Like a little kid on Christmas Day, I woke Ari up just after 10 so we could enjoy a nice morning together at the diner.
He ordered chocolate chip peanut butter pancakes, which I happily sampled. Yum! They’re a bit too sweet for me to make a meal out of, but I enjoyed my mouthful.
I went with my usual: egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and feta.
The hash browns don’t really do it for me, but buttery toast? Yes, please!
A couple short hours (and a few wrong turns) later I met Leslie and Sofia down at the New Amsterdam Market by the South Street Seaport for an ice cream social.
Local vendors from artisanal ice cream boutiques in and around New York were dishing up adorably tiny scoops of their fancy ice cream to nostalgic fans who were anxious to recapture the ice cream zeal of their youth.
Er, maybe not “youth,” per se 
We were given six tickets to use for each of the six vendors, and got tasting!
There were so many interesting flavors, from Duck Egg to Hay to Corn (there were two vendors selling this!). I tried to pick as much of a variety as possible.
MilkMade’s Blackberry Gingersnap:
Van Leeuwen’s 99% Chocolate:
Roberta’s Roasted Corn:
Early Bird Cookery’s Roasted Peach w/ Black Pepper:
The Bent Spoon’s Bourban Vanilla w/ Sea Salt Caramel:
Marlow & Daughter’s Lemon Verbena:
There were so many delicious- and interesting- tastes. We all decided, unanimously, that the best flavor was, hands-down, the Bourbon Vanilla w/ Sea Salt Caramel. Possibly because it was made with real Hudson valley Bourbon!
Despite the terrible weather, Danielle trekked down to join us for another hour…
of sampling…
…wine tasting…
… hard cider tasting…
… and investigating giant “snake squash.”
It was quite the afternoon! I will certainly be returning to the New Amsterdam Market… their produce looked so fresh and beautiful, and if I didn’t have to schlep it around the city for another three hours before my dinner reservations, I definitely would have stocked up.
Ice cream, wine, hard cider, and market samples are a perfectly acceptable lunch, don’t you think?
A few hours and buckets of rain later, I headed over to Josie’s East to meet Ari, Liz, and Liz’s friend Slava for dinner. Ari and I were a little early so we enjoyed a glass of wine at the bar before the rest of the group arrived.
When we were seated, I nibbled on pieces of cornbread and focaccia, but was sad our server didn’t bring out the restaurant’s signature vegetable spread!
For dinner, I ordered the Seared Asian Tofu Stir-Fry, which I’ve had before. We were so engrossed in conversation that I ended up filling up and taking half of my dinner home! It had been over six months since Liz and I had last seen each other, and there was a lot to catch up on! Good thing the “men folk” got along well
After dinner, Ari and I gave Liz and Slava a ride back to their hotel. Shenanigans ensued 
Despite all of the ice cream I’d had earlier, my sweet tooth was begging for a fix so we stopped at Baskin Robbins for dessert. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually had Baskin Robbins’ ice cream before! It was nothing compared to the treats we sampled earlier, but Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Jamoca Almond Fudge did the trick.
It was a pretty great Sunday, if I do say so myself. What about you? Did you work or play? Take some time to yourself or see friends and family?
Sounds like you had a great weekend and the ice cream looks great – never heard of corn flavoured ice cream!
Aww i am SO jealous you and liz got to hang out!! I love the both of yall! those ice cream flavors sound SO interesting too!!! Id prob like the vanilla+salt one as well. Black pepper in ice cream? WOW that is crazy!!
Festivals like that are a reason I’d love to live in NYC for a while. My parents always tell me about how there are festivals to check out every weekend. (Although it’s funny that I live near many of the farmers and food producers at those kinds of festivals and markets.) And an ice cream festival? Amazing…did any of you end up trying the hay flavor?
This weekend was very relaxing, and rainy here too. I didn’t mind though – I went for a long run in the rain, which was one of my best runs ever. And I made some granola, and watched the film “No Impact Man.”
what a perfect sunday!!!!!!!!!!
Firends + your man+ icecream+ wine+ and yummy dinner!!!!
love it!!
Love U!!!!!!!!!!
Woowww. I am speechless. Looks like a perfect day (except for the weather)
i had so much fun yesterday! still thinking about how incredible all those flavors were and still want to buy that snake squash. considering the kale i bought takes up half the bottom shelf of my fridge, it was probably a good idea to say no.
um, also, i love you for getting ice cream again for dessert. fabulous.
to lisasfoods: i tried the hay! i just tasted it though and got a scoop of beet instead because it was really really sweet. but i couldn’t let that flavor go unsampled!
can we sample artisan ice creams every sunday? so much fun, as was the rest of your day! i love faking adulthood. hah. my vote for best ice cream goes to bourbon vanilla. oh, and i also had baskin robbins for the first time a couple of weeks ago and because i’m sooo spoiled by all of these delicious flavors, i thought it was pretty yuck. living in new york means that i’m a spoiled food brat, i guess.
