Just Dance

August - I learned how to Belly Dance!

After seeing a belly dancer shimmy around the restaurant on Andrea's birthday, we were inspired to try our hand at belly dancing.

We signed up to take a class and off we went. Me, Andrea, and Melissa (Andrea's roommate), met in Columbus Circle and headed up to Serena's Studios. It was a strange space with an eccentric woman sitting at the front desk. Middle-aged, crazy hair, too much make-up, the body of a former dancer - she was exactly the type of person I expected to see. She took our $12 fee and we headed into the studio.

The class demographic was mixed. There were a few trained dancers, a sprinkling of 30 somethings, 1 or 2 heavy weights, but most of the class were in shape 20 somethings looking for a new, fun workout. We took off our shoes and warmed up.

Our instructor had long hair, a flat stomach, and a great attitude - very funny. She was a great instructor. The class could keep up with her and she made us feel like the room was a safe space - This was a good thing since I felt quite foolish learning some of the moves! Some of the moves we learned - snake arms, the belly roll, chest pushes, and hip swivels. Obviously, these are not the actual names of the moves but you get the idea.

Melissa was struggling at first but did a great job of keeping up - she had not taken dance before so I'm sure it was a bit of a challenge. Me and Andrea managed to hold our own. The three of us will definitely take another stab at belly dancing. It was a lot of fun and a great work out! (Plus our goal is to work our way up to the intermediate class where they show us how to use hand cymbals!).

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!!!