tubing

A Weekend of Summer Faves: Performing and Tubing

This weekend, I got to partake in two of my most anticipated summer activities: performing and tubing!

Despite battling a horrible cold, I still made it onstage for this edition of Kat Wildish’s “Performing in NY Experience” showcase. I felt pretty terrible for the Friday show. But—luckily!—was almost 100% recovered for the two Saturday shows.

My group performed the “Peasant Pas” from Giselle…

peasant pas

…as well as the “Pas de Premiers Wilis” scene from the same ballet.

giselle

I loved having the opportunity to dance such different pieces. The peasant number was lively and upbeat, while the Wilis scene was somber. The latter was probably one of my favorite pieces, of all the ones I’ve performed. Even though there’s a lot of standing around, I was lucky to have a small, featured role. Plus, I feel comfortable in Romantic ballets, and appreciate the intricate shapes we created with our movements. (Check out the Paris Opera Ballet looking just a tad more polished than we did. ;))

MyВ annual tubing tripВ in Frenchtown, NJ, was the following day. The weather wasn’t ideal—it was cloudy and drizzly, at times, and not particularly warm. But my friends and I went anyway, since it was the last summer weekend that worked for everyone’s schedules!

I was just glad to be out of the city, floating down the Delaware River—as evidenced by this year’s requisite Toms shot.

toms

pennsylvania

I didn’t even mind that I had to wear a wool hat and scarf the whole time…

tubing

…and drink a few cans of beer to stay warm. Have to take full advantage of the few summer days we have left!

modelo

(Performing in NY Showcase photos by Arthur S. Coopchik)

River Tubing

Every year, for the past three Julys, a group of us has gone tubing on the Delaware River. It’s really the perfect summer tradition: lazily floating downstream while surrounded by pretty scenery and sipping a beer. In my book, there are few better ways to spend a hot afternoon.

The first time, we went though a company,В in Frenchtown, NJ, that provided tubes and a ride back upstream to the starting point. But then, one of my friends realized that you can just buy cheap inflatable floats, park at the Frenchtown boat launch, travel along the same route–and bring drinks and snacks along. Let’s just say that the next year was way more fun.

On Saturday, we made our annual trip. The afternoon was bright and sunny but not too hot–perfect weather for our nearly 6 mile float between Jersey and Pennsylvania.

delaware river tubing

tubing

mal, peter, doug, alex

The current was slow, so we had plenty of chillaxin’ time as our makeshift flotilla bobbed downstream. The guys even made BBQ brisket sandwiches right in their tubes!

peter tubing

mal tubing

heather tubing

doug tubing

Along the way, we saw another group of tubers launching themselves off a rope swing. I was too short to reach the rope (boo!), but Alex and Peter went for it.

alex and rope swing

alex on the rope swing

delaware river tubing

Next year we’re thinking of trading up our round floats for wacky ones like thisВ or these–gotta up the ridiculous factor a little more every time!

(P.S. – On the way home, Mal and I had dinner at the Lovin’ Oven, a super-cute place with great food, just a minute away from where we launched our tubes.)

What’s your favorite summer tradition?

Off to a Buoyant Weekend!

river tubing

Clearly, I’m not heading to the Maryland coast this weekend. But I do have another fun, summer activity planned: river tubing! Every July, a group of us head to the Delaware River for a few hours of lazily floating downstream, enjoying the pretty scenery–and drinking lots of beer. (No high diving involved, though.) It’ll be a great way to relax after helping Mal and Peter unpack!

What are you up to? And please enjoy my favorite links from the week:

Trash, illustrated

Enviable backsplashes (so much nicer than my painted cement kitchen walls!)

Want to rent Obama’s old UWS apartment?

A cat was elected mayor of an Alaska town–for the 15th year in a row!

And speaking of cats: photos taken at just the right time

(Photo from Slate , via {joycreation})

River Tubing Ridiculousness

Last week, when it actually felt like summer, Karen and I were chatting about river tubing. Each year, we round up about a dozen of our friends (and about 8 times that amount of beer), drive to where Jersey meets Pennsylvania and spend a hot summer day floating down the Delaware River.

Somehow, during our conversation, she stumbled across these amazing images of a newlywed couple tubing in their wedding attire. Apparently, they met while tubing and wanted to “trash the dress” while floating down the Guadalupe River.

I actually think that’s a pretty cute–and hilarious–idea. All that’s missing are a few champagne glasses!

Would you do something like this on your wedding day?

And one more crazy tubing pic (which is NOT how it looks where we go!):

(Tubing wedding photos via Austin Americana Studio, tubing crowd photo via KGNB. Thanks to Karen for the links!)