Help with VEGAS! dining agenda

I am so excited for the upcoming VEGAS! trip. I type it like that because that is how it sounds in my mind. To be honest, I'm a little too excited and find myself looking up VEGAS! activities instead of working. But as hard as I've been working lately, I deserve a little internet time.

I've never actually prepared for a Vegas trip before. Well, not counting Leah's long ago wedding...Ivory and I did some prep work then because it was our first time. I usually am with larger groups, be it friends or customers, and just can't dictate what I want to do....from hotels to dining to day activities (for those I've gone to Vegas with, I had a great time, I'm not complaining!).

But now I get to do some trip planning! Yay! I agonized over hotel selections (went with the Venetian, because I wanted to stay somewhere new, Caesar's was too expensive and I feared Wynn would be too stuffy...plus I read up on tipping desk clerks for upgrades and Venetian has a high success rate). I can't even think of an appropriate word for what I'm doing over our dining agenda. Here's the tentative plans, please chime in if you have ideas.

Thursday - lounge at Mandalay day. I will eat lunch at my favorite little Mexican joint by the convention center, Border Grill. They have chips like Lime but better entrees. Thursday night is Craftsteak for Kathryn's b-day dinner. Yummy!

Friday - MGM pool day. I imagine we'll grab something quick for lunch at MGM pool, followed by Social Club (sushi) with the entire group.

Saturday is when the deliberations kick in. We're doing a special dinner on Saturday night before our 9:30 Phantom show, after much deliberation I made a reservation at Alex in the Wynn. In order to get their "recession" prix fixe menu you have to order by 7...so it's a 6:30 reservation but we can be 15 minutes late. That said, can we manage three large meals in one day?? I really want to go to Mon Ami Gabi for breakfast on Saturday bc they have a great patio with a view of the Bellagio fountains and the strip. But I want their steak frites. So steak frites for breakfast, followed by a burger at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's joint in Caesar's) followed by a multi-course dinner at 7?? It might be more than even I can manage.

The other complication is that I really want to try Bouchon (from Thomas Keller of French Laundry). Also French, but open for breakfast. So Bouchon for breakfast on Sunday, and Lotus of Siam (off strip Thai) before we head to the airport. We can go off strip on Sunday because we'll have a car because...wait for it....we're going to Hoover Damn!!!! I'm very excited for that as well. Wow, that was a very long rambling post, almost entirely dedicated to food. Does blogger offer the "continue reading" feature like Drea's blog has? Pretty sure not everyone cares about my dining extravaganza angst.