Monday Confessional: Dancing Queen

First off, yes. I do realize that is not Monday, but Tuesday. I know this because of my iCal, and not the internal clock in my body which still thinks it's midnight on Saturday night. Now, I know I'm not "old" in the true sense of the word. Or should I say that I am not elderly? But I am old enough these days that a weekend in Vegas now apparently needs a week-long recovery. 

While I feel that I should really do a post about all the wonderful things I learned during BlogWorld Expo and all the fabulous people I finally met face-to-face, that's not what my Monday Tuesday confessional is about. It's about exposing a little of myself to the world so that you can point your finger and mock me or share in the pain of my experience. 

Let's set the scene: Saturday night, Las Vegas, Aria Hotel and Casino. Beautiful, fabulous, delicious meal at Shaboo Sushi then off to the BlogWorld party of the evening at Haze nightclub. While back in college I went dancing Wednesday-Sunday, I honestly can't remember the last time I slipped on my dancing shoes. Walking into the club I was immediately back in my early 20's. The smoky atmosphere, the thumping music, the squeezing through the throngs of people to belly up to the bar. Ahhhhaaa...it felt like coming home. 

And we danced. We danced our asses off. When the DJ blasted my new favorite song "G6", I may have even been dancing on a box. When we stumbled out of the club around 1 AM it wasn't due to intoxication as much as my sore, swollen feet that were stuffed inside my 6 inch wedges. Because I'm a thinker, I had shoved a pair of flats in my purse and after being directed to a local bench, my feet were once again my friends. Yeah, the feet were fine, but it was my knees that rebelled.

Swollen and stiff, my knees are still recovering from one night of dancing 3 days later. Which makes me wonder if my club days really should be officially over. Looking around the club on Friday night, I kept wanting to pull down the hems of the dresses of the girls so that their nether regions weren't hanging out the bottom of their dresses. People in my age group keep saying things like "I can't remember the last time I was at a club" and while I had a blast, I will say that I kept wondering if people were looking at me and kinda laughing. Or wondering what I was doing there. Did I look out of place? Being there, dancing, did I look...silly?

So my confession for this week: I'm Beth, I like to dance and my knees hurt. 

Shut up and put your money where your mouth is...

T minus 2 days until Jason and I hit Vegas for Blog World Expo 2010. To say we are excited would be putting it lightly - we are elated. In desperate need of a kid-free weekend, we are looking forward to networking, meeting our online friends face-to-face and some good old-fashioned VEGAS time. 

Of course, when packing for any trip, I'm going through the WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO WEAR issue. Here is the challenge: It's Vegas, it's a professional trip (casual and fun, but these are people I want to impress) and I kinda have to live up to my pseudonym...

Let's backtrack a bit...to a sunny San Diego day about 5 years ago. There was this under 30 newish mom putting together her first online journal on Blogspot. I needed a name and somehow HipMamaB was born. It's pretty tongue-in-cheek - as you know the "Hip" part is more of a desperate attempt than an actual true statement. But it's me, it's my brand, and I own it. But meeting people in real life, I often feel I should really try and live up to it and be, well, hip. 

So there is the criteria for my Vegas wardrobe: Hip, Professional and Vegas appropriate.

Do you see my conundrum?

After a few weeks of deliberation, I've come up with these 5 categories of things to bring:

1. The Skinnies

Currently waiting to be packed are 3 pairs of skinny pants - jeans, black pants and my new edition of skinny cargos. Between these three options, I think I'm pretty well covered for day and night. 

The thing I love about skinny pants is that it doesn't matter what height shoe you wear with them. They look good with flats, flip flops, heels or platforms. Unlike a boot cut jean, where the are tailored to a specific length, limiting the height of your shoe choice, skinnies are more flexible. Great for when you need to do a mid-Las Vegas Blvd shoe swap out of those painful 6 inch wedges to the mushy pair of Haviannas hiding in your bag. 

2. Speaking of shoes...

 Yes, I will pack too many shoes. It's a given. I don't even fight it even more.

All I can say is that I'm really happy we are driving so that I don't need to squeeze my shoes into every pocket of my suitcase. I can even pack them all in their OWN bag!

So multiple ballet flats, black and gold wedges, black pumps, gladiators and Haviannas. I think I'm pretty covered.

Oh wait, I forgot my boots... shoot... hmmm..

 3 & 4 To Top it off

The shrunken blazer with a tank under can go day or night... sparkly and black at night, white and navy for the day. A variety of shirts from t's to tanks. I'm also currently in love the with a Tunic shirt. I have a few at the moment in purple and blue. I love the look with the skinny pants and the blazer.

And last but not least, 

5. LBDs

It is Vegas after all.. you never know where you will end up or what you will end up doing. A Little Black Dress, or, 3, is the perfect option for dinner and drinks or a show or a club. Gold hoops and a bracelet and you can be sophisticated and still Vegas fun. Hopefully. 

There is my list and my game plan. So tell me - what am I forgetting?!