Valentine's Day and then some

Yesterday, J.D. had the day off and the two of us explored the Phoenix area a little more. I'm starting to know my way around the area pretty well now! With Cactus League (MLB) Spring Training starting next weekend, we're going to have a steady flow of visitors coming and going throughout the month of March. I can't believe baseball season is almost here! In preparation for all the craziness March will bring, J.D. and I set out yesterday to purchase a few Spring Training tickets. We went to two stadiums in Phoenix, including the Arizona Diamondbacks.

I'm stoked out of my mind that we'll be hosting the 2011 All-Star game, and also, that I'll get to attend/work it!

The field (my new office). A pretty imposing building, if you ask me!

We walked around inside and I used my employee discount to purchase clothing with D-backs logos. Yep, I have to wear official merchandise for all the games, but at least I get a discount I guess. As you can imagine, all that running around made us pretty hungry. Out of impulse, we decided it would be kind of fun to do a Valentine's lunch instead of dinner, especially since we hadn't really made any plans or reservations. Instead, a recent episode of Man v. Food inspired our lunch in downtown Phoenix.

I guess I should back up and explain that downtown Phoenix is basically all the sporting venues (NBA, MLB) and a healthy mix of bars to accommodate the rowdy sports enthusiasts. We knew we HAD to try Alice Cooper's restaurant, Cooper'stown. I hope you recognize the pun within the name. What we really came for was in the episode of MVF I linked above. The Big Unit -- a 22" hot dog made to honor former D-back, future MLB hall of famer and generally gigantic man, Randy Johnson, whose nickname is the Big Unit.

I couldn't really make up my mind on the menu, but J.D. really wanted the 'dog. He put forth a valiant effort, yet could only finish all but 9" of the hot dog. In case you're wondering, I ordered a MASSIVE turkey burger with melted swiss and portobello mushrooms. And it still was dwarfed by the Big Unit! I couldn't finish mine either. Let's see that thing again, in all its meaty glory.

We each enjoyed our food with some beers on tap and took in the environment, which was sort of a mix of the Hard Rock Café and a well-packed sports bar. It was awesome! I imagine it's quite an untraditional place to celebrate Valentine's Day, but we were hardly the only ones there. And nothing says love like a 22" wiener! When we returned home, I was surprised to find these:

Beautiful and super fragrant roses delivered just for moi. We then heated up leftovers for dinner, popped open some wine and caught up on our DVR. Mostly, this week's Jeopardy! special -- the IBM Watson challenge! Call me a super nerd, but I have been pumped for this forever. Watson kicked ass, and I did fairly well myself against three super geniuses. All-in-all, I'd say it was a fun holiday!

We ended the night by grocery shopping, where I found some key ingredients to inspire this morning's breakfast, the Blueberry Coconut Green Smoothie. I'll have you know that until this morning my green smoothies never actually turned out green. What a way to transition out of Valentine's Day and into preparations for the next holiday in March...

Blueberry Coconut Green Smoothie:

• 1 c spinach
• 1 c Silk coconut milk
• 1 banana
• 2 handfuls blueberries
• 1/2 t chia seeds

It was so refreshing and tropical that if not for the color, I never would have guessed it was full of spinach! And there's another cup in the fridge for me to devour later :)

In my next post, I promise I'll show you what I did with this...

Super Bowl Sunday = Super Fun!

The past few days of my life have been FILLED with sports. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way :) After my first day with the D-backs, I actually scored a pair of passes to the Phoenix Open (PGA) from my boss. I don't think I've ever really been to a professional golf tournament before. I mean, I worked a few at my old university's athletics department, but I haven't ever spectated before.

So on Sunday morning, J.D. and I drove up to Scottsdale and caught a few hours of the tournament. Um, if you've never been to one before, let me just say: THEY'RE AWESOME! Everyone there was boozing, enjoying the sun and basically hanging out. Pretty typical of the Arizona State area anyways :)

Phones and cameras weren't allowed at the course, so I snapped a quick photo on top of the course

J.D. advised me not to partake in any alcohol at the PGA stop, because we were only a few hours away from Super Bowl festivities. Since we still don't know many people in the area, we reserved a table to watch the game at a local bar and grill we've been wanting to try for quite some time.

