Hello, hello! How are you doing? Hopefully well! Me? I am doing okay. While I am searching for a new job, I have really gotten into selling my books and have had a few sales! Soon I will be announcing my first pop up. Also, this month I went to New York! I went to visit some friends and really explore Brooklyn. While I can say with 100% certainty that it is not someplace I would like to live, I definitely enjoy visiting!
I stayed in the Crown Heights area which is a very chill part of Brooklyn and admittedly we didn't do much if anything in that particular area however we were conveniently near the subway which was great. Let's get into the highlights shall we of the best places that I visited.
Best Coffee Shop - Nerd Be Cool
Now admittedly we did not visit a lot of coffee shops this trip as I only count 3 but there is one that stood out from them all this stop was not planned! On the Saturday of my visit, we were walking to brunch when it hit me: I need a matcha or something! I was having coffee shop withdrawal badly and a stop was needed. Thankfully my prayers were answered on my right side with a coffee shop called Nerd Be Cool. This place was so cute as it had a flying Einstein, disco ball helmet. It also had an extensive menu and the gentleman working was so nice. He was celebrating his one year anniversary moving to the US from Ukraine and was just as friendly as can be. I had a hot rose chai and it was perfect. Contented sigh
Best Bar - The Back Room
I have to give it up to New York, they have some really cool bars. We went to one bar that was a dive bar where they also host skee ball leagues and that same night went to a bar that was a pinball bar. Fiona's was a cool spot with great bites, friendly bartenders and we were able to play Uno. But the winner of the Best Bar from my trip is hands down The Back Room. This is a speakeasy style bar that was an actual speakeasy. Cocktails are served in teacups but they are potent. The bar itself is sexy with lounge seating, red walls and trunks for tables. Music was a vibe with 90s R&B playing. Like they say, it's a vibe.
Best Bite - Sweet Chick/L'industrie Pizzeria
I seriously wish I had a bigger stomach so I could have eaten more. Food was so good! We had delightful Thai food at Thai diner, solid bagels at a bagel shop, and a great mozzarella stick with the longest cheese pull I have ever seen but my favorite meals, well it's a tie! One of my requests while I was out there was to have great pizza and my friend delivered. We went to L'industrie where I had a fig, bacon and ricotta slice as well as pepperoni and sausage. Y'all. Y'all! Normally I just like pizza normally but I loved that pizza!
Then the next morning we went to Sweet Chick where I had chicken and waffles. These were not regular chicken and waffles. Nope! These were chipotle maple chicken strips with carrot cake waffles. When I tell you these were the lightest waffles I have ever had! I am getting wistful just thinking about it. I need that again.
Best Bookstore - The Ripped Bodice
Of course I was on a book mission! The Ripped Bodice is my favorite store in LA so of course I had to check out the Brooklyn location that just opened last year. There, I got two new books (it was so hard to narrow it down to two) and the place is also just gorgeous with all of the little details that they put into it. There are books hanging from the ceiling, the walls are covered in pages from books, there are candles themed after various popular series. It is a vibe! Another bookstore that we visited was Bibliotheque. I wish we could have stayed there longer as it it is combination bookstore, wine bar and coffee shop but there was not a single seat available and it was so hot in there! I would definitely check it out again though.
Overall, it was a much needed trip from everything at home and there were definitely some highlights. Where are your favorite places to visit in New York? Never too soon to plan my next trip.