Emily "Industrious" J.'s Profile

This is my go to parking garage in downtown Walnut Creek.  I can always find a spot and it isn't as crowded as the Broadway Plaza garages but just a short walk away. It is conveniently located for a trip to The Nail Shop for a mani/pedi and/or to Pyramid for a beer and snack and/or many other things.

50¢ an hour - maximum charge of $3?  That's pretty much like being free, right?

This is a fantastic store.  Parking can be a bit of a pain but I think it is worth it.  (Why is it that when people enter parking garages they seem to forget how to drive?)

I could spend hours here looking through all the wonderful kitchen appliances, serving pieces, tools, etc.  Most things seem very reasonably priced and anything that is on the pricey side usually has a less expensive counterpart.  

Setting up a registry is very simple and we started ours online.  We already knew some things that we wanted but went into the store so we could pick out some things in person.  Alright, in all honesty, we also wanted a chance to play with the "registry gun".  Jac C did a great job not scanning every item that I picked up...

For some reason, I ended up being in charge of Halloween decorating at my favorite karaoke spot.  (http://www.yelp.com/bi...)  

I had a few things already and knew there were some leftovers from previous years already at the bar but I decided the day before to buy some cobwebs.  I checked a few places and could not find cobwebs for the life of me.  I was about to give up but decided to try Big Lots on my way home.  They had a small corner of Halloween decorations and costumes.  They didn't have the fake cobweb stuff I was originally looking for but they did have something even better.  They had these large black cobweb thingies and as I was standing there looking at the other items, a staff person brought over 50% off signs.  Bonus!

I got a tasty medium soy chai latte for $4 ($3.50 w/ regular milk).

This spot is conveniently located in the Safeway shopping center.  I have never had to wait long - have only ever had, at most, one car in front of me.

The staff are very nice and this morning was no exception.

If you so desired, you could do a caffeine crawl through Todos Santos Plaza.  Starbucks - Peet's - Panama Red.

Panama Red currently has a number of special "holiday" drinks.  I wish I had read through the entire list before ordering my medium pumpkin spice latte.  Don't get me wrong, it was very tasty but I didn't notice until halfway though my beverage that they have a "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" drink which includes hazelnut (my favorite).  I suppose I will have to return to try that one.

They have free wifi and when I ordered my drink I was asked if I would need to utilize the internet and the guy helping me pointed out the access code on the bottom of my receipt.

I would definitely consider coming back here when I need some caffeine and internet in between meetings.

I stopped by here on a lunch break from work.  Parking was easy and the store is spacious with plenty of friendly staff.  I was greeted warmly when entering the store and asked if I needed help a few times while I was there.

As far as product goes, they have lots of different options, reasonable prices, and everything is well organized.  The cat things are in the back left corner and I must admit that I was distracted for a moment by the cute furry animals that I passed on the way.  Their spaces were clean and not overcrowded, definitely a plus.

This store is conveniently located and I think I will be visiting them more in the future.

I don't really care for chicken wings (I don't like getting that messy while I eat) so I ordered a chicken strips meal which includes three chicken strips, fries, drink and one dip.

For the flavor I chose lemon pepper.  The chicken strips themselves were tasty.  Crispy outside, tender inside and not greasy. The lemon pepper sauce was way too sweet.  Maybe it is better on the wings and cooked but on the side it tasted like a lemon bar...with pepper.  

I didn't care for the fries.  I like my fries crispy, at least on the outside.  These were not at all crispy.  

Their dip choices are ranch, blue cheese or honey mustard.  I got the ranch which was very tasty.

I will stick to just the chicken here and give some of their other sauces a try.

I stopped by here for a breakfast burrito after doing some grocery shopping.  They have two different breakfast burrito options on their menu, in addition to a number of other breakfast plates:
- Breakfast Burrito: Scrambled eggs with bacon, ham, cheese and beans.
- Chorizo Burrito: Mexican sausage with scrambled eggs, beans and cheese

I got the Chorizo burrito and it was delicious.  Chock full of sausage with a nice spicy kick, not too heavy on the rest of the ingredients.  Their tortillas are soft but sturdy.  The burritos are huge and I had more than enough for breakfast and lunch.  Definitely worth the $5.

Don't pass up on the free chips and salsa.  The chips are light and crispy - not too thick and very fresh.  The salsa was also very fresh and a nice topping for my burrito.

I became more and more excited, over the course of a few weeks, as I watched the arrival of this Peet's next door to my weekly karaoke spot.  This shopping center already has Trader Joe's, sushi (Ozora), Wells Fargo, karaoke! (Captain's Chest), Italian food (Evana's), Pet Food Express, Baskin Robins, a few other things...and now Peet's!  I think I could now move into this shopping center.  

This Peet's is especially spacious with plenty of seating.  This shopping center also has more than enough parking.

The staff are super nice and very eager to help you have a nice experience.  

They have delicious teas available in both loose leaf and tea bags, depending on if you want to stay or are on the run.  I went with one of my favorites - Jasmine Fancy.  

They have free wifi. There is a 2 hour limit but one of the staff told me I could get another code if I needed one.  The wifi ended up being a little iffy which is why I'm holding back on the 5th star.  

Yay!

I must admit that this was my first experience with Hawaiian Barbecue.  That said, I was rather disappointed.  

Based on the photos of the food, I knew finding something leaning on the healthy side might be difficult.  They have many plate options.  Mini or regular.  The mini includes one scoop of rice and once scoop of macaroni salad.  I ordered the mini garlic shrimp plate.  The shrimp were oily and had a weird coating on them.  I dipped them in BBQ sauce but they were still not all that enjoyable.  The macaroni salad was more like mayo salad with a bit of macaroni.  The rice was fine.  I covered it in siracha.

Overall, the amount of food was what I expected for $5.50.  (The regular was $7.50.)  I do wonder why it is $0.50 to replace one of the sides with brown rice OR cole slaw when the brown rice is only listed as $0.40 more than the white rice and the cole slaw is only listed as $0.10 more that the macaroni salad.  

As I was leaving I noticed a "healthy options" menu.  It was on the side of the wall so it wasn't very noticeable.  Garlic shrimp was listed.  It looked like the main difference between what I ordered and the "healthy option" was a green salad instead of macaroni salad.

I don't think this place has much to offer me.  Perhaps I need to go with someone who knows what they are doing?  

I was also tempted to knock off another star because one of the employees was smoking right outside their door as I was leaving.  Bleh.