EAST VILLAGE NYC
April 25, 2016

Happy Monday, everyone! Spending the majority of the weekend outside and re-exploring new and old favorites spots, I decided to add some new (and hopefully interesting) content to my site. If you follow along via Snapchat (StyledSnapshots) you may of heard me talking about adding more New York City based content and creating a space in which it all lies.

Over the past few years, I have received numerous questions about all things New York. I love sharing how I view the city and things that I love and discover with you all, so I decided to dedicate a page on my site in which it will now all live. This way, if you ever are wanting to find something to do in New York, are visiting from far away, or just curious about the city, I plan to fill this page with posts about what to see, wear, do and eat. As always, please send any NYC related questions my way and I will do my best to answer them and incorporate them into a post! I am really excited about this new section and hope you all find it useful. You can easily get to this new category by clicking the “Categories” tab at the top of my site and then “New York City” under the drop-down menu (see image below).

What to do in New York City

To start off this series, my hope is to share a lot of NYC through each neighborhood, so I am starting with the East Village/Union Square area.  The East Village is the first place I lived when I moved to New York and will always be near and dear to my heart. I consider the Northwest corner of the East Village Union Square, which you will always find packed with people, especially on a gorgeous day. Numerous shops and restaurants border the park. I personally love to pop into Whole Foods on the South side of the park and grab a meal-to-go and sit on a bench in the park and enjoy time outdoors (usually with some great people watching). If you have a dog, they also have a great dog park! On the weekends (which is when I tend to head down) they have a large Farmers Market where you can find fresh produce, a variety of flowers and plants and yummy treats. While a bit on the hectic side, it is a fun place to stop by and pick up ingredients for dinner or to just grab a muffin with your morning coffee. I snapped a few pics to give you a good sense of the park/market on a busy Saturday. For a day in the village I went with  one of my absolute favorite dresses from the French Connection spring collection (seriously they have so many good options now).

white dress, french connection

east village

union square farmers market, nyc

engagement pictures dress

lilacs

farmers market local honey

little white dress, castaway lace gypsy tunic dress

new york city farmers market, wool

tulips farmers market

SHOPPING + COFFEE:

If you are in the mood to shop, you can make your way one avenue over from Union Square to Fifth ave and start to walk uptown. From 15th street through 22nd, this avenue is filled with some of my favorites such as Anthropologie, Zara, J.Crew, Club Monaco and so much more. My favorite place to grab coffee is next to the Club Monaco (it actually connect through the inside), called Toby’s Estate — charming and a great spot to snap an instagram! As much as I love shopping in SoHo, I may prefer this southern portion of Fifth Avenue —  it’s way less crowded than SoHo and offers a lot of the same stores.

bride-to-be white dress

french connection dress, kendall kremer

french connection

A SWEET TREAT:

Right below Union Square (and dangerously close to my old apartment) is by far the best place to splurge (calorie and $$ wise) on a sweet treat. On 13th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue lies Momofuku Milk Bar. While my sweet tooth always gets the best of me, my three favorite items to get would be the cereal bowl soft serve with crunch, birthday cake truffles and if you have any excuse to buy a cake you will not be disappointed with their traditional birthday cake. True fact, I looked into getting this as my wedding cake, it is that good. If picking up a cake, make sure you pre-order and if you are stopping by to just grab a treat don’t be turned off by the line. The store is TINY (only about 3 people can fit inside), which causes the long line outside. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

momofuku milk bar

cereal bowl soft serve, milk bar

ray-ban icons round sunglasses

 RESTAURANTS:

On a nice day, hands down my go-to place in the city is a walk down 2nd Avenue below 14th street.  The stretch from 14th to Houston has so many great restaurants with large patio space.  In other neighborhoods, it can be impossible to find outdoor seating, but on 2nd Ave. I almost always have luck (even without a reservation). Over the past few years of trying a ton of these restaurants, a few of my favorites are:

parks in new york city

The Mermaid Inn – A must for seafood lovers. They have great seating options, indoor and outdoor and my favorite time to dine there is on Sunday’s for their Lobsterpalooza. You get 1 1/4 pound lobster, red potatoes and grilled corn on the cob for $24! They also have a great Happy Hour which consists of $1 oysters and discounted drink menu.

the mermaid inn, lobsterpalooza

Mighty Quinn’s BBQ – My mouth waters just thinking about this place. I included it on my NYC neighborhood restaurant round-up here and it continues to remains a favorite. It is a super casual spot where you order at the counter and seat yourself, but the BBQ is some of the best I have ever had. The smell alone gets you the second you walk in the door.

mighty quinn's bbq

Numero 28 – Known for their Neapolitan style pizza hot out of the wood burning oven, this place is delicious. Their mushroom pizza is by far my favorite and they have a great section outside if you are in the mood the dine in the sun.

Bruno – While Numero 28 had always been one of m favorite go-to’s for authentic pizza, Matt and I just stumbled upon Bruno this past weekend. If you follow on Snapchat you might have heard me talk about about our experience, but it was a really great dining experience. They adapted this “no tipping” policy and pride themselves on paying their staff a fair wage. When you sign your receipt there isn’t even a spot to leave tip if you wanted and the prices on the menu also reflect the no tip policy. The staff was extremely friendly, helpful and had such a great attitude about working there. We stuck with their pepperoni pizza with a homemade ranch and a pappardelle pasta. Both were delicious!

tunic dress
white tunic dress

wedge espadrilles

Tunic Dress c/o // Espadrilles c/o // Bag, old (similar) // Sunglasses // Earrings // Curling Iron 1.25″ // Lipstick + Lipgloss

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