Rita, my love

Rita's Italian Ice (primarily found on the East coast) came to Las Vegas this summer! And I must say, it came just in time! Last summer, in PA, Rita's was one of my favorite treats! You might remember me mentioning this when I wrote about my fun-filled birthday. It's a little pricey, and more than a 40 minute drive from where we live, so I assumed that this birthday treat was a one-time deal. But on Saturday, after spending some time at the Family History Center in down-town Vegas,  Evan suggested that we make a day of it and head on down to Rita's!

Yay!

The manager was there (both time's we've been) and he is the friendliest little man! You can tell he loves his job! We asked him about the franchising process and he said it took three years to bring Rita's to Las Vegas. He explained "out here, their version of real ice is a snow cone or shaved ice, and I just got fed up with it!" Haha. I don't know how they do it, but there's nothing "icy" about Rita's Italian Ice. It's sooo smooth and creamy and PERFECT! And they always have fabulous flavors like Swedish fish, black raspberry, or my personal favorite, coconut cream! YUM!

Thanks to you, Rita... and thanks to you, "friendly man who got fed up with snow cones"...

...Now I have one less reason to hate Vegas!

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Hats & bangs

Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzards

Hanging out with my best friend

22 on the 22nd

We celebrated my golden birthday this weekend :) It was absolutely perfect, all thanks to my amazing hubby!

We spent Friday night at the Hard Rock Hotel, lounging by their beach-themed pools. 

Mmm... lovely...

Saturday morning we enjoyed a giant, mouith-watering breakfast at "The Egg & I." I'm sure I've never enjoyed biscuits and gravy quite so much as I did that morning. YUM!

THEN we made our way to Henderson, to partake of the heavenly deliciousness that is Rita's Italian Ice (my favorite treat when we lived in PA)

We made several shopping stops (just to pass the time) on our way to the Venetian...

...where my tedious quest to find some Shock Tarts finally came to an end! This shop is basically like a miniature, pink Willy Wonka factory.

I savored each bite of said candy, while I sat in a state of complete bliss, watching The Phantom of The Opera! 

I'm pretty stinkin' blessed to have such a good life, filled with people that I love. All 22 years have been something worth celebrating, and I suspect that my 23rd year of life may just be my best year yet!