Dee-va Las Vegas 2025, Dee One, Mon-Dee

In 2023 I came to Dee-va Las Vegas for the first time. I’m not the biggest fan of Vegas–I’m not a big gambler, and I don’t like the smoking in the casinos–but it’s an opportunity to meet some fun fellow travelers, wear some fun clothes, and get to spent five days straight dressed. Plus, there are pools and I have multiple swimsuits/bikinis, so it’s also a chance to wear them (as I compose this, I’m sitting in a otherwise vacant hot tub/spa in my orange colored athletic bikini).

My bestie Michelle offered to do my nails a long time ago. I said let’s wait until I go to Vegas, and she agreed, even though it meant doing it at 8 AM so I’d have time to make my mid-Dee flight (Michelle, by her own omission, is NOT a morning person). I also invited another bestie, Ms. Dee-ism, to come along and witness the shenanigans. Ms. Dee-ism was also kind enough to bring her very cute backpack for me to borrow for my trip (much more in line with the image I wanted to present on the plane).

Michelle and I agreed on gel nails, in a suitably bright color, some shade of Taylor Swift red (Ms. Dee-ism is a die-hard Swiftie, very much in her element following the release of “The Life of a Showgirl” a few days before). Michelle went to work, applying the tips, buffing them, painting them, while the three of us talked, interspersed by comments from another customer named Mary, who was getting her nails done (and was curious about mine) by Michelle’s co-worker Gloria. 

I have long passed worrying about being seen or interacting with others, especially in an exceptionally accepting arena like a salon, where most of the providers and customers are women, who by far are more accepting. The interactions with Mary just added to the experience. 

The process took about 90 minutes, but Michelle, Ms. Dee-ism, and I had time to take a few pictures and swap a few hugs. I headed to my car for the short drive to the MetroLink train station to take the train to the airport. 

As it turns out, I’m not a very good part-time girl. Unused to longer nails, I struggled a bit, and they began to fall off. By the time I was at the airport, I had already lost two. By the end of the day, six had fallen off, leaving one on my right hand, and three on the left. After losing one I resolved to get some nail glue and glue them back on. By the end of the day, the realistic strategy was to buy a similar color nail polish and paint them myself the old-fashioned way.

Getting through security was uneventful, as was the three plus hour plane ride, except for me continuing to shed nails. The interaction with the cab driver on the short ride from the airport was fun. He asked how my day was going, and eventually I told him my phrase (one I have used here) is “my life doesn’t suck”. As English was not the driver’s first language (he was from Cuba), he had me repeat it several times, so he could pronounce it better. Perhaps there is a cab driver in Las Vegas now telling his buddies “my life doesn’t suck.”

I had a brief window of time after arriving at the hotel, finding my room, and unpacking, to don a bikini and head for the pool. Las Vegas this week has cooler than normal temperatures. Instead of the 90’s (the temperatures I left at home), it was in the low 80’s, with spotty sunshine. I opted just to lie on a lounge chair and doodle on my tablet.

For dinner, I changed into an American Eagle light blue sundress that caught my attention after getting a barrage of emails from them (I bought a top and skirt from them recently, so I got on their mailing list). When the price on the dress dropped to just over $8, it became too good to pass up. I changed, and headed to a barbecue place near the strip, the meeting location for the first night of DeeLV. I saw some old faces, including Joyce, who I met in 2023, and met some new faces. It is interesting to share stories about this “hobby” we share. After a couple of hours, I headed back to the hotel, my feet a bit beat up from walking a couple of miles in wedges.

More next Sun-Dee.