I hope you like pictures of Las Vegas.

The second (and last) full day of our Vegas vacation began how every bachelorette party should...with brunch. I'm not sure which saintly girls woke up at the crack of dawn to buy/cook everything, but I'll be eternally grateful for that breakfast feast. Fruit, bacon, breakfast casserole, toast, donuts, cheesecake, and mimosas were all devoured outside while overlooking the pool. It was absolutely glorious. Brunch was followed by a quick lingerie party for Hannah, then everyone got ready for a day of casino-hopping. Or so we thought.

Just as we were about to leave for the Strip, we got a phone call from one of the girls who left early to inform us that there was an active shooter situation near the casinos. Someone had shot two people (killing one) before barricading himself inside a bus on the Strip. Thus began a four-hour standoff with the police...and a whole lot of hanging out at the house for us. I'm not complaining - this was our situation.

Once the shooter was finally taken into custody, we hightailed it to the famous Welcome sign for a quick group picture before stopping at New York, New York for some gambling. We did, however, run into Elvis at the Welcome sign, which is always a treat. What's a trip to Vegas without running into someone who gets paid to look absolutely nothing like Elvis?

Due to the incident earlier in the day, we found ourselves in a bit of a time crunch, so we rushed home to change before heading back down to the Linq for our last night out. As an incredible thank you to us, Hannah bought us tickets to ride the High Roller, the massive ferris wheel on the Strip, before dinner. Even better, we were in a pod with a bartender and an open bar, so we spent the next half-hour drooling over the stunning views of the city with drinks in-hand. Oddly enough, many of the casinos turned off their lights midway through our ride in honor of "Earth Hour," but that actually made for some even prettier, very unusual Vegas views.

After the ride, we hustled through the Linq Promenade to get to Caesar's Palace in time for our dinner reservations at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. The southwestern fare was absolutely delicious and I was able to try some red chile barbecue duck and goat cheese queso fundido before tearing into my chicken and black bean quesadilla. I know what I like, guys...and what I like is quesadillas. After dinner, we ventured over to the Bellagio in hopes of seeing the fountains, but they had already finished for the night. Instead, we meandered around the ever-changing, breathtaking lobby, which had a Japanese spring theme this time around. Thanks to our antics the night before, we decided to call it an early night. So early, in fact, that our Uber driver made fun of us. Another sign I'm getting old.

The next morning, several of the girls had to leave early, so those of us with later flights decided to get brunch on the Strip. This also gave us the opportunity to see the Bellagio fountains before heading home, which is always okay in my book. With our luggage in tow, we watched the fountains dance to "Singin' in the Rain" before heading across the street to Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris. My phone was dying, so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the place or the food, but I assure you - it was wonderful. Also, the room had a perfect view of the fountains across the street, so I was in my Vegas happy place. I did, however, manage to snap a picture of a Trump impersonator on the street...or maybe it was the real Trump. Who knows at this point?

Hannah, her sister, and I went to the airport together, so we spent about an hour rehashing the trip before going our separate ways. I've been to Vegas many times before, but there's just something about going with best friends that makes it even better. I can't wait to celebrate with this pretty girl next month when she ties the knot!

#VivaLavelle

You know how I know I'm getting old? It's Wednesday and I'm still recovering from my weekend. Oh, and I don't even drink.

This weekend, I packed my bags and traveled to Las Vegas for a dear friend's bachelorette party. Even though I took Friday off work for the occasion, the weekend seemed to fly by and I was headed back home before I could even double down on my hand. Just kidding - I don't gamble, either.

So, why does a non-drinker, non-gambler like me love Vegas so much? Let me show you.

Since I arrived so late on Thursday night, the action didn't really start until Friday morning. There were 12 of us in total, so rather than try to stay somewhere on the Strip, we decided to get an AirBnB about ten minutes away. This turned out to be a brilliant decision. We paid a fraction of the price to have an entire house to ourselves - complete with an in-ground pool, gorgeous patio area, massive kitchen, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, a washer and dryer, a pool and foosball table, plenty of common areas for us to congregate, and no neighbors to annoy.

Since the weather was nice on Friday, we decided to hit some pools on the Strip. First, we ventured to the Aria, but after a while, some of us decided that the vibe there was a bit too low-key. The Aria also has a "club-like" pool called the Liquid Pool Lounge, but we weren't too impressed with it, either. There was a DJ, but the highlight of pool was definitely the giant duck floaties.