Nevermind the crazy big game atmosphere, this place was amazing! The food wasn't really anything I'd imagine stumbling across in a bar. And since we'd reserved a spot, they gave us a whole bunch of goodies to take home including: beer glasses, a hat and a cocktail shaker. I think I've admitted before that I like to steal glasses from bars... This was like the best of both worlds because I got to stuff glasses inside of my purse, but didn't have to feel guilty about it, haha.

Watching a game at a bar with 30+ TVs is something else. Since I'm not a huge football fan I decided to continue my tradition of rooting for the team with the hottest QB. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers it was then! Agree with me, ladies?!

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Everyone in the bar clearly had a side, so it made the game that much more fun being able to choose a side and root for it! And in keeping in the spirit of Super Bowls past, I saved my bathroom breaks for AFTER the commercial breaks :) The VW Darth Vader one was for sure my favorite... followed closely by Roseanne being knocked out in a Snickers ad. The one downside to celebrating a game at a bar is the chatter inside made it difficult to hear all of the commercials. Then again, it might have been the booze...

We started off with some delicious edamame...

I was in the mood for Mexican, so I ordered carnitas tacos with queso dip and lime rice...

Savored the BEST girlie drink of my life (frozen Hurricane/margarita mix)...

And for dessert we decided to split house-made-from-scratch chocolate chip cookies. They were AMAZING -- even if I could only eat two, haha. It was a ton of fun; I'm glad I finally got to experience a Super Bowl bar party since all I've ever been to were house parties before this season.

And now that the football season is over, I may just be the happiest girl on the planet. Because that mean's BASEBALL is hereeeeeeee! Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on Sunday, but as an employee, I reported today :) I got a sneak preview tour of the Salt River Fields facilities in Scottsdale -- the newest Spring Training facility in all of baseball! And I set to work for about half the day. I'm so giddy I can't even contain myself.

Bring on the MLB season!!!

Week 5: Work in Major League Baseball!!!!

I am a HUGE baseball fan, I hope you guys know this by now. I played softball my whole life and have tried to work in baseball as much as possible. Ever since I was little, I wanted to work for my local (aka favorite) team, the Oakland A's. But that was never in the cards for me. Instead, I covered some collegiate softball for the UC Santa Barbara student newspaper as a writer in college. I worked for a semi-professional team as an intern in college. Then when I graduated I worked for MLB.com, covering professional beach volleyball. After that I went back to working collegiate athletics and worked for a Division I school in the Big West Conference traveling with the baseball team, writing articles for the website and broadcasting for a local radio station. Along that time I also had the fortune of working as the official scorer (holy pressure) for the A's minor league Single-A affiliate, the Stockton Ports.

But I never was able to snag a job in Major League Baseball. Until now!!!!!!!

Monday I officially started my "first day" with the D-backs, working a little, attending my new hire orientation, getting ballpark tours and of course, enjoyed a staff lunch. While I've seen the underbelly of minor league and collegiate stadiums, I've never been inside the bottom areas of a professional stadium. Except all the interviews I've racked up through the years. While I still haven't gotten a super official tour yet, it will happen! And I start back up again next week, working from the Diamondbacks' brand new Spring Training facility in Scottsdale.

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I'm stoked out of my mind. Especially when you think that Spring Training kicks off in less than three weeks and the season officially opens in APRIL (Happy Birthday to me, right?!).

J.D. took me out to dinner to celebrate my first day last week at a local Italian restaurant by our house. I've been wanting to try it out for a long time and it surely didn't disappoint :)

Pinot Grigio with roasted red pepper bruschetta

Sea bass poached in Mediterranean butter

The next night we had plans of either seeing a movie or going bowling, but they were foiled by the late-night league going on. Instead, I happened to notice a wine tasting room and cupcake shop nearby!! I would, right?! So we each decided to order a three-glass wine flight, along with baked brie in a raspberry chipotle sauce. I think the choice turned out to be MUCH better than bowling anyways. However, I still want to see Black Swan!

And while the cupcake shop was closed, I definitely made a point to check it out the following day. It's brand new and supposedly once a month they do a wine and cupcake pairing with the wine tasting room next door! Very much like the American Cupcake experience I had in San Francisco before moving to Arizona. That was a super fun outing and I cannot wait to see how the places here in AZ pair cupcakes and wine :) Guess we'll have to wait and see, huh?!

