Stop rummaging through the local comic-book stores in town looking for that rare orange-carded TIE Fighter Pilot with the "Warning!" sticker on the box. When a store catering to obsessive SF fans (which means sci-fi, for the uninitiated [which stands for science fiction, for the very uninitiated]) is locked away in an antique market, chances are that even the most die-hard toy collectors haven't stumbled into this hidden geek heaven. Many of the major toy store chains have become so annoyed with Kenner's distribution tactics that they won't even carry the new figures anymore, so Jams Collectibles soon may be the only place around to find the newest stock, in addition to the obscure variations and priceless factory screwups. Culled mostly from John Giogaia's own private collection, even the rarest of Star Wars action figures can be found beside Spawn figurines, Hot Wheels and other collectibles, and for a reasonable price. This store is run for love alone, so you can wander in only on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., when the guys in charge are off work.

The Galleria While the fashionistas burn up Daddy's credit card and waddle under the weight of their bagged purchases, you'll be the practical one. There's no guilt when it comes to window-shopping, and the Galleria is the hottest spot for it. All the names are here: Betsey Johnson, Kenneth Cole, Versace, Abercrombie. You can scope the United Colors of Benetton after perusing the nothing-but-black racks of Tom Ford. Drool at the rocks under lock and key at Cartier. Peer at the posh sweetery Dylan's Candy Bar, or the "I don't need it, but I want it" inventions of Brookstone. Then -- after you've done your out-of-reach sight-seeing -- head to the outlet mall.

Soundwaves So, yeah, the commercials are horrible and the Hummers a bit gauche, but when it comes to selling used CDs, Soundwaves reigns supreme. They offer as much as $5 for newer CDs, so it's a good place to get the albums you never listen to off your hands -- it's like a pawnshop full of music geeks. The fact that Soundwaves is independently owned helps the used-CD selection tremendously, since pressure from record company bean counters doesn't work here. Its larger locations (Montrose, South Main) have sections of used music that dwarf other stores' entire libraries. Don't want that Britney Spears at (gasp!) $16.99 just to listen to "Toxic" on repeat? Chances are you'll find it here for $10.99. You can find older artists no longer enjoying chart success (read: good ones) for as low as $5.99. Those kinds of steals are reason enough to say, "See you at Soundwaves."

French Gourmet Bakery French Gourmet Bakery serves up a bounty of goodies: warm loaves of cinnamon-apple bread, strudels, decadent chocolate cakes (great for parties) and box lunches containing buttery croissants with chicken salad. Need treats for the office or classroom? You can't beat the fresh cupcakes slathered in homemade frosting or the iced ginger star cookies. Even better, the sugar and ginger cookies will soon turn pumpkin-shaped with orange and white icing. Now, if they would just let us lick the bowl…

Tucked behind a service station between Montrose and the Museum District, Carriage Car Care must be the car wash of choice for the SUV-driving crowd. On a recent Saturday, no fewer than a half-dozen urban war wagons were either lined up waiting for the Carriage crew's treatment or basking in the afterglow of a soft-glove hand wash, waiting to be picked up by their owners. The finished vehicles were positively gleaming. Carriage's basic hand wash is $23 and includes a thorough going-over on the inside. The wash and wax is $49. The truly decadent will find the deluxe detailing package, at $145, a satisfying indulgence that includes the repair and painting of minor dents and dings. Carriage also will tend to larger dents, creased bumpers and cracked windshields. The crew is quick, courteous and attentive; and though it may seem like a minor amenity, the waiting room is a surprisingly pleasant place to kill a half hour while your car is being pampered.

Mister Car Wash

Like dead fish, the ties hang unhappily, wrapped in cellophane, suffocated. They look for a way out; they yearn to be bought. Every now and again, a Jerry Garcia tie -- harmless as a watercolor painting -- leaves the store. Otherwise, the ties remain. Perhaps because they're just too darn boring. Looking for some crazy paisley dangling from your neck? For an overwhelming multitude of colors and shapes traversing the ever-so-narrow canvas that is a tie? For western-themed ones with depictions of ropes and bandannas scattered in unbecoming patterns? Everyone has taste. Tie Rack just has questionable taste.

Adas Window Tint Pimpin' ain't easy, least of all when it comes to your ride. If you've got to score your ground effects in Pasadena, your alloys in Tomball and your LEDs and hydraulics in Katy, you might not have time to brake for lunch. That's why today's busy gangstas head down the East Freeway to Adas Window Tint, where you can get a bitchin' tint job and throw in an al pastor taco for an additional $1.25. The same folks own the Cuban taqueria that's tacked onto the corrugated tin garage, so show up early, camp out on a picnic table in the parking lot, and ponder which is gonna be hotter: your chorizo breakfast taco, or all those chicks you'll get when your ride scrapes the street.

Smoke N' Toke This place is the epitome of stoner chic. Spread out in five rooms of a converted house, the joint has an ample selection of pipes, bongs, hookahs, nargiles, dugouts, smoke stones, papers…hell, just about anything you could ever need to smoke your, um, stuff. The staff is hip-looking and just friendly enough to not be annoying, and they stick to the basics. Sure, there are some peripheral items, like stickers, postcards and tie-dyes, but for the most part it's just smoke supplies (read: no sex toys). They've even got do-it-yourself grow kits for all the budding entrepreneurs out there who want to eliminate the middleman, man.

Viet Hoa Here in Houston you can find Asian foods in most any mainstream grocery store. But if you're hankering for fish sauce, Peking duck or some restaurant-style bowls for serving pho, you're best served traveling to Viet Hoa in southwest Houston. A massive warehouse-sized temple of Chinese and Vietnamese fare, the store peddles produce, Chinese health and wellness goods, seafood, kitchenware and a $2.25 lunch combo at the deli. Flooded with Asian clientele, college students, fusion-friendly foodies and food-industry professionals, Viet Hoa is the spot where you can special-order a longan -- the consummate Thai summer fruit -- for a dinner party and boast to your guests that you "know someone in importing." Need an icebreaker for that first date? Tour the market and chat about the sights, smells and the premium dried cuttlefish.

The giant Big Boy in the window beckons, "Hello, remember me?" So you open the door and cross the threshold from modern-day Montrose into a bewilderment of decades. Old gas pumps with bulbous signs stand across the room from heavy rotary-dial phones and coin-operated diner jukebox connectors. Art deco chairs, shaped roundly like the bottom half of plastic Easter eggs, pair up in front of reproductions of balloon-shaped 1950s Predicta TVs. Barber chairs, movie drive-in speakers, lamps that resemble Sputnik, and polished toasters from the '30s rotate through the showroom, all of them in working order. Flashback Fun-tiques is a store for people searching for something, anything, made with Bakelite. It's a place for people who find old appliances beautiful, and for people who admire the heft and solid feel of the good old days. But old stuff in good shape is hard to come by. Owner Bill Howard scours the country's antique shows for all things cool from the past. If something trips a memory, he wants it in his shop. Especially popular are restored soda machines. Once, a customer wanted a Pepsi machine, even though Pepsi wasn't around back then. No problem. Howard found a way to weld a Pepsi sign in place of the Coca-Cola logo. The swap appeared seamless.