nyc

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

etsy holiday shop + sweet deals

If you're a fan of our Facebook page, you'll already know this, but I'm really excited to announce that Small Earth Vintage is part of the Etsy Holiday Shop in NYC this year!  The shop opened yesterday, and will remain open until December 8, so if you're in the NY area--go check it out!

Andy and I will actually be able to visit in person, since we're taking a long overdue trip to NYC next weekend.  It looks like there will be a lot of fantastic vintage there.  You can see a preview of what's available here (scroll down to see all the featured items).

And in other important holiday news, have you been over to Honey Kennedy to check out some of the amazing holiday shopping deals Jen has posted?  You really should: there are tons of great deals from wonderful independent shops.  (And you might find a little code for shopping Small Earth Vintage in  there, too!

xo

K

graduated to the high life (vacation, part 2)

I have been kind of avoiding posting about the second, NYC portion of our trip. As I said in my previous post: it's bittersweet. I love my life in Michigan, but my New York friends are my best friends, and I only get back to see them once a year at most. And with each trip, as people get married, have children, or just move to other places, it seems I get to see fewer of my old friends, and don't have enough time with the ones I do get to see.

Obviously, there is only one solution to this problem, and that is more trips to New York.

Art was appreciated.

Burgers and beer were had at Old Town. (Somehow we always end up at Old Town.)

Cocktails at Von.

Time was well spent with friends.

Delicious food was eaten. And yes, more drinks consumed. (The cocktail of the moment, by the way, is The Spritz: Prosecco, Aperol and club soda or seltzer.)

It was kind of hot.

We took the N train.

We walked.

Cute vintage dresses were worn.

We checked out the view from the High Line.

Cocktails were consumed. These beauties were at Little Branch. Little Branch is a basement speakeasy where you give the bartender an idea of what you like, and he'll bring you a little something. Our friend David asked for "something Colonial," and I'm pretty sure the bartender didn't bat an eye! My favorite was the Fitzgerald (the name alone!). It's gin, lemon juice, bitters, and simple syrup. Service was exceptional, everyone loved their drinks (even Beer Only Andy loved his Moscow Mule), and the setting is perfection. Also, they have the cleanest, most pleasant bar bathrooms I have seen in the city, at least on this visit. (All the rest were foul, on a par with CBGB's, may she RIP.)

A very special thank you to my dear friend Jessica for letting me use (and Picnik-icize!) a few of her photos (she took that last beautiful Little Branch cocktails picture), and also for my new perfume craving, Tilda Swinton's Like This from Etat Libre d'Orange--so delicious!

came here for school, graduated to the high life...

...one hand in the air for the big city

street lights, big dreams all looking pretty

xo

K