Get out!!! An ice cream festival!!!! That’s incredible!
So glad you got the chance to meet Liz. What a sweet girl!
Happy you had a wonderful Sunday. It all sounds so great!
hey gorgeous girl!!!
awww how much fun was your sunday!!! eeeek the ice cream social looks AWESOME!..can I come visit?!?! hehe!
I hope your week is off to a great start!
xoxo!
i love your weekend shennanigans! looks like so much fun. and ari at brunch looks thrilled! haha. so cute together
There are too many things I love about this post! An ice cream fair? I mean, I need to be there. How amazing….I thought I was in heaven when I saw the choco chip and pb pancakes.
Looks like you had the perfect Sunday! I spent time with my family, relaxing and awesome.
Oooh! joe and I were fascinated by the snake squash at the Minneapolis farmer’s market. What a crazy veggie.
Also…I’m SO disappointed I wasn’t at that ice cream event. I want so badly to try roasted corn ice cream
oh my god what a JAM packed sunday you had! of serious delicious ice cream samples and so much bloggie love! it stinks that the weather was so gross but you guys totally made the best of it
i’m ALL about relaxing sundays! yesterday the fam went to see an afternoon showing of eat pray love after sleeping in out east! even though its always nicer to have better weather out east, it was pretty nice to just have a casual laid back sluggy sunday!
Oh my gosh, all that ice cream….that is seriously my person version of heaven
I’m so jealous/excited for you– I just read about your upcoming Provence trip!!!! I studied in a little town called Annot– it’s about 45 minutes north of Nice, and right outside of Provence…I still DREAM about it!!! I love that area…you are going to have a ball!
Oh man, I’d be all over those pancakes in a heartbeat if we had ‘em out here! And ice cream galore, good golly I’d be in heaven!
What a fantastic FREE day!
Hay ice cream? Lulu calls hay, “PAY” Lulu, what do horses eat, “Pay.” “Hay, Lulu, hay.” “Yup, PAY.”
Happy to see Liz too
Yum those ice creams look amazing I would have had to have one of each! x x
Speaking from a current Bent Spoon employee, i LOVE the vanilla bourbon sea salt caramel. it is amazing working there and being able to make delicious flavors like that everyday. if you get a chance, come out to the store in princeton!
Love that you and Ari have a little Sunday morning tradition with a visit to the diner:) Your omelet looks amazing!
sounds so fun! that vanilla + caramel even SOUNDED good!
Ari should not be eating that stuff. Chocolate chips are bad enough, but peanut butter in pancakes is just not right—–and probably should be a violation of some local ordinance.
Whoaaaa…Best.Sunday.EVER. So jealous! Ice cream lover’s paradise! I’m def going to do that tasting with my mom when she comes to NYC next week…so fun! Ohh and yesterday I did a lot of relaxing…it was nice, but I don’t think I’ll ever love Sunday!
I completely agree with you about Sundays being the best day of the week. I had to work on Sundays all summer, and this last one was the first day I had off in quite a while. It felt so good to sleep in, relax, and do whatever I was in the mood for: Chinese for lunch, grocery shopping, and a twilight swinging adventure in a nearby park.
Have a good week!
Wow – totally jealous of your ice cream excursion! And, I must get the name of this diner with the chocolate chip peanut butter pancakes! Ah.
My Sunday was great too! I was visiting family in my hometown, which included a delicious meal, laughing and catching up. Yay for Sundays!
I love your diner dates with Ari! Such a cute and simple “thing” that the two of you have. I also love that you seem to love ice cream as much as I do! That sampling looks like heaven!
mmm ice cream is definitely my weakness. I would be all over that ice cream tasting, all of the flavors look delicious! The baskin robbins looked delish as well
Those are some wild flavors for sure! Ohh I bought some of that Hudson Valley Bourbon not too long ago and it sounds intense in ice cream.
That photo of me and Slava separated by the slab of drywall is hilarious, haha
So lovely catching up with you and Ari!!! Gotta do it again VERY soon – either in NYC or Ohio. Or both, please.
You and Ari always have such great adventures!! And I’m lovin’ the sight of those sundaes.