I spent last weekend in Vegas with my friends and let me tell you, it was just the recharge my soul needed.

I know, soul recharging and Vegas? Seemingly contradictory but in this case, 100% true.

As I put together my out of office list at work for my trip, I realized I hadn’t taken a vacation day since mid-September which is kind of crazy. I, of course, had the standard holidays off but I used nearly all of my PTO time in 2015 to move across the country. So taking a couple of days off from work, from Pittsburgh, from real life was much overdue.

I met one of my best friends, Nancy, and her longtime friend (and my new friend), Cheryl, in Vegas for a long weekend of girl time. The main event was to see Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood but before and after that, we spent hours catching up, strolling the strip, eating delicious food and sipping expensive cocktails. I even managed to see my sister, who lives in Vegas, TWICE during my trip! And to top it off, I found a Jersey Mike’s in the Vegas airport. My favorite sandwich shop has no nearby locations in Pittsburgh so at 8:30 a.m. PST, I stepped in line and ordered a Club Supreme for breakfast.

But Britney! What a show!

Nancy snagged us floor tickets so we were RIGHT next to the stage, close enough to practically touch her. As we were waiting for the show to start, we kept an eye on the VIP section just behind us and a few minutes before the show started, we noticed a couple of familiar faces stroll in. AJ and Kevin from the Backstreet Boys!

Teenage Me could not even handle what was happening. The show was so fun – Britney changed costumes at least 6 times, sang all her best songs, nailed all her dance moves and dropped confetti paper from the ceiling at least 3 times. We sang and danced our little hearts out and soaked in the experience.

As the weekend came to a close and my plane lifted off the ground to return me back to Pittsburgh, I felt so grateful for amazing women in my life, both near and far. I’ve been fortunate to meet really great lady friends in my adult life and I cherish these friendships; we may not see each other as often we’d like or talk every week but when we do get together, it’s like no time has passed at all and we pick up exactly where we left off.

After 5 months with no PTO, I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend a couple of days away from real life. Good friends, great times and a happy heart.