Saturday.

We do not like Times Square. I could live in New York City for the rest of my life and never go to there, were it not for the occasional Broadway show. This afternoon we caved in to the lure of free movie tickets to a theater in the area & were forced to battle crowds of tourists who insist on walking with their eyes to the sky. It is smelly, dirty and crowded. I was cranky 15 seconds after getting out of the subway station. I realized tonight that I feel sorry for all of the tourists in New York that feel that they are obligated to visit this awful place. They are missing out on some of the truly beautiful and unique areas in our city. It is no wonder that so many people (I'm thinking of my brother Christopher here) who think New York is nothing but crowded sidewalks, flashing lights and pushy street vendors.

Earlier in the day, Mike and I were able to see the antithesis of Times Square. Although it was still a little crowded, it was nice to walk around the Farmer's Market @ Union Square this afternoon, browsing through the fresh fruits and veggies, plants & freshly baked goods. After buying corn, green beans & tomatoes, we walked across the street to an old theater which is home to Ben & Jerry's for the summer. Apparently they are getting ready to launch new milkshakes in grocery stores, and we were lucky enough to be part of the test audience. The verdict: Chocolate Fudge Brownie = delicious, Cherry Garcia = cough syrup. I told them this. Hopefully they won't go through with the latter.

In other news, the New York Post this week delivered a substantial blow to our home away from home. Apparently, Shake Shack is not as squeaky clean as we had hoped, and the health department hit it with 15 health code violations this week- they racked up 140 points, with 27 being the limit. Yikes. This all being said... We haven't gotten sick yet, so I'm sure we won't stop going. Viva Shake Shack! Viva!