Kelly B.'s Profile

This was our third year, so we were old hands at this!  ::laugh::: The line wasn't too long (maybe five minutes) and since we had taken a bazillion pictures in previous years, I declared a photo-free event!  So it was nice to drive along, looking and favorites and sussing out the new additions without having to stop to take a photo for posterity.  Very nice!

The lights are so heart-healing in this time of darkness.  It was a sweet and dreamy drive.  My personal favorites were the areas where you can catch a reflection in the water.  This year we went after Christmas, but it didn't matter in the least!  Merry Christmas, Los Gatos!  Welcome in the New Year with the lighting of lights!

This is a four and a half... but just couldn't go the extra 1/2.

I heard that Five Guys had opened up near our closest COSTCO, so this was my weekend "splurge".  Dr. R and I each ordered a little burger (I added bacon, he added cheese) with everything, cajun fries and regular sized drinks.  Total was sixteen and change.

The burgers were really tasty and the condiments were righteous.  You know it's good when you can taste that the pickle chips are bread and butter, you can see the fried onions and the last bite has a little bit of mushroom, yum.  One thing I liked was if you have different burgers in your order, they label them with a number and there is a "key" stapled to the side of the bag.  That way someone doesn't have to open the burger's wrap to see which one is which.  I like that aLOT!

The cajun fries were really spicy (my mouth is still burning, not just tingling), and there were more than the two of us could eat, even though we gave it a good shot.  I know, I know, I heard my mother yelling about wasting food, but we just couldn't eat any more!  It's a small detail, but I also like the fact that they had Heinz ketchup.  It's one of the few things that buying the brand name makes a difference, imho.

The site itself is nice and clean.  There were lots and lots of seating.  Wing Stop next door has outdoor tables that they have labeled, "For Wing Stop Customers Only".  Service was with a smile, from the cashier to the guy sweeping the floor and moving the trash around.  Soda dispenser had Coke products (including Zero and Caffeine Free Diet Coke).  We enjoyed our lunch.

I know many people compare this to In and Out, but Five Guys have a waaaay more varied menu!  I know I will be back.

After upping my activity level this summer, I decided to start working out again and I knew there was a pool in this 24hr fitness close to our San Jose home.  I went over and took the tour.  I had to talk a bit to get a 3-day pass in order to try it out, but after my first two trips, I bit the bullet and became a member.  I've been back several more times and this is my experience so far:

Here the pros:  
*Women's dressing room is nice and big and airy.
*They have this lockers with these cool "set your own combo" locks for those that have forgotten their locks.
*Showers have doors and there is a waaaay separate bathroom area.
*The showers are for the most part, clean and functional, although in the late evening you may encounter a hair ball or two (ew!)
*Staff and patrons are friendly, but not obsequious.  I like that they say, "Have a nice workout!" when you check in.
*I like that there are not a ton of little kiddos running around the locker room, or even the facility. (When you work with them all day, they are the last thing you want to see when you are in a towel, dripping)

Here are the cons:
*It can be pretty crowded.... wow, this is one busy gym, especially right after work (five thirty).  The parking lot can be hard to get into.
*I miss not having that machine that wrings your swimsuit.
*I don't know how I feel about co-ed saunas/hot tubs
*no lifeguard
*people who think they are the only ones that step into/out of the pool, so they leave their flip flops right at the top of the steps, where you have to step on/over them to exit the pool.

My cons are pretty minor, the pluses pretty big.  I'm enjoying the range of motion that I can get in the pool and I am glad I joined.  My sister and my niece are both members, so I am looking forward to working out together in the future.

After walking at the Baylands, Mom, Dad, and I were feeling a bit peckish and looking for a little something something to perk us up. I drove us down Castro Street in Mountain View and let the parking gods decide.  They led us to Neto Caffe and Bakery, which means that they were very pleased with us, indeed!

I sat the 'rents on the outside patio, facing the coming and going trains and went in to order.  I ordered a Turkish coffee for myself, a lemonana (soft lemonade with mint) for dad and a large decaf for mom.  Then I really went off the reservation and picked three deserts from the cold bakery case.  I picked a "snowball" (which turned out to be yellow cake, a sweetened cheese, perhaps marcaspone, raspberry jam, frosted in white buttercream and rolled in white coconut shavings), a napoleon (layers of filo, custard, whipped cream and powered sugar), and an architectural wonder that balanced two cream puffs on a base of puff pastry between a creamy log of mocha, topped by a curl of chocolate.  The fantastic surprise of the moment was, when biting into to cream puffs, finding them filled with lemon curd (oh, my gosh, my mouth is honestly watering right now!).

We shared the three pastries, and indeed we were in buttercream heaven!  Even mom, who is generally parsimonious with sweets, was muttering something about going in and picking a fourth.

One of the nicer aspects of Neto were the young men who waited the counter.  They were very helpful in carrying out the drinks as they came and generally being nice.  They must have had good parenting, because they had excellent manners.

Bathroom was clean and nicely decorated.  The patio was in the shade and the trains coming into the station was a good diversion.  Three types of fake sugar was available (spending time in Colorado - the land of only Sweet 'n Low, I have come to appreciate places that offer the yellow and sometimes even green packets!).  A dispenser of ice water flanked the door to the patiod.  Love the REAL coffee cups with saucers, glass glasses and ceramic plates.

If you go, expect to pay big city prices...  our "tea" for three cost twenty-five dollars, but it was a worthy splurge!

