central park, chelsea market, and the best chocolate chip cookie

a couple weekends ago, i had to go to new york for work, so jason and i decided to make a weekend of it. we walked through central park...

and ended up on this bench. i hope if i have a bench dedicated to me, it's for the same reason.

we walked north through the park to the reservoir and cut west to 86th street. since we didn't have a map, we were more north than i expected, and walked about 10 blocks south to Levain. after i saw sugar plum's post, i knew i had to try their cookies.

it wasn't until we ordered and pulled up a stool to eat at the counter that i realized this was the bakery that beat bobby flay in the chocolate chip cookie throwdown! their cookies are no joke.

we knew the cookies were huge, but didn't realize how massive they are until we sat down either. one cookie can easily feed two people.

we got two cookies - a chocolate chip with walnut and chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips. served warm from the oven, the inside was still a gooey, chewy mess, while the outside had a nice, crunchy crust. the chocolate chip was perfect, while the chocolate peanut butter was a bit too raw inside and could have used another 30 seconds or more to bake.

after we gorged ourselves on cookies the plan was to head over to chelsea market for dinner. but by the time we got there, neither one of us was hungry enough for dinner. but walking through the heat and humidity definitely warranted a popsicle, a people's pop, that is.

two of the four flavors were sold out already - raspberry mint and something i can't remember - so i chose the raspberry basil over the strawberry rhubarb. and it was amazing. there were chunks of actual fruit, not just juice. the couple sitting in the window next to us had the raspberry and went back for strawberry. i don't blame them one bit.

we walked around the market for an hour or so, stopping in the fruit company to buy some spices that aren't as easy to locate at home.

and worked up an appetite for a piece of foccacia from amy's bread for our dinner.

after a long day of walking and snacking, we headed to the top of the rock to watch the sunset. too bad it was so humid and hazy, so the view wasn't nearly as great as it could have been.