THE LARGEST HERSHEY’S BAR IN THE WORLD - as the wrapping suggested.  This was at the Hershey story in Times Square.  This thing was 5 pounds!  I could not imagine buying that.  But it sure looked delicious!

I got reservations for Jess and I to go to one of the most popular comedy clubs in the country.  Comedy Cellar has been known to have some of the most famous comics in the world drop by unannounced to work on their material.

Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians, was supposed to be headlining but canceled last minute.  That was OK because the guys that performed were beyond hilarious.  Tom Papa, the host of NBC’s new show “Marriage Ref,” was the funniest act of the night.  I will definitely make sure to come back to this place at least one more time before I leave the city.

So, to pick up from the Museum of Sex, we did visit a few amazing food places during my girlfriend’s time here.  The list includes:

-John’s Pizzeria, one of the most famous pizza places in New York.  The pizza place is in a former church, and the original stained glass is still there.  John’s features coal-oven pizza which was absolutely amazing!

-Bourbon Street Bar & Grill, a New Orlean’s style restaurant that truly makes you feel like you are in the South.  Amazing food and great drinks - a place to visit in the city.

-Five Napkin Burger, which was honestly one of the best places I have ever gone for a burger.  Seriously.  Go there if you are craving a burger in the city.

-Junior’s, which is THE place to go IN THE WORLD for amazing cheesecake.  Honestly, if you think Cheesecake Factory has great cheesecake this place will blow you away.  Go there if you ever have the chance.

For Valentine’s Dinner, we went to a place called Bun Soho - a Vietnamese cuisine restaurant with beautiful ambiance and a peaceful interior.  The food was a little different than we have ever experienced, but it was very cool to try.

And, the one last food place I will share with you; for the most amazing gelato, Grom is the place to be.  It is a bit pricey for the dessert but it is completely worth it.  Both Jess and I got Dark Chocolate gelato and we left very satisfied.

Mine is obviously the one on the left, because I began eating mine before we could take a picture.  DELICIOUS!

Check back to read more about our weekend together, including our visit to one of the most historic comedy clubs in the country and the largest Hershey’s bar in the world.

So I know I apologized in my last post, but I went on a bit too long without updating.  This week has been completely crammed full of work so this just fell behind.  But, I have plenty of things to update you all about!

Last weekend, my girlfriend came to visit and we had an absolute blast as you can tell from this picture:

We both spent a boatload of money (which I will not share!) and it was all worth it for the experiences we had.

I took Jess to her first Broadway show (my second, but first musical).

We saw Memphis, a musical about Huey Calhoun - a 1950s white DJ who was one of the first to play “black music” on the radio.  I have never been a fan of musicals, but this show was absolutely amazing.  I think Broadway is starting to change my whole attitude about musicals.  Maybe I’ll actually start to like these things!

I also took Jess to see my workplace, 30 Rock!

At 30 Rock, I took her on a little tour of the building and we also took the actual studio tour where we got to “crash the sets” of SNL, Football Night in America, Nightly News and a few others.  Even though I work in this building all the time, it was still cool to hear about the history of the place.

We also did a little bit of walking around outside.  We checked out 5th Avenue as well as the skating rink near The Rock.

As the night came, we got to experience the Top of the Rock - which is the observation deck at the top of 30 Rock.  The views were absolutely amazing, especially the night views.  You could see everything in New York; an unbelievable experience!

Sorry for the blurriness - the guy that took the photo wasn’t exactly a pro.  He took about five different photos from five different angles and this was truly the best one.  It was incredibly cold and windy up there.  It was a lot of fun, but probably more suited for warmer weather.

Another one of the places we wanted to go to together was the Museum of Sex.  I have heard a lot of great things about this place and I have to say, it was not what I expected whatsoever. 

The place looked very modern and orderly from the outside, but it truly became very raw once you got inside.  With the first exhibit graphically depicting the various forms of STD’s, you were quickly made aware that this was not for the faint at heart.  It was a very cool place nonetheless, and I do recommend it if you visit the city.

That’s enough for this post.  I will be following this post with part two momentarily.  Until then, enjoy!

