Connie "Miss Silicon Valley Yelp" C.'s Profile

Although I have a waxer that I love in SF, I decided it was time to find a waxer in San Jose. A trusted one too, because Brazilians are serious business! You have to make sure the waxer uses the best wax, and it's super important that everything is sanitary. My fellow female yelpers led me to Lori, and I'm glad they did! I called her in the morning, and she was able to see me the same day.

Lori was extremely personable and her technique was awesome! She was so quick -- everything was off in less than 15 minutes. She was also very thorough and used tweezers to make sure every little hair was removed. There was no double-dipping either (which is key), and my skin was nice and smooth, with no irritation at all afterward. I also loved that I got to lay on a comfy bed -- the ones used for facials -- making the waxing relaxing!

While Lori's prices are quite a bit more than my waxer charges in SF, she does offer a sliding pricing scale: $55 for every 4-5 weeks, $45 for every 3 weeks and $35 for every 2 weeks. I can save about 100 miles roundtrip and 2 hours of driving time, so it equals out.

Lori also specializes in facials. You'll find Lori's really cozy treatment room inside of Beauty Avenue, a beauty supply store which also has a hair salon in the back, in the plaza where David's Bridal is.

I can't believe I hadn't been here before today! I love crepes, and the ones I had here were some of the best I'd ever had. My lovely friend and I were waiting in line to order, and both the person in front of us and behind us were regulars, and kept on reiterating how awesome the food was. Thanks to the guy behind us for overhearing that I wanted to get the chicken and pesto crepe, because he suggested I substitute sun-dried tomatoes for fresh tomatoes. It really made the crepe that much more delicious!

My friend had the shrimp ratatouille and we split a strawberry and nutella dessert crepe. Her savory crepe was just as tasty as mine. Both savory crepes were topped with a light cream sauce -- hers had mushrooms in it, and I believe mine had basil. The sauce really adds a wonderful flavor. Our sweet crepe was so good -- we really wanted to keep at it, but these things were huge!

There's really limited seating, but we managed to get a seat inside, although we really wanted to dine on the patio. I can't wait to come back to try the other crepes on the menu. Everything looks so yummy!

What a beautiful upscale restaurant at the end of Downtown HMB! I love the chic, rustic interior with the exposed beams and large fireplace in the middle of the main dining room. The large lounge area by the bar is a great spot to have a glass of wine or cocktail while enjoying the live jazz bands that play there nightly (closed on Mondays and open for brunch only on Sundays).

We were excited to end our mini romantic weekend with dinner here; especially after knowing it recently reopened after renovations and now has a new critically acclaimed chef.

We definitely indulged here, starting with the lovely kampachi sashimi and the wild scallop with a generous cut of delicious pork belly and a huitlacoche taquito. Our neighbors had the very rich foie gras which they told us was nearly as good as getting it in France.

For entrees, I had the honey glazed Kurobuta pork tenderloin, and my guy had the "Beautiful Wild Halibut," which was indeed a beautiful fillet. The pork was cooked perfectly - very tender with great flavors.

For dessert, we had the decadent Chocolate Mousse Bar - a flourless chocolate cake with milk chocolate cremeux and dark chocolate mousse. Had I not been so full, I could have gotten another one.

The wine selection was excellent -- we asked our server to pair wines for us. With their 4,000 bottle wine collection, it was too difficult for us to make the selections ourselves!

We had a fantastic meal, and can't wait to return for a special occasion!

The best thing about Dancin' on the Avenue was the red velvet ice cream sandwich from KICKS! It's their newest flavor! I have officially died and gone to heaven...

After an afternoon at the beach, I had a craving for some Thai. This was one of the places the Yelp app turned up, and since it was the closest spot with decent reviews, we decided to give it a try.

The restaurant was really busy, but we were seated right away. The staff was personable and service was rather quick. I did notice that the patrons were primarily non-Asian, so I was a little skeptical about the flavors of the food. Indeed, the papaya salad and pad kee mao were both not nearly as spicy as I'm used to having at places in San Jose and San Francisco. However, the food was still tasty, and the prices were very reasonable.

I did notice that they had F.B.I. (fried banana ice cream) on the menu for only $1.95. Unfortunately, I'd already exceeded my dessert intake for the day earlier on in the day at the beach, so I skipped it... I'm sure it's pretty decent though!

We stayed right around the corner from Barbara's, so this was the perfect spot to grab some lunch after checking out. The place was packed, but the wait for a table was only about 15 minutes. While we could have ordered from their To-Go counter, we decided to have a nice sit-down meal inside.

Our server was super friendly, and let us know what her favorite picks were. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs, so we ended up ordering much more than we should have! The Italiano seafood combo pasta was a generous portion of clams, mussels, fish, scallops, prawns and calamari in a light cream sauce. We also had the fried seafood platter - the fried calamari and cod were super tasty. In the end, we both agreed that the best items were the dungeness crab sandwich and the clam chowder was some of the greatest both of us have ever had. Next time, I'll be more than happy with getting just the two of those.

Service was great, and the oceanview was beautiful. Prices were a little on the expensive side, but we could see why!

