That Back-to-School Feeling By Rachel Syme  I do not post on TikTok (yet!), but I am a professional-grade lurker on the platform, and lately my feed has been a cavalcade of #backtoschool content. There seems to be a bottomless well of videos detailing the outfits that people have chosen for their first day of freshman year, or debating which backpack can hold the most stuff, or showing off pen hauls. The giddy quality of these videos makes me think of the Nora Ephron line, from “You’ve Got Mail,” that always pops back into my head after Labor Day: “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” One secret thrill about being an adult is that you can buy yourself sharp No. 2s whenever you want. When the weather turns crisp, I suddenly feel myself drawn into New York’s many stationery stores, as if by an invisible tractor beam. Lately, my favorites have been those that specialize in Japanese paper goods; there are so many adorable, and useful, little amusements to discover. I recommend starting out in midtown, at Kinokuniya USA, a giant bookstore whose basement level is almost entirely devoted to notebooks, pens, and letter-writing sets. You can then trek to the East Village, to niconeco zakkaya, a cute-as-a-button spot that specializes in journals, sticker books, rubber stamps, and washi tape. Lastly, cross over the Williamsburg Bridge and head north, and you’ll find Yoseka Stationery, a fanciful emporium in Greenpoint filled with fine fountain pens and coveted Hobonichi planners. You, too, can go back to school! If you are looking for somewhere to sit and linger while you try out all your new pens and notepads, fall is, for me, the season of hanging around in tearooms. You can have an elegant high tea (with precious, wee cakes and much clotted cream) at Brooklyn High Low in Prospect Heights (I highly recommend bundling up and booking your reservation in the secret back garden). Or enjoy the Omakase Wagashi Afternoon Tea, at Cha-an, a sleek Japanese teahouse in the East Village (hot tip: Cha-an is putting on a special dessert pop-up in late September, featuring the celebrated Tokyo pastry chef Masataka Yoshimura). Last week, I spent the loveliest afternoon, reading a novel and sipping on chocolate-rose tea at the slender West Village shop Paquita, which has only two tiny interior tables. If you are lucky enough to snag one, you can enjoy a small menu of tea sandwiches (Brie and fig jam, lox and cream cheese), and, afterward, go home with a selection of the store’s more than two hundred loose-leaf teas, to keep the lingering going. | 
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