Ahhh....Times Square. We are moving on up the island of Manhattan and finally entering territory that we are more familiar with. Warning: Jill and I went a bit nuts on this walk. Neither of us have ever participated in most of Times Square's many wonders - so we took this opportunity to bond with the horde of tourists.
This post is longer than long by the way. Hopefully many of you have nothing to do at work all day, like me.
TA DA! Introducing the new beeboppin' garb! Our talented Jill made these outrageously cute tee's. We will sport these (or other varieties of them) until it gets cold enough to break out our hats again.
Jill knew we'd miss the hats, so she put one on the back of each shirt. Do not fear: it is equally ridiculous for 24/25 year old girls to wear matching shirts as it is for them to wear matching hats.
We felt like these nouns sum up Times Square. I was glad that the camera glare kind of blurred out the word "sex." I wouldn't want to make my mother nervous.
WOW! Look at these AMAZING deals!! Times Square is dotted with electronics stores that always claim to be having the biggest sale of the century. Jill cannot contain her excitement.
This walked took place the day after I stopped participation in "The Master Cleanse," where I survived on rations of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 5 days. Note the appropriate billboard: I Miss Food. And I really did.
The Hershey Store: vendor of a zillion varieties of useless, chocolate-themed everything.
My favorite items are ones that combine chocolate and New York. It would be a crime for someone to visit New York and go home without a Hershey bar dressed up like Lady Liberty.
Jill was ecstatic to be reunited with an old friend; she is hugging the syrup with all her might.
The middle of an intersection provides a great view of Times Square and of me marching to the beat of a different drum.
We crossed the street and headed to the M&M's Store. The Hershey bar Lady Lib's have some stiff competition.
Jill creepily presents a tasty wall of multi-colored M&M's.
I just could not help myself - I desperately needed many, many polychromatic M&M tee's.
The King and Queen of M&M world. (for the record: M&M Elvis is bigger than an elephant)
This is the funk.
My computer screen is uber dark. I cannot tell if this is Jill or me, nor can I tell if there is anything of import that needs mentioning.
OMG - I love, love and love
Legally Blonde the musical. It is a must see - no question. Also I hate, hate and hate how nast my face looks in this pic.
I am on the phone discussing details for the watching of Gossip Girl. xoxo
Black and White's are a NY specialty and Roxy's have the best ones I have ever tasted! I am not fibbing - it is such a soft and cake-like joy that I can hardly resist leaving my office this very second and heading 10 blocks up to Roxy's. (I just now realized that it is only 10 blocks from work - and now I am excitedly pondering adding a black and white to my lunch today)
Umberto and Megan: Best Friends Forever
Jill LOVES the musical
Curtains starring David Hyde Peirce (aka Niles Crane).
Fun fact about beebopper Meg: musicals are among the great loves of my life. I ADORE them. All of them. This shot shows signs for a handful of Broadway shows that I love. Another fun fact: when I saw Hairspray, I was overjoyed to find the role of the mom being played by none other than George Wendt. Yes friends, our pal Norm from
Cheers danced and sang his way into my heart.
We both have strong desires to see the new musical
The Little Mermaid. Jill broke into Ariel's famous chorus, "Ah ah ah. Ah ah ah....." (fun fact: Jill actually wrote the lyrics to that song)
This is the TKTS booth where you can get cheap theater tickets. Word.
This family of street performers was fabulous. I commented to Jill that they reminded me of the VonTrapp Family Singers. About three seconds later they broke into a harmonic rendition of "Do-Re-Mi." You can see the amazement on my face.
Another great view of Times Square and an even more fabulous view of Jill.
This place is loaded with traffic and people. Our little photographer Jill captured this fab shot of the long line of cabs speeding down Broadway. We almost got hit by one of these cabs only minutes before.
At this point of our walk - we went into the huge Toys R' Us at Times Square. The next one thousand pictures are all taken inside where our level of ridiculous soared to new heights.
mmmm....Chocolate milk is one of our favorite treats! When we were roommates in college, we used to have "Chocolate Milk Time" every night before we went to bed. As we sipped our Nesquick, we would talk about life and discuss our deepest hopes, dreams and fears. But mostly we would attempt to make the other person laugh to the point where they would spit the milk all over the table, window or computer.
Go Mets.
This ticket is the ticket to FUN!
Yes - Jill felt strongly that we needed to ride the huge ferris wheel.
Each car on the wheel had a different theme. We REALLY wanted the Barbie Car, the Monopoly car or the My Little Pony car. This M&M suicide car was the one we got stuck with. M&M's were apparently, the running theme of this trip.
Beeboppin' on the wheel!
We were bummed that all the M&Ms on our car were facing outward so we could not take pictures with them. Rule-breaker Jill stuck her hand outside of the car and caught this humorous shot of a large-lipped treat, with a hard-candy shell.
