My last visit to NYC (where I lived for 11 years, and where many of my dearest friends still reside) was in January 2011. When I found out we would have some items in the Etsy Holiday Shop, it seemed like a good time to take a long overdue trip to the city. Here are some snaps I took during our quick weekend visit.
Holiday lights in Astoria.
Love the edifice of this apartment building!
Breakfast on vacation means macarons and coffee at Mille-feuille.
Andy between the Dior and Etsy shops.
I thought the Etsy shop was really nicely done. It looked pretty much exactly how I would imagine an Etsy brick and mortar store would look.
They were holding a holiday ornament workshop when we were there.
Some pretty jewels from jeanjeanvintage and a cute handmade ring holder!
The rack of vintage. There wasn't a ton of it; we were there on one of the last few days the shop was open and were told much of it had sold.
Small Earth Vintage shoes on the right.
The tags they used on the vintage. I love that: "Vintage by Karen of Grand Rapids, MI."
We escaped the cold drizzle with lunch at Randolph Beer--pickles, brussels sprouts and smoky corn! And beer. (I knew there would be lots of cocktails later, so I thought I should let Andy get some good beers.) It was funny for us to see beer from Grand Rapids' own Founders Brewing in NYC, and it was hard not to laugh while the bartender tried to sell us on it.
But forget about the beer. Cocktails! That kind of dark and blurry photo above is from Andy's Blackberry (I pretty much concentrated on drinking and talking once we started with the cocktails), and was taken at Amor y Amargo in the East Village, which has a fantastic bitters-based cocktail menu and informative drink makers. I also loved the Darling Clementine cocktail (like drinking a pomander: gin, clementine juice, and cloves) and fried pickles at Sweet Afton in Astoria. But my favorite was Long Island City's Dutch Kills--amazing drinks and perfect speakeasy ambiance.
If this vintage shop window is any indication, NYC hipsters are hugely into the Ugly Christmas Sweater thing. It's a bit weird to see the not-very-vintage ugly sweaters bookended by a couple really nice cowichans, but hey, what are you gonna do?
Anyway, it was a short and densely-packed trip, and was completely fantastic. I love NYC, and visiting always feels like coming home.
xo
k
These pictures are great! So glad you went and gave us an inside peek at the Etsy holiday shop. Happy they put shop names on the tags too.
ReplyDeleteIt might be 10am here, but a Darling Clementine cocktail sounds delicious!
Amanda, they must have sold out of your cocktail sets, because I looked all around for them to take a photo and didn't see them!
DeleteThat's great to know. Thanks for looking for them!
DeleteWay to get me all choked up! I got excited when I saw the Astoria lights up there, but then teary-eyed when I saw the photo below - Barry and I lived in Elm Towers for years, just down the street from Pete and Jennifer. I'm never going to stop missing that place. Sounds like you had an awesome trip. Now I'm dreaming of one myself.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you lived in Elm Towers, Susie! What a cool building. The only thing that would have made the trip better is seeing Pete and Jen and meeting Luca...maybe next trip! Astoria is very different from when you and I lived there, and now has an amazing cocktail place and a smokehouse. It's nuts! xo
DeleteGreat pictures Karen! The Etsy shop looks awesome, I wish I could see it or that there was an equivalent over here.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's because I live in the Southern Hemisphere and our Xmas is always hot but… I don't understand the ugly sweater craze. I mean they're just cheap 80s sweaters you find in op shops, right?
I think it would be very smart of the Etsy to do this in some more cities, all over the world. Maybe this is just the first of many.
DeleteI don't understand it, either. I mean, I understand the fact that it's fun for people to go to Ugly Sweater Parties. I don't understand that people would spend $30-$40 on a non-vintage ugly sweater when they can pick one up at their local Goodwill for $5 or so. I don't think there's any shortage of them!
I'm so glad you had a great time. Etsy and Dior... who would have guessed?
ReplyDeleteI know, Lizzie! It's wild. But it seemed like a really good location for the shop--all kinds of retailers up and down that street in Soho.
DeleteI was so excited to read about your trip Karen!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great report and pictures!
PS- Can I borrow a picture for my blog? (I'll link back here of course!)
Yes, of course, Jill--please do! (I convo-ed you an extra photo through Etsy.)
Delete