jen "Procrastinatress Extraordinaire" s.'s Profile

I'm not going to add much to the other reviews of Hugo's, but I still feel the need to write one because I just love this place so much!

My husband and I tried Hugo's for the first time last summer and loved it.  They were having their squash blossom festival and I've only had squash blossoms in Mexico City when I was living with some friends of my grandparents.  

We made plans to go there again last month and as luck would have it, squash blossoms again!  So we got the goat-cheese stuffed squash blossoms (again) and they were delish (again).  I don't remember what everyone else ordered but I got the "Callo de Hacha - pan seared scallops over sweet corn bread with rajas con crema 22."  Yes, the 22 is the price for that plate. And oh my God, I could eat that every day for the rest of my life.

I don't know what everyone else got, but they seemed as satisfied as I was.  For dessert I ordered the churros and I'd failed to notice that it came with hot chocolate and I ordered the cinnamon coffee.  A bit of a sugar overload, but worth it!  The last time we came we got some sort of spicy chocolate cake thing for dessert and that was orgasmic, too.

I wish we could afford to eat here more often!

I was given a coupon for a Spa Pedicure at Josephine's by my boss for Valentine's Day.  I'd never had a pedicure before, but for random reasons had 2 before redeeming my coupon.  They were unimpressive.

For the record, I am not one of those women who forgets to take time out for herself.  I'm all ABOUT that.  Rainy Friday night?  Perfect for a soak in the tub, a foot scrub, painting my toenails, and curling up with a good book and some hot tea.  My toiletries cabinet includes a few foot scrubs.  My nightstand has peppermint foot lotion next to it so I can use it before I go to bed.

All that to say that other than the bubbly hot-tub-for-feet thing, I could have done the entire pedicure at my own house.  I scrub my rough spots, I paint 4 coats of nail polish (1 base, 2 color, 1 topcoat), I even use O.P.I.  So why spend the money?

Until!  Until I had my spa pedicure today at Josephine's.  I was running late b.c I didn't know where it was (Eldridge!  For the love!!) and was looking on the wrong side of the street.  Stupid Google.  But they were cool about it and gave me directions and I was there 2 minutes later.

My pedicure was AMAZING.  I don't think Krystle liked my choice of nail polish because she kept suggesting others.  Oh well, I LIKE the Don't Socra-Tease Me.

Anyway, the pedicure happened as follows: foot soak followed by nail shaping, followed by exfoliating scrub, followed by generous amounts of minty lotion and then hot damp towels wrapped around the minty lotioned legs and feet, followed by a short hot stone massage, followed by putting my feet in some sort of hot oil(?) in a plastic bag, followed by Aveda foot lotion and the nail polish.

My feet look awesome and they STILL smell good!

Now that?  THAT was worth paying for.

I used to only go to Agora because I had to.  Because friends wanted to go to Bellydance night.  Or because it had wireless and Brasil didn't.  Or just because.

I tolerated it because it's funky with good wine and coffee.  I liked to get their little cheese and grape plate.

I HATED it because it was SO smoky.  I had about a 1 hour limit there before my eyes began to water.  Upstairs?  Forget about it!

Last night I went back because obviously smoking is no longer allowed and I thought maybe it would be pleasant.  It totally was.  I got a regular coffee and they handed me an empty mug.  I was like, "Okaaaaaay," until I turned around and saw the coffee machines.  4 flavors and I was about to go for hazelnut when I saw the Texas Pecan.  I LOVED it.  It's my new favorite flavor of coffee.  No lie.

Dave got a Julius Echter hefeweizen and we went upstairs (blue lights = cool) and sat in the corner and flirted like the newlyweds we are.

I also love the books and magazines they have laying around on all the surfaces.  I'll definitely be going here more often.

I used to go to Barnaby's all the time with my cousin several years ago.  I don't really know why I stopped.

My husband and I stopped by Barnaby's last Saturday for a late lunch.  We didn't wait, our waiter was awesome (also had the longest eyelashes ever) and I think he might have been flirting with my husband.  Which I don't mind- it's not my fault I have a hot husband who dresses well and works out.

I got the veggie burger (Boca, but they have Gardenburgers too) and added bleu cheese to it.  It didn't need it since it already came with 2 slices of cheese.  They also didn't just put a few crumbles, it was like an ice cream scoop of bleu cheese.  I'd also forgotten how good their fries were.

My husband ordered the Petaluma salad, which was big enough for him to crawl into and play like a 3 year old in a sandbox.  We ate half of our portions and then switched and between the 2 of us didn't finish even half of the salad.  I normally like leftovers, but nobody likes leftover salad.

I told the waiter, "What's up with the salad? It could feed a family of 9!"  He said, "Well, you could have ordered the smaller portion."  We combed the menu but didn't see anything about ordering the smaller version of their salads.

Also, get the lemonade!  It's delish and perfect for a hot summer day.  They even bring you a carafe for refills.

Everything here tastes fresh and high-quality.  I definitely recommend it.

