Blue Baker Review

Blue Baker is one of my favorite bakeries in College Station. They are an artisan bakery that bakes everything from scratch, starting from 3 or 4 am in the morning. Doubling as a restaurant, they serve fresh bagels, pastries, breads, pizzas, sandwiches, desserts, salads, and soups. Every month features specials, such as peach pecan scone, candied orange twist, and key lime tarts for this month of June. Additionally, they have weekly bread and pastry specials. I typically go to Blue Baker to eat their scone specials, but everything on their menu is superb.

Today, I went to go on their bakery tour, which happens twice a year, I think. I will give a summary of the tour in the next post, but first, I will give a thorough, thorough review of Blue Baker's offerings.

Their breads are moist, have the perfect crumb and texture (a little chewy, perfect crunchy golden crust that you can bite through, a little sweet, moist enough for bread), and show off that artisan, made-by-hand look. Their sweet breads and pastries are delicious and varied. My favorite sweet breads are the zucchini bread sold every Sunday, the blueberry peach bread (THE BEST THE BEST THE BEST) on Tuesdays, and the cinnamon swirl bread on Thursdays. I have yet to try the red, white, and blue sweetbread, but I am very excited to get it when July 4th rolls around.

Cupcakes are large, maybe 2/3 the size of Costco-sized cupcakes. I have gotten the Boston Cream Pie and the Zucchini cupcakes before. Tasty, not too sweet, but definitely sweet. Good, standard. Maybe a bit dense for cake texture.

Cookies are huge too. They offer many types every day: chocolate chip, chocolate walnut, chocolate decadence, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin. Special flavors are rotated in weekly and monthly, such as white chocolate macadamia, sugar, ginger.

Scones are about the size of the ones as Starbucks, but feature different flavors that allow the buttery saltiness of the bread shine while melding with the sweets of the fruits incorporated or the sugar crystals on top. With the addition of nuts, the scones also give a nice crunch.

Their pizzas are made Neapolitan style, which is a thin crisp crust, a touch of marinara sauce, and a delicate addition of fresh, quality toppings. Once before, I went with my BF and we ordered the four cheese tomato and the D'Vinchee.

The four cheese tomato was delicious, with fresh slices of tomato, melty spots of mozarella everywhere, freshly chiffoned (sp?) basil, and drizzles of just perfect marinara over a bubbly thin crust. I liked mine better than the D'Vinchee, which was also good but I'm not a meat person and not as big a fan of portabella mushrooms. The D'Vinchee has olive oil, mozarella, sausage, roasted portabella mushrooms, chicken, and cilantro. These pizzas are not as filling as Pizza Hut or Dominos (as in one slice won't fill you, but 1/2 to a whole 9" pizza will), but they are high quality pizzas.

Prices are somewhat high, upwards of $8-10 for a meal. Individual breads and pastries are quite affordable. Scones are about $2.25; cupcakes around $3.50 (a bit pricey, but they are large); breads about $4.50 for a loaf (I get day-olds for half off) or $3.00 for baguettes, ciabatta, focaccia. Despite the somewhat higher prices for meals, you are paying for the quality of your food. All the workers here are also extremely nice, fast, and wonderful.

This is, again, one of my favorite places in College Station. Hit either location on University or Dominik Drive in College Station, or their newest store in Austin, TX. This is one artisan bakery and restaurant that truly deserves to be tasted!

Pho John - College Station Restaurant Review

I'm taking this weekend to do things for myself, rest and relax. The past week was too crazy. End of class project and paper, organizing an event social, doing research, giving two presentations. I managed to do it all (minus the last presentation, which ended horrifically), with some bumps in each one, but I am still alive. This research stuff is super stressful, especially given that I have a  PI with EXTREMELY high expectations and an intense personality. She's great and makes opportunities for us, but she knows how to make us work exceptionally hard to become exceptional researchers. I am just thankful to have such a supporting lab group and family and friends.

