Soho and The Village

So it's Halloween (or All Hallows Eve) today. And apparently NYC takes Halloween seriously. It's awesome. I've had waning enthusiasm for the holiday since I think most people in California who aren't going to a skanky Halloween party have stopped trying as hard and there's been less participa- tion by kid friendly neighbor- hoods (a sentiment Irwin echoed today). But New York... I saw people in costume all day, everywhere. Working, shopping, playing, chilling. I saw kids trick or treating ALL DAY. Not only at residences. Almost every store participated. I saw kids going from store to store all day and by the end their pillow cases were loaded. I don't envy the parents of those kids. They have about a month or two of serious sugar fiending. They've got a parade in The Village too (which Elizabeth! was in). I saw the police out in droves (seriously at least 60-100 per block) blocking off the street in preparation for the parade. How do they find that many people to be police and still have there be civilians in this place?? At first I thought maybe it was a prearranged Halloween Joke where a whole company dressed up as the Police barricading themselves into pens made with those "Police Line Do Not Cross" fences. But no, they were actual police. On every block. In groups of 60-100. It was insane.

I met Elizabeth! today at the corner of E17thSt. and Broadway. We decided after ogling the pastries at the patisserie to instead get some food at the green market in Union Square across the street.








We got some Havarti cheese, a home made spinach and cheese in pie crust pasty, a brown roll, and some apples. We sat on the steps in the sun and ate it. It was wonderful.






















Afterwards I wandered east to look at some cafes. I'd recommend both highly. They were wonderful. Very different though. I saw a ninja and a wolf man along the way. Among other things.


































































Atlas Cafe and Bakery is this tiny hole in the wall place with pretty red walls and mismatching tables and chairs that all go quite well in the little space. The walls are covered in chalk boards listing their extensive and extremely inclusive menu. They're very vegetarian and vegan friendly, though they also have really good non-veg food. They were also playing great middle eastern music while I was in there. I ordered a salad which came out promptly and was delicious and I watched the people come and go, and some of them sit inside and some of them sit in the little fenced in piece of sidewalk that had four tables and various chairs. If you ever find yourself on Second Avenue between 4th and 5th streets and you're hungry or even just want a drink, they're delicious, they have food for every mood, and it's all really reasonably priced. If you're not around there but want to try their food, they apparently have free delivery. Go figure!

Housing Works Used Book Cafe is awesome. It's part really amazing used books store part cafe. Or a really awesome bookstore with a cafe who's tables and chairs are scattered around it in alluring places, like the walkway in the loft that has a nice view of the store and the street. Very top notch people watching or studying or hanging out place. I'm super excited about it. If I had money and didn't have to worry about carrying too much stuff, I'd probably spend a lot of time and money in there. I'd go in there to journal and write people post cards about how awesome it is and how they should go there too. *laugh*

Anyway, I might have found a non-creepy person to give me a ride down to Florida! Apparently he and a super friendly German Shepard are on their way down to Fort Lauderdale to go kayaking and snorkeling! Sweet. So hopefully I'll be heading south in a few days.