Autumn in the City: NYC Photo Roundup

We spent the bulk of last week in New York. I travel up often to work in the Brooklyn Etsy offices and we always enjoy posting a little roundup of the sites, scenes and eats once back home. We are guilty of being die hard creatures of habit, so we usually like to hit up all of our favorite places and do all of our favorite things while in the city — but this trip proved to bring on some new adventures outside of our norm so we wanted to share some of the highlights from the trip here on the blog today.

We also set out on this trip with 3 bucket list items. We wanted to try a cronut, take a ride on the East River Ferry and have a drink on a rooftop terrace. We always think we'll have time for so many things and once in the city, the days seem to fly by before we cross everything off the list. We failed at getting up early enough to wait in line for cronuts and didn't make the time for the ferry, but we did deliver on the rooftop terraces, oh the rooftop terraces! Plus, it gives us a few things to look forward to crossing off the list for the next trip up.

We left early Sunday morning from VA and made it into the city just before 10am, when the streets are still sleepy and quiet. We decided to walk to Balthazar for brunch at the bar. This place is always packed — it's a fun place to sit, eat and take in the scenery. It also brings back fond memories of my days working as the Maître D' when Can Can Brasserie first opened here in Richmond:

After brunching, we hopped on the train to check out the marimekko store:

It was filled with bolts of fabric, long draping panels, clothing and home decor — all in bright pops of color and the modern prints marimekko is so famous for. It was fun getting to see everything in person and we ended up buying a poster of the Sumatra tiger design.

Next up, we stopped in Eataly next door. It's one of our favorite gourmet groceries to visit and we'd just learned about the rooftop terrace they have — hello, bucket list! I think I have 3 different variations of this same shot of Tim looking for cured mangalitsa over the years since Eataly first opened:

So! The rooftop terrace. We'd recently seen an article listing out some of the best rooftop bars in the city and when we saw one located on the top of Eataly (a beer garden, at that), we were sold. It's funny — we could have gone another 5 years visiting the city and stopping in Eataly without ever knowing there was a rooftop bar. There's always something new to see and discover.

The bar is called Birreria and you hop on the elevator up to the top floor:

When you walk out of the elevator you are greeted by this beautiful, open air rooftop space and you immediately feel a sense of getting a big breath of fresh air:

We cozied up to the bar and looked at the menu while waiting for the clock to strike noon. Did you know it's against the law to serve alcohol before noon on Sundays in NYC?

We ended up trying out a glass of their specialty — the unfiltered, unpasteurized and naturally carbonated Cask Ales while taking a little breather and reveling in the fact we'd crossed off one of our bucket list items for the trip within 2 hours of being in the city.

Did you notice anything familiar about those red chairs in this space? The minute we walked up to the rooftop I recognized them as the same we have in our dining room (only in the silver version). Nice!

After the rooftop, we walked around before hopping onto the Manhattan bridge over to Brooklyn to check into the hotel and crash for the rest of the day:

NYC Poodle anyone?

We stayed in a different hotel than we're used to this trip. It's called Hotel Indigo and is located in downtown Brooklyn, a little closer to the office. This area is filled with buildings that are a mix of old and new high-rises:

The hotel had a kind of modern boutique feel that carried from the lobby to the rooms:

For those unfamiliar with the standard sizes for NYC hotel rooms, here's a little peek into the anatomy of our room:

There's enough room for everything you need and nothing more. Nothing.

We loved the light-filled space, ample windows and hard floors in this hotel:

Oh and if you're wondering where the dresser of drawers was, there wasn't. The bed acted as multifunctional storage. No room to waste space in NYC!

We were on the 12th floor, which gave us this view for miles:

If that gorgeous view from the room weren't enough, check out the scenery from the rooftop terrace of the hotel:

Yes, the hotel we stayed in had a rooftop terrace — so we technically doubled up on this bucket list item! This is where we brought up a couple cocktails, watched the sunset over the city and took an absurd amount of photos.

Later in the week I got to attend the Sass & Bide Fashion Show for New York Fashion Week. They were showing their spring/summer 2014 collection. Standing in line to get in the show was a bit of a show in itself. There were sequin pants, black corsets and those classic modelesque attendees that photographers would stop to shoot while they walked right up to the front of the line for show access:

Inside, everyone grabbed their seats while the press interviewed the likes of Poppy Delevingne, Zoë Kravitz and Alexandra Richards:

Little ole me, feeling fancy!

Just before the show, the kraft paper on the runway was ripped away in prep for the models:

All of the looks were beautiful, with structured lines and heavy embellishments:

Everyone's goal was to grab a shot:

See all the behind-the-scenes shots (which are much better than these quick shots I snapped) and watch the full show right here.

In other fun news, KISS held a photo-shoot just outside the Etsy offices in DUMBO one afternoon. Here I am awkwardly photo-bombing the shoot. You can just barely make out the black and white painted face of Gene Simmons behind the umbrella below:

See more pics and info from this shoot here. This area of DUMBO is always being used for different shoots and movies since it has such great views of the city, bridges and classic cobblestone streets. Later in the week, there was another shoot for a band going on as I walked into the office:

Outside of rooftop bars, New York Fashion Week and celebrity photo-shoots (you know, all that normal everyday stuff), we hit up some of our favorite regular spots and took in the city scenery now that autumn is right around the corner:

Chelsea Market is an old favorite and always a must:

We can't forget the Grand Central Oyster Bar:

It wouldn't be a trip to NYC for Tim without a trip to this oyster bar. Speaking of oysters, he also tried out a new-to-us place one afternoon called Jeffrey's Grocery:

It was a quaint little place in the city and he was able to hand deliver a package full of vintage goodies that one of the staff members had placed an order for in the vintage shop the week before. Funny how things work out that way sometimes.

One evening we simply stayed in and ordered takeout — can't beat fortunes like these:

Before we knew it, it was the end of the week and time to say goodbye to these beautiful views:

Until next time, New York!

Find out more about our favorite places to visit while in the city in these past photo roundups: September 2011, June 2012, August 2012, October 2012 & February 2013.

Have you been to NYC? Where are your favorite places to stop in?

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