Hey all - I know it has been a bit between posts but it has been a hectic week with a lot of work at The TODAY Show and a lot of school work.  But, that shouldn’t be an excuse.  I had such an amazing weekend (the girlfriend came to visit!) and did an unbelievable amount of things.  Things to look forward to in my next couple blog posts:

-Top of the Rock at 30 Rock

-Junior’s; the best place for cheesecake in New York City!

-Museum of Sex in the Flatiron District

-Tin Pan Alley

-John’s Pizzeria; amazing New York style pizza

-Comedy Cellar; amazingly historic comedy joint

-My second Broadway show

-The NBC Studio Tour

-Grom; amazing Italian gelato!

-Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre

-Bun Soho for Valentine’s dinner

-Bourbon Street Bar & Grill

-Five Napkin Burger; seriously… delicious.

I honestly don’t know if that is everything.  It is amazing to look back and think how many things I got to do with my girlfriend while she was here.  I promise though people; I will be posting my updates tomorrow!  Check back to see all the great sights.

Another video I had the opportunity to help with.  It’s a personal branding segment that delved into how to go about standing out in a crowd.  It was such a blast to help out with this segment.

So New York has been an absolute blast thus far, with five weeks already flying past.  It’s hard to believe I only have about a month and a half left in this city.  One of the main things I really wanted to do when I got here was go to a Broadway show.  Thanks to one of my fellow TODAY Show interns, I learned that college students are offered great deals for Broadway shows.  Called student rush tickets, you are able to go to great shows for a quarter of the cost.  This past Sunday I went to my first show:

The play is called “Time Stands Still.”  Because I’m too lazy to write the synopsis, I have enlisted the aide of the Manhattan Theatre Club, which is where the show was held, to provide the details:”James and Sarah, a journalist and a photographer, have been together for nine years and share a passion for documenting the realities of war. But when injuries force them to return home to New York, the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life.”

The show was extremely tense and full of conflict.  It was so realistic and made me think about the lives of journalists that do risk their lives to tell the story of war.  I’m sure many journalists have gone through this type of drama in their lives.  The play just made my skin crawl with tension at times.  But it was absolutely amazing!  Laura Linney and Alicia Silverstone were great, as well as were Brian D’Arcy James and Eric Bogosian.

Now that I know of the great student rush opportunities, I am definitely going to try to get to as many shows as I possibly can.  There really is something amazing about theater.  Great theater truly does come alive before you.  I really need to take advantage of it while I’m here.

On the way to Dangerfield’s last week, a great store appeared.  Dylan’s Candy Bar is a fantasy world for anyone who even remotely likes candy.  There are three locations in the New York area, and we went to the one in the Upper East.

In this photo, courtesy of stylelist.com, it shows one of the three floors of this expansive store.  I seriously could have walked around that place for hours.  I honestly think that you could find any type of candy possible in that place.  Luckily, I didn’t have money to spend on candy, or I would have spent a boatload there.  Next time, I probably won’t be so lucky.

This photo (courtesy of ontheinside.info) is the interior of a delicious cafe near NYU.  The Grey Dog’s Coffee shop had the atmosphere of a true indy establishment; and the great food didn’t hurt either.  It’s weird; being here has made me forget that there are places in the world where restaurants just have college kids.  This place was exactly like that when I went there this past week.

If anyone ever has the great privilege of going to this place, I suggest the Chicken Melt.  It was delicious!  If I’m back down in the NYU area, I may have to go back there again.

So I have been told about two of New York’s most prestigious foods: bagels and pizza.  While the pizza debate could very well be the best argument in the city, I want to take a few minutes to discuss the bagels.  I have been told that the bagels are the best in the world in New York, and each person has a different place to go.

The first two I was advised to go to was Daniel’s Bagels and Ess-a-Bagel.  Although both have been said to be the best in New York, they are completely different bagels.  For example, Daniel’s Bagels are known to be smaller, more chewy and dense bagels. On the other hand, Ess-a-Bagels are doughy, large bagels.

In my opinion, it really is most important to pick a bagel that is more your taste.  I have had the opportunity to have both, and I have a favorite out of the two.

Ess-a-Bagel is by far my favorite over the two.  Not only were the bagels more delicious, I thought that the Ess-a-Bagel building was much cooler.  It seemed to give a great NYC vibe.  If you’re ever in the area and you want a bagel, Ess-a-Bagel is the place to go!