Thrift Shopping in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The north side of the Williamsburg neighborhood is known for it's young, single, and trendy "hipsters" populating this once industrial area of Brooklyn  Only a ten minute ride from Manhattan on the L subway line,  it's full of coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries, bars, and vintage markets and boutiques. Mixed in with the modest immigrant housing of the past are new high rise luxury condos and lofts. It's a fun place to walk around, window shop, and enjoy its urban energy.

Which is exactly what a friend and I were doing not long ago when we came upon this half open garage located at  567 Driggs Avenue, off North 6th Street with a view as far as our eyes could see of vintage used goods for sale. The store is appropriately named "JUNK,"  and is open 9 AM -9 PM, seven days a week.

How could we resist?  We had to walk in to browse along its aisles bursting with all kinds of antiques...

...and architectural salvage.  I'm glad I had my little pocket Cannon camera with me so I could show you a few of the items we saw.

I was especially fascinated by the very large selection of antique bottles and cans of all kinds and from all eras, complete with their vintage dust and dirt still adhered to them.  It is as if they had been unearthed in an archaeology dig, or more likely from a dark basement of a house torn down to make way for a new high rise.

We also saw aisle and aisles of vintage china and bric-a-brac.

Did we buy anything? Not really, as I'm trying to downsize my life right now and not add to my possessions, but it was an interesting place to poke around and explore.

If you are interested in visiting some flea markets and vintage shops in Brooklyn New York Magazine has locations listed on their web site for Williamsburg on this link, and the AOL real estate web site has a guide to Brooklyn Flea Markets and Thrift Shops on this link.

If you are looking for a really cool and convenient way to find an app for you I-Phone, I-Pad or Android device to help you shop, no matter where you live or travel, check out AppSmitten  and sign up for their free e-mail newsletter that will alert you to a variety of apps you can download for free or a nominal fee.  They include categories such as shopping, business, education, family, games, music, food, entertainment, health and fitness, photography, beauty, toddler and children's game and education, travel, news, social, etc.  I have been enjoying it to find educational apps for my grandchildren to use on my next visit.  They even have a free app I want to try for the popular Pinterest which "allows you to take photos of items you like (shoes, clothes, toys, even decorating ideas) for your wish lists or pin images you like from around the web. Add a location and your gift-buyers can easily locate them using the app." -source-App Smitten

There are over 1 million apps available right now in the world, and the list is growing all the time. Signing up to use the free appSmitten will enable them to deliver bite-sized app recommendations from a trusted source right into your e-mail box, so you don't have to go hunting to find good apps.

  *As full disclosure, I will receive a small one time fee for every new newsletter subscription.  Thanks in advance to all who subscribe and try this wonderful new service out!

I'm linking this post to "Seasonal Sundays" event on The Tablescaper's blog. "Mosaic Monday" event on Mary's Blog The Little Red House, and "Blue Monday" on Smiling Sally's blog. Thanks to all the blog hosts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sure everyone in America is busy today preparing Thanksgiving dinner! 
Enjoy the preparations today and your family gathering tomorrow.
Give thanks with a happy heart! 
Happy Thanksgiving to all!

"To make a glorious day complete,

To make each hour full and sweet,

To thank the Lord for life worth living--

That is the real and true Thanksgiving."

~ Abigail Falk

We will have lots of family favorites for our Thanksgiving dinner! Nothing too fancy. We usually begin our dinner with baked lasagna or macaroni, and then I serve the herb rubbed roasted turkey, a sausage, apple and chestnut bread stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, a light and a dark turkey gravy, stuffed mushrooms, cranberry sauce, and vegetables.  This year we will have brussel sprouts with a cider vinegar and bacon dressing, roasted cauliflower with yellow peppers and capers, honey roasted butternut squash, and a spinach pie.  Dessert will be home made apple pie or pocket pies, pumpkin pie, maple bundt cake, assorted chocolates and an ice cream cake for my daughter's birthday!

We have much to be thankful for -- our faith, our family, our friends. Gratitude for things we never take for granted, like good health or gainful employment.  We have hopes and dreams for the future....and a new grandson on the way in 2011. We give thanks for all!

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him,and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

~Psalm 100; 4-5

We will also enjoy a dark chocolate turkey from the chocolatier Jacques Torres, but not from his Brooklyn D.U.M.B.O store which I have visited before, click this link to read about that, but from his Manhattan "SoHo" store (and of course there will more about this in a future blog post, so stay tuned!)

"November comes

And November goes,

With the last red berries

And the first white snows.

With night coming early,

And dawn coming late,

And ice in the bucket

And frost by the gate.

The fires burn

And the kettles sing,

And earth sinks to rest

Until next spring."

- Elizabeth Coatsworth

Have a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

I'm adding this post to Sue's It's a Very Cherry World's Rednesday Jenny Matlock's "Alphabe Thursday" as this week it is a special Thanksgiving event, and Sandi of The Whistlestop Cafe's Cooking "Friday Favorites Linky Party."

