off this delicious breaky we wandered down to the Bus Stop and simply jumped on a bus and went to where ever it went. Nothing if not adventurous. We ended up at a Mall which had a Macys and various other stores. Mr Fab needed a belt because his pants kept falling down so we grabbed a couple of Levi ones at a fraction of what we pay at home. We were discussing the whole tipping thing with a fellow bus traveler and he said the reason the staff are always so nice is that they work on tips as they are not paid very well. I have to stop Mr Fab from giving EVERYONE a tip. He said he doesn't want to insult or upset anyone and I am pretty darn sure by the end of this people WILL be saying what a generous and nice guy that Aussie was......  ( obviously I am way to tight to hand out money willynilly.) Its quite interesting in the supermarket as well. If someone is standing in line for more than a couple of minutes they tend to LOUDLY ask when another checkout will be opened. We just stand there and wait!!!!
We then decided to taxi cab it to Rodeo Drive... Oh my my my my ~ it has the most amazing selection of stores which all seemed to have security guards outside and inside as well. Sadly Mr Fab did not take out his wallet and I came home empty handed *sigh* The cab driver was seriously funny and we really enjoyed the short trip to Rodeo. We have yet to see a movie star but have fingers crossed before we go to Vegas!!!

We walked back to the hotel and just took in everything we could. I have to be honest here ~ I am thinking we may have gone into a kind of sensory overload. There is way to much happening all around us and I found I wanted the solitude and relative quiet of the hotel room.
I do have to mention ...for every rude person there is one who goes out of their way to help us. If they see us looking at the map they will ask us if they can help. Just people in the street. Next time someone says something about Americans I can say with all honesty they are in the main friendly and helpful.

Crowne Plaza ~ Beverly Hills...Just Sayin'

Well here we are!!! Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills HELLO! Yeah Yeah not the best pic of our view but hey ~ we are in Beverly freaking hills!!!!!
The first lady we dealt with was absolutely awesome and I am remiss in not mentioning her name as I was so darn tired I didnt take any notice. She was noteworthy as she was so gentle and lovely. I will find out and report back. She helped us with the whole tipping thing as well. Bless her for not ripping us Aussie yokels off. We had read some reviews of The Crowne Plaza but decided to make up our own minds. The room is old but clean and we really feel comfortable here.
We had been told not to sleep but seriously? We were completely exhausted and both fell into the fabulous beds here at the Beverly Hills Crowne Plaza and fell into a deep and restful sleep. We got up and went for a walk to stretch our legs and do a reccie to see where and what we needed to know. Called into the The Pavillion shopping center thing and brought some essentials and we saw AJ Rochester ~ from Excess Baggage ~  doing some shopping........Nothing more to say on that. I am hanging to do some real Supermarket shopping when we are in Polk City.

We decided to go to the bar here and have a complimentary drink and grab some food as we were both starving. Well ~  talk about Australia in LAville. We started chatting to Aileen Fahl from Domain One Real Estate in Mackay and her hubby  Ian Fahl from BAE Engineering in Paget... *rolls eyes* Seasoned veteren travellers who gave us some very sage advice on all things American before they left to fly home. They also knew quite a few people we both knew.......THAT was interesting in itself.
Had a sensational meal at the bar along with our drinks and met Luis and Jesus who helped us out with the whole tipping thing. Bloody hell Fab Readers ! the tipping thing is doing us in but we think we may have finally got the plot. We have been lucky in so far as we are such easy marks when you think of it. They could tell us some crap and we would pay it but they seem to have been very helpful and we are happy to pay what they say. Jesus managed to get a few aussie coins out of me after 2 glasses of a really good Californian Riesling.(My fault yes but DAMN if that Riesling wasnt delicious!!!!!) Mr Fab tried some American beer and ended up having 3......
Right then ~ Mr Fab is asleep and I am on my way. Tomorrow we are going to go for a walk in the morning to grab some breaky and have a look around. We will then just get on a bus and go where it takes us to see whatever looks intersting!
I LOVE being a rebel........going where the wind takes me..........

A lesson in Positivity - Includes a Terracotta Monk

After todays adventures I have 2 songs floating through my head.....Alabama 3 Woke up this morning -got yourself a gun AND Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm ........

Bloody hell what a start!!!! Got out to the Airport at the correct time with rain pouring only to be told ~ Nope not going anywhere. One of the ladies out there is seriously Fab and has obviously learned empathy skills and I am suggesting MAYBE she also had the empathy skills of the other one ..... verooged into her if you get my drift. You DO NOT stand and tell someone who has worked and saved for 18 months " Its not going ~ you need to make other arrangements". That is NOT what you say to someone with an arrogant look on your little face....ohhhhhhh no no no no honey that is not what you say. Oh and dont forget ...."You wont get your money back"...*blink blink*
The Fabulous Lady was wonderful and very gentle as she gave us our options.
The option they gave us was .....they would get us out of Emerald BUT we had to get to Emerald ourselves and there was no guarantee we would get through......sigh.....

