Monthly Archives: December 2012

Deep Thoughts

Year in Review in Pictures

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I figured I can’t call myself a real blogger without a year in review post.  Plus I have some time right now as I wait for Chris to play his concert before we go to our friend’s party to usher in the new year in style.

I’m going to take a little bit different approach than many.  Only pictures.  One picture to sum up each month.  If you are a regular blog reader, you’ll probably recognize all these photos and you can skip this post.

(I was just thinking, nobody makes that whole joke about how long it takes to remember the new year when you’re writing checks anymore, do they?  Bring on 2013!)

2012 in Pictures:

January

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February

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March

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April

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May

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June

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July

August

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September

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October

November

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December

Bonus Pictures:

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Thanks to everybody for their love and support this year.  I hope that 2013 brings more new adventures and wonderful experiences. Until then!

Oh and…

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Cat, Random thoughts

Cats and Chinese food

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Lots of bloggers like to do year-end recaps.  2012 has been a pretty eventful year for me, and I could probably write a really long post about it and include tons of wedding pictures.  But maybe I’ve already written about myself enough?  Perhaps I’ll be inspired.

But today I just want to share yesterday with you.  I was active on social media (this is a shocker) and took a bunch of pictures, and you all know I enjoy re-sharing my pictures.  (And I like doing journal-type entries the best, honestly.  I don’t know if you find them interesting, but I enjoy writing them.)

The day started with a blogger meet up.  I belong to a facebook group made up of bloggers from the St Louis area.  I hadn’t made the past few meetings as they were on Friday nights and I work late and then usually am too tired to meet new people afterwards.  This one was on a Saturday morning and involved coffee, so I was excited.  It was kind of a meet up fail though, because it was just me and Lindsay.

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I was going to the gym afterwards, and figured that gym clothes, ponytail, and no makeup were totally appropriate for a blogger meet up. 

We had a great time chatting and drinking coffee at Deer Creek Coffee in Clayton.  We discussed everything from the tax implications of blogging to whether or not our husbands like to eat leftovers.  I was inspired by Lindsay’s energy and excitement about blogging and life in general! 

Maybe my next blogger meet up will include more people?

Then it was time to hit the gym.  I thought I felt fine but after I started working out I didn’t really.  Mike had originally planned a circuit of 1 minute sprint, front squats, and kettlebell swings (we squeezed in an extra workout because of my trip next week) but I almost passed out after the second sprint so he revised the workout.  (He actually asked if I wanted to go home and we could reschedule but I felt like I should soldier through.)  Oops.  I made it through the workout though, and I’m sure felt better for it!  That is, it was probably a huge waste and I should have taken him up on his “rescheduling” offer but I felt like a loser.  In retrospect I think he really wanted to go home as well since I was his last client, and he was drinking water just as fast as I was.

Nonetheless.  Shower and then work time.  Rarely is there a Saturday I don’t play a wedding and yesterday was no exception.

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St Charles!

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Gorgeous view of the…casino…

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Me having fun with my timer camera app while waiting for a cue.

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Leslie should appreciate my no ears hairstyle for the day.

After my gig, Chris and I decided to go out for Chinese food.  Our favorite place to go in St Louis is Wei Hong Bakery and Restaurant.  We discovered this place a few years ago and love it.  It’s very casual and fairly inexpensive and always delicious.  They say it’s pretty authentic too, but I have never been to China so I can’t vouch for that.  Maybe I should take my brother there next time he’s in town!

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I had hot and sour soup to start.

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And then a seafood tofu casserole.  They have this tofu that is called “egg tofu” on the menu—I suppose it has eggs in it (sorry Carrie and other vegans) but it is AMAZING.  It has the consistency of a custard or flan, and I could probably eat it for every meal.

Naturally our meal ended with a fortune cookie. 

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Me, impatient?  Never! 

Anyway, the last thing we were doing was meeting some friends who recently got engaged (!!) at Sasha’s.  But first I was lying on the couch watching TV and…

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How could I go anywhere with this guy on my lap?

I decided to destroy her evening by flipping her over for a picture…

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I wanted to get her belly in the picture, but my arms just aren’t that long!  I probably should have gotten Chris to take the picture but I didn’t think ahead.

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This picture is an example of how photography is all about angles.  She doesn’t look fat at all, does she?

And yet…

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Giveaways

Celebrity Status: Book Review and Giveaway

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Just in time for the long weekend:  another book review and giveaway.  (Closed, winners of these and the previous giveaway announced soon!)

Celebrity Status: A Kate Huntington Mystery
As you can see, it’s a mystery.  In the author’s own words: “My stories are mysteries because that is the genre I love to read most. But there is some crossover with the genre of women’s fiction because I place a lot of emphasis on developing the characters’ relationships with each other. This one, in particular, is focused on the stress that unwanted media attention can create for a couple.”

