I left my heart [and charger] in Brooklyn

This past weekend was spent in New York yet again for an engagement shoot.  My time there was pretty great and jammed packed full of things to see and do.  Before the engagement shoot (which took place in Chelsea), Shinay and I had a few hours to kill before hand.  We decided to finally go to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and check out a few thrift stores that we had always talked about going to. 

For me, Williamsburg and I have this love/hate relationship.  Every time I go, I find something that I love love love about it.  Things like the old brownstone buildings that make you ache for warm summer days when you can just go outside and sit on the warm steps reading a book, letting time and people go by.  I like that the people there rid bicycles in skirts and the trees are nice and big with ample shade.  Things there are a lot more calm and quiet than what you normally would think of in the big city. 

And other times, I hate hate hate Williamsburg.  This usually comes about when I see over-priced vegan food or men in skinny jeans walking small animals that are supposed to be dogs?  You don't need to look very hard to find the air of pretentious-ness that seems to permeate certain areas of Williamsburg.  (Side effects include an eye roll and sound of exasperation)

This trip around was more of a love relationship, probably because Shinay and I were doing what we jointly love, thrift shopping.  We visited a few thrift stores and all were a little bit different to not get monotonous.  One, called Monk, was probably the most organized and cleanest thrift store I could have possibly been to.  Now I realize that organized and thrift store don't exactly coincide but I swear that everything from hats to shoes were put in a proper place.  That alone made the store a great place to shop at, the prices on the other hand, weren't exactly thrift store appropriate.  I almost bought a lovely khaki colored button-up dress for the same price as retail but I couldn't really see buying something that I could just as easily pick up at H&M, brand new.  

Monk Thrift Shop, 579 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215-5432

Interesting shoes

Old 45's

 

Another that stood out in my mind was called Buffalo Exchange.  This thrift store is actually a part of a small chain of stores set up all around New York and along in some other bigger cities across the country.  So I liked the fact that it was very popular.  This meaning that new clothes were constantly coming in.  Buffalo Exchange has a buy/sell policy were you can not only buy used clothing for cheap, but also sell your gently used clothing for some quick cash on the spot.  (This was extremely useful during my later college years)

Buffalo Exchange, 504 Driggs Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211

Finally, one other store I liked was a thrift furniture store called Junk.  And really, that was all it held...junk.  Knick-knacks and odd bits and ends littered the basement store.  What separated it from other junk stores was the unique quality in the items.  For example, the BF happens to collect cigar boxes and I happened on quite a few choice boxes while there.

Junk, 197 N 9th St (between Bedford Ave & Driggs Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11211

So in the end, my journey to Williamsburg left me feeling the love and wishes of moving to such a lively neighborhood.  Unfortunately when I left New York, all together, I also left my computer charger, so further updates and posts on the engagement shoot will be halted until later this week when I get my charger mailed to me.  (Eye roll at my own foolishness).