Here I am with my mom and older sister at Jane’s Carousel in downtown/Dumbo Brooklyn. If you know anything about me you might know that I have a slight thing for carousels. They’re magical and the horses are so pretty. I love the colors and the gold and the lights. And it’s fun to play pretend.

So Jane’s Carousel finally opened this past weekend after being in a studio since the 80′s getting restored. I had walked by it in its studio two years or so ago so it was really exciting to see it finally in action. Since my mom and Emily were here, I had some partners in crime that I knew would check it out with me.

Here’s my mom and I getting ready for the ride to begin. My mom is holding the $2 card that you buy and they scan to let you in. Each one has apicture of a horse in it and it’s kind of cool. Also, $2 is not bad, actually. Also, I basically have this exact picture except with Kayti on a carousel in Chicago. Nice.

Emmy Boo is making a kissy face.

Since it’s official opening on Friday (and leading up to it) I had probably read every article about it on blogs and looked at every picture and everywhere I looked made me actually confused about exactly where it was – I knew it was between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge but I had a hard time visualizing the space it was in so this picture should hopefully give you the right effect:

There you can see Brooklyn Bridge behind it and the glass case it’s in. Ah, I’m so happy it’s finally out and working! See you again very soon, I’m sure, Jane’s Carousel.

I love the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. It’s a simple place with maybe six flavors to choose from, one of which is vanilla chocolate chunk. Yes, please. If you didn’t know this random factoid about myself, I worked in a small ice cream shop during my college years and the best flavor, I would argue, was plain ol’ chips vanilla. So I am loving the vanilla chocolate chip at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. This last time I was there, I went a little crazy and got myself a shake.

Here’s homegirl, Abby V., standing in front of the BK Ice Cream Factory. You can’t really tell in this picture, but the line was out the door. Abby was like, “Is this ice cream supposed to be good or something?” She understood once she got her vanilla in a waffle cone.

After our little ice cream adventure, we took a stroll down Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

And all was good.

This past Sunday I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to meet up with my friend Laura Leebove and company in line for the Bust Craftacular. She went last year and showed me all the cool stuff she bought, so this year, I just had to see it for myself.

When I found her in line, it was already reaching around the corner and later it made its way around the entire block.

The line was worth it. Two dollars and a free goodie bag (for the first 500 people) later, we were inside and there was SO MUCH TO LOOK AT! I did not know where to begin. Vendors everywhere. Jewelry, purses, clothing, chocolates, cookies, toys, stuffed animals, handmade cards…

We made our way around the maze and I ended up with one thing for one of my sisters. I obviously can’t tell you what it is. There were a million things I could have bought for myself, but that wasn’t the point of going there now, was it?

I’ve realized I really like handmade cards. They are so adorable. And they’re about the same price as the mass-produced ones you find at Kate’s Paperie so why didn’t I buy some? You tell me.

Here’s a table of some interesting stuffed animals:

And a t-shirt display I was pretty fond of:

And now for the killer. There was one particular booth that really stuck out at me. You know I really like creatures. I especially like penguins. So here was this table with ceramic mugs and ceramic necklaces with different creatures on them. And the creatures were just so CUTE! I seriously wanted to cry about it, they looked so sad and lonely on the mugs and necklaces and I wanted to be their friend.

This necklace I wanted especially:

A penguin in front of the Brooklyn Bridge! This is even better than my amazing photo of the ice cream in front of the Brooklyn Bridge! This necklace is City Mitten!

Why didn’t I buy this? I don’t wear necklaces that much but that penguin should have been mine. The woman who made them was really nice, maybe she can make a pendant for me and make it into a bracelet. I would love love that. For now I can only hope that Mr. Penguin here found a home at the Bust Craftacular. And, you should check out the 3rd Ward Handmade Holiday Craft Fair this coming Sunday, cause SKT Ceramics is gonna be there.

I’m not going to lie, this is my new favorite picture. My life in one frame, haha. The Brooklyn Bridge and ice cream. Yes, please.

Yesterday I finally, finally was able to check out the New Amsterdam Market, a monthly market in the South Street Seaport where the Fulton Fish Market used to be. It’s butchers and bakers, farms and wineries, cheese and chocolate – all kinds of things – all local or locally sourced. And it’s amazing. Aaaamazing. And there’s lots of samples for you to try.

You’ll never guess what kind of flavor that ice cream is. It’s sweet potato pecan. I was a little apprehensive at first, but once I tried it, I was sold, sold, sold. It was from The Bent Spoon, an ice cream shop from Princeton, New Jersey. It had honey-candied chocolate pecans in it. Hello. I might have to buy myself a pint of whatever flavors they bring to the next market.

Before I tried the ice cream, I got myself a small lobster roll from Luke’s Lobster, which I have been hearing soo many wonderful things about. At their booth, they had a little chalkboard that told you exactly where today’s catch was from (in Maine, by the way). Luke’s had the longest line, well-deserved. I only got the “snack” portion of the lobster roll, but it probably wouldn’t have killed me to get a whole one, $14 or not.

This lobster roll is hands-down the best thing I’ve had in a month (okay, maybe besides Gotham Bar & Grill). They have a place on E. 7th street that I am going to visit immediately.

And here’s some other things you’d find at the New Amsterdam Market:

Produce.

People.

Cheese!

Oysters!

The next Market is Dec. 20th and you can bet your booty I’m gonna be there.

Michelle left me yesterday. But not before we went for some Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn!

We took the train to Dumbo and walked to Brooklyn Heights. The area between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges is one of my favorite areas in Brooklyn; so many good things. And yeah, that was my second time there in one week, what of it? :)

Grimaldi’s: Pizza for tourists and locals alike. There’s always a line on the weekends but the wait is always worth it. We waited about 40 minutes which wasn’t too bad. It’s kind of fun to stand in line and hear what people are talking about, sometimes you can learn a lot. Oh, you’re from where? What restaurant did you try last week? What documentary were you working on? I’ll have to check that out.

(Sidenote: Who says “on line?” What is that? You wait IN line, not ON line. Where are these people FROM?)

Once inside, we tried to figure out if the guy and girl next to us were on a first date. Awkward questions with awkward responses? That’s always a fun game. Probably even more fun when you’re eating Grimaldi’s pizza.

Hmm. Didn’t I just make a post about pizza the other day? It wasn’t Grimaldi’s though, and hey, it’s New York: there are a thousand pizza places, a hundred of them are excellent and I’ve probably only been to three. So yeah, this is not my last pizza post.

The cheese on their pizzas is just delicious and you can see them make the pizza right in front of you and throw it into the coal oven. We ordered sausage and pepperoni, a great combination. Also the one I get every time. Do I need to get more creative?

Nah.

This weekend, to my mother’s dismay (she would have rather gone to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory) we stopped at Jacques Torres’ ice cream shop in Dumbo. It opened sometime in the past year and I was finally able to try it a month or two ago. I thought it was quite swell, their chocolate chip cookie ice cream has both chocolate chip cookies AND chocolate chunks in it. Yes, please.

By the way, their Wicked chocolate ice cream is called that because it’s got a spice to it. We tried it but I think I’m a purist when it comes to chocolate. Or I just don’t really like spicy things. I think Chocolate Chip Cookie is the way to go.

And afterward, we took a little walk towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Wasn’t a bad night.

Ignore the blur, please. But look, I caught a plane in the sky!