bit of brooklyn

As promised, a little window shopping in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. My mother was born in Brooklyn and lived there for her first couple of years. This was her first time back in memory and my first time...ever! Only a 15 minute subway ride from the city, and you enter a laid back community of art-loving/ bike-riding folks who are very proud of their little neck of the woods...and rightly so. Go to UNSCENE BROOKLYN or Design*Sponge's guide for ideas before you plan a trip. My mother and I have both spent most of our lives in San Francisco, and found the main strip of Williamsburg, lined with independent retailers and great spots to get a bite, quite reminiscent of our city by the bay. Here's a little mosaic of some of the interesting places we stopped in. We went into about half a dozen more places, but we tried to be respectful that snapping photos isn't always welcome.


From top to bottom and left to right
1. Future Perfect- steel table and chairs
2. Hell's Kitchen Flea ( I know, not Brooklyn...but I had to put them in) - vintage German dishes
3. Future Perfect- balloon table/stool
4. A&G Merch- paper-mache birds and stump
5. A&G Merch- wooden toadstools, stumps and vases
6. A&G Merch- butterfly head and bird printed wall
7. The Golden Calf- Matryshoka dishes
8. The Golden Calf- crochet pendent lights
9. Sweet William- beautiful display shelves hand made from birch plywood and real birch branches
Out of all the places we visited, Sweet William was my personal favorite. The owner was lovely and open. Her choices of children's items was impeccable, from linen baby slippers to bird cages and houses by Tamar. Seeing some of Tamar Mogendorff's work in person was sooo exciting and definitely a weekend highlight. My mother's favorite...or perhaps, just the place she made her only purchase of the weekend: A&G Merch. We both LOVE her new folding step stool...it might be worthy of its own future post.

Even more inspiring than the design stores, was the art residents have pasted, painted, or sprayed onto walls...everywhere! The street art was prolific and fascinating and here's what we snapped to bring back to you (don't forget to click for enlargement):

Don't worry, maya*made is still loving country life, but I need a city fix every once in a while!