A quick account of my whirlwind trip to Vegas

Wynn Las Vegas, very swanky
Yesterday morning was one of my proudest moments. I joined Liz, Christine and Lynnae on stage in from of 750 badge-wearing conference-goers where we sat Oprah-style on upholstered chairs and talked about the economy, the relationships retailers and brands need to build with shoppers and why they should care about what we bloggers think and say.

We told them we're wise to the grocery shrink ray. We're worried about food and drug safety. We want to eliminate HFCS and reduce wasteful packaging. We want to know about the people behind the products and about how the company treats its employees. We want transparency and a two-way dialogue with our favorite brands. We listed examples of companies that are listening and responding to consumers and offered a quick crash course in social networking.

The audience was filled with raised hands during a 15 minute Q and A and feedback about the session has been overwhelmingly positive.

But Las Vegas wasn't all stage lights and cordless mics. I got to hang out with Liz (of Mom-101 and Cool Mom Picks fame), who is even funnier in person than she is online. She regaled me with stories of her glamorous life as a high-powered NYC creative director at Deutsch in the 1990s and taught me how to play Blackjack (I was doing it all wrong). And as if it wasn't cool enough that we're both started our careers as big agency copywriters, we're also both partnered with guys with nontraditional careers and mothers to girls the same ages.

Liz in front of one of the Wynn waterfalls
Last night Larry took all the mom bloggers out to eat at Switch, a restaurant in the Wynn complex that uses some magical stagecraft to change décor every 30 minutes. I had a lobster salad, lamb chops and a peanut butter chocolate lava cake with bananas. It was fabulous-as it well should be for the price!

Lamb chops
After dinner we went to the nightclub Blush for complimentary champagne and a chance to feel really old and modestly attired.

Viva Las Vegas (again)

I'm flying to Las Vegas tomorrow (and staying at the swanky Wynn!) where I'm going to be on the Mom Blogger Panel at the CPG Summit. I'll be in the company of three top bloggers, Liz from Mom-101, Lynnae from Being Frugal and Christine of From Dates to Diapers, as we tell 750 men (and yes, they're mostly men) why consumer packaged goods companies would be wise to pay attention to mom bloggers. Just like other mothers, we buy breakfast cereal, detergent, crackers and juice--but we talk about it more than anyone else and our conversations are linked to, Twittered and forever Googleable.

Beware the brand that pisses off a blogging parent. We can use our power for good (Z Recs raised awareness of BPA in baby bottles and now they're going bye-bye for good) and for bad (the ongoing hysteria regarding vaccines and autism), but you can't ignore us. Make that shouldn't. Portillo's continues to ignore me even as my old blog post gets 50 hits a day from folks looking for nutrition information.

Incidentally, I logged into Southwest's website to print out my boarding pass just 6 minutes after the check-in process opened this morning and I'm 22 bodies into Group B for my flight. I know my fellow SWA flyers are a pushy lot, but 82 of them set their alarms for 9:40?

I'm a gamblin' ma'am

As much fun as my solo dining experience was on Wednesday night, I was up for some dinner and conversation yesterday so I got ballsy and asked a someone out of a date. Sort of. I'm mean I'm married and she's married, but hell, we were two women at a marketing conference who kinda sorta know one person in common. What did I have to lose?

We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Trattoria Del Lupo, where a French waiter served us Italian goodies like wine, salad and a four cheese and prosciutto pizza. Then Theresa marched me over to the craps table and convinced me to throw away $20 on a little gambling. Between craps (which I still don't fully understand) and Blackjack, which I do (I mean, yes, I can count), I ended up doubling my money and walking away with $40!

Oh, and have I mentioned the people watching in Las Vegas? Where else in the world can you see hundreds of black-clad goth girls with asymmetrical haircuts (Paul Mitchell stylist convention) elbowing alongside the a bunch of slow-walking, slow-talking middle-aged white guys with oversized hats and belt buckles (MacDon agricultural equipment dealers)? I spotted a bridal party, some Harley toughs, extended families playing poker and a surprising number of crashed out babies dozing in their strollers as their mamas sucked down foot-tall frozen cocktails. Yes, there is no open container law in Vegas. Or dress code. Or taste, for the most part.

But there is excellent food, and for that reason I'm glad I'll be coming back next month.

At THEhotel

Not just any hotel, mind you. I'm staying at THEhotel, the casino-free high rise adjacent to Mandalay Bay where everything is black and cream and smells like vanilla. My room is very luxurious. Three sinks (not including the bar), two toilets, a glassed in shower stall and a tub big enough for a dolphin. But the fancier the hotel room, the fewer the freebies. An internet connection costs $14.99 a day and there's no in-room coffee maker or hair dryer. There are, however, three flat screen TVs, so I can lounge in the tub and watch MTV if I so desired.

Here's the view from my window. Parking lots and the airport. And no, that's not a ghost stadium hovering over the concrete; it's a reflection from a lamp in my room.

I hoofed it north this morning and had a buffet breakfast at the Luxor hotel--mainly because at $12.99 it was cheaper than a bowl of cereal from room service. I loaded up on fruit, granola and eggs with chorizo, but couldn't shake the feeling that the place smelled more like latent B.O. than freshly brewed coffee. And yes, in case you were wondering, the casinos were fully operational at 7am. I even saw a man in shorts and a polo shirt sipping a Heineken while feeding the one-armed bandit.