From www.phdcomics.com. First is so true.

I went out yesterday with my other BMEN PhD friends and we said to each other, gotta stick together through this hard sh*t. And yeah, we gotta stick it out. Next five years are gonna be hard and hellish, but we gotta fight for these small achievements and for our future goals...

With this goal of relaxing, I went out to eat pho and exercise with my buddies today. I got sick this past weekend and a hot bowl of soup, especially pho, always makes your body and your day better.

There are only three Vietnamese restaurants in College Station. Last year, I tried Rosie's Pho and enjoyed their pho and their smoothies. This time, I wanted to try Pho John, which I heard good things about too.

The inside is actually very spacious and kept very clean. The tables and chairs are pretty and also kept very clean.

The menu includes classic rice noodle bowls (bun), pork and rice plate, egg noodle dishes, curry, tofu and rice, and other rice plates. They even have Vietnamese iced coffee and bubble tea, although the bubble tea is kind of expensive ($4.55!) There is a kids menu that includes pho and two rice plate options.

What surprised me the most on the menu was that they offered BRISKET with their pho. I saw that and immediately went for it, except I ordered the kid's bowl ($4.50 ish). It came out and was definitely enough to fill me up. It seemed like what a small would be in just a smaller bowl. Lots of noodles and lots of meat.

Let me say WOW. The brisket was slightly thicker than the usual rare-sliced beef, which I really liked. It was tender and didn't have a lot of stringy pieces. The soup was super tasty but I could have done with more broth. The noodles sucked it up too fast and pho really needs to be swimming in the broth. Despite that, it was very tasty and hit the spot.

The garnishes that go with the pho came out so fresh looking I was amazed. Being from Little Saigon in SoCal, I am used to getting semi-old and wilted herbs and vegetables with my food at Vietnamese restaurants. The freshness and quality surprised me and made me happy. The basil that came out was so fresh and bright. The limes were super juicy.

My friend got the chicken pho and they gave huge chunks of what looked like nicely boiled chicken. Looked good and my friend said she really liked the broth.

My other friend got the vermicelli bowl with beef and eggroll. She liked it. The nuoc mam came on the side in a cute little bowl. The bowl for her vermicelli and meat and vegetables was very beautiful.

Another friend got the rice and pork plate. Looked good and fresh. Came with nuoc mam as well. No broken rice here though.

Two friends got the mi xao dong (fried egg noodles in the shape of a nest, covered in an oyster sauce saute of beef, chicken, and fresh vegetables). Looked very good, presented very beautifully, and a large portion.

I also got tea ($2.25 ish) and it came out very hot. Oolong tea. Awesome and just what I needed.

The price is higher than what you get in Little Saigon or Houston, but I believe it's worth it. The quality, presentation, taste, and portions are perfect.

I will definitely return, now that I know how amazing brisket is in pho.

Price: $3-5 appetizers, $7-12 entrees, $2-5 drinks
Food: 5/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Return factor: 5/5

Pho John,
1901 Texas Ave S,
College Station, TX 77850

I live! And I live now in Texas!

I'm having a great time.

So closes my second week at Texas A&M University (A&M) as a first year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering (BMEN) program. If you remember some of my posts last year, I talked about some of the fun things I did as a summer research intern. Last December, I got contacted by the professor and grad student whose lab I shadowed in. They said they had an opening for a new grad student and were thinking I'd be great for it. At that time, I was applying just to master's programs in mechanical engineering at UCB, UCLA, and UCSD. I was kinda lost at that time, thinking I wanted to get a degree in mechanical engineering to make myself a better candidate for biomedical device companies. Once I got that notice from the lab at A&M, I decided to apply for the PhD program.

After a couple months, I got the acceptance letter and accepted the chance to join A&M as a new graduate Aggie. The months after I graduated from UC Berkeley were a fun-filled summer (which I'll have to update on sometime). Every summer builds up from the last and makes me say, "This summer is even better than last year!" I had so much fun with family and friends - and my puppy, Cody of course!

