Spread love, it’s the Brooklyn way

My sister and I decided to travel to New York for her birthday. What a perfect present for my lovely sister and I truly felt I was gifted too. This would be our third visit to New York! If I had to compare the three visits to NY, I would say they were all special in their own unique way. The first visit will always be special in the fact, it’s my first visit ever to NEW YORK CITY!!! And of course, my itinerary consisted of THINGS YOU MUST SEE & DO in Manhattan, NY. Our second visit, we went to an outdoor music event - The Roots Picnic in Bryant Park. The event was PHENOMENAL!!! We got to vibe out to The Roots, Yuna, Nile Rodgers, Lil Uzi Vert, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys made a surprise appearance and we saw a little of the headliner, Wu-Tang Clan perform. And I say a little, because we danced our tails off at Bryant Park since 2:00 pm and by the time Wu-Tang Clan came on, my sister and I were crippled! We exited the event hobbling our way to McDonald’s because firstly, we were famished and secondly, we needed to rest our feet! Also, on our second visit we were more braver. We committed to exploring outside of Manhattan and decided to take the subway so we could explore and experience Brooklyn. Brooklyn did not disappoint! We only had a taste and wanted to see more of Brooklyn hence, we decided for our third trip to New York, we would stay 3 nights in Brooklyn and 1 night in Manhattan.

It’s definitely a VIBE in Brooklyn. How do I describe the vibe? BK is chill vibes. BK is effortless yet BOLD at the same time. It is evident with the Brooklynites and the city in itself. With Brooklyn, you don’t get the hustle and bustle you would expect in Manhattan, where the streets are crowded with tourists and busy New Yorkers maneuvering their way to their destination. In Brooklyn, sidewalks were open for passage for pedestrians, there were plenty of locals commuting by bicycles on designated pathways and there were no taxis insight!

When I wasn’t too busy taking pictures of building walls beautifully blanketed with tags, murals, and pieces by street artists, I studied the style of the locals. The Brooklynites’ style were simple. A lot of black. I saw many female Brooklynites wearing summer dresses paired with fashion runners such as Nike and Adidas. Their style had a thrifted, vintage vibe to them. I could definitely see them making their purchases at second-hand thrift and vintage shops found around Brooklyn such as Beacon’s Closet, L Train Vintage, Le Point Thrift Store, Friends and Urban Jungle. I went to all the shops listed and I particularly liked the selection at Beacon’s Closet. What I also noticed, both male and female locals, their bag of choice were the canvas bag. Rarely did I see a handbag or messenger bag being toted. It was fun to see their selection of canvas bag with funky illustrations and slogans. I loved the effortless look a canvas bag had with an outfit, I had to get one myself! Of course, the color of choice for me wasn’t black, I purchased a lovely yellow bag for myself. I do love the style of the Brooklynites - effortless, minimal, and chic - but I still can’t do the all black attire.

My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Brooklyn. We did a lot of exploring and discovering, we got lost plenty of times and we made many beautiful memories. Brooklyn is definitely a vibe and it’s a vibe I can jam too.

sammysamstyle

Travel Dates: 06/07/19 to 06/11/19

Things To Do in Brooklyn

Street Art All Over Brooklyn

Brooklyn is fully decorated with beautiful artworks. There are no blank canvases and building walls are blessed with creative expressions. I have to say, my sister and I struggled with directions when following Google Maps. Google Maps directs us left, we go right, it tells us we will be there in 8 minutes we get there in 15. Rather become frustrated, we look up from our cellphones and we see tags, pieces and beautiful murals on the walls, which puts both of us in awe.

Brooklyn Flea

Address: 96 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249, USA (Williamsburg location) / Manhattan Bridge Archway – 80 Pearl St. (DUMBO location)

Saturday in Williamsburg - On the 2nd level patio of the hotel you will find the Brooklyn Flea. This market houses everything from vintage, design, antiques, collectibles, and food. I was searching through an array of t-shirts looking for a Tupac tee for my brother (I don’t know why he thinks I can find a West Coast rapper tee in the East Coast) when my sister repeatedly calls my name. She was excited to get my attention because there she found what would be my favorite stall, a stall full of hand painted kimonos! My favorite article of clothing. I wanted to purchase ALL of the kimonos because they were all so beautiful. I swear I was at the stall for some time but I found the perfect kimono with the help of my sister, a beautiful peach orange.

Sunday in DUMBO - If you regretted not purchasing a beautiful hand-painted kimono you saw on Saturday, you’re in luck! The Brooklyn Flea is open on Sunday under the Manhattan bridge. I saw some of the same vendors from Saturday (yes, the kimono lady is here) and as well, different vendors. Here I was fortunate to find a beautiful floral dress (fits me like a glove) and a vintage leather clutch bag.

