Rehan Choudhry is the CEO & Co-Founder of the Life is Beautiful Festival, a music and food festival that kicks off in downtown Las Vegas next month. Before moving to Las Vegas three years ago, Choudhry received his MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Dear Las Vegas,
Here goes nothing... I am absolutely, positively, and almost psychotically in love with you. There... I said it. Now before you say anything, tell you why.
First, you're batshit fucking crazy. And that's an incredibly sexy attribute. Seriously, your craziness would send Liza Minnelli running for the hills of Red Rocks. Whether its the TI sirens whose sultry voices sink ships nightly, or Shania Twain gallantly riding into the City on a parade of stark black stallions, your enthusiasm for showcasing the beauty in life is borderline manic. Now, couple that with a healthy passion for obliterating the boundaries of fine cuisine while simultaneously infusing cultured cocktails into every (and I mean EVERY) social situation, and you are officially the toughest girl to read I have ever dated. And it's that dual personality that keeps me holding on.
You keep me so engaged that my last girlfriends, in comparison, seem "plain jane" at best. Virginia is for lovers, yes that's true. Tampa is a haven of beaches & bikinis, but so what? Atlantic City is your neighborhood slot machine, great. Chicago is a foodie heaven but, between you and me, a bit too frigid. You my dear? You are a bottle of 1982 Petrus served on a gondola ride by a stunning beauty singing you Adele songs so well you would have thought it was Adele herself. Not an Adele fan? Don't worry, she has 49 other voices to serenade you with.
But let's be honest, you're not all that crazy. Trust me, I know you way better than those other guys. You are so much more than just a good time. For starters, you are a spirited intellectual at heart. I'd even go so far to say that you are an entrepreneur at your very core. I mean who else keeps the company of a llama-toting genius whose $350 million "project" is capturing the attention of the world's brightest and most talented minds and focusing it onto Downtown Las Vegas? Yes, the part of the city formerly known as the best place to get a photograph with Tupac (who apparently is very much alive). I mean you really do have an urban wonderland in the palm of your hand. To get personal, you single handedly took me from a casual conversation at The Beat Coffeehouse & Record Store about an idea to create a festival to announcing a major music, food, art & learning festival called Life is Beautiful in less than six months? It's not just a great sound bite... it's incredibly inspiring. You are incredibly inspiring.
Las Vegas, you are my one true love. You make dreams come true. You provide happiness to the lost. You inspire the uninspired. And you continue to earn your place in my heart. You are the queen of all queens. And if anyone ever tries to challenge that, I've got an entire community of people who would risk their lives defending you. But let's be honest... who would mess with a girl who owns a fully functioning pyramid with a spotlight shining into the heavens as if to challenge any neighboring planet with lifeforms to an intergalactic game of beer pong. Trust me, no one would consider it.
Good night baby. I'll see you in the morning, though I may not remember any of this...
Cheers,
Rehan Choudhry