Cody, our mini toy Australian Shepherd!

Despite the delightful summer - or, actually, because the summer was so delightful, I was scared about moving to Texas. It would be an even bigger move than to Berkeley. Far away from my amazing family, my loving boyfriend, and my fun friends. Far from the spectacular food my mom and grandma cook. Far from Trader Joe's and cooler weather.

First dinner home after graduating from UCB

Inside of a Vietnamese Banh Bao (steamed bun), made with Ba Noi (grandma)

My aunts nagged me about driving there. They said that there were sandstorms in my path and that my car was going to break down from the heat. I got scared. I felt like I was making the wrong decision. Wrong to choose A&M - I should have took a year off and applied for a real job at some biotech company in Irvine or San Diego. Wrong to decide to drive there instead of fly - I should ship my car and fly there instead.

But then the day came and I drove there with my dad. Four days from SoCal to Texas, through Arizona and New Mexico. It was really enjoyable with my dad; he is chill and doesn't nag me too much if I don't do something. The sights along the road weren't that boring. The change of land from Arizona to New Mexico to Texas was intriguing. Between El Paso and Austin, though, there isn't anything but land. Scary thing, we drove for 30 some miles with the gas tank flashing empty in that middle of nowhere. We thought we wouldn't make it to the next gas station (silly us, forgetting to gas up that morning), but my awesome little Civic Hybrid made all the way to the closest town and we filled 'er up good. Those 30, 40, 50 minutes were a tense, unsure time. But, all in all, we made it to A&M fine and dandy. I'll post some more detail on that trip later as well.

Driving down the I-10

 The first week was pretty fun. I settled in, spent a lot on groceries, Craiglisted nonstop for furniture, swam in the pool at my apartment. The first week was basically orientation with the BMEN department and the school's orientation. I met the new BMEN grad students too, who are all great and fun people. The staff and faculty in the BMEN department are easy to approach and talk to. Already, I converse with the graduate adviser regularly and even went to the gym with her! And I chat with another professor now and then, especially about biking, since he was the one who assured me it's fine biking to campus in the morning. He does it every morning, because the morning's are not too hot yet.

The morning sunrise over the BMEN building at A&M

My faculty adviser is easy to talk to as well. During the first week of school, we had "Lab Fun Day", where we went to the nearby Lake, brought food, and chilled under the pavilion. My lab mates, I, and our faculty adviser chatted like long-time friends. We heard stories about her kids, we shared our funny times with our pets, I even shared random stories from middle school. It was great.

Today is the end of the second week of school. Tomorrow afternoon is A&M's first game of the year against the Florida Gators (the first game vs Louisiana was cancelled due to Hurricane Isaac tormenting the poor people there). This is the first game since A&M has joined the SEC division. ESPN GameDay is also being broadcoasted from campus as well. Pretty big news.

Football is life in College Station. The population has swelled massively in this remote city. I bike every day, and today, I saw trucks with BBQs in the back and RVs barreling down the road. Tents are set up in parking lots advertising "50% off!" A&M gear. The maroon and white is all the color you see. Friday night, they had a big concert called "First Yell," where they had country music artists perform at Kyle Field at 8pm. Then, at 11pm, they open the gates for "Midnight Yell." I haven't yet experienced these traditions here at A&M, but I think I have enough time to dally (meh, maybe bout another 5 years till I get my PhD?).

Today was really fun though. After work (research lab), I biked home, dropped off my things, and biked back to Northgate to meet a group of bikers (bicycles, not motorcycles) heading to Downtown Bryan. The first Friday of every month, Downtown Bryan comes alive with music, outdoor movies, food trucks, horse-carriage rides, and people. It's called "First Fridays" (imagine that) and is pretty fun to chill at with friends. I met this group of people for the first time and we chatted the whole bike ride there. One guy was a mechanical engineering grad student, and the others were upper year undergrads (2 nuclear engineering, 1 industrial engineering, and 1 kinesiology). We biked there in some 20 minutes I think and then decided to grab some food. After being unable to decide for a while, we went to Murphy's Law, which is connected to Bayerische Brauhaus.