Another idea?  If you're going to a pot-luck dinner for 20, offer to bring the salad.  Then stop by Barnaby's and get a regular salad to go.  Throw it in your own salad bowl and- bam!  You're an amazing chef.

I went here on a recommendation from a friend when I wanted my windows tinted.  They were super fast and helpful.

I have since returned to get a radio and most recently I got an alarm installed.  Because said radio was stolen last month.  (DON'T GET AFTERMARKET RADIOS, KIDS!!)  

It's not Executive Motoring's fault my radio was stolen.  It's Honda's.  For not giving me the code to my Anti-theft radio when I bought my car in 2000 and then wanting me to pay $80 to get the serial # so I could get the code.  I figured, "Hell, I'll just get a new radio.  One with an iPod jack."  So I did.

Only the thieves stole my iPod when they stole my radio, so that's now useless.  Anyway, when the thieves returned yesterday, prying open the passenger window just like last time and searching my car for the new (i heart car insurance!) faceplate (that I now keep in my purse), I decided to get an alarm.

I went today with no appointment, negotiated on the price and was out of there in probably less than 30 minutes.

Moral of the story?  Get your radio from the dealer.  Get everything else from Executive Motoring.

For a description of the food and atmosphere (which are great) you can read other reviews.

I'm deducting 2 whole stars from their rating just for closing do damn early.  Seriously?  11 on a Saturday night?  I think that lots more people would want to have their Chocolate Mousse cake and espressos well after 11.  Or at least coffee, wine and beer after 11.

It's just seems silly to be a decent restaurant/bar in the heart of Montrose and close at 11 like it was in Clear Lake or something.

I've never gone here and NOT found what I needed.  I love perusing the papers when I'm working on a design project.  And when I look at pens, I think I test ALL of them.  I also bought a bunch of really great origami paper there and when a friend showed me hers from Japan, I was like, "Oh, I have that same design from Texas Art Supply."

Because I am a jerk friend, apparently.  THAT'S what you want to be told when you get back from a year in Japan.

The staff can be snotty, but I'm an artist too, so whatever.  We did have one cashier who was just so too cool for school that when we got into the car my husband said, "If we'd asked her,'Quick!  What's the definition of apathy?!?' she'd have said, 'Whoooooooo caaaaaaares.' "

Last night my coworkers and I had plans to meet at La Carafe but once we all got there (8 of us), we were all starving and needed to fill our bellies with more than wine and beer.  

Though there's something to be said for that sometimes, too.  ;)

So we wandered over to GrumBar where they put tables together for us.  Our waiter was on point, managing all our crazy requests.  The last time I went the kitchen was closed, so I was looking forward to seeing the menu.  It was varied with lots of vegetarian options.  I had the Shrimp and Chips and it hit the spot.  (The "spot" being a craving I had for something salty and tasty that I could dip into a sauce.)

The band was aight, and it wasn't too loud for our table to carry on a conversation, so that's good.  This is definitely a good place to bring friends and chill in downtown, esp if you're not feeling like being "scene."

I also liked the art.  It changes periodically and the current artist used to work at Whole Foods and used their old stuff (crates, signs) as canvases, which is cool.

I LOVE Squeeze Marfa!  I'd eat every meal there if I could!

Granted, most of the restaurants I'd wanted to try in Marfa weren't open when we were there, but everything we tried here was delicious.

This is what I wrote on my blog:

We stopped by what we thought was a smoothie place but is actually my new favorite restaurant. Squeeze Marfa has amazing sandwiches (my favorite is the fresh mozzarella, spinach and tomato with basil pesto), awesome smoothies with no added sugar, and juices they call "squeezes." I had the Potassium Power twice. We also had breakfast there and it was awesome.

And the Swiss lady who owns the place is a total sweetheart.

Some of the dishes at Van Loc are hit-or-miss, so I stick with the Vegetarian Eggroll Bun (vermicelli).  Actually, that plus spring rolls and I'm set.  I prefer their Bun to Mai's simply because Mai's doesn't offer a Vegetarian Eggroll one.

Who doesn't love decent super-cheap Vietnamese food in their own neighborhood?

They lose 2 stars for service.

Once, I ordered ca phe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk) but they forgot the condensed milk.  I told my waitress and she looked at me like I was stupid and said, "You have to STIR it."  The coffee was in my glass of ice, clearly stirred.  "I DID stir it and it's not sweet."  She acted like I was completely out of my mind.  Maybe if I tried harder it would taste sweeter?  She eventually brought me another one, but not without loads of attitude.

And if you don't like your dish, don't even think about sending it back.  Just don't.  It's not worth it.  You'll get into a discussion with the manager, who thinks your dish tastes fine by the way, and even though you're willing to pay for it since you ordered it, and even though you don't want another dish, they will still be up in your face talking to you about it and THEN they'll take 45 minutes to get you the bill and you will miss your friend's comedy show.

Actually, the service is so bad they could lose 4 stars, but it doesn't really stop me from going there to get my Bun.  Very often.