At this point, half of the group broke off in search of a more happenin' pool party. We found it at the Marquee Dayclub at the Cosmopolitan. The pools at Marquee are actually housed within a greenhouse-like dome, so we were instantly overwhelmed with both stifling heat and sound waves. A DJ was playing at the far side of the dome while jets of mist and bubbles periodically shot out over the crowded pools and bars. We settled in and I commenced with some excellent people-watching. I'll leave the rest of the afternoon to your imagination because, as you know, what happens in Vegas sometimes does stay in Vegas.

After some much-needed rest and recovery (and pizza!) back at the house, we rallied and headed back to the Strip for Frank Marino's Divas at the Linq. Although it's a close call, this drag show, which is actually the longest-running show in Vegas at 31 years, may have been my favorite thing we did all weekend. Performers in drag came out and impersonated/lip-synced along with some of the most famous female singers of all time, including Madonna, Cher, Diana Ross, Adele, Liza Minnelli, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, and Celine Dion. In between performers, the host would come out (in a different, elaborate outfit every time) and do a stand-up routine for a few minutes. It was incredibly entertaining and the crowd was super energetic. My favorite performance of the night, however, actually came from the host when he lip-synced along with Charles Aznavour's "What Makes a Man" while slowly undressing, taking off his wig and makeup, and changing into pants and a button-down shirt. It was incredibly thought-provoking and definitely gave you more of an insight and appreciation into the art.

Once the show was over, we made our way back to the Aria (via monorail and taxi) because Lil Jon was doing a concert at Jewel Nightclub. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Vegas for a bachelorette party, I highly recommend it - You get to do so many things for free. After a short wait, we found ourselves on the upper level of the club, jockeying for position along the rail that overlooked the lower level. Eventually, Lil Jon came out and commenced a two-hour show where he played countless hip-hop and rap songs, including his own, from the DJ booth. Oh, and it wouldn't be Vegas without two scantily clad dancers there to top it off.

Unbeknownst to us, we were actually locked down inside the Aria for a while during the show because four idiots wearing pig masks decided to rob a jewelry store in the Bellagio using sledgehammers. You never know what's going to happen in Vegas and that trend definitely continued into the next day of our visit...

Who tried out for Jeopardy? This girl.

I wasn't sure I wanted to share this on my blog, but last Tuesday, I had an in-person audition for Jeopardy! in Chicago. I was hesitant to tell people about the audition because a) I'm not sure how I did and b) I don't want to get my (or anyone else's) hopes up about an appearance on the show. However, when I got my initial invitation for the audition, the very first thing I did was hop on Google to learn as much as I could about the process. If nothing else, I should share my experience with other nervous Jeopardy! hopefuls so they know what to expect.

Anyone that knows me at all knows about my deep-seated love of trivia and Jeopardy! I've watched it since I was a child and my grandparents would often tell me that, as a baby, I'd dance to the theme song whenever it came on. It was a dream come true to attend a live taping of the show a few years ago in Los Angeles and I've taken the online test as many times as possible since entering college.

The online test consists of 50 general knowledge questions, each with a time limit before automatically proceeding to the next question to ensure that no one is looking up the answers. I've taken this online test no less than 10 times over the years and it's pretty tough. You do not receive a score and Jeopardy! does not tell you whether or not you "passed" the test. However, of the people who do score above a predetermined threshold, some are selected in a lottery to attend an in-person audition for the show.

My invitation came completely out of the blue about a month ago. I didn't hesitate to respond with a big, fat YES, despite the fact that it was in Chicago on a Tuesday afternoon. I didn't study at all for the test because I figured the chances of being asked something that I reviewed were slim to none. I still think this was a good decision.

I booked a hotel room in Hammond, Indiana for Monday night so that I would be close enough to make an easy commute on Tuesday morning. After arriving, I checked into my hotel and immediately drove 25 minutes to the park and ride. I took that into the city where I met two of my best friends for dinner at Lillie's Q in Bucktown. The barbecue was delicious, we tried cherry Kool-Aid pickles (which were as weird as you'd think), and the visit was exactly the nerve-calming evening I needed.

The morning of the audition, I woke up to no less than 10 inches of snow on my car. After a brief pity party, I cleared it off (mostly with my hands), crossed my frozen fingers, and slid my way to the park and ride (which took an hour and a half, not the 25 minutes it took the night before). From there, the commute was smooth. I arrived downtown with plenty of time to spare and stopped at Chick-fil-A before ending up at the Westin, where the audition was held.

Due to the weather, I brought my "nice" clothes (you are instructed to dress for the audition as you would for the show) in a separate bag, so I changed and ventured upstairs to find several people already waiting outside the conference room. We chatted nervously to pass the time and I learned that this was the third audition for two of the women in our small group.

