Hi! I'm Nadine. We’re on on the border of Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill. Technically my address is in Boerum Hill but I spend more of my time in Cobble Hill. We are so close to the F train, which is wonderful for me getting to work. And right now we’re in front of my apartment. I’ve lived here for about six months. This is home. So yeah, lets walk down to Smith Street.

OUR ROUTE

Les Enfants Terribles: A new kind of Brooklyn hair cut bar, cash only. 

Bien Cuit: Flakey, buttery, the most perfect croissants are here. 

One Girl Cookies: The prettiest space to journal. 

61 Local: Everybody needs a cozy, welcoming neighborhood spot. 

MAC: Home of the best lipstick in the world. 

Fawkner: On the coveted list of New York bars with fireplaces. 

Smith Street Bagels: Come for the bagels, stay for the fritters.

Cafe Luluc: Order buttermilk pancakes for the table. 

Books Are Magic: Simply magical. 

Les Enfants Terribles is my neighborhood hair salon, and it's where I'll go to get my bangs trimmed. The men who work there are so nice and very attractive (laughs). They're also very friendly, whenever I walk by we'll wave at each other through the window. We're also about to walk by a Domino's (laughs), and my laundry spot. Very chic. 

Across the street is Bien Cuit. This is a bakery that has really, really good croissants. It always smells so good here. Their croissants are perfectly buttery, and perfectly flakey. Let's go get one! One of the people who work here has a tattoo that I see a lot. It's based off the Neil Gaiman quote, "Make good art." I haven't asked him about it yet, but I really want to. 

ON MEETING NEW PEOPLE

I do really like getting to know the people who work at the places I love going. It helps that with the job I have that I've had to get over shyness. I try to be open, and I think I have a very welcoming face (laughs). 

One Girl Cookies is just a really nice coffee shop. It's great for when I ever want to just sit and journal for awhile, or just to cry (laughs). Sometimes I'll come here, and they have a really nice table space, and they'll leave you alone. The space is painted in the prettiest blue. Also, they have really great cookies. 

LIVING WELL-PACED

Weekends in Brooklyn are so relaxing. When i was living in Manhattan my first year in New York, there was all this pressure to have all these experiences, meet everybody I could, check off every museum from my list. I was reading all these articles about things like “The best bagels you have to try.” I was trying to do so many things so quickly, and then I didn’t know if I actually enjoyed it.

But now that I’m here, in Brooklyn, I typically have just one anchor for my day, to make my weekends feel slightly productive. I think there’s so much more subtlety here. Things are a little more slower, its just better for my brain.

I tend to just go on walks now, like this. Just last night I went on this walk after having dinner with my friends. I wasn't really feeling like I was ready to settle in, so I walked up and down my street.

So yeah, I go on these long walks, typically on weekends which I like spending alone because I go out more on the weekdays. I like to explore different parts of the city, like last weekend I was in Park Slope. I was in Fort Greene one day.

SHARING PLACES I LOVE

I'll take these walks and I’ll just pop into places that seem interesting to me. I feel like I tend to rely on my friends, especially the ones who have lived here a long time. I also really like Foursquare. I like how you can draw your own maps.

Places don’t really become special or meaningful until I’ve brought someone there. So my favorite places usually have to do with the person that is there.

This is 61 Local. It’s almost like this old timey tavern. It’s really relaxed and community oriented. Sometimes I’ll come here on a Sunday night alone (laughs) but to be around people. So I get a grilled cheese, and I read, and I sit at a communal table. Nobody really talks to each other necessarily and I don't talk to anyone, but it just feels like a good space on a Sunday night to unwind and get ready for the week, otherwise I’m just full of Sunday night dread where I'm like "Oh I forgot to do this," or "I need to do this this week." 61 Local is also just a really fun place to go. They'll have poetry readings, or open mic nights and all of that sort of thing.

A QUICK LIPSTICK INTERLUDE

Now we’re walking down Smith. There’s a MAC store. I love the MAC Ruby Woo. It's the lipstick I’m wearing right now. It will never let you down. It’s so good. I lost mine one time, so I went into the store and bought a new one immediately. I never wander around there, I just go straight to Ruby Woo (laughs).

DARTS AND APPLE FRITTERS

And now we’re going to Fawkner, which is the bar around me that I like the best. It isn’t spelled like William Faulkner. My friend Catherine, who I trust wholeheartedly, invited me. The first time I was here was on a Monday night and they had standup comedy. Anybody could sign up, so it wasn’t that great (laughs). It was so nice, and we were sitting by the fire drinking mulled wine. I love the color of their walls, its this teal that matches the color of their outside. Plus, they have darts in the back (laughs). We don’t really know the rules about how to play darts, so we just make up our own for each round.

Smith Street Bagels is where I get my bagels. Its under renovation this weekend, the guy who works there is so endearing. I don't know his name but I really like him. I go there on Sundays. When I was a kid my parents would always give us like an apple fritter or some type of treat after we went to church. So I got into this habit on Sundays of getting an apple fritter, and I still do that today.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PANCAKE GOOD

We’re coming up on Cafe Luluc, which is my favorite pancake spot in Brooklyn. This is my favorite place for breakfast. I know its kind of a brunch is place, but the line is super long so I’ll get there at like 8am (laughs). I love breakfasts, brunch can be too late and I'll get hungry and snack beforehand. When anyone from out of town comes to visit, my mom, my dad, when friends come to visit, I always go here. Their plain buttermilk pancakes are the best, though I do love a good chocolate chip or a lemon ricotta. Whats just beautiful about these is how airy they are, how light and fluffy.

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

So the last place that we’re going is the local independent bookstore. Its called Books Are Magic. The owner is Emma Straub. I honestly buy a book almost every weekend, I’m on their mailing list and they email about new books coming out. This book called Wabi Sabi Welcome is one of the recent things I’ve bought here. Its based on this idea of finding beauty in imperfection. And it goes country by country and explores how wabi-sabi is expressed there.

Have a #blockshot you'd like to share? DM us on Instagram @theblock.blog. Talk to you soon!