Spring's Sprung

It finally feels like spring today. The sun is shining and the temps are in the 50s. And everyone is finding an excuse to be outside.
I just took a walk over to the Time Warner Center (which, despite the presence of $200-a-pair shoe stores and $500-a-meal restaurants with celebrity chefs, is still a mall--no matter what Time execs or Mayor Bloomberg say). It was near empty indoors but there were crowds of people just standing around outside, smoking or sipping their grande, half-caff, skim, extra-foam Starbucks lattes in the sunshine. The News Cafe across the street had opened its doors and placed tables not quite on the sidewalk, but in the doorway, in typical cynical New Yorker fashion (this way they could be pulled back inside quickly should the weather revert to rain). But the tables were full, and so were the benches in Central Park, with the midtown exec lunch crowd munching on take-out salads and sandwiches from Whole Foods (after they'd carefully flipped their tie over their shoulder, of course).
I tried to pick up a book at Borders called "Your Money or Your Life" that a friend had recommended I read. But the bookstore was sold out, which was a little suprising since the book came out in 1999. Then again, it did spend three years on the bestsellers list. Still, it's always surprising when you can't get something right here, right now in NYC. But that's what online shopping is for I guess. And it wasn't a wasted trip. I got a sandwich and (finally) some sunshine.