Viva Las Vegas! Part 1: Art, Lights and More Lights!

As I said in my last post, my boyfriend and I went to Las Vegas and it was BEAUTIFUL!!  The lights!  The things to do!  The people-watching!  It was crazy!  I can't wait to go back.  I mean, we had such a LONG list of things to do and we didn't even do half of them!  Partly because he got really sick :( and partly because there was so much to do that we couldn't decided on what to do first.

Luckily, we got to enjoy the gorgeous views from Ghostbar at the Palms.  It was amazing!  They even had this piece of glass on the rooftop part where you could stand and look down 55 stories.  At first, I was like, "Pssh...that tiny piece of plexiglass?!  The whole patio should be plexiglass so we could constantly be walking over Las Vegas haha!"  But once I got near it and saw that it was directly above the "PALMS" marquee lights, I felt a little pang of fear of being that high.  I am horribly afraid of heights.  The bar is great, though, and the bartenders were wonderful!



Seeing two Jeff Koons pieces was a total surprise! We stumbled upon them on our way to the Ferrari showroom at the Wynn.  It was really hard to capture just how reflective these pieces actually were.  It was crazy!



We also checked out the Fabergé Revealed exhibit at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art.  I couldn't take any photos but boy, did I want to!  The pieces were quite beautiful.  Check them out!

One of my personal favorite highlights was taking a ride on the High Roller.  Standing at 550 feet tall, it is the largest observation wheel in the world!  the views are phenomenal and I highly recommend going at night because, well, THE LIGHTS!!!  The Linq complex is really fun, too.  We didn't realize all those things were tucked away in that little area until we headed to the High Roller.  That's a return visit right there!


 

The Linq also has a mural project headed up by the ISI Group that seems to change constantly.  Check out some pieces I caught - including a lovely in-progress one (with the ladder)



Vegas was a blast! Everyone had the same joke: "Don't run off and get married in Vegas hahaha!" but there are SO MANY things to do, I totally forgot to take all the photos I wanted of all the wedding chapels!  I did snag a few while we were stuck at traffic lights but nothing major.  All in all, it was a great trip - except the sick part - but that just means we have to go back!  Maybe this next time, my West Coast bestie will join!

Here's a short little video of our trip


Viva Las Vegas! from Katzi Roman on Vimeo.


My new friend and I hope you're having an awesome week so far!

The Most Colorful Street in St. Pete

...technically it's an alleyway but still - it's the prettiest alleyway in St. Petersburg, FL.



Our alley adventure started with this mural:



We kept passing it on the one-way to the highway and then we slowly started to notice more.  One day, the old man kept the car running while I ran from piece to piece down the alley as I discovered more and more pieces hidden - if you're not looking!

One of my favorite sections was this lovely collection:





Upon further investigation, I link-hopped from here to here and started uncovering some of the artists behind the wonderful pieces of work.  Recognize Twiggy from my Instagram?  Her portrait and the Sun Face piece (my favorite!) were done by the folks at the design studio Bluelucy.

So many great finds are tucked away in the alley north of Central Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets.  If you're in St. Petersburg, I highly recommend you check it out before it gets painted over - that's if it gets painted over - which I hope it doesn't!  I made the mistake of missing out on the Clever Girl piece that I saw on San Smith's Instagram.  She was lurking at the Krog Street tunnel, which changes so much.  I snoozed and lost.  Oh well...

Check out more of my photos of the St. Pete mural alleyway in this set!

Here are the artists that I know of that contributed to this great little alley:  
Bluelucy
Pale Horse x Tes One collab
Pale Horse x BASK collab
Derek Donnelly of Saint Paint Arts and Apparel
Alex Gluek
Christian Thomas

*If I left anybody off, please let me know in the comments! :)

Hope you're having an awesome Thursday!

Hense

If you know Atlanta, you're most definitely familiar with graffiti artist Alex Brewer - aka Hense.  You've seen his name around town and I'm sure you're seen some of his larger pieces as well.  Friday, I accompanied Lauren, Chandler and Cynthia to his art show, SPRAY, at Sandler Hudson Gallery.  It was a little overwhelming at first but I managed to channel my inner Gallery Girl and I put my best Bitch Face forward. While the artwork was great, I really enjoyed people watching.

 

Needless to say, I felt extremely out of place and I felt like my OTP (that's Outside The Perimeter to you non-ATLiens) status was a neon sign above my head.  Normally, I don't give two shits about that but for some reason, it was a nagging pain.  I think it might be time for another existential crisis but hey, that's for another post!

 

Being at the space and seeing various pieces of art up close was good for me because it's nice to remember that things like this do happen in Atlanta.  I feel like nothing is really going on but there's lots to do!  Maybe there is hope for me and Atlanta yet!

If you're in the area and you want to check out some of Alex Brewer (Hense) and Greely Myatt's work, check it out at Sandler Hudson Gallery September 14 - October 20 2012.  Afterwards, you can get a bangin cup of coffee or a tasty cocktail at Octane.

Photo Post!

So much stuff has been happening!
My office finally got painted at work and I'm in the process of reorganizing for all my new equipment that's supposed to come in soon...



I experimented with a gradient mani and IT WORKED!! The red and black version is my favourite so far but the pink fade is looking pretty good too!

 

Coffee jokes



These two kids were adorable! I caught them posing at The Varsity while I was stuck in traffic on North Ave.



I finally got a shot of this sign! Too bad it was at 1:30am but still.



The old man and I went for some delicious vegan pancakes at a new spot we haven't tried yet



On that same trip, I was finally able to capture a photo of the BEST display EVER!