DUMBO

Yes, the title of my post is the word DUMBO. And no, it does not refer to the flying elephant (I never liked that movie as a kid. Kinda creeped me out). It stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Basically it is the small area in Brooklyn under/near the Manhattan Bridge. It's a growing area, and pretty cool actually. But this is one of those times when I just really wonder about people. How does a name like DUMBO first of all get proposed as a neighborhood, and then how does it actually get enough people to go along with it? Nobody thought of the connection to the creepy flying baby elephant?!

Anyway, that being said. DUMBO is pretty cool. It has some fun stores, and a great park. One of those stores is the new West Elm Market store I was helping to open. I spent all last week there unloading and processing lots of boxes, organizing the store room, and beginning to set up the store. The store looks like it is going to be pretty cool and they have some fun stuff- I'm going to have to go back to check it out when they open!

Getting to work everyday was a bit of a journey. It consisted of a walk to the subway station (luckily only about 1 1/2 blocks from the place I'm staying), three different subway lines, and then another walk once I arrived in Brooklyn. I basically felt like a subway pro after I successfully made all the transfers the first day! To be fair, I got directions from my manager and I took a test trip out there the day before I started. But I was still pretty impressed with myself. Minus the last day's delay, I did pretty good in getting back and forth to Brooklyn.

The last day I had to work I made it through the first transfer successfully, then had to wait a long time for the F train- the last train in my little journey. It got held up a couple stops back due to a customer requiring assistance so it was running pretty late by the time it got to my station. At which time they announced they'd decided to skip a few stops to make up for lost time. So I had to run upstairs to a new line, which would end up at a completely different station and mean a completely different walk. Grrr. Luckily I had taken that trip to Brooklyn last week for the pizza (still haven't made up my mind on that one) so I at least knew where this station was- although it was late and in the dark when I had seen it a week ago. I made it to the station and actually made it to the store pretty easily- thanks to the maps on my phone :)

While in DUMBO, I did a little venturing down the streets and ended up at the Brooklyn Bridge Park. It's this great park with a lawn, paths along the water, a carousel, and a view of the Manhattan skyline. I ate lunch and read a book in a couple different spots- I wish it were closer so I could hang out there more often! Guess I'll have to settle for Central Park ;)