Well I’ve been home for a full week  from Detroit, and I think I have fully recovered. LOL!!!  Wow, what an amazing and fun time we had at Bouzouki’s in Detroit. … The staff was incredible, the girls were delightful and the club was nice and intimate but not too small!! There were several events going on (tattoo convention, hot rods and 2 hockey games).  Saturday night’s game was against the Avalanche (Denver) and Detroit lost. … Def a good time to keep your mouth shut about your hometown. They are pretty darn passionate about their teams and I wasn’t lookin’ to make any enemies. With all of the festivities, downtown was packed and so was the club.

Our shows worked out perfectly. Olivia did 3 songs, I followed with 3, and then the grand finale — 1 song together. … Yummy!!!  I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so much! Getting back on the stage was amazing, having an incredible person/ partner to perform with and hang out with was the BEST! What set the tone for the whole trip was our wonderful host Dennis (general manager). THANK YOU so much!!!  (Hope you enjoy the rest of my Chunky Monkey!)   🙂

So you wouldn’t think that this trip could get any better, RIGHT? Ow it does! Uncle Gibby our long-time friend on the site and AEE trips decided to come on in to the Motor City from Wisconsin and hang out with us for a few days. Although our hours of operation weren’t synced up, we did get a chance to grab dinner one evening.

The next BIG event was a delayed arrival — Charlie came in from Maine via Philly and another place I think. …  Well Charlie was set to arrive on Fri but, was  stuck in Philly overnight,  bless his heart. … To top it off on his way home, yep you guessed it . He was stuck in St Louis overnight.  Yikes!!!  He spent more time getting there than being there, but we were so happy he made it, if only for a short time. He and UG came up to our dressing room to hang, chat, take some pics for Shayla.com and get some signed goodies from Olivia and me. Charlie brought a BIG bag of goodies t00! (I think it was for Vday, Bday and Xmas?) Some fab candy from Maine and a lobster! (Salt water taffy, dark choc drops, truffles, choc covered Maine blueberries, and yep a choc lobster!) To top it off he brought the CD (soundtrack) of Shock and DVD Blue Ray versions of The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp to help update my library! (All are on VHS.) I have gained every ounce of fat back that I had burned dancing. Sigh!!! But it was worth every delicious bite!!!!!

Last but def not least, a HUGE THANK YOU to Eno Erif!!!!  He is the go-to guy for anything Shayla! (He knows more about my career then I do!) He fine-tuned, added to, and polished my credit sheet so that it was presentable and up to date.Then he sent it out to all that would take it to promote our appearance at Bouzouki’s. Thank you E,  for all that you do. …. You are priceless!!!  Muah!!!

Live Love and Laugh

S

So I was looking for a particular story that I had started last week and found several that, well, never made it out of the drafts department.   🙄 So here ya go!!!

It all started on Wed. Steve (long time group member) and I caught our flight out of DIA.  Once in LV we were met by our local LV friend Lon. After grabbing lunch and picking up Maverick (our token Londoner) we met up with everyone else at the hotel and  made the long journey to the convention center to pick up our badges. Cytherea and I took a walk around to check out the chaos of  booth parts,  and people getting things set up for the Big Day.   Now for dinner, we decided to hit a new pub in the hotel. … Thank goodness we had Maverick, to advise us on what to get. Toad in the Hole anyone? Or how about a Spotted Dick for dessert!!?? Lots of food and many drinks were consumed over the course of the evening as other friends arrived …  Harry, Eric, and then the highlight of the evening, Cheyenne Silver joined us! What a pleasant surprise!!!!

The next day came quite early … 6:00 am. Argh!!! I was off to a breakfast meeting with Lucky and Andre Madness. I’m not much of a morning person, but Andre is an exception to the rule. I hadn’t seen him in years and it was nice to catch up!!!! Then it was time to get ready and head to the show. …

I’ve been doing the AEE shows since ’93, with a small break the last few yrs. It was nice to be there on my own time for a change!!! We decided to wander around and get the lay of the land, which took about 20 min. I couldn’t believe how small it had gotten.  It wasn’t what it used to be. … Heck the biz as a whole has changed considerably!!!! The most exciting thing for me was seeing some old friends and interacting with the fans. … That’s always been the best part!!!!  Over the next few days we would pop in to the convention here and there, but we wouldn’t stay long. It was super busy and pretty boring!!!

Our evenings were filled with friends, food, drinks and very interesting conversations. … Perfect!!!!! One of the best meals we had was at Birtolli. We were seated in the wine room and had an amazing meal with some new friends.

Cheyenne was staying in the suite with us and we hooked up with Cytherea daily. … I actually did her makeup one day, and it turned out pretty darn good!!! I did have a beautiful canvas to work with, so it was easy!!!! The girls decided they wanted to shoot a G/G scene, so I was more then willing to run the camera.  It was super hot … a bath tub and 2 delicious  girls. What more could you ask for?  I do have a new found respect for the folks behind the camera!!!

Now we come to Saturday and the Awards show at the Palms. … OW Boy!!!! It was an absolute zoo and not very organized in my opinion. A lot had changed. Showtime was running things now. Once we finally got in to the main room, we stood in line to walk the red carpet. I couldn’t believe how much press was there! It was Awesome!!!! We snaked through the room doing interviews and taking pictures, then the line weaved outside and back through the main doors of the Palms. Then we hit absolute insanity with no place to go, so we followed the herd to a room a few floors down. We ran in to Chi Chi LaRue, Tera Patrick and many others. … It was getting packed and uncomfortable so Cheyenne and I decided to get out of there and find our peeps and grab a drink. We needed it!!! The highlight of the night was sitting in a VIP box away from it all, with our own bar. Thanks Jack! Wish you were there!!!!!. … Ow Yah and seeing  all of the beautiful girls dressed to the 9’s. The show itself was okay. We cut out early!!!!