So long sweet summer

I've had a very busy summer!

Here are some of my highlights:

I took a class entitled Grantsmanship where I honed my grant writing skills (I got an A!!!).

I sat principal chair in the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra during their first summer series of concerts.

I landed a research assistantship to work with one of my professors on her dissertation.

I got a promotion at work which means more money (yay!) and more work (boo!).

This has been a wonderful and hectic summer. I plan on enjoying what's left of it and I'm sad to see it come to an end.

Hookah

July - I tried my hand at hookah!

I had always been curious about the hookah bar craze. I am certainly not a cigarette smoker - in fact I'm totally against smoking. Hookah is not as harmful, it's not something I'll be doing everyday, and it looks like fun!

My close NYC friend Andrea planned a birthday celebration at a Middle Eastern restaurant on the Lower East Side complete with falafels and a belly dancer. Our waitress handed us 3 menus - drinks, food, and hookah flavors. We chose "Sex on the Beach." It was delicious! We passed around the hose and enjoyed the experience with our dinner and martinis. The evening inspired us to sign up for a belly dancing class (I'm not sure if I'll be any good at it but it looks like a great workout!)

On a side note, we were seated next to MTV VJ Sway!!!

Fireworks

Fourth of July was wonderful this year. I traveled to Long Beach Island with the guy I'd been seeing for about two months for his friend's engagement party. By the end of the weekend, he was my boyfriend.

A little bit about him: His name is Dennis. He's 27 and originally from Connecticut. He's an attorney. He loves comic books and Dashboard Confessional. He's funny and adventurous. He makes me very happy. I could gush over how wonderful he is for pages and pages but instead I'll tell you that he treats me well, he's always thoughtful and sweet, and he has a great smile. I'm excited to see where things go.