DAYTRIPPING - Brooklyn Winter Flea & Smorgasburg

Whenever my husband and I have a day of together, we try to get out and do something fun in the city. Its super rare that we actually have a weekend day off together, so we had to take advantage of a free Saturday and check out the Brooklyn Indoor Flea Market, Record Fair and Smorgasburg (Food Vendors galore).
We had been to the Brooklyn Flea before (Saturdays in Fort Greene and Sundays under the Manhattan Bridge), but never to the Indoor Winter version, that combines the Food Fair with the Flea Market.
Its a perfect thing to do on a cold, wintery day, since you can spend hours exploring inside. The Winter Flea is located inside the old Williamsburg Savings Bank at 1 Hanson Pl in Downtown Brooklyn, right across from the Barclays Center. Its super easy to get there by Subway (Atlantic Ave - Barclays Center station) or by car (you can park across the street in the Atlantic Center shopping mall parking lot).

The building it self is beautiful and we had a lot of fun exploring all the vendors. Every once in a while the Brooklyn Flea also holds a record fair, with a huge selection of music to pick through. The main market is on the ground floor and level 1. The Smorgasburg food fair and Record Fair are located in the basement.

Our favorite find, no questions asked, were these Chinese Quail Eggs on a stick! Amazing. They came in 3 different flavors (plus 1 non-egg sausage version). Sooooo yummy! I easily could've had 5 of those. I had the South (with nacho cheese and tortilla) and my husband had the West (with Turffle and breadcrumbs)
I also totally had to have a Wowfull because ever since I discovered those Hong Kong style Egg Waffles with Ice Cream in Toronto, I'm a huge fan!!

Chinese Streetfood by "Brunchspot". Our new favorite

Wowfulls - Sweet version with Ice Cream for me. Chicken & Wowfull version for him.

Thousands of records to dig through at the Record Fair.

DAYTRIPPING - New York Botanical Garden

Yesterday we took a trip to the Bronx to check out the Botanical Garden. We specially went because we wanted to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit, which was pretty cool. Basically a re-creation of the "Casa Azul" her and Diego Riveria made in Mexico. 

My favorite thing about the NYBG is definitely the Conservatory. I just love the architecture of that building. And it sure if picturesque.

DAYTRIPPING - Central Park in the Spring

With Spring officially upon us, we just had to take a trip to Central Park to see all the blooming trees. So gorgeous. You almost forget that you're in a giant concrete jungle. 

SWEET + SAVORY - DOUGH-nuts

The day has come - I have tasted the best doughnut - ever!!
Last weekend we decided to try out DOUGH in Bedstuy (Neighborhood in Brooklyn) and it was so good!! I guess, Yelp reviews don't lie.

My favorite one was the Chocolate with Cocoa Nibbs Donut and it was literally amazing. The dough, the chocolate glaze, the cocoa nibbs.. just dreamy (as in, I am literally right now dreaming about eating another one).

I also had a plain glazed Donut and a Nutella filled Donut. Manny had a Hibiscus Donut, Toasted Coconut Donut and a plain one as well. All were very good and we highly recommend stopping by DOUGH any time!

CHEESEBURGER DIARIES - Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, NYC

I had really high hopes for the Shake Shack. I thought this was it, my favorite burger in New York. Unfortunately, it didn't quiet make the cut. 

But lets start at the beginning. 

We went to the Madison Square Park location and its soo cute. A little hut in the park with outdoor seating and string lights. The ambiance was awesome. We got there just before noon and it wasn't very crowded yet. A few minutes later, a line had started to form, so if you go, make sure you don't get there right at lunch time. 

We both ordered the shack burger and I was really surprised by the price. I expected the burgers to be more expensive, but it's very reasonable. They also offer double-patty burgers and many other varieties along with hot dogs, shakes, drinks and treats. 

Now to the burgers. The Shackburger comes with cheese, lettuce, tomato and "shacksauce". Overall the burger tasted fresh and was cooked well. The patties themselves were oversalted and I found the sauce to be too garlicy (is that even a word?). After a while, all I could taste was garlic. So that was definitely not good and I honestly don't think I'll have another Shackburger. Maybe I'll try something else if I ever go again. The fries and drinks (we had 50/50 - Arnold Palmers) were pretty good though! 

DAYTRIPPING - Exploring the Brooklyn Flea Market in Fort Greene

I've heard so much about Brooklyn Flea - the traveling flea market in Brooklyn - and last saturday we finally decided to check it out ourselves. According to the website, there were 150 goods & food vendors. It sounded like a lot, but actually wasn't that much after all. I think after being used to the San Diego Kobeys Swap Meet, which supposedly is the third largest swap meet on the West Coast with thousands of vendors every weekend, I just expected a larger event.
However, if we look at quality over quantity, Brooklyn Flea did really good! The vendors included antique handlers, vintage clothing shops, furniture stores and many great food options!

My favorite was the Vanilla Ice Cream from Blue Marble. (The chocolate flavor was good to, but the Vanilla was just amazing!!).

 Manny had some awesome tuna tacos.

 And I enjoyed a chicken tamale and chicken-cheese pupusa.

  

For my outfit, I chose a comfy look. Afterall, we were walking around all day. 

Shirt from H&M

Skinny jeans from Old Navy

Shoes from ASOS

Bag and Bracelet from H&M

Necklace was a gift