Happy Hour at the Spa!

Thank goodness it’s Friday. I am so excited for my happy hour spa date with Mary at Ealia Spa in Seattle. I woke up early today so I could leave work by 3:40pm to avoid traffic. I had my standard oatmeal breakfast and tried Agave Nectar as my sweetener (so good) with a sandwich thin topped with sunflower seed butter, NUTELLA and a half of a banana. I have a feeling that purchasing a huge tub of Nutella was not in the best interest of my training schedule. :)

Such a filling breakfast!

I headed into the office and was just in a snacky mood from the beginning. I had a late lunch date at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) so by the time 1230 rolled around I just wasn’t that hungry’ for lunch. I snacked on some mixed nuts from Trader Joe’s, half of a honey greek yogurt and lastly lots of sesame sticks (probably at least 2 servings). I have a very unhealthy relationship with them. Trader Joe’s used to carry them but I haven’t found them in months. I was at Fred Meyers looking for sliced almonds and I saw some sesame sticks and got really excited. I didn’t even care how much they cost!!! Yummy in my tummy but not so yummy for my figure. When I got to CPK I just wasn’t hungry so I had a cup of white bean minestrone, it was very tasty.

Darn that Mary for my addiction to Seasame Sticks!

When 3:40 came I was out of the office to meet Mary for our Friday Night Date. At the beginning of the month I had received an email from Daily Candy that listed a Spa Happy Hour in Seattle. This immediately sparked my interest because I love the spa and I love happy hour. As soon as I saw this I emailed Mary and we figured out a date and I called Elaia Spa located in the Hyatt at Olive 8 to make reservations. The happy hour included a 20 minute foot massage and a berry vodka cocktail for $20. This is a great deal and every month Elaia Spa changes the services that are on their happy menu. Their happy hour is on Tuesday and Friday’s from 5-8pm.

Mary and I headed into Seattle around 430 because our treatment was scheduled for 5pm. Traffic wasn’t sucky at all so we actually got there early. The Hyatt on Olive 8 is a great spot the hotel is super modern and trendy. We headed up to the spa to check in and they took us back to the waiting area which was filled with organic tea and honey, gourmet hazelnuts and ritzy water!

Of course we pocketed some tea and honey & tried everything!

I love spa’s because you immediately de-stress when you walk in the door. If I could afford the spa I would go every day. As we waited we were served our vodka cocktails and I snapped a couple of pictures.

We felt so sophisticated!

                                                                                                     Bottoms Up!
Promptly at 5pm Mary and I were taken to separate rooms to get our foot massages! My masseuse’s name was Mae and she was super friendly and talented. The foot massage included a great foot scrub, hot towels and a wonderful massage with some techniques I had never felt before. At the end I ask Mae what a technique was named and she said she didn’t know so I told her to call it “The Mae!” She started to laugh and then walked me back to waiting room so I could finish my cocktail. After the massage Mary and I both felt like we had brand new feet!! We took our time and finished our cocktails and then headed down to happy hour at Urbane which is located in the same hotel.

Everyone needs a room like this!

We are not lush’s we just like great deals. We found a small table and looked over the menu. Happy hour was ending so we got our food and drink orders in just in time. Mary and I both had glasses of red wine ($6 each) and decided to split two light appetizers a cheese plate ($7) and a Mini Crudite ($6). If you want to see the overview of Urbane’s happy hour check out my post Grease Lightning Baby – Lindsay Style. The happy hour has a very enjoyable atmosphere and was packed so our waitress was slammed and wasn’t super attentive. We didn’t mind at all but apparently we looked a little upset because when she brought us the bill she said that her manager took care of our wines. That stuff never happens to us! Our total bill was under $13.00 which is amazing. I decided to tip her 100% of my portion so my total cost for happy was $12. This night was turning out to be really light on my wallet.

Super healthy Happy Hour?

After we enjoyed our wine we decided to walk around Seattle in the rain and go to H&M. We both were equally disappointed with H&M because all the clothes were blah and the trends were scary. I mean I saw acid wash jeans, spandex shorts with lace and lots of fluorescent colors. I really hope this trend goes by fast because I didn’t look good in that stuff 20 years ago so I’m pretty sure I won’t look good in it NOW.

