My new love, Brooklyn Heights.

This morning when I woke up, I realized that it was raining. So, I looked up the weather in Brooklyn and my fear was confirmed. Rain. All day. Boo. I decided that I would try to be productive. I sent a couple of emails, read what I needed to read for class on Tuesday, and cleaned up my room. Around 1 p.m. and after a few phone calls out of pure boredom (love you momma and Luke), I decided that I would explore a little bit of Brooklyn, no matter the yucky weather. I grabbed my coat, a scarf, and my umbrella and ventured out into the constant drizzle. Thank goodness it wasn't super cold or I would have walked right back in and crawled back into bed.

This time, instead of walking towards the left, which is the way I go for groceries or the subway at High Street, I turned to the right. I walked about 3 or 4 blocks down until I ran into Montague St. The walk was cute, in and of itself. I passed a few churches that looked very historic and traditional. I imagined pipe organs being played and old hymns being sung as I walked by. Once I hit Montague though, it was love at first sight.

Either way I looked, left or right, the buildings and shops on this street looked like they stepped right out of "You've Got Mail." Everything was so quaint! I took a left first and passed by what I think may become one of my favorite places in New York. It is a nail shop called "Dashing Diva." The entire place is painted pink and white. For $15, you can get a spa manicure and for $35, a spa pedicure. The best part is that if you go in between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday or Friday, you get a free cosmo! WHAT UP. Yes, I think some of the girls and I already have a date to the Dashing Diva planned for Thursday:)

As I kept walking, I noticed an Ann Taylor Loft, Banana Republic, a cute little pet shop, what looked like great Japanese restaurant, and a couple of other (pricey) clothing stores. I walked as far as I could until I ran into a residential area and then turned back. Once I ended up back at Henry St., which is the cross street I walked down to get to Montague, I strolled down the other half of this precious neighborhood.

The first store I noticed was a really nice resale shop. I HAD to go in, it was just too intriguing. The store was one of many resale shops in NY run by a non-profit called Housing Works. This non-profit sells clothing, furniture, books, etc. and 100% of the proceeds goes to families and homeless people in NY that are affected by HIV and AIDS. Today they were having a sale on books and jeans. I definitely bough a pair of Citizens jeans for $5. I was so proud of myself because these exact same jeans were selling across the street for around $200. Woohoo!!

On this side of Montague there was a Starbucks, a couple of other restaurants that looked amazing, a beautiful flower shop, and a store named Overtures that caught my eye. As I walked into Overtures, I realized right away why this store had drawn me in. This little shop sells stationary, candles, picture frames, jewelry, etc. The best part is that they create wedding invitations and save-the dates! Even though I probably can't afford to get such things made in New York, I just had to talk to the store's owner and get his card. Never hurts, right? I will be visiting this store again soon:)

As I was wrapping up my adventure on Montague, I debated on whether or no to stop by Starbucks or venture into a new, unknown coffee shop. Well, I did it. I chose to try a new place called Connecticut Muffin and I'm so glad I did! This coffee shop was playing some Jack J (always a good sign!), had free wi-fi (note to self for studying purposes!), and makes an amazing raspberry chai latte (what I purchased, obviously). I also bought a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing. My 6th (bridal) sense told me that I must stay away from these little cupcakes and only look to them on special occasions, ha!

So, even though today started out a little boring and rainy, I'm SO GLAD that I got up the nerve to face the rain and explore the borough I live in. I can definitely see myself hanging out on Montague more and taking full advantage of my surroundings. I can't wait for people to come visit so that I can share my discoveries with those I love. But for now, I am very content to keep sweet Brooklyn Heights all to myself:)

Here is a picture of my raspberry chai latte and red velvet cupcake. Sorry its just sitting on my desk; not very artsy. And its an iPhone picture. Lame, I know. But it was raining, so I couldn't take my Nikon out. This is the best I could do for now.