Today in Williamsburg

I met up with my friend Melisa today at a hipster rich cafe on Bedford Ave. I walked into the coffee scented establishment at 2pm on the dot. We said our hellos while standing beside Melisa's stool. Five minutes later we met up with her new friend Jordis (who just moved to NY from Germany). We all chatted while we wandered through the streets of Williamsburg.  Eventually we found ourselves in a funky (yet clean) cafe with lots of natural light, big pink flowers in a huge glass vase, and a bathroom that looked like the inside of a girly naval ship. Since I'd been eating an obscene amount of cheese, white flour and tomato sauce (aka pizza) the past few days, I decided I really needed some raw veggies to make things right again, so I ordered (and ate) a black kale salad with beets and walnuts (and a few of Melisa's fries). Everything was yummy. Here are the two girls (plus me behind the camera) waiting for our bill:

We walked out into the sunny cold with full bellies about to embark on a serious vintage clothing crawl.

We started at Beacon's Closet. A bunch of my friends had been raving about this place for years, so I was exited to finally get to take a peek.

Here's the peek:

I haven't been to too many vintage stores in my life, but this one was impressive. It was very organized. All the clothes were separated by color...

The clothes seem to look more vibrant hanging next to each other, though. As soon as I removed one item form the group, the bright toned garment turned dull and ugly. Maybe the clothing doesn't like to be alone. Or maybe it looks good again once its worn. I didn't test the latter theory out, though.

Here's Melisa commenting on the intricate ridiculousness of this shirt:

The front of the shirt looked normal and somewhat decent, but the back was an entirely different story.  It was shorter in the back with blue sequins attached to the hem and shoe laces crisscrossed up back like a roller skate. And priced at $14.99? (I wouldn't give them more than $1.99) You just have to ask yourself why. Plus it probably had bed bug juice on it. So thanks, but no thanks. Okay, the truth comes out, ....I'm just not a huge fan of used anything. I know vintage clothes are "cool" and you can probably find some really unique items at a bargain, but I can't get past the fact that everything's already been sweated in by a stranger. It kinda grosses me out. I prefer going to Duane Reade and getting a brand new pack of Hanes white t-shirts and calling it a day. But it was still fun to look.

We left and quickly made our way to the next used stuff store ("Wait for me, Guys!"):

Oh and as I was walking I noticed this on the sidewalk:

Anyway, here's another vintage shop a few blocks away:

Ahhhh! Hipsters EVERYwhere! Actually...come to think of it, no one ever looked at *me* funny, so I probably looked like a hipster too. Maybe a not so cool hippie hipster in training?

And then in an effort to show off her new pedicure, Melisa tried on some Frankenstein tranny sandals:

We then all stepped inside an antique shop (Melisa danced inside) that smelled like an unwashed  grandparent:

Buttons!

THEN we went into a jewelry store where you can make your own jewelry! They have all the clasps, colorful beads, chunky charms and chains in all different sizes and and and. I found a chain (the size of a choker) that I wanted to combine with an old time key, but I also wanted to combine it with a smaller heart shaped charm and have them dangle on the chain together, but I didn't have the patience to sift through all the choices, so I told myself (and the girls) that I'd come back when I have more patience. (I also had to run to photography class.) Oh and I couldn't get a picture of the  inside of the store. It wasn't allowed. Meh.

Jordis and I took the L train together back to Manhattan. Melisa stayed in Williamsburg to study (she's in school studying neuroscience). 

Funky fun time in Brooklyn.