MLK and Le Cirque at Bellagio

MLK banquet invite

Saturday night started out with me attending the 30^th Anniversary King Banquet at the Flamingo Hotel  during Martin Luther King weekend with my beautiful mother. We attended on behalf of my lifelong friend Cedric Crear. My mother loves events like this so when I asked her if she would be my date I got a definite yes. The guest speaker was Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta, I have to admit I did not hear because I left a bit after dessert was served. It was uncomfortably cold in the ballroom and the program was running long, but the message of why I was there was not forgotten. I left to spend some time with my good friend Rocky who was across the street at the Bellagio.

Rocky Nash

Earlier that day, she surprised me via Skype asking if I wanted to meet up after the event because she was in Vegas for a few days. I did not realize how much I missed our girl time until I was able to give her a hug. I refer to Rocky as my savvy international traveler since she is always on the move globally. Last year she lived in China and visited Sweden. Several weeks ago she was in Paris and now she lives in New York City. I love Skype. It makes it seem as if she is just across town when we video chat.

Image by Ken Lund via Flickr

Bellagio is such a beautiful property. We met in the lobby under the exquisite chandelier made of glass by sculptor Dale Chihuly then took in the Chinese New Yeardisplay at the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens before heading over to the AAA Five Diamond rated Le Cirquefor a glass of wine and some much needed girl talk. We sat at the cozy bar in the lounge and engaged in conversation with William the bartender and waited for her friend Stephani to join us.

Le Cirque Lounge

I am a diehard lover of red wine – the fuller the body the better, but after one glass, he turned us on to the French 75 (I’ll place the recipe at the end of this post) and literally had me licking my martini glass and rethinking my drink options. As she’s telling me about her whirlwind trip to Vegas the pastry chef delighted us with an array of scrumptious desserts. Nothing is better than lots of chocolate from a French chef.

Chocolate Egg

Mixed desserts

Chocolate Souffle with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

 

 

 

 

 

It was getting late so I said good night and headed home as they continued to Hyde (I will have more on the new luxurious spot in another post coming soon…)

French 75

• 1/2 ounces St. Germain
• 2 ounces cucumber infused vodka
• Splash of sweet and sour
• Top off with champagne

In a chilled cocktail shaker add some ice and shake well, then strain into a chilled martini glass and top off with champagne.

Thank you for reading,

Adrienne xo