Party Like It’s 2008

Among my alarmingly-stable, astoundingly-long-term and unsurprisingly-incestuous social circle there will be, over the next 18 months or so, a large number of birthdays. This, in itself, is not surprising, or particularly noteworthy. What is noteworthy though, is how many of those birthdays will involve ye olde tens columne rolling over from the youthful and carefree “2” to the urbane, sophisticated and terribly mature “3”. I, for one, welcome fogeydom, or will, I suspect, when the time comes.

To that end, there has been some discussion of late, at the Sousa’s most recently, but in other environs as well, about the idea of having some kind of gargantuan bash to ring in our triumphant ascension in group form. We could, of course, get together and just drink more alcohol than usual, but the impression one gets from these discussions is that more moxy is desired.

I put it you, then, that you can’t spell Moxy without L-A-S-V-E-G-A-S.

Now I try to be conscious of the times in my life when my hare-brained ideas are costing my friends money, and I am sensitive to the fact that this is one of those times. But talking with Steph, Amy and Christine this weekend (our house being something of a nexus for wedding plannery) I put it forward that given enough notice, and enough time to tell me what a stupid idea it is, people might be into it. I know, at least, that it sounded like a good idea at the time. And Vegas is not as expensive as you might expect, since the hotels virtually pay you to come visit.

Expedia currently lists flight + 3 nights at the MGM Grand for <$600, for reference.

Why Vegas? There's lots to see and do, and a fair bit of it has nothing to do with gambling. It gives us a chance to spend time together but have plenty of outlets for escape, and it's a place everyone should check off their list at least once. But other options are certainly available – Cuba is nearly the same price, depending on the season, and it's not a ton more to go to Madrid, or to take a short cruise.

On the flip side, it's cheaper and just as – though differently – interesting to visit D.C., or for that matter, Manhattan. And we don't need to fly, we could road trip somewhere, at which point many are the options.

My point is just that I think it would be fun, if we're going to be fêting ourselves collectively, for such a once-in-a-lifetime (or at least once-in-a-decade) thing, we might as well put some verve into it.

Everything is on the table right now. Location, time, cost guidance, dietary restrictions, you name it. I'm putting 3 days in Vegas, Spring or Fall 2008 out there as a target for people to shoot at. I'd create a facebook group for this discussion, but I know some of you are still actively clinging to the dark ages as far as social networking goes, so let's just use the comments area here, hm?

Fire at will.