As we left H&M, I turned to Mary and said “I need some dessert, what do you think?” In true Mary style she agreed so we went and had a milkshake at Johnny Rockets! I haven’t had a real milkshake in years so this was very exciting. I decided o get a kid’s size chocolate shake and Mary decided on getting the Oreo Cookie milkshake that had ummm…..over 1000 calories! I love that about Mary, she just didn’t care and enjoyed that darn milkshake! I enjoyed my milkshake too but didn’t even finish the kid’s size.

Delish Chocolate Milkshake!

Our total evening was under $45 dollars each. Our final thoughts on the evening why don’t all Spa’s consider happy hour’s?

Ballet Date on a Dime

I have always wanted to go the ballet but just never made it happen. I was reading an article about local events and I saw that the Pacific Northwest Ballet was playing Cinderella this February.

My friend Mary and I decided we were going to make this date happen! I remembered that PNB had a discount for AAA members for 10% off all ticket purchases, the catch is you have to use a special link: PNB AAA Member Discount. 

Mary purchased two of the cheapest tickets available for under $25 thanks to our AAA Member discount.

I decided that I would make the dinner reservations for our Saturday night date. I wanted to find a restaurant that was walking distance to McCraw Hall and accepted Mary's Passport Dining Membership Card, which is gives you access to some of the best dining in Seattle, all at preferred prices reserved exclusively for cardholders. Following the criteria above I selected Racha Noodles.

We got all dolled up for our evening and made it to Seattle around 5:30 for our dinner reservation at Racha Noodles. We decided to both get a glass of wine and split an appetizer & entrée.

• Wine was good and the pours were very large for $6
• The sampler appetizer was very yummy. The perfect mix of all the Thai appetizers, the satay and peanut sauce were especially delicious.
• The Yellow Curry with Tofu was delish. The perfect mix of sweet and spicy.
• Total dinner bill with the 50% discount off an entree equaled <$40 with tip!

Me & Mary (those are our booster seats)

McCraw Hall is much larger then I remembered and very regal. We found our seats and they were on the second center tier. The seats were wonderful because we could see everything (with the help of our fancy booster seats). Our ballet experience was wonderful, I would definitely suggest going to McGraw hall as a date or girls night out.

Grease Lightning Baby - Lindsay Style

I decided I wanted to treat my beau to a theatre night in Seattle. I had been looking at the upcoming Broadway schedule in Seattle and I saw that Grease was coming. Grease has been one of my favorite movies since I was little. I waited and waited and finally I got a Gold Star Events email with discounted tickets for $24 each. Yay!!!

I decided that I was going to make dinner after work, to avoid sitting in Seattle traffic and going over budget! I decided to go with a Cooking Light Recipe: Fusilli with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce. The recipe turned out very creamy, I do suggest getting a thick cut of pancetta to really taste it. :)

We headed into Seattle around 6:45 and found parking $10 (I really dislike paying for parking but I hate walking in the rain. :)) We picked up our tickets at will call and headed to our seats but decided to grab a drink first. I recommend pre-ordering drinks for intermission because you don't have to wait in line.

After enjoying our drink and walking around the beautiful Paramount Theatre we headed to our seats. Our seats were located on the Mezzanine 1 and actually really great seats. The show wasn't sold out so we could stretch out a bit. I was so excited about this musical because I knew the story and could sing all the songs, I'm sure it wasn't enjoyable for everyone around me. The musical is a little different than the movie but was equally good. The performance was good but the experience was even better. At times I pretended like we were in New York at a Broadway show (one of my favorite things to do in the world).

After the show was over we decided we were a bit hungry and headed to the Hyatt at Olive 8 because it was walking distance. We headed to the Urbane Lounge, which was pretty crowded for late night happy hour that is from 10pm-12am. We weren't in the drinking mood but here the lowdown the well drinks were $5, select beer $4, select wine $4 and appetizers run from $4-$8. We ordered the hummus plate and the bbq pork sandwich and both were pretty darn good. I do highly recommend the bbq pork sandwich. So the total bill with tip was $16. :)

Our evening was right around $50 a person but more importantly a wonderful date night in Seattle.