Yeah summer!!

Yeah summer!!, originally uploaded by ShonC.

For all the cribbing about the end of summer, I did really well catching up on all I wanted to do this summer. I've managed to jam an entire summers' worth of activities and fun into just a few weeks. It all started with my brothers (Navin) arrival to NYC. We started slow, but ended with a flurry of activity. The highlights:

A trip to Atlantic City where we played mini golf and one of my friends invented a whole new swing where you turn your back to the ball and swing the club in between your legs! Atrocious as it sounds, the results were astounding! Followed by a cage fight, a form of mixed martial arts. Yes, we saw blood!

We saw an off broadway show, The Putnam County Spelling Bee. If you're ever in the area, don't miss this one, it is hilarious. There was barely a moment when we weren't laughing. Also, if you show up a few hours before the show, there are $25 tickets at the box office.

We discovered a new fun way of being a tourist in NYC, it's called The Accomplice, a scavenger hunt and a theater production. Oh what fun, being a part of a plot and running all around the city trying to solve clues. The same day happened to be San Genaro, so we ended up walking through Little Italy, playing games, talking to random strangers, and enjoying the delicious aromas from all the food stalls.

A friend took us to a sports bar in the city called The Black Cat. It's one of the most inexpensive fun places I've been to in the city. We started with Fusball, followed by the shuffle board (where I beat a friend who was being a sore looser), table tennis and finally pool (Navin and I beat my other 2 friends). The next time I go, I want to play scrabble and suggest the addition of dart boards to the place.

Of course there were several dinners in the city including Tao and Chinese Mirch (such polar opposites!)

One of the weekends while Navin was away visiting his friends, Kokil and I went wine tasting to Long Island. I have to say, Napa Valley, CA really beats this region hands down.

After several shopping trips and loads of fun activities, Navin left last week and I'm just trying to get caught up with all my friends and making long lists of pending chores. Got a haircut yesterday. Usually, I walk out from a salon feeling like a girl in a shampoo commercial with my hair swishing in the air. Remember the song from The Sound of Music, "Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens.. these a few of my favorite things." Walking out after a haircut is right up there on the list for me. Yesterday that experience was literally watered down by rain. So after just a few moments of being the glamorous shampoo model, I walked around with my hair tied in scraggy little pony tail (yes, he barely left any hair!)

Nevertheless, with my scraggy pony tail and a very close friend, I ended up at the American Museum of Natural History. The biggest learning from there was that the human race actually began in South Africa. Isn't it ironic that the region that marks the beginning of mankind is still one that struggles so much. Walking through the marine life section, I realized that watching Discovery and National Geographic has turned me into quite a nerd. I could even identify some mistakes in the descriptions, such as the fact that the giant squid does exist and was discovered by a Japanese scientist as opposed to the museums view that there have been no records of a real giant squid.

At the end of it all, I managed to squeeze out the last few drops of summer and made some thirst quenching lemonade! Yeah Summer!!