A Haircut in the Slope

In New York, where to go for a haircut is always a quandary. Like everything else in New York, the range of options is staggering: cheap, expensive, hipster, classy, metal, organic, you name it, a salon in the city does it. All this is compounded by perhaps the worst problem of all: everyone has a horror story about bad and/or overpriced cuts. Armed with a sense of terror, therefore--one only made worse by the prospect of cutting off all of her hair and having it be a Very Big Mistake--your intrepid female PS20 correspondent braved the wilds of southern Park Slope to find a wonderful, and shockingly affordable, salon.

From the name alone, Salon Bohemia sounds like it's for the Coop-loving, earthy-crunchy 'I'm so bohemian with my $2000 a month rent' crowd; despite the friendly-yet-disorganized air, this salon means business. The cost of a cut is comparable to most downtown Manhattan or Williamsburg salons, which is to say, not cheap. However, there is a secret (one readily available to anyone with an internet connection pointed to salonbohemia.com) -- cuts with Mari, the current 'rising star' stylist, are half the price of the regular cuts. For someone like me -- long hair, going short -- the somewhat more complicated cut ran $40, but considering that any other stylist would've charged $80, it felt like a solid break.

As far as the cut itself went, at the time it didn't feel like the most glamorous experience. There was coffee and tea, though I didn't sample the wares, and the cookies that had been out on a previous visit didn't make themselves known; the stylist, Mari, did everything, from washing to cutting and styling. Even though it was early on a Saturday morning, a constant flow of customers, primarily young locals, kept the team of stylists busy.

Though it may not have felt like the most amazing cut of my life, one look in the mirror back at our apartment was enough to convince me of Salon Bohemia's otherworldly powers. I was transformed -- as the rest of PS20 claimed, into Anne Hathaway circa Rachel Getting Married. (Though without the drug use and 'intense' eye makeup.)

Needless to say, PS20 wholeheartedly recommends Salon Bohemia. It's not just for hipster twentysomething girls, either -- men and children are invited to get in on the action, too (though please, please, no children while I'm there, thanks.)

Park Slope Cafe Odyssey

There is nothing like a long, relaxing day with a good cup of coffee and Park Slope has no shortage of choices. In fact, the list of possible places to go is overwhelming. PS 20 Something has taken on the challenge of visiting every place in Park Slope to discover those perfect places. We will update our coffee map as we go along.

Colson Patisserie [map]

Good for: Romantic weekend morning coffee and breakfast

Colson sits snug on the corner of 5th Avenue and 9th Street. From the vantage of its metallic outdoor seats you can observe the busy morning pedestrian traffic (strollers, dogs etc.) as you drink a delicious ice coffee and eat a croissant/pain au chocolat/almond pain au chocolat depending on your level of fanciness. If raining, the inside has a cute European atmosphere with a row of tables for seating.

Cafe Grumpy [map]

Good for: A delicious variety of exotic coffees to go, a quick morning browse of the Times

New to Park Slope is the classy Cafe Grumpy, expanding from its locations in Greenpoint and Chelsea. With its iconic logo, good for anyone who hates Mondays, the cafe offers coffees from such far-flung regions as Africa.

Senior Superlatives: Dr. Foxy

Just like a good yearbook, we at PS 20 want to let you know a little bit about who we are. We start with... well... myself.

Name: Maxwell "Dr. Foxy" Foxman

From Argentina to New Paltz, NY, Dr. Foxy has no fear of a good adventure. Sure, his naivete and fondness for neon colored drinks makes him a prime candidate for the suburbs, but the doctor only spends his weekdays there. The rest of time he is fighting to be the bocce champion of Park Slope!

Hometown: Stony Point, NY

Day Job: Influencing young minds in immature topics (Comics, Television & Latin)

Extracurricular Activities: Band Geek, School Newspaper

Favorite Quote: The future is in the future and the past is a big brick wall. I need to make you understand now. I'm a man not a disco ball. - Electric Six

Slopeside Memory: It only took me about a week of living in Park Slope to get up the nerve to venture in Prospect Park in the middle of the night. With a few drinks in me, I braved past the police cars into the Long Meadow and laid down on the wet grass and pontificated to the grey sky for at least an hour in the very quiet night. Then, realizing over an hour had past in the silence of Prospect Park, I meandered my way home.

Aspirations:

1. To find the cheapest date Slopeside (teacher's don't make that much money).

2. To be greeted like Norm in Cheers by the owners of Bierkraft

3. To make PS 20 Something famous enough to get free gear from Razor

4. To be known as "That Guy With Bowler Cap" when grabbing a game of bocce at Union Hall.

5. To catch every film at The Pavillion in one day.

This Week in the Slope

Your faithful correspondents have been less than faithful this week (work, GRE studying, recovery from 80s prom all getting in the way) but in our absence, the Slope's kept on turning. This is part 1 of 2 of our somewhat-weekly roundup for the past couple of weeks: the mainstream media's take on the neighborhood we call home.

