table for five

after a relaxing saturday of frequent snacks and non-movement, it was nice to actually get out into the city and rejoin society for a stimulating sunday afternoon.

we all headed out for brunch with emilyface in the east village around noonish and after just a short 20 minute wait, we finally were seated at our table for five. veggie frittatas, eggs benedict with melon slices. french toast with fresh blueberries and rum butter. bacon. best. brunch. ever.

slowly sauntered down sun-filled avenues until we all eventually parted ways; aaron&tiya to a sports bar to watch a game, emilyface to a coffee shop to get a grande- double- mocha- half- caf- no- whip- special- cup-o'-ccino. we wandered semi-aimlessly toward a bookshop where, after several hours and a trip to kmart and back, we purchased two games - trivial pursuit pop culture and boggle to go! the impulse section at the register prompted me to also get the latest issue of readymade, with which i've been obsessed ever since my college boyfriend bought me my first issue from the university bookstore. i can hardly contain my excitement at creating one or more of their proposed 80 small space solutions!

at this point, ben's mid-afternoon hunger got the better of him/us so we went out in search of something. anything. french fries, in particular. we eased through astor place, past bowl vendors and used screenplays, down st mark's and stopped in a subterranean bistro to inquire about the availability of said french fries. much to our surprise, they did not have fries. ben expressed his incredulity at their absence and we made our way back from whence we came. a few doors down we came upon a more promising establishment, a pan-european pub (there were guinness ads, black and white italian posters, old french newspapers, a portuguese waitress...) we ordered our fries and a couple of of hefeweizens, unpacked our newly acquired boggle and settled in for a few hours of vocabulary stimulation with an improv jazz duo (complete with stand-up double bass) as our soundtrack.

when we'd adequately overstayed our welcome, the check came in a little tin pail. paid in cash and skipped down the street in the breezy, late afternoon air. scored some sweet artwork from the side of the road and felt compelled to take a picture while the J train took us home.

it was the perfect afternoon.