Our Trip to Vegas to see "Believe" Oct. 16-18 2008 . . . It was a Magical and Amazing Night

Let's start out with these beautiful pictures of Criss and I and then our story to follow :-)

Our original plans had changed a bit and our dear friend Diana was not able to join us which was completely sad and heartbreaking for us because we had so looked forward to seeing her. But we are making plans after the first of the year to see Believe together and we can't wait to see her then.

After the prep of hair and nail appointments, clothes shopping and packing ~ It was Thursday October 16th and I was at work anxiously waiting to get off at noon to start our trip to Vegas. I picked Sean up and we were off to Vegas :-) We arrived at the Luxor (our second home) at about 6:30 p.m on Thursday evening. It was wonderful to see all the Believe banners on and around the Luxor ~ of course we took pictures of them whenever we saw one :-) We got the sweetest young lady at the check-in desk who we noticed was wearing a really cool "Believe" button, so Yes, I asked about it, she said it was for employees only , but she would look to see if she could find any in the back. Our room keys had Carrot Top on them and I said, "No Believe keys"? and she said, we must have run out of them, because we did have some before. She went in the back and came out and gave both Sean and I "Believe" buttons and "Believe" room keys (even extra ones as souvenirs) so it started off really good!! Our room was on the 29th floor of the pyramid. We went to our room and got settled in and then walked around the Luxor for awhile ~ visitng Criss' store and took some pictures around the hotel ~ including the card in the glass door, which was awesome to see. The hotel has a free magazine called "M" and it had Criss on the cover and an article about Believe in it ~ so I had good reading for the evening!! Also, Sean and I are reading the "Twilight" Series, so we had those books with us too. We went and looked at the Believe store and the box office and the entrance to the Theatre ~ it was all so beautiful. We didn't do much the first night we were there other than walk around in the Luxor. On Friday, we met at the Believe Store at 3:00 to see Jason Verona to get our wristbands for the Meet and Greet after the show. Since alot of Loyals were gathering there, that's when we ran into alot of our friends which was really nice :-) We met up with Wendy and Khrystal and we all hung out for awhile. It was nice to see them and catch up on what's been going on in eachother's lives. I bought a program while at the store. Wendy and Khrystal weren't going to the show that night, but they were attending the meet and greet later that night. I got to meet Loyals I had only talked to on the site ~ Blanca, Briana and Amanda. It was so nice to meet Blanca ~ what a sweetheart! Her and her twin sister were lots of fun. Blanca and I had planned to meet in Vegas after talking to each other on Criss' site, we learned that we were both going to Believe on Oct. 17th. We exchanged numbers and when she programmed mine into her phone ~ she put it as "Susie Angel" because she didn't know my last name ~ lol. She said "I didn't think you'd mind that"!!!! Ha ha ~ Of course I didn't mind and I thought that it was really cute and pretty funny! Sean looks so much like Criss ~ people are always looking at him and think he's Criss at first ~ it's so funny! We always enjoy tripping people out and watch them stare and whisper ~ lol. After hanging out for awhile ~ Wendy, Khrystal, Sean and I all said good-bye and made plans to meet a little later ~ so Sean and I went to get some lunch. We didn't do alot of sight seeing this trip ~ it was all about seeing Believe!!!! Plus, we were on a limited budget . We hung out in the room for awhile, reading and relaxing until it was time to get ready for the show. I got all dressed up ! I love doing that :-) and Sean was all fixed up too and looked so much like Criss. Now it was time to go see Believe so we went down to the Theatre. When we got into the Lobby, it was just awesome!!! There are pictures on the walls of the Theatre Lobby that move and change and they are in these ornate gold frames ~ just beautiful. We didn't bring our cameras because we knew we would have to check them. A professional photographer took our pictures and gave me a card that said "Criss Angel Believe" Caught on Camera. They were souvenir portraits you could buy after the show. They came out really great ~ I bought them all!!!! When I get them I'll post them here. They took pictures of Sean and I together and some of each of us alone. The Theatre was breathtaking!!!! Just what I imagined it would be like. Our seats were so awesome ~ dead center and eye level with the stage ~ so close I could see Criss' face clearly. I was happy to find out that another Loyal Friend, Amanda had the seat right next to me. There was again sadness though that the seat next to Sean , should have had our Friend Diana in it ~ we missed her terribly. We know she was with us in spirit though :-) The show was absolutely amazing and we LOVED it!!! Everything the critics had said melted away from my mind (Not that I believed any of what they said anyway!!) and I was completely wrapped up in the show. I loved every aspect of it and our Criss was Perfect!!!! Every illusion we have ever wanted to see live was included in this show ~ it blew us away. I laughed, I cried, I was scared and in awe. I was entertained with awesome magic and illusions, beautiful music and an intriguing story. We cannot wait to go back and see it again. I am so proud of Criss and his work of art called "Believe" It is a perfect marriage of Criss Angel and Cirque du Soleil :-)

