Busy Bee Weekend

I'd like to start off with a couple of thank you's.  First to Erin, for coming all the way from Chicago and spending time with us on Saturday and also to my sister Anie for dropping in from Florida and hanging out with us today.  I'd also like to thank TJ for his thoughtful gift and finally thank you Super Bowl Sunday for the four quiet hours to myself so that I may write this blog post.

Three lovely new buttons for my growing collection!

Thanks TJ!  If anyone else out there wishes to donate 

you know where to find me.

With so much going on this weekend (brunches, dinners, movies, airport trips) I did a lot of walking around but not much by way of new adventures.  I always want visiting friends to get the best of NY so I end up bringing them places I've already tried and loved (makes sense).  Still I did carve out a few minutes for a local jaunt and thats what I'll be sharing today. 

We started off this morning with brunch at Fatty's Cafe, An Astoria 

favorite that I've heard great things about.  We walked in to an almost 

empty restaurant!  No wait time on a Sunday afternoon? Unheard of!

Sorry I forgot to get a before shot!!!!

I can see why this place is so well liked they offer Dominican breakfast 

items like mofongo, fried queso blanco, salchichon and garlic soaked 

fried tostones.  Its 10pm and I still have garlic breath!

Yummy mango mimosas!  

Can you guess which glass was mine?

Fatty's is the only restaurant in the immediate area I know of offering Dominican breakfast so I do recommend this place for anyone looking to try something different.  But if you're like me, a Bronx born girl who lived in a neighborhood where every corner boasted a cuchifrito.  Be warned, you wont find hot bulbs in a grease stained window casting odd shadows on crispy pork skins here.  Fatty's is going to be a far cry from what you're used to.

Satisfied and a bit sluggish I made my way up the road and found a 

bright little ray of sunshine!

Immediately drawn in by the Tetrisy decorated windows, this place is 

super charming.  Those colorful little square on the windows are post-it 

notes that customers will be filling with Valentine's messages during an 

event they are holding on Saturday Feb 11th from 12-5.  Cool idea!

I can't wait!

This store exudes energy with its well curated selection

 of accessories, housewares, art and apparel from local and 

international designers.

      

 Everything in the housewares section was 50% off!

I couldn't walk away from this braided jersey cotton curtain tie.  

I'm going to be wearing it as a scarf!

I give KrisTees 4 out of 4 stars! 

I'm not sure if the two people helping me were the owners but both were 

incredibly helpful offering tons of info but not invading my shopping space.  

That balance of customer service is hard to find and deserves commendation. 

 So good job KrisTees!

Make your way over, hope to see you there on the 11th!

Theres so much more I want to share with you.  So much has happened since my last post but I guess it will have to wait because its getting late. I'll try and get a second post out midweek. 

 Thanks for coming along everyone!

Got Lost For a While

So after only two posts it would appear that I had given up on blogging and while I wish that I had some great explanation for what happened...I dont.  Life just got a little busy and even though I kept going for walks and documenting great experiences I just never found the time to sit at my desk and put together a blog post.

I do feel like I owe you all (my handful of readers, who I am extremely grateful for) an apology for leaving you high and dry for four months so this post will be a rekindling of our relationship as well as a mini excursion just to get back into the swing of things.

In the past four months I had a few family hurdles to jump and I took on a part-time internship which turned into an amazing new full-time job.  Unfortunately I have signed documents that forbid me from blogging about my new job!!!! ( I hope stating that I cannot blog about my new job does not officially count as blogging about my new job).  

I also spent a small amount of time reading and crafting, to break up all this text here are some pics of what I read and made:

This trilogy is a fast and exciting read.  I think I read all three in 

one week.  The movie is coming out soon too and the actors look 

so close to the characters I imagined.  I love when that happens!

 

 This book is about a woman who moves to a new city and actively 

seeks out new friends by going on 52 friend dates in one year.  At 

the end of this 288 page read I was inspired.   Now I call my far off
friends more often and actively work to spend more time with my local 

friends.  Not an easy task when you're a busy girl but a definite 

life changer and worth the effort.

Damn this book spooked me out.  To this day I speed up 

whenever I see someone walking a little too slowly or stiffly and 

anything that sounds like a zombie moan immediately sends me 

into fight or flight mode!

Read this book!

I found these cool googly eyes at a local fabric store and 

used them to create a series of notebooks.  Each notebook

features a different pin-up girl with a pair of disturbing eyes

glued on.  I think they are hysterical.  This one here

is my favorite.  I was tempted to give the dog a crazy eye

too.  I may still do it.