This week has been busy socially and also professionally. In addition to having my first day, I've also subbed at an elementary school, a high school and I've tutored close to eight hours after school this week. Man, working several part-time jobs is really tiring :) But let's not end on work, let's finish on a high note here! I leave you with peanut butter cup and red velvet cupcakes. Such a tease...

And don't forget, you can keep tabs on all my new weekly endeavors here!

Ginger Basil Salmon with Garlic Roasted Broccoli & Peppers

This past week was kind of a rough one on me. I'm activated in the substitute teacher call list for a school district about 25-30 minutes away. After a few weeks, no one had been asking for subs and I felt like that was all just a colossal waste of time and money on my part to get certified (after six months here, my only income has been infrequent tutoring and working a couple of college games here and there).

Anyways, I got a call Wednesday night to sub for a first grade class and accepted on the spot. School started at 9:05 a.m., and subs have to check in 30 minutes prior to obtain keys, lesson plans, etc. So basically I had to leave my house at 8 in order to arrive at 8:30 a.m. It was alright, the kids were fun but stretching out lesson plans to fill the entire day was overwhelming and exhausting! Luckily she had a student teacher who helped me get my bearings and taught the math hour of the day. All the coloring, singing and clapping really had my head spinning ;)

Then after school I had another call, I could choose between a sixth grade (elementary school) class, or 7th-8th grade (junior high) science. Without hesitation I opted for the junior high class. However, school starts at 7:20 a.m. at both the middle and high schools in that district. Ugh, that meant I had to check in at 6:50 a.m., leaving my house at 6:20 a.m., and thus waking up around 5:45 a.m. after showering the night before.

Needless to say I was exhausted. And now I think I'm getting a little sick from all the sick student teachers, co-workers and kids. Just two days and my body can't take it, ha! But the real reason I wanted to sub is coming soon! I'm on the primary call list for the ONLY French teacher in the district and I will be filling in for her in February. I can't wait! High school makes me nervous, but the middle schoolers all kept telling me how pretty and nice I was, and kept trying to guess my age... I remember my substitute teacher experiences in middle school to be horrendous. At least I didn't suffer the same fate as many of the fill-in teachers we had back then.

So all this talk about kids and education and learning... I just want something adult to eat and talk about :) Which is why I bring you my recipe for Ginger Basil Salmon with Garlic Roasted Broccoli & Peppers!

Ginger Basil Salmon

Ingredients:

• 1 medium salmon fillet
• 1 t minced garlic
• 1 t fresh minced ginger
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 t red wine vinegar
• 4 T chopped basil
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Make hash marks on both sides of the salmon, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the salmon and coat both sides, stuffing the marinade into the cuts on the fillet. Cover and let sit for one hour in refrigerator before grilling.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli & Peppers:

Ingredients:

• 5 c chopped broccoli
• 1 c sliced red and yellow peppers
• 2 1/2 T olive oil, divided
• 2 T minced garlic
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss broccoli, peppers and 2 T olive oil in large bowl to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to baking dish. Roast 15 minutes. Top broccoli and pepper with remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir vegetables well until coated. Roast until broccoli is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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I served my salmon over a bed of quinoa and enjoyed the meal with a glass of Pinot Grigio :) It was heavenly. And on the bright side, I start my job with the Diamondbacks NEXT MONDAY -- in EIGHT days!!! I cannot wait. Until then, I'll be doing a lot more tutoring, subbing and working college athletic events. I'm a busy girl :)

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After over 30 job interviews, nearly five months of unemployment and dwindling savings accounts (not to mention the borderline depression and laziness that took over my life here in Arizona), I GOT A JOB AND ACCEPTED IT!!!!!!!

You'll remember I was offered a job in Nevada that seemed like a great job, except I had strong reservations about moving out of state again, away from my bf and puppy. Well, this job is in Arizona! I get to stay at home.... and commute... ewww. But it'll be worth it. Here are a few hints :)

I.am.beyond.frickin.excited!!! It's been my dream, ever since high school, maybe longer, to work for a Major League Baseball team!!!!!!! I can't can't can't can't wait. But I'm going to have to, because the position doesn't start until Spring Training reports to the Cactus League in February. And it is only a seasonal position. But who knows, this gets my foot in the door and might help me find something long term down the road :) Anyways, in the meantime I'm still working college basketball games, tutoring students in the area and I believe in December I'm going to start subbing French classes at a local high school! So many opportunities have come my way this month. For that I am grateful.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I know mine will be :)