Woman in Real Life: Insta-Friday in real life, casino fun edition

Friday, September 28, 2012

Insta-Friday in real life, casino fun edition

It's Friday again, and that means Insta-Friday. It's all about linking up with others and sharing cell phone photos from your week.

This week, I noticed the limitations of my cell phone camera a couple of times. You'll see.

Before I get to all the fun photos of the Niagara Falls trip my mom and I took this week, I have a couple of other photos to share.

My son's soccer team went to a banquet this week. Here he is, above, dressed up for the event. I snapped up some things for the kids when H&M had a sale a couple of months ago. These pants were $5. They have a very cool belt that he didn't want to wear. The striped top was marked down to $7. A cute outfit for $12 is pretty good, I think.

I finally got all of the old, withered hot dog and hamburger buns out of my freezer, along with the five plastic containers full of frozen tomato products of one kind or another.

I used some bins from the dollar store to organize the remaining items into categories, like fruits, vegetables and bread products.

It might not last, but I am enjoying it for the moment! I can finally take out the ice trays without juggling a bunch of other stuff first. It is life-changing. Okay, I exaggerate...but it definitely helps.

On Wednesday, I met my mom in Niagara Falls. Here is the view from our hotel suite at the Fallsview Casino Resort.

We went to see Harry Connick Jr. The show was amazing. That's him on the left. Cell phone camera failure number 1. I do take some of the blame, because they don't allow people to take photos at that venue, and the security people are like vultures when you do. I took a quick photo.

Did I mention that we got the room and the show free? This is my mom playing one of the machines at the casino. She is now a platinum member. I myself can't stand to lose money. I don't do casinos.

Mom's a v.i.p. so we get to eat in this cool dining room, for free. You don't even need to earn comps for this one.

I got a panini for lunch. Because I don't eat cheese or meat, my choices were basically tomatoes, hot peppers and red onion. I don't like hot peppers either. So, the nice cook told me to take some things from the salad bar and he would put them in my sandwich. I added sweet pickles and cucumbers, and the sandwich was quite tasty. I had an iced tea to drink.

We got upgraded to a hotel suite (yes, for free). Here is a look at our living room. I kind of didn't want to leave, because everything was so clean and there was no stuff around.

Here's mom taking a peek at the view of Niagara Falls from the living room.

Here is the view from the bedroom. I think it kind of illustrates the two sides to Niagara Falls (in Canada anyway). The grand beauty of Mother Nature on one side, and the gaudy man-made fun on the other.

Here is yet another view, this time from the bathroom. You can always hear music in Niagara Falls, even from the twenty-second floor.

Did I mention the bathroom? Two sinks, whirlpool tub, glass shower. Perfect for two ladies on an evening out.

Mom had earned some decent playing rewards, which she had to use up by the end of the month. So, we decided to try Ponte Vecchio, the fine dining Italian restaurant on site.

There were only two vegetarian entrees on the menu, one being cheese agnolotti, and the other organic whole wheat penne with chardonnay, olive oil, herbs and cherry tomatoes. I chose the latter.

My mom had spaghetti with (giant) meatballs. Neither one of us was very happy with our food. My penne was $22 and I could have made better myself.

I made myself a rum and coke before the Harry Connick Jr. show. (Mom was at the casino.) Whenever I drink alcohol, I try to have some Emergen-C before I drink and the next day. It seems to prevent any ill effects.

Camera phone failure number 2. Inability to deal with lots of light in the background. Here's mom in the buffet dining room at breakfast.

The dining room has a lovely view of the American falls.

Not so lovely was my view driving home. I was happy for a chance to keep up a bit of highway driving though. My husband tends to drive and I get out of practice.

I saw this house for sale on the way home. A meagre 9,000 square feet, for just under $3 million. Bargain. They have an amazing wooded view in the back, though (and a pool to enjoy it from).

How was your week?

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