I am definitely a creature of habit, some good, some bad, and some worse. This is one of my better ones. Pretty much stop here every day on my way to the studio for caffeine. They brew up stumptown and always see someone I know from the neighborhood. When I get to the front of the line there is already a large coffee ready for me.

This is the rooftop of my building. I come up here daily with my dog or friends to get 'fresh' air, see what's happening in the streets, or to catch sunsets and the occasional sunrise. My landlord has been trying for months to put a stop to our rooftop access, but every attempt he has made thus far has been futile.

Somewhat off the beaten Williamsburg-track, Brooklyn Art Library is nestled on a mostly residential street. It’s home to tens of thousands of artist sketchbooks known as “The Sketchbook Project”. Over 100 countries are represented and their “collection houses books from small communities in Mongolia next to professional illustrators from New York.” You can donate one of your very own! All the sketchbooks have been cataloged for easy searching of their vast shelves, by artist and subject, and visitors are invited to browse what feels much like a hands-on museum. The Art Library also remains one of the few places to find art supplies (while limited) in the neighborhood, and if you’re in the market for a special gift (including books, totes and the cutest retro pennants) for your favorite art-lovin’ bibliophile, you might just get lucky here.

Is the place that all the hipsters are eating at recently. Its speciality is noodles and it has a baroque, video game, retro, decor inside, complete with pac man neons and cheesy strip lights and mirrors. Think 1984 strip bar meets bourgeois chinese take out spot.

Recommended by my friend and talented illustrator, Isabel Castillo Guijarro, this spot makes incredible cappuccinos and is in one of my favorite NYC buildings, the WoolWorth Building