Following Rabbits Blog — do it

The weather in NYC has been gorgeous! And it's no surprise to me that New Yorkers are just generally happier people when it's sunny and warm. Everyone's out walking during their lunch break, people smile more, it's lovely. I had a pretty fantastic weekend, and Easter Sunday was no exception. My family lives on Cape Cod, so I had no dinner plans. The forecast called for a beautiful day, and the Sox/Yankees game wasn't until 8p... prime conditions for my first Coney Island trip of the season. I used to live in Flatbush, Brooklyn, so the subway ride was only 30 minutes. I recently moved to Astoria, so it was more like a journey- 90 minutes door to door- but it was so worth the time! Coney Island is like sensory-overload to me... in a good way. All of the food and drinks on the boardwalk, music coming from a dozen different beach blankets, the colors of the carnival rides and kites flying over the beach. It was really great to sit and have a picnic and get some sun.

The boardwalk is definitely prime people-watching territory. Where else can you "shoot the freak" and see a random guy walking around carrying a snake?! 

I had never been on the Cyclone, and I'm coming up on my 3rd summer in NYC! I figured that needed to be remedied pronto, so we got in an enormous line and paid our $8 fare. A woman warned us not to drink an orange soda I had in my hand before the ride. We laughed, but I put away the soda. Wow. Trust me when I say do not underestimate the Cyclone! With an 58.7* angle drop, it's the 7th steepest wooden rollercoaster in the world. (Yes, I screamed.) But man was it fun! Not exactly your traditional Easter, but I had a really great time.

Last night I saw Johnny Cupcakes on the first stop of his Suitcase Tour in SoHo. I already met him last year in his Boston store... but I did have a couple requests for him. First, he wrote a NYC Love postcard for my project, which made me uber happy! My next favor was a bit odd, but he happily obliged and drew his signature logo on my wrist so I could get it tattooed today! 

I took an extra-careful shower last night, keeping my wrist as dry as possible. I traced Johnny's doodle this morning with my Sharpie, and called up Sacred Tattoo. They're located downtown at Broadway and Howard Street, coincidentally less than a block from Johnny's tour stop last night. The studio is on the 2nd floor in an enormous loft space. It's super nice:

I went in without an appointment and waited while Matt finished up with someone. I have a tiny apple tatted on my other wrist (rep NYC!) so I knew it would be a quick but super painful ordeal. This is my fifth ink job, and my wrist tattoos hurt the most by far! Matt was awesome, and after a quick schooling in Johnny Cupcakes' brand (and why I'm getting a Sharpie doodle permanently inked on my body), he hooked it up. It's freakin' awesome! I tweeted a photo of my plastic-wrapped, bloody wrist which Johnny retweeted and consequently made the rounds of RT's on Twitter. ha! Here it is in all of its silly wonderful glory:

I absolutely love it. Johnny has been and continues to be a huge source of inspiration for me in all of my creative and entrepreneurial endeavors. Thanks JC! (Lily thanks you too...)

Today I went to the hell's kitchen flea market, over on 39th Street in Manhattan between 9th and 10th Aves. I was hoping to find some cheap gold frames or mirrors and have been dying to find an old brass birdcage for decorative purposes. There were some mirrors, but all were over $100... sadness. It was drizzling and cold when I got there, so a lot of merch was covered up, including most of the vintage clothes and jewelry. I haven't been to this flea since last summer, but it's always fun sifting through the oddities in the booths. I always feel like I'm exploring my nana's basement when I hit up this flea market... so many fantastic things that you don't need but would love to buy... just to have. Vintage tea sets, clocks, furs, old suitcases, boxes of skeleton keys (I'm always tempted to buy a handful of these but wouldn't know what to do with them... I just think they're super cool). But then you find the really interesting stuff: an allegedly Venetian mirror fit for the Queen of Hearts, a human skull (origins unknown), a pair of handcuffs. I ended up leaving 65 scooters behind for an eiffel tower and a silver ring. My cat, Lily, has a habit of fully inspecting absolutely anything new that enters our apartment... the tower was no exception.

The hell's kitchen flea is open every Saturday and Sunday from 9a-6p.

On Sunday I went to a craft meetup at Etsy Labs, which is right near the Brooklyn waterfront. It was a gorgeous day out, so I decided to walk back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. It's something I've been meaning to do since I moved here, and should have done while I lived in Brooklyn. I wound up walking over it right at sunset, and it was just beautiful. I walked really slowly, stopping to lean on the railing and take it all in. What a pretty city I live in! The walkway was crowded but everyone seemed to be in a serene mood. Walking around the city I'm always walking super fast, head down, pushing through the crowded sidewalks just getting to where I'm going. It was great to take in the views and have a meandering, relaxed walk. I will definitely do it again when it's warmer out... get an ice cream first and sit on a bench on the bridge and hang out. Above are my favorite photos... you can see the rest in my picasa album: 

I've been wanting to do an Alice in Wonderland photo shoot for a while now, and am finally making plans to do so. All I really needed was the gorgeous spring weather we've been having in NYC the past few days to jump-start my brainstorming. I've wanted to take the photos in the park, and obviously need a bit of sunshine for that. I'd like to do part of it on and around the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park. Tea with the March Hare? Sure! Of course the most important part of all this is the outfit... which I've given a lot of thought to. I want to be an alternative Alice... think Carroll's Alice with a goth/steampunk edge. I've been scouring etsy and faving lots of inspirational listings! A few of my very favorite items so far are pictured above... they're about 2 steps away from my etsy shopping cart (c'mon pay day!). The ornamental steampunk watch necklace by a second time is brilliant. Shout-out to the white rabbit. The knee-length tulle tutu by sisters of the moon comes in 20 different colors! This aqua blue is perfect. Okay... this pheasant feathered facinator... amazing! I'm in love with absolutely every item in bubbles & frown's shop. So much fun! The striped corset gloves by Dark Destiny are going to be perfect for my tea party shots- white porcelain teacups and black lace. Love it! With all of these fabulous accessories I'll be wearing a plan white top to try to balance out all of the feathers, stripes and jewels. Hopefully I can pull off this look! I've got a talented photographer lined up, and I'm aiming for the photos to be really whimsical and playful. I'll be spending the next couple weeks gathering all of these fine goodies and deciding whether to get a blonde wig or be adventurous and color my hair. I'll write a follow-up post about the shoot itself and share the album with you all the moment it's done!