I had a really good meal here.  I took a lonnnnng time trying to figure out the menu and ended up with a Colorado burger that came smothered in peppers and cheese on some sort of hunky bun.  It was delicious.  The list of sides is long and interesting.  Forgoing the ubiquitous sweet potato fries, I opted for their "wedge" salad which was indeed a wedge of iceberg, crisp and crunchy, drowning in blue cheese, red onions and big ole chunks o' BACON.  It was also delicious.  It was similar in flavor and texture to many high priced restaurants (I am thinking of one in San Francisco, where we paid almost 10 dollars for the exact same thing, ten years ago).  

Two small complaints... not really complaints, just... well... I would like for them to have more than one size of soda (looks like a Mc Donald's medium) and even though their food was delicious, they were on the pricey side.  Regular Colorado Smashburger + wedge  + drink = almost twelve dollars.  

IMHO, they are better than in and out, but they are pricey, a luxury, a treat.  Yes, I will be back!

Friendly, friendly, friendly!  This is a small Starbucks, with about 12 inside tables and assorted comfy chairs.  There is an outdoor patio and a drive-thru.  I have found everyone to be very cheerful, friendly, and sweet.  They don't mind if I stay here for hours, sucking in their internet, air-conditioning, and sipping on my single skinny caramel macciato.  Everyone on their team seems to have a smile and friendly word.  Way to go, Starbucks, this is what a coffeehouse should be like, only maybe a little bigger would be nice!

The food was great.  I had chile rellenos and rice and beens, with red sauce and a sopapilla.  That part was fine, was reasonably priced, and is probably the reason I would return.

Located in the heart of Old Town, the thick adobe walls create a cool atmosphere.  Sparsely, but tastefully decorated, yes, this is the restaurant with the tree growing out of the main dining room, which I think was once a patio that got covered over.

The service was...  not so great.  Although the host was sweet and good looking, the wait staff was overworked.  This was obvious.  However, there was a certain attitude... hard to put a finger on it...  as a single diner, I am probably more aware of the eye-rolling, teeth clenching, sighing that goes on than a person who has a table of loved ones to amuse them.  I am also aware when a server makes small talk with every other table in the room, but not with me or the other single diner.  

It's also the little things, like an empty glass perched on a ledge in my sight line five feet away... that is my view.  I hate to be picky, so I will stop here.  Let's just say, the food deserves better.

When I eat alone, I often tip 20 - 30% to make up for the fact that I did not have another diner with me.  I tipped a straight 15% here.

Will I be back, probably.  Mom and dad said that I had to eat at the restaurant with the tree in the room... ::laugh:: you know they will ask!  I will tell them, "yes!"  (besides, the food was excellent)

Nice and clean and friendly.  Right next to the hotel where I am staying.  It was great to let loose at the salad bar.  The beets in the salad bar were aMAZing, but maybe that's just me.  I realize that it's easy to avoid greens when traveling the SouthWest.  Other than the chile rellenos that I ate yesterday for lunch, veggies have been escaping my purview.  

I made up for it at this Whole Foods, getting a great make-you-own-salad (7.50) and a bag of Valencia Oranges (5.99).  Although the oranges were not as sweet as the ones that Dad picks especially for me, at least one of them was juicy!  Throw in a coup of yogurts (89 cents each), two bottles of orphan beers (1.69 ea), a tub of fresh ground almond butter (1.15) and a loaf of dense (but no walnuts) cinnamon bread and you have your basic twenty-dollar Whole Foods splurge.

It was great, however, to eat the salad while talking with Reza on Skype.  I know I will go back to this Whole Foods.  The people-watching was fantastic!

Did I mention that the clerks were super-friendly?  I lost my debit card and had to go back to the hotel to track it down.  They held my groceries patiently and had them at customer service when I returned.  Niiiiice!  

Yep, I will be back for more of those fruit and veggie things!

When you are traveling alone, dinner is sometimes an awkward time.  You get tired of pbnj sandwiches or choosing between fries with that.  You want to eat good food, but you don't want anything too chi chi or romantic.  Personally, I like to take my kindle and then I have something to take my gaze while I am eavesdropping on the other patrons.

The photos on YELP made me think that this might be the right kind of restaurant and they couldn't have helped me make a better choice.  Just a few uncomplicated blocks from Old Town, Monroe's is an uncomplicated restaurant with tons of parking outside, air conditioning inside and lots and lots of food.

The service was friendly, two college guys and a high schooler who were watching the soccer game when I came in... and a boss that wanders through and a woman who carries in stacks of clean cups from goodness knows where.  The guys were super-friendly, inquiring about what I was reading on my kindle, changing the game to the All Star game and striking up a conversation.

I had chips and salsa, something smothered in green chile, with guac and sour cream and sweet potato fries.  Oh!  And iced tea.  Other people wandered in, older couples (you know the type, like mom and dad, here for the _bargain_), younger couples, two women who looked like jocks.   Everyone was spoken to, cheered up and seen to.  My iced tea never got empty and every request was met with "I'll get that right out."  

My special-of-the-day something-or-other chili, cheese and guac/sourcream smothered dish w/ drink and fries was $13.00.  I was cheered by my whole dinner.  I went for a ride with my camera.

Although it's not haute cuisine, it is very good at what it does.  It takes the tired and hungry of Albuquerque and feeds them, makes them cheerful and sends them back out in the world again.  Thank you!

I went back and had the BBQ rib dinner...

it was sooooooo good,
I can't wait to go back

oh, yeah, and watch a ball game!