Britney Spears Piece of Me Las Vegas: Concert Recap.

     I was in Las Vegas for Labor Day Weekend and as an early 22^nd birthday celebration earlier this month. The highlight of the trip, and quite honestly the reason that the trip came into being, was so that I could fulfill my lifelong dream of seeing Britney Spears live in concert. Britney has had a residency at Planet Hollywood in Vegas since December 2013, and I knew that I would never forgive myself if I didn’t make it out there to see her perform before her show ended. I traveled to Vegas with my current roommate Ciera, and one of her good friends Priyanka (who has also become a friend of mine!). We all couldn't wait to see Britney perform at last!

Performing 'Til the World Ends

     Britney's residency was just recently extended through 2017, but at the time that I booked the trip her last shows were still planned for September 2016, so I was able to get in just in the knick of time! I’m on a pretty strict budget this year, as I’m paying for broadcasting school myself  (and my college student loan payments begin next month as well...), but I justified making one sort of crazy financial decision and using a good deal of my graduation money for the Vegas trip! While a lot of my 2016 has been wonderful, there have been some very low points as well, and I knew that living out my dream of seeing Britney in Vegas was exactly what I needed to look forward to. 

     Britney Spears performs at The AXIS concert venue inside of Planet Hollywood, which is located right on the Las Vegas Strip. The AXIS is a more intimate concert hall then some of the other ones on the Strip- there really isn't a bad seat in the place! Britney's tickets are not on the cheap side, so we opted to sit further away. Our seats were in section 206 and the tickets cost around $160 a piece. Even though we weren't in a front section, the venue is small enough that we still felt very close to the stage! The concert hall reminded me a lot of my church in Charlotte (Granted I do attend a very large church!), but I feel like you couldn't really have a bad seat no matter what section you were in. 

      We arrived to Planet Hollywood very early, before the doors opened to concert. And once the doors did open, it was another half hour or so until the ushers let people go in and take their seats. But the wait for the concert to begin was almost as much fun as the show itself! In the lobby area of The AXIS, there were displays of some of Britney's most famous concert, awards show, and music video outfits. Of course I had to take a photo with the iconic Oops!...I Did It Again red jumpsuit!

     There was a great playlist of really fun and upbeat dance music that played for about an hour before the show began. But at long last, it was finally time for the main event: Ms. Spears! 

Performing Circus

Performing Toxic (with a jungle twist)

      I basically filled up my phone with pictures from the concert, but later on when I went back and looked at most of them I realized that the majority were blurry- probably due to the fact that I was dancing and singing my (off-key) heart out while also snapping away! So I'm only sharing a couple. I will say though that Britney's performance value of her show was mind-blowing. The lights (especially the lights!), interesting twists on classic hits, her outfits, and most of all, the dancing, was just incredible to see live and first-hand. 100% worth the trip to Vegas! From the time that the show began to almost two hours later when it ended, Britney literally did not stop moving. She was like a dancing Energizer Bunny machine. Absolutely unbelievable! Her dance moves are off-the-charts, and most certainly put mine to shame. ;-)

     My one complaint about the concert is that the set-list seemed to be very focused on some of her later albums, like Blackout and Circus. Britney's most recent album, Glory, also released about a week before we saw her in concert, so naturally she had mixed songs from this album into the setlist as well. Every single song that she performed was fantastic (I can't stress this enough!), but as someone who idolized Britney when I was a little girl and is still obsessed with 90s/early 2000s music, I was a little bit sad that the show didn't focus more on those albums. For example, she performed a brief medley of Oops...! I Did It Again and Baby One More Time... - those are two incredible songs on their own that I don't think ever should be mashed together! But maybe that's just me. Either way, the bottom line is that she was still phenomenal to see live. 

     I didn't shoot any outfit posts in Vegas, as we were only there for the weekend and I wanted to take that weekend off from the blog. But I did write a post last week about some of our favorite restaurants on the Strip that we ate at that are perfect for travelers on a budget- be sure to check out the post if you haven't! Vegas is one of my favorite vacation spots ever, and I know this was definitely not my last trip! (Especially since the Backstreet Boys just announced last week that they're starting their residency next year.... Lord help me!)

     xoxo Miss ALK

Eating For Cheap on the Las Vegas Strip.

     I spent Labor Day Weekend of this year in one of my favorite cities on earth, Las Vegas! I have been there once before, three years ago for a girls' week with my mom. (Trip recaps from 2013 here, here and here.) Traveling with friends in Vegas is a very different experience then traveling there with parents. It's also different to be there at 21 versus underage. So it was definitely a lot of fun to be back!


     Although Vegas is famous for some of the best restaurants in the country, it is also an expensive destination in terms of food and beverage. Prices for dinners at some of the hotels' better restaurants can quickly get up in the hundreds of dollars (!!), and it's not uncommon for lunch prices to be ranging between $20-$40. Despite the fact that just about all food in Vegas is out of this world, the average price points can be very hard for anyone on a budget to fathom for a multi-day vacation. I'm currently on a fairly strict budget as I'm in broadcasting school this year, and I'm also working to pay for school loan-free! Anyone who is also on a student budget, or anyone who might be on a budget in general could have a hard time paying that much for food on vacation.