Beer Table makes it big time--to the NYT dining section, that is. [nytimes]

The dream of organic non-Coop food by our favorite polluted canal is no more. [brooklynpaper]

The search for the new BK poet laureate means the Park Slope literati are sounding out. [brooklynpaper]

Hartford tourists think Park Slope is a 'lovely, funky destination' (?!) [hartfordcourant]

Boston tourists think Hotel Le Bleu's location between a taxi garage and a U-Haul 'exudes an urban character - and in a good way' (?!) [bostonglobe]

Political dramz in the Slope, something about Republicans blah blah? [brooklynpaper]

Time Out's cheap eats for the Slope! More on this later... [timeout]

Picture Perfect: Drink Specials

We at PS 20 are doing some research of bars, cafes and other places to carouse. We found these drink specials at the Lucky 13 Salon.

BREAKING NEWS: The Bocce Blog Challenge

PS 20 Something defeats This Bar Sucks at the first Bocce Blog Challenge 16-10! The victors (that's us) have won the soul of Union Hall.

More details to come...

Picture Perfect: Los Amigos

Nothing says "The Best of Park Slope" like Celebrate Brooklyn! And tonight is Los Amigos Invisibles, who are the most booty shakin' of this season's shows

The Bocce Blog Challenge!

About a month ago, the members of PS 20 Something issued their first Bocce challenge to local blogger (and the author of the photo on the left) Matt Stone, author of This Bar Sucks.com. Next week Mr. Stone will compete as part of our new regular column, The Bocce Blog Challenge.

The challenge will consist of this. On a regular basis we will compete for something, be it domain name registration, an adult-sized Mclaren stroller, or something equally not as serious. Since Union Hall's bocce lanes are a staple for sports on the slope, we thought it would be best to compete there, broadcast the competition as a podcast, with the help of our friend John and talk a little bit about blogging and life in Park Slope with some of the great minds in the NYC blogosphere. We will happily take any challenges (we are after all Bocce Blogmasters according to our business cards) and look forward to kicking some This Bar Sucks butt next week!

See you Slopeside!

Study Abroad: The Gowanus Yacht Club

Last night, the PS20 crew convened at the Gowanus Yacht Club for a drink (or 2, or 3) as a post-work, pre-adventure treat. The outdoor space is perfectly located for a stopoff on the way back from Manhattan or a quick nip outside the boundaries of the Slope; the bar sits directly above the F/G Carroll St. stop, making it a ten minute subway ride from 7th Ave.

The ambiance is exactly as you would expect -- if you spend your summer evenings wishing you had a backyard (except without grass), this is the spot for you. Brightly colored Christmas lights serve as the primary decor, with long picnic tables packed tightly together in the small space. A single bathroom down a flight of stairs is the only indoor area -- though it's worth checking out for the pretty entertaining graffiti.

We stayed on the cheaper end of the potable selections -- with PBR $5 for 2 cans, Original Sin cider for $4, and, perhaps most hilariously, stout in a can with a cartoon cow for $3, you can do no wrong, though some fancier selections were available by the bottle or on tap. There's a grill as well, though we didn't get the chance to sample the wares...this time, but we will certainly be back!

This Week in the Slope

Even we can't catch all the Slope news as it comes down the pipe...here's what other people are saying about the Slope...

The New York Times' photog blog covered a Gowanus photographer who has a show on at the Brooklyn Public Library. We love the Gowanus Canal and think this is totally worth checking out. [lensblog]

Reis 100 has opened on 5th Ave between 6th and 7th. Look for the PS20 crew to be picking up some late-night nibbles from here some night soon. [brooklynpaper]

Brokelyn finds reasons to enjoy being broke in the Slope. [brokelyn]

Time Out New York shouts out Bklyn Larder's fior di latte gelato. Nom. [tony]

The apparently legendary Lucali might be heading to the South Slope! [eater]

And, of course, the biggest news of all: The G train is officially here! [onlytheblogknowsbklyn]

Picture Perfect: Stoopwatch 2009

Sure it's only three or so stories, but the perils of falling from a Brownstone have me quaking in my shoes

Sex and the Slopey?

Gawker reported today (in typical, not-exactly-well-sourced manner) that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick might be moving to the old Connelly / Bettany estate on PPW. Not quite as exciting as our old neighbors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Paul Auster, but just think -- maybe the Sex and the City tours will make it all the way to Park Slope!

(Oh dear.)