How to be a hipster in 5 easy lessons...

My oldest daughter and I spent a few days in Brooklyn, New York, last week, visiting my younger daughter.  I think, if she were to read this (and I don't think she ever does), she might not like my identifying her as a "hipster".  She  has always tried and succeeded at being an individual, and doesn't like being lumped into a "group".  But you've got to admit, this girl is way cool.  Like a hipster.

So, as promised, here's how you do it:

1.  Live in Brooklyn.  More specifically, the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn:

Schlyer, the Brooklynite, on the left, Kendra on the right with the Williamsburg Bridge in the background.

Bedford Avenue - a pretty happenin' place.  Schyler lives right around the  corner from this spot, just a block from  the East River.

2.  Make your living room look like this, making sure you use "irony" (like old "90210" posters):

The five girls who live here are nothing if not creative.  And beautiful.

The large upstairs loft has been turned into - what else? - a ginormous closet  that all five girls share!

I love this cabinet!

And the rug! And the pretty girl!

3.  It helps if your kitchen looks like an Anthropologie catalog layout:

4.  Go to vegan restaurants that look like this:

The ceiling of one of the restaurants we went to, where I discovered I  am much too old for this kind of place .  It was so loud I don't think I heard a word of the conversation at our table!

5.  Be cute beyond belief - and have a cute "friend", too.

Man.  That is one sweet child.

Kendra and I had a great time in Brooklyn, thanks to Schyler and all her awesome friends.  They were great tour guides. Can't wait to go back!

Thank you, everybody!

For anyone who hasn't been to New York, all I can say is GO. Enjoy.

a quick trip...

Last Friday the bf and I made a trip up to Brooklyn for a long weekend.  We have both been to the city (New York) many times, and since his daughter lives there and my youngest is there temporarily, we've also been to Brooklyn a few times before, but this trip we decided we would spend all of our time in Brooklyn. We didn't go into the city at all.  

We stayed in the heart of downtown Brooklyn at the Sheraton.  A really good hotel and, compared to NYC,  very reasonable rates.  I would recommend it to anyone looking for a hotel in Brooklyn

We dined in Brooklyn - Williamsburg's Bliss Cafe (vegan) for Grilled Portobello sandwiches at lunch, then the abistro (Nigerian) in Fort Greene for dinner on Friday, where I had Pepe Soup, which was clams, mussels, and Vietnamese catfish in a fragrant lobster-coconut consomme, and it was beyond delicious. Saturday was brunch at a place called Char #4 in the Cobble Hill neighborhood,  where they had sort of "fancy" southern style food.  I wondered if anyone in Brooklyn could make decent grits, and now I know the answer.  Yes.  Yes, they can. With poached eggs on top. Yum. That night was Thai at M Shanghai in the Metropolitan area of town, where I enjoyed a Lobster fried rice dish unlike any fried rice I've had before.  Sunday brunch was at a "famous" Brooklyn restaurant called Junior's.  It was one of those places with 70's decor and lots of pictures of famous people who have eaten there over the years all over the place. Nothing fancy there, just good ol' soul food.  It was fun. One of the things I most enjoy about going up there (other than the fact that we get to see two of our favorite people) is the chance to eat things we may not get around here. It inspires me to come home and start looking for recipes, or to try on my own to replicate things I've eaten while there. The Nigerian food we had really has my wheels turning.  I wonder if I can find Vietnamese catfish around here?

And we shopped in Brooklyn. The bf's daughter had training on Sunday (for an upcoming 35 mile marathon she will be running in South Africa later this spring! Yup, that is correct. Thirty five miles.), and my lovey had to work, so we had several hours after brunch to spend on our own.  It was savagely cold (okay, I admit I am a weather wuss, but really, it was cold), but we bundled up and went out walking down one of the main shopping streets in Brooklyn.  We ducked into many of the shops (partly to warm up, but also because they had really cool stuff that we don't see around here much). One place apparently specialized in (old) animal bones, horns, and the kind of charts and diagrams that you might find in a biology classroom. Odd, but interesting.

All in all, although I think I ate my own weight in delicious food, I think I walked it all off! It was a fabulous trip. One we hope to make again.  Soon.

View from our hotel room on the 22nd floor, Sunday morning.  Snow was coming down, but melted before it hit the ground.

View from the other direction.

Just an odd building we walked past.  Upstairs; a Tyrolean cottage, downstairs; a  Dollar Store.

The bf and his favorite daughter. Isn't she beautiful? Oh, and a cow.

One of many adorable neighborhoods in Brooklyn.