We sat down and chatted and chatted and chatted. So hilarious. It was crazy, though, because we even talked about genetics, biology, multivariable calculus, gamma spectrometry, and the Texas City Disaster (look it up, crazy chemical explosion in 1947).

I finally got my glass of Rose wine that I've been craving since, like, last week. It was so yummeh and went down smooth. (I can only drink alcohol with < 10% alcohol content; what? I'm a featherweight.) The food came out after a long while, which we didn't mind because we had drinks and were having great conversations.

Me and one of the nuke E's (as I call 'em) shared the Bayerische sampler and the Bayerische salad sampler ($8.50 and $3.50, respectively). They both came with some shredded carrot salad and potato salad. The first sampler came with some skinny meat fingers (we think it was pork), onion rings, and two mini-mini beef patties in some brown sauce. Brown sauce yummy, carrot salad yummy, pork fingers yummy, beef patties just taste like beef (I'm impartial to beef, so they were probably good to others), and POTATO SALAD. Let's just say I love the contribution Germans have given to the world in the form of potato salad. It is great great great. And this place makes it yummeh to my tummeh. The salad sampler had a simple house salad, which was good and fresh with pickled cucumbers and fresh tomatoes. We enjoyed the food. Although service was slow, it is to be expected at many of the restaurants in Downtown Bryan on First Fridays.

The bike home, though, was tiresome and my knees felt tight. I think I've biked too much around here. Time to recuperate tonight...and bike to campus tomorrow evening, lol. Gonna check up on my hydrogels, whoop!

All right, night and...

Food Blips from Texas

A long overdue and unfortunately truncated post, this is a picture recap of some food-related things I pursued during my internship in Texas.

Sundried tomato risotto (Lundberg) with Blue Baker Olive Focaccia,
made for an intern dinner I planned.

Bourbon Bread Pudding from Bell Ranch Steakhouse,
in the Hilton Hotel.  Very very sweet and very large portion.

Pho Bo Tai - rare sliced beef pho - from Rosie's pho. This was so good.
I never realized pho could rival or exceed my mom's homemade pho.

Japan vs US cake made for the Women's FIFA Final game.

Cream cheese frosting....Japan or US. Who would win?....

Hard to celebrate after, since most of my friends were rooting for
America, so they didn't feel like eating cake. Cake was like a cinnamon
muffin texture and flavor.

Failed attempt at beer bread (made it bland this time around), and
surprisingly delectable cornmeal cookies. Easy to snack on.

Like crisper, but still light and airy, corn bread in bite sized pieces,
lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Secret menu item at McDonalds: Strawberry Pie McFlurry.
Only $1 in Texas. So good! Not overtly sweet like DQ Blizzards.

La Bodega crab enchiladas. Decent. Their tomato sauce is like
a strange pasta sauce.

Fish burrito. Green sauce is okay. Too much creamy topping. Red
sauce also like pasta sauce. Innards do not have enough fish >:(

Potbelly's Berry Smoothie. So many seeds, so you know
it's real fruit. Good taste, good price. So cute with the
cookies on top!

My last baking in Texas. Had to make Texas "chicken in a chive biscuit"
with my Texas cookie cutter. ^_^

That pretty much recaps my food adventures in Texas. Sorry for the lack of recipes of some of the things I made. The result of these recipes I think were only all right, not anything spectacular. I was mostly proud of the presentation for my FIFA cake and my Texas-shaped biscuits. And I had to share the Pie McFlurry with you all. Everyone has to definitely try this at least once. The saltiness of the pie crust complements the sweetness of the filling and the sweet milkiness of the ice cream.

