I found this photo last night while looking for some other photos. I think it’s great evidence of the fact that I have ALWAYS had wonderful fashion sense.
Oh, and I used to be a blond. Here’s the weird part (weird to me at least): that is BEFORE I played the violin. How crazy is that?
I’m not materialistic per se, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love getting presents. What girl doesn’t? (Especially on major holidays, of course.) Chris’s mother insisted on buying us an engagement present, and in typical Hannah/Chris fashion we waited a long time to tell her what we wanted. Actually we wanted until we finished our registry. Then she also wanted to go ahead and get the wedding present she (well, I guess technically both his parents!) wanted to get us before somebody else did. What does this all mean? It means FIVE GIANT BOXES from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Two came last week and contained three pillows. Today when my folks and I got back from lunch there were three more boxes stacked up in front of my door. WHEEEEE!!!!
Okay, I may be too excited. I’m honestly not just getting married for the presents, but, gosh, I’ve been giving presents at weddings for years now and it’s finally going to be my turn. I have never been one of THOSE girls who just wants to get married (Chris might argue with me, but he would lose that argument. 12 years buddy. I waited 12 years.) but I am most certainly excited about our upcoming nuptials. Or at least the party, the dinner, seeing all of our friends and family together in one place, and getting a ton of gifts, and finally having some decent stuff to my name.
Also I need more bookshelves for all of my books and music.
She chose to perch on the box that seemed most precarious.
Before the boxes showed up (which I was worried about getting before I skip town) my parents came back through St Louis. If you recall they were in town the other weekend. After that they drove to Boulder, Colorado to visit my sister and attend a variety of concerts there. They were on their way home and just stopped in for lunch. We went to Basil Spice. They didn’t stay long as they wanted to get on the road again.
My father plans to be back in town in September as part of his "bike across america" trip. Or at least he is planning to bike here, bike the Katy Trail, and continue on to Phoenix and maybe on to the Pacific ocean then. Yup. That’s where I inherited my hard-coreness from!
I ran outside tonight. I considered going to the gym, but I wanted to give it a try. The heat index was about 100 when I set out. It wasn’t THAT bad, but it was tough—luckily the sun had basically gone down, but I still felt pretty weak by about the halfway point and ended up having to walk much more than I anticipated, and felt pretty faint for the last mile or so. I also probably hadn’t quite eaten enough though, so I can’t entirely blame the heat.
It’s late, I’m off to bed! I would do a delayed post, but MEH you can just read this in the morning if you want :)
Hello readers! Welcome back after a fantastic weekend. I pretty much partied like I was in my early 20’s. And lived to tell the tale, though perhaps barely. I may have left my pride somewhere in June, or perhaps pre-Memorial Day.
I’ve got a few students to teach this week and then I am off to CHICAGO to visit my friend Karen and go to Avec. Or maybe in the other order (Karen isn’t a blog reader so I can totally get away with that.) Karen is one of my best friends from my freelancing days in Cleveland. She’s now in the Phoenix Symphony during the year and with the Grant Park Orchestra (in Chicago) in the summer. When I first met Karen I was totally intimidated by here, but after a few years I garnered enough courage to ask her to hang out. The rest was history.
My mom called last night and said she and Dad were just west of Kansas City and could stop in around lunchtime. So my plans for today have changed a little, but I plan to go run ON THE TREADMILL DUE TO THE HEAT I JUST CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE followed by some housecleaning, teaching, and laundry. Super exciting stuff people! Someday you too can live my life.
I collect pictures in a folder on my computer labeled "blog ideas". Here are some I’ve been saving up. I hope they make your Monday a little bit brighter.
(Chris, having a little fun before a concert at a church.)
Totally the same. No big deal.
Stupid criminals.
Ooh, fantastic deal! Only a slight urine smell.
I have only done this once before??
What does that say about me?
It’s a fish pie. I forget why I have this picture.
Do you have a good picture for my blog? Send it my way!
I feel like the best course of action today is to stay inside.
And perhaps for the next four days as well.
Yesterday was pretty hot too. Yes, I know, it’s July. It’s supposed to be hot, yada, yada. But I am still complaining. And then, when winter comes, I’m going to complain about the cold. And I will continue to get super excited about hurricanes and thunderstorms.