When the three contestant coordinators showed up, they took attendance (there were 24 of us in total), snapped pictures of each of us, and ushered us inside. We were each given a Jeopardy! pen and a 50-question answer sheet before they introduced themselves and gave us a quick overview of how to play the game (duh) and use the buzzer. We did some practice questions as a group, then we watched a welcome/thank you video from Alex Trebek and some of the clue crew.

The senior contestant coordinator, Glenn Kagan, asked who had been to this stage in the process before. Half of the room raised their hands. Cue the palm sweats. I will say - the three guys who ran the audition were absolutely terrific. They were funny, quick, and had a soothing quality about them that really helped keep everyone calm during the process. I also made sure to tell Glenn that I wanted his job. His response? "So do I."

The first assessment was another 50 question, handwritten test, this time with only eight seconds for each answer. The questions were both projected on a large screen in the front of the room and read out loud. In full disclosure, I don't think I did very well on the test. I can think of at least 15 that I know I missed, several of which I skipped and the answer came to me after turning it in. Ugh.

Here's the rough part about the audition - Just like the online test, you are not told how you scored on the written portion. The three coordinators left to grade them and we sat and anxiously discussed possible answers with each other for ten minutes.

When they returned, it was time for the mock games. In groups of three (duh), we were called up to play a shortened, mock Jeopardy! game in front of the group, the coordinators, and a video camera. I was called up about halfway through the process and played with another girl around my age and a middle-aged man. We practiced a bit with the signaling device before starting. Fun fact: During Jeopardy!, contestants have to wait until Alex is done reading the clue and lights come on before ringing in. If you buzz in too early, you are locked out from answering the question for a half-second (which is an eternity in Jeopardy! parlance).

I got a hang of the buzzer pretty quickly and was able to ring in a few times during our short game (which didn't include Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy). There were a few clues that none of us knew, so the rest of the contestants (sitting behind us) were allowed to shout out the answers. Going into the audition, I was most nervous for this part of the process, but it actually turned out to be my favorite part of the day. After the game, we did a brief interview with the coordinators, where we told them a bit about ourselves and what we would do with the money if we won big. In advance of the audition, we had to fill out paperwork and part of that was to write five one-line anecdotes about ourselves that might be interesting to discuss on the show. Glenn asked me why I've seen Dave Matthews Band 23 times.

Once the mini-games were finished, we were free to leave. The entire process took about two hours. They handed out Jeopardy! earbuds for us to keep as a souvenir and I thanked them for their time and calming presence. We were given absolutely no indication how we fared and simply told that if they wanted us on the show, we would be put into their applicant pool for the next 18 months. If/when they want us on the show, they will call us to invite us to Los Angeles for a taping with a few weeks notice. That's it. Oh, and I'm not allowed to audition again for the next 18 months.

Instead of staying to enjoy a little bit of Chicago, I hit the road immediately, worried about rush hour traffic and more snow. I arrived home at 10:30, super excited that I had the chance to do something I've always wanted to do. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get a call from LA in the next 18 months, but if I don't, I'll absolutely be taking that online test until I do.

I am not a paid NFL or Indianapolis promoter.

Since moving to Indy nearly five years ago, I've basically become an unpaid unofficial promoter for the city. In my opinion, it's one of the most underrated cities in America, so I'm constantly persuading people to visit so I can show them how cool it is. The food scene is killer, the downtown area is clean and navigable, but best of all, Indy plays host to several awesome events each year. Last weekend, Wheat and I were able to attend one of the coolest: the NFL Combine.

The Combine has been held in Lucas Oil Stadium every year that I've lived here and I was actually able to work the event with USA Football in 2013. This year, the NFL introduced the Combine Experience, an interactive, NFL-sponsored convention where fans could try all the drills that the athletes do in the Combine, get autographs from visiting players and coaches, and see football-related memorabilia (including the Lombardi Trophy).

We decided to check out the Combine Experience on Thursday night and I'm so glad we did. There was virtually no one there, so the lines to do the drills were super short. Wheat, being the seven-year-old boy trapped in a grown man's body that he is, had an absolute blast doing the 40-yard dash, the vertical jump, the broad jump, and "the gauntlet," where he ran to various positions to catch footballs that were shot out of Jugs. We got our picture taken with the Lombardi Trophy, perused the gift shop, tried on Packers-Lions virtual reality headsets, and marveled over every Super Bowl ring. We also waited in a very short line to meet former Colts tight end Dallas Clark, who told us to "be good."

On Sunday morning, we woke up early to watch the defensive linemen and linebackers partake in the Combine. We got our tickets for free through 1iota and that included parking at the stadium. While trying to find the right lot, we stopped at a red light right next to Marvin Lewis and a couple other Bengals scouts as they were walking into the stadium. In typical fashion, I shrieked, rolled down the window, and gave them a hearty "WHO-DEY?!" Marvin waved, but looked less than thrilled.

