Brooklyn. baby.

This is the first of three trips I will make to Brooklyn/NYC this year. My first grandchild is pending delivery in May and what better reason to visit the Big Apple?  I couldn't miss my once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a baby shower on a New York City rooftop. So, I arrived prematurely, which is permissible for grandmothers-to-be if they're invited, which I was.

Tye-dyeing burp cloths on a roof in the Flatiron District.

My daughter and I flew non-stop on Southwest into LaGuardia uneventfully UNTIL we hit the taxi queue which looks a lot like Disneyland on any given Saturday due to construction at LGA's Terminal B. Note to self: Try Delta next time.

Happy to finally arrive at our hotel, The Henry Norman.

We stayed at our go-to hotel in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint, The Henry Norman - on the intersection of, you guessed it, Henry and Norman.

We love, love, love this place, as do an eclectic collection of guests including the stars of TV shows shooting on sound stages in the neighborhood. In the lobby the next morning, my daughter and I chatted up an actor from a certain Netflix series that shall remain nameless because he swore us to secrecy. 

Then, it was off to Eataly in the Flatiron District, Mario Batali's Italian superstore and multi-level food court. This is Birreria on the roof, kind of a casual apres-ski cafe in the Italian Alps concept. Phenomenal polenta bar.

Unwrapping gifts inside the recording studio. 

The shower was in a cool recording studio in the Gramercy Park Media Arts Building, an indoor/outdoor setting that took full advantage of the perfect "Springtime in New York" day.  Afterward, it was back to Greenpoint for the aunt to-be's first tattoo...

Because, when in Brooklyn....