This outpost of Seattle coffee is an excellent place to get your morning cappuccino, afternoon macchiato, or just some beans to take home. I lived in Seattle for 6 years before moving to New York and at first I was afraid the coffee here wouldn’t measure up, but lucky for me there are plenty of great places. Picking a favorite wasn’t easy!

The Home Depot is one of the first things I saw when the taxi brought me at the place where I live now in NYC. I am renting a room in an old feather factory, which the owner build into a very cozy loft with rooms, common places and studios over the last 12 years. The Home Depot is a massive construction store, one of the leading ones in the US if you can say something like that about construction stores...You ll find them everywhere in the states as well as in my backyard and you can even follow them on Facebook. In general everybody in Bed Stuy complains about the Home Depot, because the employees are grumpy, lazy and never know anything when you ask them for something.

Only a 40-minute subway ride from my apartment and a world unto itself, Coney Island is always a new experience and like seaside weather, it’s always different. I stumbled upon this kite festival one grey fall afternoon. Other visits have yielded dance parties on the boardwalk, roller coaster rides, shandies in plastic cups on the beach, a trip to "Little Odessa", and a myriad of interesting characters and experiences.

Great mid-eastern food in Chelsea/Flatiron/NoMad/whatever you call that area.

It was a warm evening in the city and not yet dark. We arrived, giddy and happy, and he ordered two glasses of prosecco. The waiter managed to fit onto our tiny wood table two plates of tartines, a legumes dish, and a tray of fromage. And then we shared dessert. I can’t remember exactly but it must have been chocolate.