X marks the holidays

Readers of this blog will know that one of my favorites ways to shop is at markets. There seems to be more of them this year - actually, too many of them to go to all. On Saturday, we hit Bustcraftacular with the ambitious goal of crossing three names off our list, a goal thwarted because we were stuck in the aisles as one would be on Sixth Avenue during the Greenwich Village Halloween parade.

Rampant popularity and its implications on my own shopping experience aside, I'm just thrilled that markets have taken hold like this in New York. There are a couple of good markets or market-like settings that are ongoing through the year: The Market NYC and Edge*nyNOHO. (For some reason the holiday markets at Union Square and Bryant Park feel touristy to me.)

Now let's up the ante with street food, especially during this time of year when you are out and about in colder weather and bearing many more bags than average. Yesterday we ate our way through Chinatown: mei fun, egg rolls, hot sweet tofu, milk tea, and pastry balls, all from street or kiosk vendors. Yum! Chinatown is the only neighborhood where I find it easy to do a few courses like that.