Hope you have enjoyed my (partial) itinerary of Texas!

Random Food Likes

I always come across certain marketed foods, try them out, and am both surprised and delighted when I find that I like them. When I eat consumer foods (i.e., fast food, packaged grocery items) and I like them, I wonder what other people would respond to these foods and with whom could I share my enthusiasm? For lack of such people close at hand, I generally turn to the comical review website, The Impulsive Buy. One late night, I stumbled across this consumer foods review site and laughed so much at its ridiculous comments, which verged nearly on Family Guy kind of humor.

But, I digress.

The reason for this blog post (no, I am not avoiding studying for my GRE, which is in 12 hours and 44 minutes...) is that I would like to share my thoughts on particular food purchases I have made recently.

1. Greek Yogurt: Danone and Fage
You've heard of the Greek yogurt craze. You've seen the yogurt/dairy shelves slowly being replaced by  new number 5, PP, plastic yogurt cartons with strange Greek words on them. Fage??? Oh wait, it's pronounced Fah-yeh. Repeat after me, faaaaaa-yaaaayyyyy. And Danone? It's always been Dannon, but now they're all being European fancy with their Danone. Anyhoo, recovering from pedantic appellations, I have to say that Greek Yogurt is the shiz. It's thick, but not cream cheese-choke you up thick. It's a euphoric kind of thick and glorious texture, with a slight tang of yogurt cultures.

Fage flavors: Cherry Pomegranate, Strawberry Goji, Mango Guanabana (Custard apple), Blueberry Acai, and Honey. (Courtesy of Trendcetera)

I enjoy having my yogurts not pre-blended. By having the fruit spread on the side, or underneath, you can get a scoop where you have an angelic layer of pearl white, plain Greek yogurt, juxtaposed by the deep color of the sweetened accompaniment. Once it enters your mouth, the contrast is enhanced on your tastebuds, as it encounters the tanginess of the yogurt, then the sweetness of the fruit spread. It really is super tasty, and the individual cups are great portion sizes with the right proportions. One 5.3 ox cup is 130 calories, and about 13g of protein, and much less sugar than the regular blended yogurts such as Yoplait of Dannon regular yogurt. I would recommend trying all the flavors.

2. Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill
Is there a word to describe food institutions that combine freshness, natural and organic ingredients, and quality? Would "healthy" and "responsible" suffice? I wish I knew, but until then, I can only describe it by "Sharky's". This place is like an upscale fast food restaurant - better in decor, service, and quality than seemingly synonymous Rubio's Baja Fresh. Sharky's is an all organic (meat, fish, produce), health-conscious Mexican Grill that does not sacrifice flavor one bit.

I've been here twice. The first time, I got an eclectic "wild salmon 'lite' burrito." For only $7.49 here in Aliso Viejo, I got salmon, avocado, cabbage, poblano brown rice, and interestingly enough nori (dried seaweed found in sushi) wrapped inside a whole wheat tortilla. The salmon was grilled to a nice crisp bust still juicy and tender. The inclusion of the nori really gave it almost an obfuscating (definition: confusing, confounding) flavor that was redolent (definition: reminiscent) of sushi. The flavor isn't bad at all, but it's just...interesting.

Second time - today actually - I ordered the kids BBQ salmon rice bowl, which came with a small (less than 3 oz) piece of salmon, poblano brown rice, grilled veggies, a drink (yay Organic Valley lowfat milk!), and a min churro. The brown rice occasionally had an unexpected crunch to it, but was surprisingly still good. The salmon was again cooked perfectly, tender and juicy, but maybe could have used a slight extra brush of BBQ sauce. The grilled veggies were a tad too crispy, but eating it all together with some salsa melded it all together. Overall, a really awesome plate for a kid to have. Nearly gourmet in that it was presented in a large white bowl-plate with a thick rim. They even bring it out to your table. I love the experience and food here. If I could, I would eat this often (and feel good about it!) and force someone to open a store near me in Berkeley!

