Catch Up

Williamsburg, 2013

We are kicking off the new season with a very boring and virtuous 3-day juice cleanse. I know the merits of all-juice diets are dubious, but every once in a while it's a good way for me to mentally press reset and remind myself that bagels and wine shouldn't be staples. The only challenge with being on a juice fast is that it's all you can talk about. I will try not to dwell on my rumbling tummy and play catch up on everything else that's been going on around here.

- I read this article in New York on the "Retro (Hipster) Wife." While most of the ensuing furor went to the tune of 'one privileged woman does not a trend make,' a few of the references resonated with me. Like the fact that there are all these blogs out there that glamorize staying at home (intentionally or not), and simultaneously make both stay at home and working mothers feel bad for not crafting Pinterest-worthy pinatas for their baby's half-birthday celebrations. Heck, I love some dreamy lifestyle inspiration as much as the next girl, but it does make me wonder occasionally. Like baked goods for St. Patrick's Day? Is that even a thing? Clearly that is not happening chez Williamsburg Baby.

- Somehow, I seem to have emerged from the fog of Axel's months 4-6 with my sanity (mostly) intact. But it's also made me realize how very run down I was over this winter, and how I have just begun to relearn how to be a functional adult (plus baby.) Even with an 'easy baby', there's a sense that you're in survival mode. Now that Axel sleeps through the night and is more predictable, I'm still playing catch up and clawing my way back to being able to buy milk + brush hair + make a phone call. It's taken a while...and I no longer have the 'I just had a baby' excuse.

- I'm getting a kick out of this Slate column, How Babies Work. Love the weird science behind babies.

11211 Love

Tiny Empire via MilkWithOneSugar

My poor sad camera is at the repair shop this week, hence the spotty posting...

I am seriously hard on cameras (like throw-them-on-the-ground-by-accident-at-regular-three-month-intervals hard) but I've been putting off taking it in since I feel naked without it. While I wait for it to return to me I figure it's a good time to check in on some recent Williamsburg happenings.

First up, Tiny Empire, my latest obsession. It's a ridiculously twee and amazing juice shop that sells ridiculously twee and delicious $10 cold pressed juices (think kale and pear or beet and carrot.) It's just the kind of non-decadent decadent thing to do after a weekend of epic Brooklyn brunches.

Sweet Chick via Thrillist

Then there's Sweet Chick, which opened a stone's throw from our apartment today. This place is dedicated to its namesake dish, fried chicken and waffles (talk about mixed messages Williamsburg.) It's the sort of place that serves artisan-made soda water and fancy cocktails along with its pseudo-ironic hearty fare, but when I walked past it tonight it looked cozy and well lit.

Aska via Bon Appetit

Frankly, we've missed out on a lot of the Williamsburg openings lately. I suppose with a new (okay, new-ish) baby we tend to stick to what's tried and true (spots like Fada, Walter Foods, and Spritzenhaus.) But it seems like every day somewhere new is opening its doors, selling oysters and absinthe or organic doughnuts or exotic sausages. There's even a Scandinavian restaurant with a very esoteric tasting menu that includes ingredients like lichen.

When I moved here nearly ten years ago, there were very cool things going on here, but you had to seek them out. Have an address in your back pocket.

Today, there are moments when I find myself in a boutique like Brooklyn Fox, eyeballing a $400 top and wondering where the heck I am. It's fairly disorienting to see so much slickness proliferating and to see hip young tourists wandering Bedford Avenue with maps in hand. I sometimes feel like I'm having an out of body experience, unsure whether I've been teleported to Tribeca or L.A. The Ides? It definitely feels like a Manhattanized version of a neighborhood I used to know really well.

Bamonte's via Saveur

I can hardly complain (after all, I actually bought that kale juice.)

But I'm still glad that the old school joints like Bamonte's are still going strong. Hopefully Axel will someday be able to remember living in a quirky place called Brooklyn, before Williamsburg was big in Sweden or lampooned on the cover of the New Yorker.

The New Yorker