♥ I am grateful for all my blog friends and readers --

I value getting to know you and each and every comment I receive.

You make me so very happy --

 more than you could possibly know! ♥

Leaf Peeping in Connecticut

Autumn of 2010 in New York has been warm, but stormy, and it appears the fall foliage will be less than spectacular this year as many trees have already lost their leaves.  So this past weekend my husband and I decided to take a two hour drive up north to Connecticut to see if this New England state would satisfy our urge for autumn leaf peeping.

There was definitely much more autumn color, but even here many of the tress had lost their leaves from the nor'easter storm that had recently passed through.

There were trees in shades yellows and oranges, but not many were this brilliant shade of red.

Non-the-less, the scenery was beautiful!

We drove up to West Cornwall so that we could drive over their historic one lane red colored covered bridge.

Built in 1864, the West Cornwall Bridge is 172 feet long and spans the Housatonic River

After we drove over the bridge I walked back inside it to take these views from a few of the windows.

The Housatonic River as seen from a covered bridge window, facing west.

The Housatonic River, taken from a covered bridge window, facing east

In 1973 the Connecticut Department of Transportation rehabilitated the bridge by inserting a concealed steel deck to support the weight of traffic.The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. 

We sat by the river for awhile, enjoying the peaceful view.

We then walked through part of the charming town of West Cornwall.

There we saw that in this quaint toll house overlooking the Housatonic River, Ian Ingersoll makes reproductions of Shaker furniture.

A pretty residential home whose front garden's pink roses were still blooming!

Across the street, these attached houses were a pretty shade of pink!

Todd Piker's Cornwall Bridge Pottery Store, is 5000 square feet and covers two floors.  It showcases an ever-changing exhibitions of functional hand-thrown, wood-fired pottery that Piker has been crafting for over 35 years.

There was a farmers market going on in the town square with a wonderful array of fresh vegetables and...

.....a large selection of colorful gourds and squash and......

...delicious home baked goods!

We were tempted to buy that last whoopie pie on the pink dish, but instead bought a large oatmeal cookie to share, as we are trying to be diet conscious.

One of my favorite sights in the town was this colorful sculpture of a rooster standing amid the pink rose bush.  He's made from an old red Mobil Oil drum! I thought he had a lot of personality! What do you think?

I have more photos from our get away that I'll show next time, but for today I'm linking to Susan's Outdoor Wednesday, Sue's Rednesday, Cathy's Adventure Tour Express,  Sandi's Friday Favorites Linky Party, and Beverly's Pink Saturday. Please visit all the blogs to join in the fun!

Bicycles in NYC for Pink Saturday's Second Anniversary!

With all its traffic and pedestrians it can be hard to believe that one of New York City resident's favorite modes of transportation is the bicycle!  The city has many designated bicycle paths, bike lanes and greenways ...just click on this link to look at a map showing them in the five boroughs of New York City.  I think you will be surprised! 

New York’s "Five Boro Bike Tour," sponsored by Bike New York, is the largest recreational cycling event in the United States!  Every year on the first Sunday of May, over 30,000 riders participate in the 42 mile ride around New York City. The route, closed to automobile traffic, takes riders through all five boroughs of New York City, across five major bridges, and finally across New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry.

Being a Brooklyn resident I am particularly fond of this video of a bicycle ride across the Brooklyn Bridge! If you have a chance to do it, a walk or bicycle ride across the bridge, is a memorable things to do when you visit NYC.  There are many establishments that rent bicycles this link which states it is NYC's official bicycle rental company.

Another wonderful place for a tourist or visitor to Manhattan to rent and ride a bicycle is in Central Park.

This New Yorker was trusting enough to leave books in their bicycle basket.

This bicycle in Greenwich Village was decoratively adorned to advocate for an NYC based environmental group that encourages bicycling to help cut down on fossil fuel use for a more sustainable and less toxic city.

The latest annual estimate of the number of bicyclists in New York City by Transportation Alternatives, found roughly 236,000 New Yorkers riding each day in 2009, up 28 percent from 185,000 daily riders the year before.

I saw this pretty pink bicycle outside a store in the East Village recently.  It reminds me of the bicycle I had as a child.  I think I practically lived on my bicycle when I was young!  I continued to ride up until my second child was born and I could no longer fit two children in bike seat, and then stopped.  Hmmmm... I still have my bicycle in the garage and I should really stop procrastinating, dust it off and get back to riding it.  Do you ride a bicycle for health, enjoyment or for environmental reasons? 

A pink bicycle is perfect for Pink Saturday and today Beverly is celebrating a very special two year anniversary of Pink Saturday events on her blog How Sweet The Sound! Did you know that at some point in time over 700 different bloggers have participated in Pink Saturday? Pretty amazing!

Make sure to visit Beverly today and wish her a happy anniversary. She is also having a give away in honor of the event.  You'll also find many links to other Pink Saturday participants on her blog today.

Happy Pink Saturday Anniversary, Beverly! It has been a fun event and you have certainly made me keep my eye open for the color pink in New York City!