I played a wedding at that church yesterday, followed by one at the Jewel Box. Both were hot, but the Jewel Box was ridiculous. It’s an air-conditioned greenhouse, so it wasn’t humid, but the sun was shining and I was sweating pretty profusely. That black dress went straight into the hamper.
I followed that up with dinner at Copia for my friend Katie’s birthday. The company was magnificent, the food was great, and the waitress was absolutely ridiculously slow and bad. It shouldn’t take over 3 hours to serve 8 people dinner. 
I spent WAY too long putting my hair in place. I wanted to wear it in a ponytail, but I don’t think it’s that flattering…so I went with a side pony.
Okay, I am a big fan of Skinnyrunner’s blog. She is one of my running inspirations—I am totally inspired by her awesome legs and want them for myself.
Though, when I read that she didn’t like Bridesmaids, I was a little concerned. But I’ll let it slide. This time.
Here’s a piece of advice, readers. Don’t wait to take pictures of yourself until your official photographer (that is, boyfriend) leaves town for a couple of weeks. Or, never mind. Do. Or do not.
I like it! P.S. that is the before and after a run pictures. What do you think is better, mirror image photo or the double handed self-portrait? Or should I hire a full-time photographer/mockumentarian? Or some other option? (Remember, not taking pictures is NOT an option.)
Note to readers: this is a Saturday morning regret post. Completely G-rated, but still, will contain lots of self-flagellation and self-deprecation. If you don’t like when I beat myself up, well, then click to my Jon Hamm post instead. If you LOVE when I kick myself, then you should also make sure you read my post about my wedding as weight-loss incentive (though it is failing me the past several days.)
My biggest diet downfall is eating in restaurants.
When I eat at home, it’s easy to eat well. Especially because we just don’t keep junk in the house. If it’s there, I might eat it. If it’s not there, I’m certainly not going to go out and get it.
But in a restaurant it’s different. All the options are there! And they look so good, and the descriptions are so well written…
I shouldn’t have gone out for dinner last night. I should have eaten at home. I’m such a self-saboteur.
Three days ago I was the lowest weight I’d been in…decades? And I fit into the lowest size of jeans I can recall wearing! (Still not beating HIGH school, but it’s cool.) So what did I do afterwards? I ate like crap. I went to Ernesto’s and had DESSERT. I made a decently healthy pizza at home but then ate too much of it (self control on portion size is still an at-home challenge). And then last night I went to Stellina with some friends. Don’t get me wrong. It was fantastic. But really, did I NEED to order the lasagna? And we split antipasto. Which ended up having a huge amount of cheese. Which I ate my full share.
I also had a salad (not pictured) because I absolutely love restaurant salads. Honestly I was full after the antipasto, and certainly after the salad. Luckily I managed not to eat the entire portion of lasagna and brought it home…where it sits in my fridge and I am debating tossing it because I probably shouldn’t eat it for lunch. But then that’s a waste of food. And considering the amount I’ve spent eating out, I shouldn’t waste food. Though arguably it’s a waste when you eat food your body doesn’t need.
To make matters worse, the rest of the weekend contains more potential diet disasters: tonight is a friend’s birthday dinner, and tomorrow night is a friend’s going away party.
I AM good at working out, at least. I got up and ran 3 miles this morning. I ran 4 miles yesterday with Jen after having had a workout in the morning with Mike (I still can’t get over the fact that he wore his 80s outfit!). Frankly all that exercise likely led to my complete and utter lack of self-control at dinner. It’s such a double edged sword!
Okay. I need to put it behind me. I will do better at dinner tonight (perusing the menu, there is a delicious looking ahi tuna entree that would likely be fantastic and diet friendly). One day at a time.
Yes, I know I’m too hard on myself. You don’t need to tell me that.
Was dinner last night fun? YES.
After I took this picture the hostess offered to take a picture of all of us. Which was such a refreshing change from many restaurants, where the hostess barely will make eye contact since he or she is OBVIOUSLY so much above you. Thank you lovely hostess at Stellina!
Of course I look silly because I’m leaning in at a weird way. I should have flexed instead 😉