Should I change my name to Nick Papagiorgio?

The Simpsons are going to Vegas! Okay, maybe not the Simpsons.

Bye-bye work!

Yup I'm on my way to Sin City; the Gambling, Entertainment and Marriage Capitals of the World. Admittedly, there will be little sinning and likely no gambling; though I do hope to be somewhat entertained. I will be attending a wedding, not mine (whew), but my friend of twenty-eight years (we were three) is getting married to a terrific woman this weekend and guess what? I'm the Best Man! I warned him that this was ostensibly a terrible choice, but he still wanted me for the job. Now if only I could figure out what to say in my speech. But let's keep that between you and me :).

I don't travel much (read: at all) so I have been a nervous ball of uneasy and apprehensive anxiety for the past few days. Not for any specific reason really. I'm not afraid to fly (though I haven't been on a plane since I was eight) but just because I'm me.

Vegas is not really an Adam place. I don't gamble, I don't drink, I have little interest in the shows, and I'm not looking for uhm.. "a date." Although I am exceptionally excited about visiting The Pinball Hall of Fame :). I mean, how can you not be? PINBALL!! :). And I might just be geeky enough to see the Avengers this weekend... in Vegas... Alright, who am I kidding? I'm definitely geeky enough.

Now, because of this trip I will not be posting anything this weekend (I think). However, maybe when I return I'll have some interesting stories to tell and if I'm not forgetful (or lazy) some pictures to go with them.

And speaking of stories (I swear, absolutely the last time I mention Easter):

My aunt (this one and this one) who is infinitely more talented than I (and most) when it comes to decorating cakes and the like, decided to make Cake Pops for Easter but required a nice way to display them. The obvious answer? Bake a chocolate display cake and decorate it as a basket.

Uhm... show off much :)?

The cake was fantastic. Really there's nothing more to say then that. Having never made Cake Pops before my aunt followed the "official" instructions and we all agreed that they were good, but quite sweet. However, I have to say that the ones dipped in chocolate were better than good. The bitterness of the chocolate helped to balance the super sweet frosting rich flavour very well. I had more than a few. Ah heck, as much as I typically don't enjoy really sweet things, I still happily ate a bunch of the vanilla frosted ones as well. I'm nothing if not flexible :).

This reminds me of another Easter story (okay definitely the last time) featuring my aunt. It was two years ago and I had just arrived with my usual glut of baked goods. On the table was a centerpiece of a large, wonderfully decorated Easter egg set on a pedestal stand. After saying hi to my aunt I mentioned that I was going to put my baked goods in the cantina (that's a "cold room" for you non EYE-talians :)). My aunt said she should do the same and went to pick up the centerpiece.

"Wait Wha?"

"Oh, I made a cake" she said.

"That's a cake?!" I looked down at my sloppily iced, brownish oatmeal cake and sighed.

My aunt had recently been gifted an air brush for decorating cakes and decided to make me look bad :). Though my cake feature a peanut butter frosting. So in the end I probably won :).

Anyway, Vegas here I come! :)

~Adam

P.S. That's actually my desk at work.