The story focuses on the main character, Kate, who is a psychotherapist married to Skip, a private investigator.  It seems that despite many previous personal tragedies, Kate is very happy in her life with Skip. (I found out after reading that this is actually the 4th book in the series about Kate.  The book stands alone but I definitely got the sense there is much more to her story and I’m glad to learn I can read about it as well.)

A celebrity pop singer asks Skip for help because she is being sent threatening letters and wants to find out who sent them while being protected.  Skip recommends she talk to Kate as there are some underlying psychological issues.  They have no idea how crazy things will get—before they know it the paparazzi are hounding Kate and Skip about various rumors involving romantic links between Skip and the singer, and Kate and her good friend, Rob.  As if things couldn’t get worse, then it appears the stalker is trying to kill Kate!

I found the book to be a good read (I’d say a quick read, but most books are a quick read for me, so that’s probably redundant) and I’d recommend it.  Like I said before, this is book 4 of the series and I’m told book 5 will be out in the spring.  I was thinking as I read it how many “best selling books” aren’t as well written and entertaining.

The author is giving away one copy of the book to a lucky reader!  It can be a paperback book for US residents only, or a digital copy (epub or mobi file, works great for kindle and other e-readers, nook and such) for anyone in the world.  Leave a comment below to win.  For an additional entry, tweet “I’m entering to win a copy of Celebrity Status by @kassandralamb from @hannahviolin and you should too! http://wp.me/p2S7vz-2r3” and leave a comment saying you did so. Contest runs through Sunday, January 6 at 10 pm CST.  Winner will be notified via email.

Random thoughts

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

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Who would have thought, back when I was five years old learning Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, that one day I would be a ROCKSTAR?

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Okay, I’m exaggerating…a little.  But! Yesterday I played at the Scottrade Center with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  This is my third time playing with the group—it’s a touring show and they always hire some local musicians to fill out the string section in each city.  There’s one violinist (her name is Asha, for the “West” Tour—I think there’s another tour with another violinist) who plays electric violin, dances, and leads the orchestra.  To fill out the string section there’s another first violin (me!), two second violins, two violas, and two cellos, and we sit onstage the whole time and play through a thick book of music with very little rehearsal!  No dancing for us, don’t worry.

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The biggest stress the first show was when to turn on the stand lights.  I was in charge of the stand lights for the whole group and had a little button on the floor.  I had to turn them off at the end of each song and then on again shortly before the new song started.  Sure, that sounds pretty easy, except for it was dark in between so I couldn’t see anything, like the set list, and since we didn’t really rehearse I didn’t KNOW when the new song was about to start.  I only made one real mistake when I forgot there was a song we weren’t on and turned them on early.  I am assuming no one in the audience noticed, what with all the lights and fire and dancing and singing.  The second show was easier as I knew what to expect. 

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Can you find me in the picture?  I’m actually in all the rest of these pictures…

It was an exhausting show BUT it was really fun.  We classical musicians don’t usually get quite so many people cheering for us!  (I did play with Josh Groban once—that was interesting–the audience full of middle-aged women screaming and throwing underwear on stage.  I kid.  Sort of.  No, I really did play with Josh Groban, and I think maybe two or three times at huge venues in Columbus and Pittsburgh.)TSO2

(I totally stole these pictures from a friend’s facebook page.  I hope he doesn’t mind—his wife took the photos and I’m thrilled!)

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That’s the fun bit of being a freelancer—every day is a different job so you never get bored and you never know what to expect.  Or at least that’s the fun part for me!  (Let’s ignore the 5 days of teaching the same people at the same times and pretend I freelance more 😉 )

Have you ever been to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Show before?  Did you find me in the pictures?  Do you think I’m way cooler now than you did before or have I ruined everything by asking that question?

Christmas, Deep Thoughts

Boxing Day?

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I don’t really understand Boxing Day. 

But I feel pretty good post-Christmas.  The trick is to get the melancholy out of the way pre-Christmas, then post-Christmas feels great.  Another good trick is to plan a couple of vacations in January.  (This is at least the third year in a row I’m doing this, and it seems to work really well.  After that, February is short, March can be another vacation over spring break, April is always the busiest month, May you are almost there…and then June is my birthday month and the end of school! Don’t lecture me about living in the moment.  Life isn’t short, it’s the longest thing you do.)

Oh, and now a wedding anniversary.  And I’d better not forget my husband’s birthday like I did our anniversary the other week  (I couldn’t figure out why Chris was so insistent on us having a fancy dinner the night of the second in Chicago—he kept insisting and I kept saying it didn’t need to be that night as it was our travel day and there were other days we’d be there and finally said in a loud, cross tone “What is your obsession with the second?”  He was silent for a bit and then said “It’s our anniversary.” Needless to say, I made a reservation somewhere nice.  To be fair, I hadn’t technically forgotten our anniversary as it hadn’t happened yet…no, I can’t rationalize this.  I totally sucked and forgot.) 

All of these things can help with post-Christmas blues.  (Except forgetting your anniversary.  Don’t do that.)

