Within an couple hours' drive of NYC, you can find lots of sleepy seaside towns. Not only can you get your soft ice cream and salt water taffy on, but you can still spot cool, hand-lettered signs and other relics of a past generation's amusements.

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.

This artist-run gallery is a hub of the Brooklyn gallery scene. You'll find Bungee, a celebrated fixture, snoozing comfortably in the office and somehow oblivious to all the surrounding chaos.

Brooklyn tattoo shop specializing in American traditional style work. Everyone is super nice and cool.

I have always been obsessed with nail art, and Sakura nail salon allows me to come up with my own nail creations. From animal print to holograms to glitter gradations, you name it and they will do it.