This past Saturday afternoon, my friends and I took advantage of our finally-non-Arctic temperatures and headed over to Brooklyn to celebrate a pal’s birthday at an outdoor beer garden. Although I grew up in Brooklyn (before it was home to celebrity babies named after fruits, the best food in the city, and gentrification-bashing graffiti), every time I venture one subway stop over the bridge, I feel a little bit like I’ve traveled to a brand new city. I know Manhattan well enough to never get lost (and before we give me any sort of credit with directions, the city’s grid system may make it the easiest metropolis in existence to navigate), so there’s something exhilarating about wandering streets with unfamiliar names, having to constantly check where the blue dot on my Google map is headed, and stumbling upon new-to-me restaurants, boutiques, and pieces of street art.

We took these photos in front of a nondescript looking diner which turned out to serve excellent Mexican food and killer margaritas in its’ sweet backyard. Some of my other Williamsburg faves include: Isa for dinner in a tee-pee, Fette Sau for fantastic BBQ, The Ides @ The Wythe Hotel for great drinks and a fantastic view, and Brooklyn Bowl for bowling, live music, and super sexy fried chicken.

Wearing a super basic, slightly spring-ified version of my go-to uniform–outfit credits after the jump.

• Sunglasses: Prada (last seen here, buy em here)
• Buttondown: J.Crew (buy it here)
• Shorts: Vintage Levis (buy similar here)
• Necklace: Project 36 (check out more brassy gold I’m loving here, here and here)
• Purse: Alexander Wang (last seen here, buy it here)
• Tights: Spanx (always, buy em here)
• Shoes: Via Spiga (last seen here, buy similar here on the cheap or here from Frye)