Kids BBQ Salmon Rice Bowl - $5.92 (tax incl)

Hrm, I'd like to include some more ravings, but alas it has hit the 1:30 am mark here. I really should sleep soon so that I don't impair my test-taking abilities tomorrow afternoon. Well, wish me luck and talk to you all soon!

San Antonio Part 1, July 1-2

Here's that recap I promised about our fun foray into the depths of San Antonio and New Braunfels.

On Friday, July 1, I returned from a trip to HEB and proceeded to pack quickly. L+D were coming in the early evening to whisk me away to spend the night at L's place in San Antonio. I had gone to HEB to gather ingredients to make Mango Chai Bread Pudding (recipe from Eatingwell.com, where I often go to for lighter baking recipes): a fresh loaf of French bread, which never fails to delight the taste buds and warm the stomach without complexity; and dark brown sugar, the color of which is rich and gorgeous. I already had the wonderful box of yellow Ataulfo mangoes that my mom sent me a week ago, and one of the other residents was nice enough to stock the pantry with all the spices, herbs, and seasonings a cook could ask for! I packed away all the stuff to make the bread pudding, stopped by the poolside BBQ, then jumped in the car with my friends for the 3 hour drive to San Antonio.

Along the way, I saw cows and lots of land that looked the same.

Driving by downtown San Antonio

On Saturday, I met L's dad, a pretty nice guy. I really liked how he renovated his apartment. The living room portion of it was painted blue and had a blue bookshelf, and he installed some sills on the wall on which he placed photos and trinkets. After a nice breakfast at McDonalds (I must admit that oatmeal is dang good, with a copious amount of fruit), L and I got dropped off at the Alamo!

The famous Alamo!

You can't take pictures inside the Alamo, and it isn't mind-blowing, but it was better than I expected. My expectations were lowered because my roommate talked about how small it was. Truth be told, it was bigger than I expected. The coolest part with just looking at the names and origins of the people who fought on that fateful day. There were people from various states such as TN, TX, SC, FL; as well as people from Germany and Ireland. There was Davey's Crocket's gun. A man in the courtyard was telling a battle story. The giftshop was packed and had cute trinkets. My favorite was a Christmas stocking shaped liked a Texas cowboy boot.

We then proceeded to the RiverWalk, which is basically the upscale tourist attraction there. A coughdirtycough river, lined by restaurants, one end cupped by a typical shopping mall and hotel. It felt like I was back in Hawaii at a resort again.

Nice fountain-stream before the RiverWalk

One part of the RiverWalk (restaurant seating under umbrellas on right)

I wanted to check out El Mercado, the Mexican Marketplace that supposedly was 15 min away. Heat definitely makes it take much longer. But look what we found along the way! 

Trolleys!

Deer-rabbit?

Torch of Friendship - gift from Mexico to America

After that long, draining, heat-exhausting walk, we made it. The plan was to eat at the famous Mi Tierra Bakery & Cafe, but the wait was 1 1/2 hours! We wandered more, with fatigue and blisters pestering. We ended in the food court where we bought some Mexican food and watched traditional Mexican music and dancing.

See the lucha libre masks on the right?

Cute little dancers

Later, I got the tres leches cake from Mi Tierra. First time trying it! Got a HUGE slice, for $6. Ate nearly all of it and it was super filling and very very tasty. I like, I like.


We went back to the RiverWalk and took the tour boat (~$7-8) through the canals. I'll add the slideshow after I make it. Beautiful and interesting.

(SLIDESHOW TO COME...)

For dinner, some of our group wanted to go to Dick's Last Resort bar restaurant. If you didn't know, this place is known for its bad service. Literally, it is their purpose to give you rude service, throw things at you, and keep a dirty atmosphere. It was amusing at first, but then it just got annoying. It's too loud, other people are wadding paper and throwing it all over the place, the waiters don't give you really what you want, you get bequeathed with ridiculous tall paper hats with random insults. Some ladies were having a bachelorette party, and they were given a huge blow-up cartoon penis, which they paraded around the front with. Great. Classy ladies, real classy. The food was nothing close to good or spectacular. Pass.


