Put me in coach, I'm ready to play!

Good morning! I had the most amazing night of sleep last night. For my last Seattle post (with my Girlfriends), I didn't mention how soft the beds are at Embassy Suites. I slept until 8 a.m. this morning! I feel so relaxed, so I must have needed the sleep.

So, yesterday I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to clean the house (we're having our "little sister" dog sit for us, and I didn't want to leave dishes in the sink). I also cleaned out the fridge.

I then made Josh (my hubby) and me a soy, strawberry and banana smoothie for breakfast. My beautiful coworker gave me about 3 pounds of frozen strawberries from her garden. They made delicious smoothies. I think I'll use some of the rest of the strawberries to make some more jam!

• One big handful of strawberries
• One large banana
• One cup of organic vanilla soy milk
• 1 tbsp of sugar (I didn't put the sugar in mine, only in Josh's)

After breakfast, we were on the road, except I had to stop for a coffee at my favorite little coffee shop in A-Town. I had a medium, non-fat caramel latte. I am two drinks away from a free one. YAY!

Josh and I stopped in Centrallia, Wash. to shop at the outlets there. Josh got two new pares of jeans, two pairs of Nikes, and I bought some perfume from the Bath and Body Works clearance store.

We decided to just have lunch in Centrallia. Josh had old faithful, McDonald's, and I tried a little Teriyaki Sushi place called, "Enjoy #9 Teriyaki." I was pleased to see that Josh bought two of the grilled chicken snack wraps, rather than his normal two Big Macs. I ordered the Teriyaki and California Roll combo.

The food tasted okay, but I wouldn't recommend eating there. After I ordered I sat down and really began surveying the place. I should have done that before I ordered. Lets just say if I were a health department person, I probably wouldn't pass them, just on how dirty it looked. I am not saying it was dirty, but the building needed some serious updates. And, it only took them about three minutes to get my meal to me, so I am guessing it was all pre-cooked. Yikes! I didn't even have time to cancel my order.

I went ahead and ate it anyway. Like I said, it tasted okay. However, the whole time I ate it I was praying that I wouldn't get food poisoning. Oh and I didn't eat the salad because I didn't like the dressing. Usually I like the Asian dressing, but this tasted like mayonnaise. Oh, one thing I did like about the California rolls is that they didn't use mayo. They just used a big chunk of imitation crab. That made me feel a little more healthy I guess. And, I only ate one side of the rice!

We arrived at the hotel, checked in and I sat down to rest for a while. I was going to exercise, but the gym and pool was closed for cleaning. I did eat a granola bar because I knew we wouldn't be eating until later.

Josh finally made up his mind of which game he wanted to go to. He made it up as he saw that traffic to Tacoma was thick and going downtown to Safeco was moving much more smoothly. LOL And they say women can't make up their minds.

This is me outside of Safeco field. I felt a little guilty for not exercising, so Josh and I walked outside of the field for about 15 minutes before we went inside.

After watching some of the batting practice and standing around with Josh so he could try to get some autographs, I got hungry. I decided to eat at Ivar's (world famous you know). I ordered the "side" Caesar salad and the salmon burger. My goodness, the side salad was about two sides worth and the salmon burger was piled high with coleslaw.

I wasn't really paying attention to prices. I thought a side salad couldn't be too expensive. Well, my meal cost $18! Sheesh. I felt really bad, but Josh said it was okay, and he didn't mind. What a sweety. I ate all of the salad (minus a few bites that Josh had). I figured I might not have any more roughage until tomorrow night (or tonight). I also scrapped off nearly all of the coleslaw. I was really full afterwards.

Tips for healthy ballpark eating:

• Walk all the way around the stadium, top and bottom. Do this especially at the major league ones. You'll find that the food is not the same on the different levels. Sure it's a lot of walking, but you'll burn calories! Safeco has American food, Soul food, Mexican, Indian, Asian etc. I went to the bottom level after I had eaten and I found a sushi place and a teriyaki place. On the second level, they have an amazing Thai food place that I've had before. I highly recommend it. Especially the Garlic Beef and broccoli. I think it's call Thai Ginger.
• Remember that ballpark servings are usually ginormous. And rightfully so, since they charge an arm and a leg.
• Stay away from the deep fried foods, hot dogs, garlic fries, hamburgers etc. There are healthier options!

Before the game started Josh and I made two laps around the stadium (I had already made one lap looking for food). Then after the 3rd inning, we walked about three or four more laps, including some stairs. The game was lame...the Mariners lost 2-0. Come on guys!

Even though the Mariners lost, we still had a lot of fun, walking and talking and just spending time together. Today I think we're going to the Tacoma game, no maybe Mariners, or Tacoma, or...maybe it will depend on the traffic. :P

After my amazing night of sleep, Josh and I went down to breakfast. If you've never stayed at an Embassy Suites, their breakfasts are everything you've ever wanted. Cooked to order omelets, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast, biscuits and gravy, cereal, oatmeal, pastries, toast, bagels...you name it!

I had a cooked to order omelet made with Egg Beaters and non cook spray rather than oil. I had it stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes and spinach. YUMO! I also had a side of fruit. After I took the picture, I decided I needed a slice of whole wheat toast. Fantastico.

Right now I am sitting in bed blogging, sipping some coffee and I am getting ready to respond to some emails, and go exercise. They have a great gym here.

I am not sure of our plans for the rest of the day. I think I'll make Josh go down to Pikes so we can find a good place for lunch. Or maybe we'll check out Mercer Island. All I really want to do is relax. So far, so good.