BFFs
What can I say? It was the ride of a lifetime.
The ferris wheel took us past the magical land where My Little Ponies dwell.
WA-HOO!!
I cannot believe were just on that!
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." Alright - I am obsessed with the Statue of Liberty (including, but not limited to: Lady Lib cookie cutters, Hershey and M&M figurines AND this Lego beauty) Lego Liberty.
Jill is scaling the lego Empire State Building - ready to fight King Kong to the death.
T-Rex arms. Mom and sisters: do these look familiar to you?
On our last post - our friend Shark requested that several things appear on the blog. Item 4 on his list: dressed up cats. Check.
Item 2 on the list: a jump in the air. Jill is jumping for joy in the window of the human sized Barbie Dream House. (who wouldn't?)
Let's be real. We have experienced some major bonding with M&Ms at this point on our walk. Tired Jill cozied right up to this big red guy.
ENTERING: Candy Land (this next bit features many characters from the Candyland Game)
Jolly is unaware that I am stealing a bite of her cupcake. (Item 3 on Shark's list: Megan eating something gross)
Hiding in the Candy Cane Forest.
Princess Lolly has a tasty crown. If only Jill's tongue was 7 inches longer.
Gloppy the Chocolate Monster looked on as I searched his candy wonderland for one of my favorite treats: chocolate-covered gummy bears.
The blue gingerbread man has a cataract.
Plumpy the Plumpa Troll! Jill is in the picture, too, but as usual, the plumpa troll steals the show.
Jill sweetly befriends the green gingerbread man. (p.s. as I am writing this post, where nearly every picture involves some sort of delicious treat - my hunger is becoming out of control)
Mr. Mint wears his overalls like I did in the 5th grade.
There she is!
Times Square subway station is quite the hub.
Our first video!
Jill expertly films a full 360 of Times Square glory.
The narcissist might make a cameo appearance.
This week we had the pleasure of going to Gramercy Park and the neighborhood surrounding it, which was new to both of us. I guess I should say we went around Gramercy Park, because it is the only private park in Manhattan, and we are not one of the lucky few key holders.
As we approached the park, Meg was still super excited. This is before the feelings of disappointment and injustice settled in.
A few tidbits about Gramercy Park.
We peered longingly through the gate for quite a few minutes. Until a key-holder approached, said "excuse me, ladies" and entered the park, quickly locking the gate behind him. :(
This is an especially pretty New York park - the landscaping is gorgeous. We were really jealous of everyone inside.
Meg took it all pretty hard. As we circled the park, she became more and more disappointed. 
There are a limited number of keys each year, available only to the residents of buildings that face the park - it is a pretty posh neighborhood, and a historical district. A lot of famous people have lived in the private brownstones surrounding the park. I liked the birdhouses here - even they have cushy pads.
By now, Meg is really feeling left out. Check out this pink tree! It must be even better on the other side of the fence. There were quite of people in the park working on their physical fitness (lots of old people in particular), and Meg asked one elderly couple, a little too loudly I might add, if she could have their key when they died. We also contemplated buying one of those roll-up fire escape ladders to scale the fence.
Here are some of the fancy brownstones facing the park.
The neighborhood around the park had some pretty trees as well, so we made do. We love spring!
Meg still felt the need to take out her frustrations on this parking meter.
Here she is in front of the Players Club and the National Arts Club. I read that the National Arts Club is known for giving members access to a park key. Maybe we should join?
Here is a statue of Edwin Booth, an Shakespearean actor and one of the neighborhood's most famous residents. He is also the brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin, and his former home is now the Players Club. That is the Chrysler Building in the background.
We could not figure out what this statue is to represent. Any thoughts, interpretations?
We were fans of these knights standing guard in front of another fancy residence.
Meg with fire fingers. We really like gas lamps.
This guy lived in the cool building pictured below.
Just a shot of two large apartment buildings facing the park.
"Now this is how you do vines."
Things are getting really green around here.
19th Street, one block south of the park, has some interesting buildings as well. This one had two cute white porches.
This building was Megan's favorite on the block by far. If she lived here and was giving you directions to her place, she said she would just say, "I live in the cottage with the red door on 19th Street." There was no other building like it.
The whole street was super cute and had a lot of character.
Meg was fond of the lions guarding this entryway.
See the resemblance?
This was the end of the Gramercy Park walk ... so we now return to the NYC parks we are allowed to enter. :(
But we are not done! Have you ever been to the 23rd Street subway station on the N/R/W line? It is fabulous! It has tons of fun hat mosaics - you can read what it's all about here. We took this opportunity to let the crazy out a little bit. I'm not going to comment on all these photos - no explanation needed. Enjoy!
(this one is my favorite)
Not our most flattering photo, but can you tell we had a great time? I think this is the best 5 minutes I've ever spent waiting for a train.