    But luckily, Vegas does have lots and lots of affordable restaurant options as well! They just take a little digging to find. I am rounding up all of the places that I enjoyed eating at during my Labor Day Weekend in Vegas that didn't break the bank- I would definitely recommend each one of these spots to anyone who might be traveling to Vegas in the future!

*Sambalatte at Monte Carlo: I have to give credit to one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Emily Gemma from The Sweetest Thing, for how I found out about this darling spot! Emily and her husband visited Vegas earlier this summer, and after she instagrammed a picture of a latte from this coffee shop I knew that this was a must-visit for me. Sambalatte has the menu of a typical coffee shop: they serve the typical iced and hot coffee and tea beverages, and since it's Vegas they also have some adult beverages on the menu too. But what sets this coffee shop apart is the incredible colored latte art that they're able to do on some of the foam beverages! I have never seen anything like this, and getting to see the beverages in person was even more amazing. I ordered my standard hot beverage, a chai latte, and not only was it incredibly delicious,  but was also the prettiest drink that I've ever had! My chai latte was $6 and I think most of the Sambalatte latte art beverages range from $5-8. Definitely worth it in my opinion though!

*The Buffet at Aria: This was the one "splurge" meal of the trip. My roommate really wanted to visit a classic Las Vegas buffet while on our trip- which let's be real, if you're going to Vegas then you have to do at least one buffet on the Strip! I spent literally weeks researching all of the buffets at the various Strip hotels, and comparing Trip Advisor reviews, sample menus and prices. I ended up deciding that Buffet at Aria was the one that I wanted us to visit.
      It did not disappoint! We decided to go for lunch instead of dinner to save money (Lunch is $25.99 and dinner is closer to $40), but the lunch buffet is still full of amazing options. They had a huge section of different Asian cuisines which made me very happy, since those are my favorite type of foods! The build-your-own pho bar and fresh naan bread were definitely hits. And the dessert bar... don't even get me started on that! I am sad that I was already quite full from lunch so I didn't get to try a lot of the desserts that I wanted to, but the few that I did sample were incredible.
     The next time that I'm in Vegas for a longer period of time, I might buy the "Buffet of Buffets" pass from Caesar's. It gives you unlimited access to buffets at five or more Strip hotels for as many days as you would like on your trip. This package was a bit expensive for what were were looking for during this trip, but definitely something to think about during future travels since buffets are a hit!

Build your own Pho station, and sampling the different hummus varieties. 

More yummy Asian delicacies from the Buffet.

Just a few of the great desserts!

*In-N-Out: There are plenty of affordable chain restaurants with convenient locations on the Vegas Strip. Everything from fast food such as Burger King and McDonald's, to popular sit-down chains like Outback and PF Chang's. We wanted to eat at places that we might not have access to back here on the East Coast, so although eating at these chains would have definitely been affordable, we chose not to visit any while in Vegas. But one chain restaurant broke our rule: In-N-Out! (Although we don't have this on the East Coast... so technically it didn't break any rules about chains that we have access to at home. ;-) )
     If you're not familiar with In-N-Out, it's a West Coast burger chain with a sort of similar restaurant structure to Five Guys, and it definitely has a large following. My first time eating at In-N-Out was when my mom and I went to Vegas three years ago, and I couldn't wait to eat there again! Their burgers are definitely worth the hype. And best of all, just about everything is under $10, if not under $5!
    There currently isn't an In-N-Out on the Strip, so we ate at the one closest to. It was about a 10 minute drive from our hotel. I read online though that there should be an In-N-Out built right on the Strip before the end of 2016, which is exciting!

*The Food Court at the Grand Canal Shops at The Venetian: Amazingly, every strip hotel in Vegas is large enough to have its own food court. The variety in the types of restaurants that are found in the food courts vary from hotel to hotel though. The best food court experience that we found was at the Venetian/Palazzo, in their Grand Canal Shops mall area. The Food Court had some chain favorites like Johnny Rockets and Chipotle, and also some really creative eateries such as a quick-serve Indian restaurant, and a European-style cafe which served crepes! I enjoyed a dessert crepe for lunch and can honestly say that it compared to the crepes that I ate when I studied abroad last summer. The Grand Canal Shops Food Court is a very affordable option for eating compared to the sit-down restaurants in the shopping area, but it still provides a lot of variety in terms of food choices!

*Hexx Chocolate and Confexxions at Paris (for dessert): Each day when we would walk past the Paris hotel on the strip, I would notice large signs in the windows for Hexx candy store that advertised their gourmet ice cream sandwiches. They take homemade cookies in a variety of flavors and pair them with your choice of any of their homemade ice creams! The pictures on the signs looked incredibly amazing, and I knew I had to experience this treat at least once before leaving Vegas. We finally made it over here on our very last morning in Vegas before heading to the airport and waited for Hexx to open- I was actually the first customer of the day! I had my ice cream sandwich made on two sugar cookies, and with half cinnamon ice cream and half banana chocolate. It was divine. Possibly one of the best desserts I've ever had! So rich though that I could not finish it.... I guess that just means I'll have to go back for another someday!
   

   


      I already can't wait to be back in Vegas again in the future! One of my favorite cities ever... I could definitely write a very long blog post on all of the reasons that I love Vegas as a vacation destination. I'm already planning to write a recap of the Britney Spears concert that I saw while there for the blog soon!



     Have you ever been to Vegas? If so- where were your favorite places to eat for cheap?



     xoxo Miss ALK