So that explains what I did with some of my time while ignoring my blog.  Here's what I did with the rest of my time:

(Insert bag of chips, iced coffee and remote control.)

And now with forgiving hearts please join me on this quick little skip into East Williamsburg:

This trip only has two stops and was the result of a "MWF" inspired brunch date with three of my girlfriends.  I wasn't expecting to blog about this outing so the next few pictures are not from my own camera (they were pilfered from the internet, so credit to those unknown souls who actually took these pics).

This little French bistro kept us out in the cold for about 30 minutes

but was so worth the wait.  Le Barricou is warm and cozy and they serve

 yummy Mimosas and Bellinis for only $6!  I had my very first croque madame

here and fell completely in love.  For those of you who have never experienced

a croque madame, it is a slice of french bread layered with ham and gruyere 

cheese and topped with an oozing fried egg.  The appropriate response would
be drool!

A short stack.... Hardly!  I didn't order the pancakes but I did see an exact 

replica of this immaculate stack being served to some lucky gentleman sitting at 

the table next to us.  Le Barricou I will be seeing you again in the very near future!

With full bellies and a slight mid afternoon buzz we set off on foot and stopped at Sunday Love:

This vintage treasure trove is having a huge sale.  On February 15th Sunday 

Love will close its doors, the owner will be transforming the space into a 

doggy daycare!  While I am sad to see a new find vanish I was pleased as 

punch by the 35% off!

I got this little ornament for $1.95!  How cute is this trio?  The little chef proudly displaying

his platter of felty meatballs, the bobbed haircut sous chef so eager to chop something up

and my favorite the other guy, with an empty hand just waiting to be filled, what will I have

him hold?  The possibilities are endless!

I also bought this amazing piece for $37.05.  What is it you ask,  No it's not just

a super cool looking box.

Its a mid century rotary telephone!!!!

As if I wasn't already sold by the sheer bat phone appeal and 

wind up cord, the owner explained that when she acquired this beauty she
was told that it was originally on one of the Kennedy's boats.  She 

didn't seem convinced and neither am I, but it's a cool story nonetheless.

Saturday Morning Pie and Flea in Brooklyn

Saturday a.k.a. cheat day the one day of the week where I abandon all my healthy habits. This Saturday I decided to start early by having apple pie for breakfast. When you only have one day a week no regular slice of pie will do so we drove to Brooklyn to have a slice from Four and Twenty Blackbirds.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds 439 3rd Ave Brooklyn NY 11215 www.blackbird.com

Their pie selection varies in accordance with the ingredients available during the season. The first time I was here I had a rich and creamy slice of Lemon Chess pie. This time around I tried their well know Salty Caramel Apple Pie. The slices are big enough to share especially if you get a super rich flavor.

Salty Caramel Apple Pie Slice

The apples are sliced thin, the crust is crisp and flaky on top and buttery smooth on the bottom and there's a yummy sprinkle of salt baked onto the crust. I thought it was great and so did hubby but our friend was not so impressed. In his words the pie is "ehh" he said it tastes just as good as Waldbaums Scrumptious Apple pie that you can buy for $9. In any case I say try it out for yourself. I plan on going back soon to try a slice of their Honeyed Fig Pie. Oh and if you go be sure to get there early especially during the holidays because the pies sell out pretty quickly.

You know how there's always room for dessert, well turns out that when you eat dessert first there's no room for anything else! So with full bellies we headed over to Fort Greene to check out the Brooklyn Flea Market.

The Brooklyn flea has something like 150 vendors in a 40,000-square-foot schoolyard. The website says rain or shine but be warned if you ever show up on a rainy day you will be lucky to find a couple of vendors out which I learned firsthand.

The Brooklyn Flea176 Lafayette Ave. (btwn. Clermont + Vanderbilt Ave.)

There certainly are lots of vendors, and I was happy to see that it wasn't all jewelry like many flea markets tend to be. The majority of vendors were selling vintage housewares, furniture and clothing and there was also a hearty mixtures of craft vendors and about 10 food vendors.

Here were some of my favorites:

The Gifted Putterer www.thegiftedputterer.com

3 cheese and apple grilled cheese sandwich

great upcycled planters

Almost missed these guys

It took us about 3 hours to wind our way through the entire market, you can miss some really cool things if you turn your head the wrong way for just a moment. So be ready to spend some time here and pay attention.

Sunday Morning in Astoria

After a leisurely breakfast I talked my husband into going for a "short walk" that turned into a little adventure.  We started off at 23 Ave and 25th St home to Tony's Bike Shop OR Astoria Bikes I'll let you decide.