After eating enough to gain 7.8 pounds yesterday (a fact my trainer thought was both ridiculously disgusting and impossible to believe, even though HE told me he lost 11 pounds over the last two weeks in order to be able to overindulge a bit this week…that doesn’t sound crazy or anything—I hope he’s reading today) I figured a good workout was in order.  That and it was already scheduled.  Lunges on the Smith machine, front squats, dead lifts, kettlebell swings.  I feel like I’m forgetting something but I really think that’s it.  Maybe I was slow today or we did extra sets? 

I probably smelled strongly of Ham the entire time.

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I wore a festive headband.  It was in honor of Boxing Day AND the snowstorm that was predicted that totally missed us.

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Post workout, in the car.  I was cold. 

I actually had to get dressed in regular clothes, including pants that buttoned for a rehearsal for this jazz concert I’m playing on—I feel so COOL when I play with jazz musicians, even though we all know that’s not true.  (Also, children, being cool is NOT important in life.  Being smart and nice is.)

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Christmas present.  I don’t have a Toms problem or anything.  PLUM CORDUROY THANK YOU LESLIE!

Last thought for tonight: We finally watched Moneyball.  Why did we wait so long?  Second favorite baseball movie!!  (First favorite is of course Field of Dreams.)

What’s your favorite baseball movie?  Or, top three?  I think my third favorite is A League of Their Own.

Christmas

You are not a cow

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It’s important to note that I often refer to my cat as “the ham” or “the fat ham”.

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Christmas was great!  I got home late Christmas Eve because of work the night before so we wanted to sleep in a bit.

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Churches like poinsettias, don’t they?

Anyway, we woke up and made coffee.  The plan was to make a cooked breakfast (rare for us—hash browns, sausage, coffee cake, and mimosas), open presents, make a couple side dishes and then in the mid afternoon head over to our friend’s for Christmas dinner and hanging out.

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Props to Leslie for continuing my cow tradition. I opened this and exclaimed, “I don’t even know what this is and I love it!”  Leslie gave me some other random things, and my favorite thing was a pair of purple corduroy Toms that I’d asked for.  I’m pretty excited about those.

My parents sent some gift cards, Vanessa gave us a new soap dispenser (there was an incident on Thanksgiving) and a lovely poster of the St Louis Skyline.  Chris got me a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings, so he wins Christmas this year 😉  What, I’m generally not shallow, but I’m a girl!

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Leslie sent the cat a catnip toy.  This is the most clear picture I could get of her playing with it.  It quickly became her new best friend and then she fell asleep.  Chris made the mistake of touching the toy and it was naturally completely covered with saliva.  Gross.

We went over to our friend’s Jon and Laura’s for Christmas dinner.  It was awesome!  First of all, (I’ve probably said this before but I’ll say it again), Laura is one of the best cooks I know and best hostesses.  Secondly, they have an adorable 8 month old baby who is just starting to elbow crawl and is absolutely the cutest thing (with the possible exception of the fatness) and we got to play with him as much as we wanted.  (Key word there, wanted 🙂  For as many times per week I get asked when we are having children—and yes, I get asked this a lot– I feel uncomfortable admitting in a public OR private forum that, yes, I do generally love babies.  And kids.  That are not my own because I do not have to take them with me.)

Okay, tangent over.  Baby: cute and fun.  That’s all I’m saying.

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Carving the ham is a serious job.

Here are some poorly lit food photos:

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(clockwise): potatoes, truffle mac & cheese, green beans, ham, corn pudding.

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My plate of food.  If only that were all I ate.  Unfortunately there was a starter of cheese and salami and I was already pretty full by dinner.  This did not stop me from having seconds.

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Out of about 5 photos somebody took of us, this was the best one.  I’m blaming the lighting?  Or the wine…all around.

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And then it was dessert time.  Yes, that is three desserts for six people.  And homemade ice cream.

It was a wonderful day.  We felt lucky to have such good friends who would invite us for Christmas when we weren’t even related (and not even a pity invite, they genuinely wanted us to come—or are really good actors!)  And then we went home and passed out.  And I weighed myself and realized I’d gained 7.8 pounds over the course of the day, which truly made me realize how much I ate (gross!) and explained why I had felt so awful for the past few hours.

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Ladies and Gentlemen…I present my husband!

At one point we were sitting around the table and I could barely sit up.  The baby was on the floor and I realized my best bet of being able to lie down without being super rude or admitting complete food failure was to get down on the floor with the excuse of playing with the baby.  This was a brilliant move, by the way! It culminated in me sitting in a comfy chair with him trying to get him to sleep reading “Are you a cow?”  Spoiler alert:  he was not a cow.

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I feel better this morning.  That is, I’m still completely full, and I am so not eating breakfast, possibly never eating again, and I’m about to head to the gym to work out but that will be hard because I’m pretty sure my entire body has turned to flab.

At least all the overeating holidays are behind us, right?  Hopefully I can still fit into a shiny dress for New Year’s!

Note:  my book giveaway is still running: enter now!

Tell me about your Christmas in the comments (or if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can talk about that as well.)