Sexay Shoes, Sab e Lee 2 & Gelato Vero

[This is getting to be a habit...but this is what happens when I can only update on the weekends - you just jam pack it in one marathon session and post it all at once. Scroll down for the latest 4 posts.]

With a sad and heavy heart, we headed over to DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) to return one of my rash impulse shoe purchases...A hot and sexay as hell pair of Steve Madden peep toe heels. I'd been eyeing them for weeks and then, they finally went on clearance. With the percentage off, they ended up being only $40.
Check out that back zipper... rawr!

These make me 5" taller...making me 5' 10"!

Sigh...I slipped my Hobbit like feet into them for the last time (tags were still on and there were only walked on my home carpet)...Dammit. They were too impractical. Plus, I can't wear these at work! What was I thinking?

As awesome as they looked, my feet also felt wierd in them. Even though they were 5" high, there is a 1" platform by the toes, making them a tad more comfortable than plain stilettos. The peep toe design bugged me a tiny bit as well. One part of the leather upper pressed uncomfortably against my big toes...

I thought maybe I could exchange the pair above for another pair of shoes...these exquisite lavender/brown/silver sky high wedges were really edgy looking and comfortable (I forgot the brand)...But the downside was they were $399.95 (even at 80% off, they would still be more than I wanted to spend...roughly $80).

Here was another pair of footwear that seemed to be calling my name...These were Kenneth Cole boots. I was attracted to the Billy Idol'ish pyramid stud details. There was another pair (no photo though) of these 3 and 1/2" black and silver pointy toed heels. I really liked them but they were scuffed. So no go. That silver and black combination is so bad ass. I love it.

To make a long story short, I didn't exchange those Steve Madden's for another pair of shoes. I exercised great restraint and walked away with nothing in my hands. I have too many shoes in my closet any ways, but a chick can't help but try on a few pairs for retail therapy! Even if they only cost $40+ dollars, it's not worth it if I won't even be wearing them at least 5 times (gives resigned sigh of disappointment).

So, after our recent visit to Sab e Lee a few weeks ago we learned from Kobe that he was opening up a new location...in Santee! Well, the grand opening was November 2 but the earliest we could come was today, so here is my report. Ha ha. After returning my dominatrix like shoes at DSW in Mission Valley, we took the long way to Sab e Lee 2 by taking Mission Gorge Road all the way from Mission Valley. Turns out, we could zip over to Sab e Lee's from our place by using the 125! But that will be for the next visit! Santee isn't really a place we visit. We know no one there and it's not really known for its food scene. No offense.

Santee is in East County...kind of on your way to El Cajon but on the other side of the freeway.

We passed by this place....

And kept on driving...until we came to the New Lincoln Center strip mall...

It was a bit past noon. We were the first customers there.

No one was inside...Bert had to catch Kobe's attention in the back. We seated ourselves. As you can see, the new Sab e Lee is much much bigger than the Linda Vista location. There is also a huge flat screen in the corner (which was later tuned on to the Chargers vs. NY Giants game). Can you see Bert? He's at the counter...

We sat near a window...I hate sitting in the middle of places. I prefer the corners or the perimeters.

Their menu:

The menu has more offerings than Linda Vista...There's "Nibbles" (Appetizers), Soups, Noodles, Rice, Main Courses, and even a page for Vegans. This page had the E-saan (also spelled as "Issan" specials)...we saw that our favorite (the #48 on the old menu) is now #14 - the Esaan Northern style Thai sausage...of course we ordered that! By the way, the lunch specials (which we would never order since you could get that at any old Thai place) are only good for Weekdays not Weekends, as we overheard Kobe telling a table of nearby guests.

Kobe also has a new chef...There are much more seafood offerings here.

For our appetizer, we tried the #10 Kra Tong Thong ($7.95) - Delicate rice pastry cups filled with curried chicken, topped with cilantro, and red peppers strips. It was served with chopped cucumber in a sweet, almost syrup like dip. There were 8 of these to a plate.

Here's our usual, the Northern Thai sausage (renamed here as "Sab e Lee Sausage") with rice and curry, served with a wedge of cabbage, peanuts and peppers. I noticed that all of the dishes had this cool carrot flower garnish. I love eating this with sticky rice ($2.25 for a small basket).

We also ordered the #9 (in Noodles) - Gai Kua ($8.95) - Stir fried flat rice noodles with chicken, eggs, bean sprouts, green onions and sweet raish (I have no idea what this is, or maybe this was a typo? I'm copying the description straight from the menu and I forgot to ask Kobe about it) served on a ved of fresh lettuce. We ordered this mainly for TC since we weren't sure if she'd like the spicy dish we wanted. I thought this was okay...a bit bland.

This entree comes from the "Fave Raves - Chef's very special dishes" Page. This is called the Spicy Seafood Medley ($12.95) Wok-fried prawns,s callops, calamari and New Zealand mussels in a green peppercorn sauce. We asked for a 6 on the spicy scale. It wasn't really that spicy. I think next time we will try an 8. We really liked the scored squid and the green peppercorns. Even TC tried biting into one, although she didn't really like it. I thought the green peppercorn's heat was a bit gentle. The seafood was cooked just right as well, not tough and rubbery.

After lunch, we stopped by Fashion Valley (where I will be in two weeks with my GF's to watch "New Moon", OMFG, OMFG!!!! ha ha ha, but seriously....yeah) where I had to get the difference back on a purchase at Nordstroms. I didn't realize I wasn't charged the sale price until I got home yesterday. After browsing a few stores and checking out their evil Santa Claus display (TC never liked taking her picture with Santa Claus so we never bothered doing it again after she turned 2 since we didn't really like paying an exorbitant amount of money in exchange for a crappy picture of our distressed toddler with a bearded stranger in a red suit), we headed over to Gelato Vero Caffe so I could use one of my 2 for 1 coupons. This is the back room at Gelato Vero. There was art work (all by the same artist, "True"?) hanging on the walls. Sorry, but I could paint way better than that with my feet. A kindergartner could paint better than this...

Their menu & prices (click to enlarge):

Bert and I shared a large half Chocolate Hazelnut & Dark Chocolate which we really liked, while our daughter got her usual Mango sorbetto (small).

Last view before taking off...

Time to head back home...I'm all fooded out.