Tony's Bicycles  35-01 23rd Ave Astoria NY 11105 tonysbicycles.com

 

 Tony's Bike Shop is packed from floor to ceiling with all kinds of bikes and accessories.  Don't walk in here expecting to browse unsupervised you will need some professional assistance, luckily they have plenty of knowledgeable and helpful staff.  Gotta love that.

We walked away with some free maps and some Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans.  The beans were only a couple of bucks and they're loaded with caffeine oh and they kinda made me think of Jim's magical legumes but the taste is vitamin-ish so next time I'll pass.

 

Next we strolled through some quiet residential streets heading east on 23rd Ave turning left onto 36th street where we found The Little Soap Shop

The Little Soap Shop 22-07 36th St. Astoria NY 11105 thelittlesoapshop.net

This tiny shop is packed with homemade soaps, skincare products, jewelry and gifts.  The owner Vivian, explained each item we asked about and in the end I walked away with an $18 jar of Almond body butter.  I've had it for almost a week now and I use it every day.  I don't wear perfume any longer because the light sweet almond scent lasts all day.  I even put a little in my hair to make it shiny.  Oh and this jar is going to last me forever so its well worth what it costs.

Vivian said they would be closing for a weekend (maybe this weekend) to do a quick shelf reset and make room for new products.  I will surely visit this store again. 

 This cracks me up, maybe because I can think of a few people who could use a little stinky foot   cure.  This is one of the stores best sellers!

After leaving the Little Soap Shop we turned south on 35th St. and made a right onto Ditmars Blvd passing a couple of shops we stopped at one of our everyday favorites Astoria's Finest Bagels on Ditmars between 33rd and 34th St.

Astoria's Finest Bagels 33-06 Ditmars Blvd Astoria NY 11105 astoriafinestbagels.com

If you are anywhere near this place you really should stop in.  The coffee here is beyond amazing.  Let me try and explain just how amazing:  

   1.My husband, an avid tea drinker has been converted after taking a couple of sips of my iced coffee one morning.

 2.Almost every time I'm in there, which is at least once a day, I will hear someone talking about how great the coffee is.  

  3.Some days when I'm walking with my iced coffee and I see people walking out of Dunkin with their iced coffee I actually feel bad for them.  

Try this coffee, you can thank me later.

With our caffeine fix taken care of we continued heading west on Ditmars Blvd and stopped at Nook n' Crannie on Ditmars between 29th and 30th St.

Nook n' Crannie 29-18 Ditmars Blvd Astoria NY 11105 betelofamerica.org

Nook n' Crannie is one of my favorite thrift shops.  They seem to specialize in housewares and furniture and unlike most thrift stores everything is in really good condition.  The shop keepers vary from day to day.  On this particular day we had the luck of being helped by a thickly accented man who knew each item like the back of his hand.

Here's a shot of that helpful shop keeper (the guy on the right), I didn't get his name so I'm just going to call him Mr. Know-it-all.  Oh and if you take a look at the sign on the wall you'll see that Nook n' Crannie isn't your run of the mill thrift shop, it's got purpose.

Mr. Know-it-all explained that this pretty baby was used to carry hot coals, and could be passed over a cold bed to warm it.  More importantly it could also be used to make a grilled cheese sandwich!  Oh the joy of multi-purpose gadgets.

Here's what I walked away with:  a cool vintage looking key that I got for free!!!! And a Mason Cash individual creamer for $2, a very cute addition to my creamer collection.

The key makes for a really cute short necklace. 

Loaded with tiny treasures we continued going west on Ditmars Ave and stopped at Inside Astoria between 27th and 28th St.

Inside Astoria 28-07 Ditmars Blvd Astoria NY 11105 (718) 956-4000

Put this shop on your list of places to go whenever you need a quick, thoughtful and often inexpensive gift. I couldn't get enough of their selection of coffee table books. 

These three are on my wishlist.  I will be returning to Inside Astoria often and especially come Christmas time.

Still trekking along Ditmars Blvd we turned left on 26th St to find Creators' Co-op a small shop run by 10 individual artists who each share the stores responsibilities and fill the shop with their own creations.  They also host classes some of which are free!!!!

Creator's Co-op 26-16 23rd Ave Astoria NY 11105 creators-coop.com

I found out about this store from an advertisement placed on a traffic light post.  I was in love with the concept, each artist has been hand selected for their original work.  Here are my thoughts on the place:

The children's clothes are very original and I love the sculptures made of mixed metal houseware items.  You could tell everything was well made but a lot of it I've seen before.  I was most excited about the classes, you can find class info on their website and in Boro magazine or on Boromag.com.

After 2 hours and 14 blocks we called it quits.  That was fun.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.