Our friends Wendy and Khrystal came to our room later that night and we all got ready to go to the meet and greet. Everyone met at the Believe Store at midnight and we were taken into the Theatre Lobby. JD and Costa were there and JD gave a small speech before Criss came out ~ expressing how thankful Criss and his family are for us and our support and love. Criss was adorable when he came out even though he was clearly tired from doing 2 shows. He was wearng a shirt that was open and showed his bare chest and I remember looking at his feet because he was wearing Affliction flip flops and it was the fisrt time I saw his bare feet in person ~ lol. Criss asked us, so how did you get here? Did you win a contest or something? (He was kidding around) and everyone said ~ "The Fansite" and Criss laughed and said ~ "Awwww, it's my Loyals" He was in good spirits and was very kind and gracious. I wrote him a letter and had a bag of Red Tootsie Pops for him. Since there weren't all that many people at the meet and greet, we decided to wait towards the end. When it was my turn, I gave him the stuff I had for him. I told him I was going to read my letter to him, but didn't want to take up alot of time. He smiled and said "I promise I'll read it when I get upstairs", he thanked me for the Tootsie Pops and called me Sweetheart. We talked for a bit and then he wrapped his arms around me for our pictures. You weren't supposed to take more than 1 picture, but Tommy took 2 of us and Sean got a candid one of Criss and I while he was waiting in line for his turn. Criss was tired so they weren't doing autographs ~ I will get my program signed another time. Criss and I kissed eachother on the cheek and hugged eachother when I left. Next it was Sean's turn and Criss made a big deal about Sean looking like him ~ Criss said "Ah, there he is, my look-a-like". He was asking the crowd, "Look, doesn't he look like me? only better looking, he pauses, starts laughing, points to Sean and says"He is, he's better looking". He continued on saying "Look, even his hair, looks just like mine". He just made a huge deal and that made Sean feel so happy. I told Criss, "Yeah, he's a magician too, it's like having a mini "you" around the house" and we laughed. Costa even said, we need to get him on some episodes of Mindfreak! We had a great time and Criss was as happy to see us and we were to see him because it had been a long time. I didn't get to talk to JD much because he was busy, but we did hug eachother. I did get to have a nice long chat with Costa while I was waiting for my friends. I was telling him about Diana and that she said to tell him hi and give him a hug for her (which I did). I expressed my sympathy about Mike and we talked about that for a bit and just chatted about different things. I mentioned Cremated and he said "That's where I remember you from :-) We talked about age and about birthdays he told me I look good (Aww how sweet) ~ someone at the Meet & Greet shared Criss' B-day and I share JD's. He asked, doesn't anyone have a July B-day and we laughed! I wished JD a Happy B-day and joked that I wasn't celebrating anymore of them and we laughed and he said "Nor am I". I took a picture with Costa and then it was time to leave. When we left, Criss, JD and Costa were walking out too and we were all walking out together. It was a wonderful, Magical Night :-) After the meet and greet, we ran into Marisa, another friend and we were all thinking of going to LAX ~ but since I had my 18 year old son with me, I decided not to on this trip. Once again the thought of going out partying made me a bit sad because Diana and I were planning an LAX night out. It was nice to see Marisa and we took a cute picture together and talked for a little bit. The next day was Saturday, the day we would be leaving Vegas. I was hungry and ordered room service for the first time at the Luxor and it was really good and I was glad for the convenience. We decided to do a little shopping, so we went to the Believe store where we bought some stuff ~ shirts, candles and I got some jewelry. After that, we went to the Criss Angel Store and I got some things there ~ I especially love the new bling-bling shirt I bought ~ it simply says "Criss Angel" across the front in Crystals. Luckily as we were walking through the Atrium, we ran into 2 really good friends of ours Deidra and Karen!! I just heard someone yell "Susie!" and I turned around and there they were!! What a welcome sight they were ~ we were so happy to see them!! There were smiles and hugs all around. Since we were standing in front of Tacos and Tequila we all decided to have lunch together there. We had such a good time and spent all afternoon with them. I was glad they came over there ~ because we hadn't seen them in a while. Plus, I kept missing calls on my cell phone, bcause being on the 29th floor I wasn't getting good reception and my calls kept dropping. I missed Diana's call because of that too. Now it was early evening and we all said good-bye and Sean and I got ready for our drive home. We had a fabulous time and made some more great memories to cherish forever. Believe was absolutely Fantastic ~ We can't wait to go back and see it again and next time it will be with our dear Diana!!

Hope you enjoyed my story and as always, Loyal Love to all :-)

P.S. My heartfelt thanks and love to my friend Marta for squeezing in my last minute entry into the Loyal Book for Criss. I can't believe I got so busy with life that I forgot to submit something until the last minute. I'm grateful to have been a part of your beautiful project. Your friendship means so much to me ~ love you xo.

Also to my friend Cindy ~ thanks for all your sweet messages and for your priceless friendship. You are so special to me ~ love you xo! and I know we will make it out there to Vegas together one of these times and it will be fabulous.