Halloween Weekend in DUMBO

It's soggy, windy and cold. BOOOOO!

Michelle Caplan

For our wedding, a group of my friends gave us a comissioned piece of art. What that means is that we worked with an artist and worked together on the subject of the piece. The artist, Michelle Caplan, is a collage artist. Her pieces are incredibly beautiful, thoughtful and personal. The medium we picked for our piece was DUMBO since it represents our new beginning as a married couple. This photo does not do the piece justice, but hopefully you'll get a sense of her talent and check out her Web site. She's also in the latest issue of Real Simple magazine, which is the November issue.

My other favorite topic

When not writing about Brooklyn, my mind is on sushi. My favorite UES sushi spot Gari just opened a new venue in Chelsea. Read about it on Gotham Gal's blog. Also, I came across a blog about food in NY that other foodies may also find interesting.

Brooklyn Haunted House

So I LOVE Halloween and I heard this haunted house is super scary. The one on the LES is the famous one but now there is one in Brooklyn too.

UPDATE: Ok, so I heard now that this haunted house is kinda lame. If anyone knows of a good one, let me know.

DUMBO in NYT

DUMBO continues to be a popular topic among media. An article from Saturday's New York Times offers an overview of the area. I just adore the NYT real estate stories.

Chinese in the hood

The first time I ordered from Fortune House I wasn't impressed, but we decided to give it another try. I guess it's hard to like mediocre Chinese food when you're used to ordering from Pig Heaven on the Upper East Side. We used to pay extra to have the guy come from 81st down to 34th street. Kinda crazy, but we figured it was less than a round-trip cab ride and the tip was less.

Anyway, back to Fortune House. It's actually pretty good, especially classics like fried rice, moo shu, dumplings, etc. I just recently tried the Chicken Hunan and it's awesome. They send free soda and free sesame noodles when your order totals a certain amount. They are also super fast. Definitely try it!

Fortune House
82 Henry St, Brooklyn 11201
Between Pineapple & Orange St
Phone: 718-855-7055

Lady on Stilts Gets us into JCondo

Not sure whether it was the stilts, the chocolate or just curiousity, but we finally checked out the JCondo sales room. The units are really nice and the windows really do block out the sound. The sales guy said they were 80 percent sold - if you're interested they can even take you up in the real building and you can wear a hardhat. There will be a 4 floor parking garage and everyone will have a spot to lease if they wish. The units are expensive, as expected, and the A line has an especially nice floorplan. It has a panoramic view. Really nice. The sales person said they expect move in Summer/Fall 2007, which he chuckled meant late fall/winter 2007. Either way still not bad!

The DUMBO Arts Festival

My husband and I really enjoyed the art festival yesterday. The weather was perfect and we had a picnic in the park before going to the galleries. I was especially blown away by the Katrina exhibit and the hip hop exhibit. I took some pics so you all can see what it looked like, although these photos don't really do it justice.


Also, there was an awesome band on Washington Street that camped out until pretty late. I was also totally feeling the two man group in the loading doc on Main street. I really want a CD but I couldn't figure out what the name of the band was called. The flyer said one thing and then the singer announced they were called Project something. If anyone knows, drop me a comment.


Then there were also these pink ladies...we saw them for the first time on Friday night at Superfine around 10ish. There was also a marching band too. Guessing it was supposed to be street mob type buzz tactic to get people excited about the festival, but I have no idea really. Again, if anyone knows if they were associated with something, let me know.

30 Blocks of DUMBO Done Over With Artistic Flair?

Being in the PR field, I understand the importance of a catchy headline on a press release. This one offers details on the upcoming under the bridge art festival on Oct 13-15.

Although something seems fishy to me:

"The free three-day festival spans 30 blocks of DUMBO, Brooklyn."

So when have there been 30 blocks in our neighborhood? Maybe 10...

Also I hope this is a very overzealous estimate:

"when an anticipated 200,000 visitors descend on the locality to celebrate the creative ferment of a unique terrain."

Liking This Web Site

Found a very useful Web site that everyone else probably knows about but me. But anyway, it's the site of the Dumbo Improvement District and it has information about local events, news, etc.

Of note, Forager's is hosting a holiday party on December 7th from 5-9 pm.

"Free. To show their appreciation to the neighborhood, Foragers is hosting its first annual neighborhood appreciation discounted holiday shopping night to be followed by a holiday party at the General Store featuring hors d?oeuvres from Foragers, egg nog, champagne and holiday cheer."

Discounted shopping there is greatly appreciated!!!

Superfine is Super Delicious

Finally got a chance to have brunch at Superfine in DUMBO. It was so delicious and the people were so nice. They have a wide variety of yummy breakfast items all made with fresh, organic ingredients. Definitely order a slice of the banana blueberry bread to share. They make a great bloody mary too. Haven't tried it for dinner yet.

Bubby's does a great brunch too but it is really expensive. I do love Bubby's pancakes. Mmmm.

Brooklyn Fashion Weekend in DUMBO

This looks like fun! According to a press release, BK Fashion Week{end} will show spring 2007 collections on October 20-22 at Tobacco Warehouse at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in DUMBO. How fabulous.