Into the car and began the journey which eventually took 13 hours. 13 lonnngggggg hours.  HOWEVER ~ Lets try and be positive we said. So we spent the entire journey thinking of all the positive aspects so far. All the good things not the bad.
Here is where we introduce ...The Terracotta Monk. Yep driving along randomly thinking of positive things when I said:
Me: Whats that???
Mr F: Its a bloody little monk?????
Me: Seriously...but he is ORANGE?????
Mr Fab: No thats Terracotta.
Me: *blink* Oh ok ...he is Terracotta.
And he was ! From head to toe entirely Terracotta in colour???? His head / face / clothes / EVERYTHING was orange.........whoops Terracotta.We finally decided to settle on Burnt Orange.....Our theory was its gotta be a positive sign like seeing a flying fish ~ completely random but obviously a sign.
We arrived and managed to get a couple of hours sleep before going out to the Airport to catch the flight to America......Let the games begin.
Firstly there is Australian Customs ~ its appears that Fabulous Scents Palm Pillars WILL NOT make it through the screening process.
The chap at the screening section said in a VERY loud voice "STOP HER AND SEARCH THE BAG" I felt my bottom clench just a leetle bit let me tell you. I knew straight away it must have been Mish Stochls candles *aims look in direction of Polk City Iowa with luff* The Customs chap took them out and said "Wow they smell great". I just smiled my serene smile (Translate: Relieved not to be cavity searched) and said "Yes ~ they are Fabulous". (unclench poodot)
The flight itself was very very long and because we are trying to think as everything we do is a little Travel Lesson for the future we decided that maybe we are the kinda folks who need a mini stop during a trip?

V Australia staff are nice and they are very polite ect but it was nothing that stood out as absolutely Fabulous.
So all in all we finally arrived in America!!!!!!!!! Bloody hell Fab Readers ~ our first introduction to the Yanks was not good. I understand they must be busy etc but geez love a little smile or a pleasantry saying "Hi and welcome to my beautiful country" might be better than huffing and puffing because Mr Fab could not do the fingerprinting properly first go. (Just Saying ~ I got it right first time *smirk*)
Our first nice person was a Customs lady who told me she loved my Fab red shoes which I might add Mr F said sucked. I said Thanks I love them to!!!!!
So folks we are here and safe and ready to begin our Fabulous adventure.

Its Begins......

Good Morning Fab People! Yep you guessed it ~  could not get to sleep last night and have been up with the birds this morning. Actually no birds were even awake! I have been thinking about how much we will miss this little fella!
I was thinking about him last night as everytime I thought about this extravaganza I thought I would throw up........
Not because I am afraid or nervous ~ just worried sick I have forgotten some small detail in the absolute plethora of crap that had to be done for the Fabulous Scents Does America Trip Of A Lifetime. 18 Months in Production to now finally make it to the Big Screen.....
I have checked the weather this morning and the gorgeous Corinna did a reccie out to see if the creeks were up on the Airport road yesterday and so far still good. Not sure what we will do if we cant get out of Moranbah Airport this morning at 8.35am. Well yes I do but the thought of a 11 hour drive to Brisbane does absolutely NOTHING for me.....
The journey begins with Vicki driving us out at around 7.30. Catch plane ~
( theplanewilllandtheplanewilllandtheplanewillland) to Brisbane and then just hanging about till we leave on the Motel shuttle at 6 am tomorrow morning.

Well ~ I have done everything I can possibly do and the rest is up to us ~ Let the Journey begin.......

So Far ~ So Good

So Far ~ so good. Weather report says tomorrow all will be good to go. We will be staying overnight in Brisbane because DAMN if I am going to miss this flight!!!! First leg is Brisbane to LA where we will stay for a few days before driving to...Fabulous Las Vegas!
Please indulge me as I find out how to do this Blogging thing and at least make an attempt to entertain and amuse the Fab Followers of ~ Fabulous Scents Goes to America.......

Welcome to My World....

Good morning Fab people! On the advice of our friend Katy we will be doing a Blog to update and share our trip to America. So ~ May as well start from the day before we leave......

Its bucketing down here in Moranbah Australia and I am having a minor nervous breakdown. Mr Fab is taking me out to the Airport so I can check first hand if the plane will be grounded due to bad weather. If that's the case ~ then the long drive to Brisbane begins.........