There is no better city in the world to seek inspiration with regard to the topic of fantasy than our very own. That’s right diligent readers, if you want to fribble your day away dreaming about fantastical things than you are living in the right place. We certainly have an abundance of over-the-top pursuits worthy of both discovery and acquisition. From shopping and dining to shows and activities, Las Vegas is certainly your oyster when it comes to the world of fantasies.

I will be the first to tell you as a lover of football, my fantasies always tend to revolve around the gridiron. I grew up in Texas so come to my affection for the sport honestly. Where I grew up, football was like a religion that you paid homage to every Friday night no matter what. My high school had upwards of 10 coaches for our varsity team and the team itself had three sets of uniforms: home, away and special occasion. Our practice field even had Astroturf, and this was back in the mid-’80s when it was still a new fangled technology.

And because of my Texas roots I am, of course, a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. I especially was all about a certain UCLA quarterback who played at Big D during the ’90s and sported the number eight. I even have a life-size cardboard cut-out of him in my garage (he keeps an eye on things when I am gone). But I am not the only female I know who loves her football. I know plenty of diehard fans around this city who are gearing up for the greatest day football will offer this year on Sunday, February 7 when the Super Bowl is played in Miami. That being the case, I couldn’t think of a bigger fantasy for both men and women than quarterbacks. Oh yes, every girl wanted to date the high school or college quarterback and every guy wanted to be him.

So I tasked Up Close & Personal scribe Marsala Rypka with quite a mission – hunt down the best quarterbacks of the gridiron and find out what they are all about. She more than succeeded and on page 36 brings to you

NFL legends Boomer Esiason, Warren Moon, and Steve Young. Now that’s a holy trinity in the universe of footballdom! I think you will really enjoy getting to know each of them better.

And because not everybody does love football, which is hard for me to even fathom, Luxury writer Cindi R. Maciolek discovered some other fantasy activities that our male readers will enjoy reading about and even pursuing in her story “Say there, big boy! What’s on your mind?” on page 51.

And not to overlook the other half of our readership, we have assembled an array of gorgeous gems in our “Fantasy Island” photo feature by photographer Jim K. Decker, found on page 89. Brilliant pieces from famed jewelers Cartier,

Van Cleef & Arpels and deGrisogono, all located at Crystals in CityCenter, pop off the page in this sparkling jungle utopia.

Enjoy the new issue and have a fantasy filled month!