A Vegas Birthday – Part 1 – This is Not a Spanking Blog

Other than my Netherlands trip, I had more solo travel planned for months. In July, I floated the idea to one of my oldest friends (2nd grade), K, about going to see the Backstreet Boys in Las Vegas at the Sphere, for my birthday weekend. To my surprise, she said YES. We roped our other friend, A, (who I have been friends with since infancy, and we all did girl scouts together!) into going also, and got to planning. K and I are very Type A in terms of planning and A is very “I’m just happy to be here!” so we planned and got the tickets and all. We had such a hard time in the queue when tickets went live, we simply said fuck it and bought a Vibee package that included 2 nights at the Palazzo + tickets and worked out to being $750/each. A great deal, given ticket prices.

We planned outfits, hotels, some brunch reservations, booked flights – and eventually, the trip rolled around. A surprised us and made us personalized, matching bedazzled denim jackets for the concert, which was AMAZING. She literally placed each rhinestone by hand. Here’s mine:

We spent the first night at the Circa on Fremont Street because A had never been to Vegas before and despite my own trip to the Plaza last year for Oasis, I hadn’t actually spent anytime adventuring over there! In the morning, we went to Alexxa’s on the strip for pajama new years day brunch and hung out until our room was ready, at which time, we busted out our Nintendo Switch’s and had some quiet girls video game time before the evening. We walked, got fun drinks, visited the 4 Queens to gamble a bit, and had a low key dinner, and I bullied everyone into wearing matching pajamas with me that night!

Moving to the Palazzo was uneventful except our room wasn’t ready until nearly 3:30 which was when my hair appointment was, for the concert! We got in, unpacked, I got my hair did, and we got our outfits ready, etc. We went to the January 2 show – the first of 2026! I had booked someone months before, to come and do my hair, and I was so glad I did. It was my favorite part of my outfit. My original outfit was bedazzled jeans, white crop top, and these iridescent crossbody bags I got us all to match with. Once we saw the jackets A had made for us, I knew I’d wear it, too – but then we went to the terminal experience and I swapped my plain white crop top for a BSB Millennium one. We made our way over to the Sphere via the indoor walkway, an hour or so before the show was set to start. It was crowded but not unreasonably so. We got merch first – the concert weekend specific tee, and some drinks in souvenir cups! Then we hit the food options which were actually really good! A and I shared a burger and K got the orange chicken and rice bowl. We were in our seats (section 406, row 10, if you’re curious) with plenty of time to spare and get settled.

The concert was amazing. We had an incredible time singing along to every song – I really doubted my ability to remember the lyrics but somehow they all came back to me 20 years later, ha! This was so fun and an amazing way to celebrate my birthday with 35 years of friendship around me. It was worth every penny and all the planning. I’ll be watching ticket prices for Feb in case anyone is selling, while I am there for Oasis!

This was Friday night and that was great, but my birthday wasn’t until Sunday, January 4. I had asked my friend Chris a few months before, if he and his lovely wife Elle, good friends of mine, would like to come to Vegas for brunch during the weekend (ok and selfishly, I wanted a birthday spanking!). Saturday worked best, so that’s when they came. Brunch was really nice and then Chris and I got to go back upstairs to play. A and K skedaddled to the casino – I am out to both of them so this was an easy ask. However, there was more vanilla time to the trip so the spanking portion will be in Part 2 – but I won’t make you wait forever, I’ll post it right after this one!

K was leaving Saturday night so we mostly relaxed until it was time for her to head to the airport and then A and I were left to our own devices. We got fun drinks from Fat Tuesdays and set out to find a burger in the hotel. After we ate, I taught A how to play video poker, so she could make a $20 stretch in the casino. It’s a lot more fun than lucky-button-pushing type machines, IMO!

Sunday, my actual birthday, we got up and out early because I rented a car for the next two days of adventuring. We headed immediately to Starbucks for my birthday drink and then made our way to Red Rock Canyon – I’ve been a few times on Vegas trips but A of course had never been so she really loved it. We drove the scenic drive and then hit up the visitors center, where I FaceTimed with my in-laws for my birthday while she looked around. Our next stop was Swig, which I had wanted to try for FOREVER. I am not into the idea of a dirty soda with cream or coconut in it, but flavored sodas? Yes. A got something with coconut cream, we tried a few – and then got regular sized ones for the “road”. The next stop was lunch but first we headed to Daiso and then, something A had wanted to try for years: In-N-Out! Delicious. Our next stop we’d also been planning for months. Tattoos! These are some inexpensive Vegas flash tattoos. They start at $20 and go up. There are some places that start at $10 but honestly, this place was much cleaner, off the strip so less busy, and I trusted the tattoo artists more. A got a cat outline and I got a lemon. I’ll get mine touched up when I am in Vegas for Oasis in a few weeks.

We headed back to the hotel for some downtime, showers, etc. before going to walk the strip and see the lights, the Bellagio fountain show, and ended up grabbing my birthday dinner in Caesar’s at a brasserie. I had a lovely steak, cocktail, and delicious desert. They brought out a fun little profiterole with a candle, too! Our walk back after was lovely – we had missed some rain while eating so got to walk back and stay dry.

Monday was our final day but we still had the car so had more adventuring planned. First, Starbucks of course, but then we headed out to 7 Magic Mountains just south of Las Vegas, walked around, and took some photos. This was very cool. I even got A to take a picture of my butt in front of one of them, ha! From there, we headed up to the Hoover Dam but made a pit stop for a Target return and another dirty soda run from Fizz. We had an easy lunch in the Hoover Dam cafe and then walked across the dam and back before driving up above it and eventually, heading back out. We drove into and around Lake Mead and down to Boulder Beach. We stopped in Boulder City and went to a few antique stores before looking for something else to do. We found the Bootleg Canyon rock sculpture garden and walked that which was very cool. After that, one more iconic activity for A – the Las Vegas sign! Then, it was off to the airport and home! The perfect birthday weekend.