Once inside, we were corralled into a room with the other audience members and given small NFL radio headphones. We used these to listen to the broadcast while watching the athletes. After an hour-long wait in a room filled with TVs, we were finally escorted into the stadium to watch the drills. For the next couple hours, we watched the defensive linemen do the vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard dash, and several other drills. Wheat was thrilled to see Tennessee's Derek Barnett and we were both impressed by Texas A&M's Myles Garrett, who might go first overall in the draft. During commercial breaks, Hall of Famer and former running back Marshall Faulk talked to us about what it's like to partake in the Combine and what each drill assesses.

Unfortunately, we had to miss the linebackers (and TJ Watt) because Wheat had a game, but we did make a quick pit stop at the Combine Experience so that I could get Bengals running back Giovani Bernard's autograph. Ultimate fan girl.

Surprisingly, the non-football parts of our weekend were just as fun as the Combine because two of my best friends came to visit. We stuffed our faces with the delicious Indy food I mentioned earlier, saw Get Out (run, don't walk, to go see it), and had some long overdue girl talk. There's nothing better for the soul than girl talk and tacos, right?

So seriously, come visit.

It rains in the desert, too.

My last day and a half in Arizona was sort of a hodgepodge of all the other things I wanted to do while in town. I went with my sister to try on wedding dresses (it was a success, by the way!), we wandered around the mall, and watched movies. I tried a world-famous Sonoran hot dog, a bacon-wrapped dog covered in beans, grilled and fresh onions, tomatoes, mayo, mustard, and jalapeño sauce, from El Guero Canelo and practically melted into taste bud nirvana. I took some more engagement photos - this time with Ollie - which made things just a bit more difficult. Good thing he's cute.

However, the two main events of the end of my stay were the Tucson Rodeo and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I'd never been to a rodeo before, so when I found out that the annual event was being held while I was in town, I embraced my inner cowgirl and decided to get tickets. Although the bothersome rain continued into Sunday, we didn't let it stop us from enjoying the show, despite it being held in an outdoor stadium. In fact, the rain might have even benefited us because we were offered free tickets outside of the venue before we stopped at the box office.

We spent the next few hours oohing and ahhing over saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, calf roping, steer wrestling, and of course, bull riding. The incredible mountains in the distance served as the perfect backdrop for the event and we were absolutely blown away by the speed and strength of the animals. In full disclosure, we actually found ourselves wincing quite a bit over how the animals were treated, poked, prodded, and even tackled. I thought I knew what to expect heading into the event, but I definitely left with a much deeper understanding why many rodeos, including this one, are surrounded by animal cruelty protesters.

Although I enjoyed everything, my favorite event was definitely the barrel racing. It was incredible to watch the horses make such sharp turns, then quickly regain full speed. The rodeo clown was entertaining between events and we even got to see a bull ram into the barrel in which he was hiding.

During momentary breaks in the rain, we caught faint glimpses of a beautiful rainbow overhead and I interpreted that as a sign from God that calories didn't count during the rodeo. So, between the three of us, we ordered curly chips, nachos, a turkey leg, a deep-fried Twinkie, and a strawberry cheesecake and cinnamon apple funnel cake. In other words, the rodeo was basically a county fair, except we got to watch cowboys get violently tossed around like rag dolls.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to fit in the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum before our drive back to Phoenix. I'm so glad we decided to cram it in because the views were absolutely breathtaking and we saved the best weather for last. Although it's called a museum, it's really more of a zoo and outdoor park with miles of desert hiking. The trails, which wind between various cacti and other local flora, make periodic stops at exhibits with creatures indigenous to the area. Over the course of a few hours, we saw a mountain lion, Mexican wolves, coyotes, javelinas, lizards, scorpions, a hummingbird aviary, bobcats, a black bear, and many other desert-dwelling animals.

The highlight for me, however, was the cactus garden. I was absolutely blown away by the gorgeous display of native cacti, succulents, and flowering plants. I honestly could have spent hours meandering along the paths and taking pictures. Much to my dismay, we had to leave well before I was ready and we missed the free-flight raptor show (where falcons, owls, eagles, etc. fly directly above you in the open desert). Again, a reason to go back...

On our way back to Phoenix, we completely lucked out when the GPS directed us through Saguaro National Park. No better way to say farewell to Arizona (and the west) than driving through a maze of the country's largest cacti. My sister and Denny are probably moving to another base sometime next year, so I'm desperately trying to plan one more visit to Arizona before the move.

Serious question: In case I can't make it back, where else can I get a Sonoran hot dog?