Local Color

Brooklyn always looks good wearing autumn.

Sigh. Saipua.

One of the final stops we took in Red Hook over the weekend was at Saipua (147 Van Dyke Street), a flower and soap shop that offered the perfect combination of a beautiful setting, magic-hour-type lighting, interesting objects to photograph, the alluring aroma of soaps mixing with flowers, and an un-camera-shy dog named Nea. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

It was a gorgeous way to end the day. Thanks to Eric and Amy for indulging me. (P.S. The soaps are amazing!)

If you give a girl a cookie

When it comes to cuteness, I am willing to bet that my neighborhood could take on your neighborhood any day of the week. Take the adorable One Girl Cookies shop around the corner, for instance. I've watched it grow from a shiny little storefront with a small set of cookie collections (named after the owner's relatives and friends) packaged in well-designed boxes into a busy bakery and dessert bar, which opens up its big, welcoming front window when it's warm outside.

Each time I take the F train home, I make it a point to pass by and window shop--there's always some sort cute concoction waiting for me there. Plus, they're really yummy and they make great birthday or housewarming gifts (you don't even have to wrap them--the boxes and the bag they come in do the job for you). They even create to-die-for party favors. Order some up here or stop by and say hello (even if it's just to gaze at the sweet stuff inside) at 68 Dean Street in Brooklyn.

Image Source: One Girl Cookies

Loving: Maps, maps, maps

I don't know what it is--their graph-y nature, their visual organization, their simplicity--but I could stare at maps for hours (really--run into me on a subway platform, and you may just find me staring at the MTA map...even though I've been riding the subway for nine years now!). I have two framed in my little home (one of Brooklyn, seen below, and an antique map I found of London at a flea market in London under the Waterloo bridge) and am always looking for more.

Brooklyn poster, $37, orkposters.com

Paris Beach Tote, $35, mapetote.com

The Journey Journal, $12, Cracked Designs

Massimo Vignelli's 1972 NYC subway map, $30, transitmuseumstore.com

Map mail set, $12, lovelydesign.com

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