Q: positive

A: Mirage Hotel & Casino Las Vegas http://mirage.com/ We're just back from a 4 day quick trip over Thanksgiving from Vegas. We have been before, but it's been a while so there was a lot to see and do. We went with a large group and stayed at the Mirage. We liked the Mirage as they were able to guarantee us a non-smoking room while other places would not do that. We stayed in room #22029, which had been recently renovated not too long ago. The room was nicely appointed and the beds were very comfortable. We found an internet price of just under $100 which we thought was very good too. The room we had was pretty spacious and faced the North, with views of Treasure Island, The Wynn, Palazzo, The Venetian and the hourly volcano eruption. Another benefit about the Mirage was not only are there to non smoking rooms, they have non-smoking floors. The entire 22nd floor was non-smoking and we also noticed no-smoking signs in the elevators next to the floor numbers for several other floors like ours as well. The downside of the room is pretty typical to Las Vegas. There are no coffee pots in the rooms and don't even think about trying to used the loaded refrigerator in the room for personal use. There are sensors in the fridge that automatically charge your room if items are removed / replaced. The prices for the food and drink beverages inside the fridge are absolutely ridiculous as well. But honestly, this is how almost every hotel on the strip that we've ever stayed in was equipped as well. There was a Walgreens across the street where we found water for 99 cents, so save your money for the slots!! We had a good time and would recommend it.

Q: positive

A: Last summer, I bought a gorgeous fuschia Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag at Nordstrom that I just couldn't pass up. I took this bag with me everywhere. It went with me on my first trips to New York City, Boston and Chicago. It got rained on, snowed on and bleached from daily exposure to Texas sun, heat and humidity. It collected denim dye from every pair of jeans I own. It got tossed in drawers at work, bumped against walls and people, dragged through airport x-rays. It was, sadly to say, no longer the fabulous dream purse it was when we first met at the in Dallas. I was sad. If it had feelings, it would have been sad, too. I took it to my favorite shoe cobbler in Vegas, who estimated over $100 to re-dye it. To me, $100 is a lot of money to spend on a purse I already spent more than $400 just to buy, so I put my purse back in its dust bag (a lot of good that does) and went home. Then I found this place. It's a little out of the way for me, but as of today, I think it's absolutely worth it. I took my fuschia bag and another well-loved, 5-year-old ivory Marc Jacobs purse to see if I could get them restored to decent condition. The price for dyeing one bag, cleaning stains off the other and putting new heel tips on a pair of pumps came out to just over $100. Really? All of that for $100? I left a little nervous, and came back today filled with anxiety. As soon as I was handed my bags, I couldn't believe my eyes. Those gorgeous, brand-new looking handbags are MINE? I can't say enough about this place, except the work is amazing and affordable. They have a bunch of services listed on their website, so you can bring clothes that need tailoring and shoes that need repair all to one place. I love awesome little places like this!

Q: positive

A: I'm not a big burger eater. Mostly because I just don't think most burgers are worth the while. But I like them at back-yard bbqs and I like them at a few places. Chuck Box is one of those places. I usually eat there at least once when I'm in Tempe I get the Big one with whatever cheese I'm in the mood for, on a whole-wheat roll and some onion rings and/or fried mushrooms. The condiments are great, but don't over do it because you want to taste this burger. The place has a hokey kind of cowboy vibe which is just fine. What would be the point of being pretentious about a burger joint?

Q: positive

A:
If you're on The Strip being a tourist, do yourself a favor and splurge on a cab over to Firefly for dinner. You'll come out ahead money-wise and have a much better meal than you can find on Las Vegas Boulevard. It's a lively little tapas restaurant, dark and packed on a Saturday night, far too cool for its strip mall location. But then again, it's Vegas, and nearly everything's in a strip mall. We got a table for two after about a 20-minute wait and the service was great and glitchless from start to finish. Every last thing we ordered was interesting and amazing. Not a plate was left with a crumb. We had: a warm spinach salad with grilled peppers; a beet salad with goat cheese and candied pecans; fried red potatoes with homemade aioli; grilled diablo shrimp with a spicy, sweet sauce and garlic bread; calamari; and bacon-wrapped almond-stuffed dates.