Smorgasburg Williamsburg

Address: East River State Park • 90 Kent Ave. (at N. 7 St.) Brooklyn

After the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg, we made our way to the Smorgasburg at the East River State Park. Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America and it attracts an enormous crowd to Brooklyn. If you visit their website, you will see four different locations you can visit. The Smorgasburg at East River State Park host 100 local vendors offering a diversity of delicious food. You won’t find the typical food stalls selling green onion cake, elephant ears and lemonade. Here we sampled skewers of kobe beef, chicken and BBQ eel, raw oysters, grilled squid, colorful Shen Jian Bao stuffed with your choice of pork, chicken or beef, and we quenched our thirst with watermelon juice

Food taste better accompanied with a beautiful view of Manhattan skylines.

Brooklyn Bridge

Manhattan Bridge / DUMBO

Brooklyn Street Art Beer Garden - Bushwick

Address: 33 Wyckoff Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237, USA

A perfect summer outing consist of beautiful weather, outdoor patio, booze, music, local art and people who want to have a good time! You can definitely get it here at the Brooklyn Beer Garden in Bushwick. I don’t know if my sister and I decided to stroll around Bushwick after dinner or we got lost trying to find our way back to our Airbnb, whatever the case, I’m glad we stumbled across this outdoor event. Everyone here was chillin’, vibin’ out to the music, drinking local beers and enjoying artworks of local artists. As I was enjoying a Coney Island Beach Beer, I thought to myself, “Damn, they know how to do it out here in Brooklyn!”.

Beautiful hues paint the sky of Brooklyn.

Restaurants in Brooklyn

Miss Ada

Address: 184 DEKALB AVENUE AT CARLTON STREET BROOKLYN, NY 11205

It was unanimous! Miss Ada was my sister and I’s, favorite restaurant when we were in Brooklyn. Miss Ada is a neighborhood restaurant situated in a picturesque district, Fort Greene, which serves contemporary Israeli & Mediterranean food and cocktails. How did we find this spot? Funny story. We booked months ago with an Airbnb host who lived in Fort Greene (area where Miss Ada is located). It was two months before our trip when she messaged me. The host was sadden to inform us, she had to cancel our stay due to renovations to be done to her apartment complex. Though we were sadden with the news, we completely understood her situation. The wonderful thing from this situation, a couple weeks before the news, she sent me a list of her go-to-spots. Her list was very detailed and you can definitely tell she had impeccable taste and knew how to have a good time! I’m thankful she had Miss Ada on her list because it’s a restaurant we would love to go back too! Message me if you want of a copy of her list!

Sister’s Birthday Dinner

Happy Birthday To You.

Everything we ordered we loved! It was difficult to choose because everything sounded delicious. Thinking about the dishes we had, makes my mouth water! The best part, they served you fresh warm pita and you get refills too!

What we ordered: House-Made Labne w/ carrot, radish & salmoriglio; hummus masabaha w/ chicken liver & carmelized onion; stracciatella with plump tomatoes, basil & purple onion; and kofta kebab w/ baharat, harissa and pine nuts

Guadalupe Inn

Address: 1 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237, USA

Guadalupe Inn is a suave restaurant with 40’s era supper club vibe serving delicious Mexican food, cocktails and live performance. We went there early for dinner and unfortunately, we did not get to enjoy the live music.

This is my first time having mole and it was incredible! A ladle of the sauce smothered in anything would be heaven! And the rice… I never had rice taste this good and the flavors! I asked the server and she told us the rice was infused with cilantro, jalapeno and spinach. Guadalupe Inn is a trendy spot to check out for incredible food, cocktails and live performance. Visit their website and there you can find a listing of live performances happening each month.

What we ordered: Aguachile de Pulpo y Camarón (octopus and shrimp, jalapeño citrus, red onion, avocado, cucumber; blue corn totopos) and my favorite dish, Enmoladas (three handmade corn tortillas filled with organic chicken topped with Chef Ivan's secret family mole recipe, sesame seeds, avocado, red onion and crema fresca with rice).

ICHIRAN NY Brooklyn

Address: 374 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206, United States

It’s seems like every time we land at our destination, the first place we hit up for food is a ramen shop! Here at ICHIRAN in Brooklyn we sat at the solo booth and both enjoyed a delicious bowl of The Classic Tonkotsu Ramen. I liked everything about the ramen. The broth was well-balanced, light and flavorful, the texture of the noodles were cooked to a medium therefore, it had a nice chew and bounce to them and you can’t forget the spicy red sauce! I wanted more, but of course I couldn’t have another bowl - I eat like a hamster! Luckily, they had a free coupon for Kae-Dama - noodle refill. I said, “YES PLEASE!!!”

Address: 261 Moore St, Brooklyn, NY 11206, USA

You have to make a visit to Roberta's. I heard from a Brooklynite that the Carters - Beyonce and Jay-Z - SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN!!! Just for the two of them to get their pizza fixing. If it's Bey and Jay APPROVED you know it's GOOD GOOD!

What we ordered: Sicilian Anchovies with grilled sunflower spelt bread, a classic Margherita Pizza and for dessert, two-scoops of mint chocolate and fig ice cream.