Kinda sucky ending, but otherwise a good wandering experience. The return to San Antonio and tubing down New Braunfels tomorrow!

Texas Fourth Week Part 2

Thursday June 23
At lunchtime, I went to Joy Luck Delivery Chinese restaurant with S. This place was one of the few Chinese restaurants around College Station with really good reviews. I checked the menu out, and it looked pleasing, with an enticing lunch menu to boot. The place is really cheap too. $5.55 lunch specials? $6.50 seafood and combo meat? Yeah yeah! It comes with soup (egg drop or hot and sour) and a vegetable eggroll.

Egg drop soup - why so yellow?

The egg drop soup tasted so much like eggs, a little TOO much like eggs. It was okay.

I got the Yu shan shrimp, which is some sweet and sour gravy with shrimp, water chestnuts and mushrooms. This was good, a little salty if you ate all the sauce, and there a was a bit too much sauce. Good spiciness. Glad I didn't get the spicier Hunan shrimp. LOVED the eggroll. I must admit, though, I love a good Chinese eggroll, and this place was fried perfectly, crisp. Delicious cabbage and other veggie innards, with a sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Yushan shrimp with vegetable eggroll

This was enough for two meals. Very filling. Yup, those other Yelpers are right; this place is a good eat in College Station.

Afterward, I wandered around and went shopping around World Market. Man, this place has some awesome stuff! Their image is that of the exotic and eclectic from around the world. Check out the randomness below:

They have New Orleans King Cake Mix and Cafe Du Monde Beignet mix too! My two Louisiana friends here told me about these and maybe we'll make these one day!

Spotted dick = British dessert. Such a funny name.

I had so much fun going around World Market, eying things to put in my fantasy house in the future. They even have clearance shelves where I bought a bunch of chocolate and some cute, sturdy paper boxes for pastry and confection giving!

Friday June 24
The next day, I got out early again, and decided to go to the mall. Post Oak Mall is the closest one nearby, and houses JC Penny, Dillard's, Hot Topic, Aeropostale, A&M stores, shoes stores, a legit comic book store, and others. I walked through the entire place and enjoyed the store selection. The food court has Chick'fil'A, Taste of the Tropics (smoothies), Sonic, Toll House Cookies, Japanese, and Chinese. I got a mango smoothie from Taste of the Tropics. It tasted weird at first but it grows on you. Only $1.60 for a small too. Cheaper than McDonald's. The smell of Auntie Anne's pretzels was such a temptation, I forced myself to not buy one.

The Puppy Store only sells cute puppies, like these baby Chihuahas

Antoine Dodson: Bread Intruder Video and song:
http://youtu.be/y54yESyq6Io
http://youtu.be/hMtZfW2z9dw
Tribute to ma' sister!

I ended up buying boots, a raccoon beanie, and a moustache purse from Hot Topic, all on sale. The boots were only $10! Come on; tell me who can buy boots for only $10?


For dinner, we went to Layne's of College Station, a fried chicken finger place. Almost right next door is Raising Cane's chicken fingers, so these two have a rivalry. So, we came, we ate, we left.

What a deal! lol

I really didn't like it.

Maybe fried chicken fingers isn't my thing, but the chicken was dry, the black pepper sauce was weird but you get used to it. I like the thick and wavy shape of the fries, but they're just a little too thick and starchy for me to eat much of it. The Texas toast was yummy with its lathering of butter, but a bit salty. Meh, I don't think I'll come back every. The cole slaw was the one redeeming factor, but not amazing either. A bit much on the mayo.

I think we went dancing again this night. If it was Daisy Duke's or the Social Lounge or Luxe or something, it was really fun.