What a lovely place!! This inn is the perfect place for a weekend getaway. Once we arrived, we found an envelope addressed to me with a letter telling us which room was ours. There are only six rooms here, and we got lucky number 5, Ross' Cove (all of the rooms are named after famous surf spots in the area), which is located upstairs. We had gotten the anniversary special, so upon entering our room, a bottle of champagne and a gift card to HMB Brewing Company was waiting for us. So sweet!

The room is beautiful, and super cozy! They did a remodel of the place recently, and all of the amenities are updated. Next to the gas fireplace, there's a plasma TV on the wall, and there's free wi-fi and an iPod docking station, and we discovered the DVD player and microwave inside the cabinet next to the fridge. The bathroom is very elegant and spacious, with a soaking tub and rain showerhead, and Crabtree & Evelyn bath products.

I love the super cush king sized Tempurpedic bed, and that there's two fleece blankets in case you want to cuddle up on the deck with a cup of hot cocoa. The deck that overlooks the ocean! Yes, this is a super quaint oceanfront property conveniently located near Harbor Village, just around the corner from the fabulous Italian restaurant Mezzaluna.

Next time, it would be fun to get 5 other couples in on this place and rent all of the rooms out. The bottom floor rooms all have a cute little patio with lawns. You could do a mini BBQ!

Oh, one more thing. There is a fog horn that goes off every 10 seconds, which you can hear faintly in the background with the patio door closed. This might irritate some people, but it's actually pretty soothing because it's so rhythmic. Plus it reminds you that you're right on the ocean!

Sensory overload! In a good way. Once I walked in, I was greeted by multiple smiling faces and a space so colorful it just felt cheerful and inviting. The place looks deceptively small, but once you explore it, you realize that there's an upstairs lounge and a back room after back room, so there are a lot of dining areas.

I started off at the large bar area, and asked the bartender for recommendations. His specialty was the mojito, and although I love mojitos, I wanted to try one of their specialty cocktails so I got one of the "Naughty and Flirty" ones called "The Guru" (elderflower, lychee and champagne). It was very smooth and the flavors were very pleasant. I also had a taste of "The Mistress of Spice" (yes, all the cocktails are named after Indian films) which was made with tequila and five spiced mango -- awesome!

Our group of five decided to order everything family style, so we began with a trio of samosas, the avocado jhalmuri aloo, and tandoori kebabs which were more like huge pieces of chicken and lamb chops. The lamb chop was fantastic -- so tender and flavorful. We also had baby eggplant and peppers and I believe a dal -- again, super flavorful with very tasty sauces perfect for dipping our garlic naan and rosemary pesto naan in. For main dishes, we had the cornish hen, basil chicken and seabass, which were all delicious. It was all perfect for sharing, and everything was beautifully presented and prepared. Dinner began with glasses of champagne and the food was paired with a fabulous Schug Pinot Noir, recommended by the sommelier who put the entire wine and cocktail list together. I loved the fact that the wine list features many women winemakers and eco-conscious varietals, and that for every bottle of wine, $1 goes to a breast cancer charity too!

For dessert, we tried some of their authentic choices: spongy milk dumplings with saffron, cardamom and rose sauce, and the Indian dessert platter. All I can say is that they were very different than anything I'd ever tried before, with unique flavors and textures that my tastebuds weren't prepared for. Unfortunately, the more familiar desserts like the triple chocolate creme brulee and ice cream were unavailable due to freezer issues.

All in all, an incredible meal, and a fantastic addition to downtown Mt. View! I was also happy to hear that the Executive Chef (formerly of Mantra in Palo Alto) is the same age as me. Kudos to him and the rest of the team!

My baby brother is now my big brother... all because of Wingstop! Here's how:

Me: What's new?
Brother: DUDE. Guess what! I've gained HELLA weight!
Me: What?!
Brother: Yeah! I'm 200 pounds now.
Me: Really?? How'd you gain 30 pounds??
Brother: I eat Wingstop like every day!
Me: OMG. You really need to STOP eating WINGS!

Of course he hasn't. And where's the first place we head to after he picks me up from John Wayne Airport? You guessed it. We came here and got an order of 35 garlic parmesan wings and fries, with extra parmesan on the side. Don't worry, we didn't have 35 between the two of us. But he probably gobbled up at least 15. The wings were pretty tasty, I have to admit.

Just don't overdo it like my brother. Instead of Wingstop, STOPWINGS is what this place should be called in his case!

Kincaid's is a really lovely spot to brunch on the Peninsula. The bay view is just beautiful on a sunny day, and really the best thing about the place. The restaurant was a choice spot for many families on Father's Day, but not entirely full.

However, like most chain restaurants, they suffer from having food that's reasonably priced but lacking in quality. Our food was good, but not great. I had the tiger prawns, which were cooked nicely, but left me wishing for more... My plate was a cholesterol nightmare with heavy mashed potatoes and green beans dripping in oil. Not to mention the side of melted butter to dip the prawns in.

The service was very good, so other than the average food, brunch here was A-OK. Plus, as long as the father we were celebrating was happy, that's all that really mattered. He polished off his omelette and half an order of French toast, so clearly, he liked what he had!