I have been back from Wildside and  Las Vegas for two weeks now, and somehow haven’t managed a report on the fabulous week I spent there.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I finally met up with these Wildside gals. The main reason I chose this group is that they seemed a lot more fun and raunchy than the other. As much as I desired to let my hair down and have a good time – rather than just a nice, proper and evolved time – I worried that I might be too tame for this crowd. How wild and crazy were they? How far would they go? How far would I go? There is only so much you can tell from online interaction, right?

We normally travel light, so the avalanche of suitcases that tumbled out of the car was quite a handful to manage, but I didn’t want to be missing anything. It didn’t help that I found several “just perfect” things in every single vintage store we went to, at throwaway prices! OMG, I just had to buy them.

Whole Lot ‘a Shakin’

I was already getting nervous about the evening, when we would finally meet the organizers of this event along with another friend at Cirque de Soleil’s LOVE show about the Beatles. As I got dressed, my fingers were dry and cold and I had trouble with the clips and buttons and, well… everything. Conversation was a bit strained. Doing my makeup, I must have dropped everything I picked up at least once, sometimes twice. And, of course, my hair would just not behave. “I cannot be late!” I said to myself.

Since the show was at the Mirage, having dinner at the casino’s California Pizza Kitchen seemed the most convenient, and with my nerves, this was more important than food quality. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to eat much anyway. After parking the car, it occurred to me that I was really now going out for the first time as a girl in Las Vegas. Of course, I’d done it elsewhere, but every new place can be different. I walked alone in the parking garage to the elevators and down to the entrance. Going through the casino’s doors, I headed… straight for the ladies’ room.

You’d think that was a refuge, but instead it was just another challenge, especially with butterflies in my stomach and actually being cold from nerves. [I am so not comfortable meeting new people!] Anyhow, with the DivaLV caveats about using the women’s washroom ringing in my head, I just hoped no one would bother me as I went in to check my mischievous hair, and sure enough it was misbehaving. More fussing, more hairspray. “Geez,” I thought, “I hope it’ll hold in place now!”

“Dammit, I gotta eat something or I’m gonna faint!”

My GF was waiting at the restaurant with the show tickets in hand. Sitting and eating, and realizing that there was lots of time before the show, I relaxed a little bit. But I didn’t finish half my food. I wandered the casino nervously, looking for the theater, contemplating running into my new friends or how we would make our entrance with them already sitting there. Turns out, the seats in front of us were still vacant when we arrived so we took our places and waited for them to show up.

LOVE!

When they got there, it was like a meeting of old friends. Hugs were exchanged, smiles all around. They were familiar faces, brought to life, and it was clear that their online personas were honest and true. They were in person just as they had been online.

The show was great. Cirque de Soleil’s LOVE was a delirious explosion of color and texture and acrobatics and fabulous music. I could see our new friends in front of us enjoying the show like kids in a candy store.

After the show, we decamped to the Revolution Bar – Beatles themed. As we entered – and I’m dating myself here – I realized that the theme extended to décor only. I had the usual disappointment of hearing the same house, hip-hop, groove, trance, techno stuff (whatever it’s called) wherever I go, no matter the “theme.” We had a few drinks and talked and started in quickly on our obsession with taking pictures and being photographed.

It was a pretty tame evening at that. I’d have followed if they’d have gotten up to dance, but I couldn’t find the energy to lead. No matter, many others were arriving the next day and the party could really get underway!