I have decided (with no evidence to back me up) that New York is a dry place and so I am sitting in a beautiful armchair (it is beautiful) with a chai tea, a bottle of water and the biggest bottle of moisturizer that I could find at Target.

I had such a wonderful day today. Lately, I have been pretty focused on work and personal projects so the idea of taking a weekday to hang out in the neighbourhood seemed like a waste of time. Then I remembered the nagging voice in my head that has been saying: what are you doing here that you can’t do in Toronto? Go do THAT.

So I put an ‘out of office’ reply on my emails, stuffed my work phone in a drawer. I jumped on the B Train and took myself and my book for breakfast.

I ended up at Milk and Honey, a nice brunch spot that appealed to me almost entirely based on the pictures. It’s sunny and lush and as I happily discovered: good food, amazing coffee.

I then went to check out a co-working space that has a work exchange program. It turns out to be a nice work alternative while I am back and forth from Toronto. It’s a short walk from my place and it would be a lovely shift from my current bedroom office. It’s also affiliated with a yoga studio and wellness centre. Most importantly they sell $1 bags of microwavable popcorn, which is basically my version of ‘having me at hello’ (I’m a surprisingly cheap date 😉 ).

At the moment I am about 10 minutes away from Prospect Park which I guess is the Central Park of Brooklyn (or at least designed by the same guys). I’m really starting to appreciate having the ability to step outside of the city and into nature. It’s something that I forget to do in Toronto and I am pretty grateful to have such easy access. These pictures don’t really do it any justice.

I walked to Park Slope and stumbled into a record shop, one that contained so many records that I immediately felt overwhelmed. A guy drinking a beer, amid the cramped quarters, called out:

“Anything that you’re looking for in particular?”

And me, trying to find an entry point: “Nope, just trying to get the lay of the land.”

He pointed out the various genres and then offered me a beer.

My other version of ‘having me at hello’.

Happy weekend 🙂