All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.
Weddings

Music for wedding ceremonies and being utterly exhausted

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As a freelance musician, I bring together a lot of different musical activities in order to make a living. One of the most common jobs I do is playing music for weddings—mainly ceremonies, but occasionally cocktail hours or receptions.

Often people ask me how I get asked to play for weddings.  I run my own group (hannahviolin.COM is my page with that kind of stuff) and I get bookings through the site and also from referrals from past weddings we have played.  I also play with a couple other wedding ensembles in the area so those contractors ask me to play whenever they need a violinist.  I put all of that together in a very elaborate way on some days in order to make sure I can get from one wedding to another one!  (I don’t know how people managed before computerized maps…it must have been such a challenge trying to figure out if you would be able to make it from one place to the next in time…)

Yesterday was a fairly busy day. I had a wedding in the early afternoon in Belleville and then a later afternoon wedding in Festus.  I had booked the first one so I was stressed about a lot of details (that ended up working out just fine, though I often think, I don’t stress, maybe things won’t go as well…) and the second one all I had to do was show up and play. (Highlight of the wedding was a frog nearby that kept making frog noises.)

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(First wedding at a church)

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(Second wedding at a private residence by a lake, so beautiful, but hot and sweaty!)

That’s how just about every Saturday in the summer works, and it’s a lot of fun. And work—sometimes driving and playing and driving and playing is utterly exhausting.)

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Speaking of utterly exhausted…

How is your weekend going?

Running, Weather

Get Outdoors St Louis!

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TGIF, am I right? It feels like just four short days ago I was writing about how much I hate Mondays, and here we are. (In case you’re missing my sarcasm…as I work most of the day Saturday and often Sunday…plus I’m actually writing this post Thursday night.)

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MINI POLL

Every week the Mayor of St Louis has a mini-poll about some topic. This week is music. I may or may not be part of the poll questions.

GET OUTDOORS ST LOUIS!

The weather has been really nice, albeit perhaps TOO hot, but at least it’s a great time to be outside. I’ve got some neat stuff planned in the future and maybe you’ll want to participate too!

I posted about the CDM 5k awhile ago, but I wanted to remind you—it’s a week from Saturday and I plan to be there. Then on June 1 is the Benton Park 5k which you all KNOW I love (and already almost have my outfit ready).

I was recently told about a cool event on June 8. If you are an out of town reader, you should know that St Louis has this really cool thing called “The Arch.” This event takes place there. (The Arch is such an iconic part of the cityscape here that Chris and I decided to use it for our wedding invitation and save the dates!)GetOutdoors_ExploreboardThumbnail 

WHAT: On Saturday, June 8, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial will celebrate National Get Outdoors Day on the Gateway Arch grounds. The annual one-day event, celebrated by parks and cities across the nation, aims to combat the effects of indoor, inactive lifestyles by encouraging families to spend time outdoors and explore the natural world, while enjoying various outdoor recreational activities.

The Gateway Arch grounds will be filled with various free, family friendly, fun and educational outdoor activities that include a kids’ walk, rock climbing, fitness sessions, live music, geocaching, orienteering, gardening information, stream life demonstrations, and much more! Participants will also have a free photo opportunity to remember their day. (See list of activities and exhibitors on the following page)

More than 30 local organizations – including Bi-State Development Agency, CityArchRiver, Great Rivers Greenway, the Saint Louis Zoo and the National Park Service – will share information about healthy lifestyles and public lands at the event. “We encourage area residents and families to come out and experience the exciting outdoor activities St. Louis has to offer at this year’s Get Outdoors under the Arch event,” said Ann Honious, Chief, Museum Services and Interpretation, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. “The event promises to include a little something for everyone as it connects area residents to nature and encourages healthy lifestyles.”

WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 2013, 9 am – 2 pm

WHERE: Gateway Arch Grounds

COST: FREE and open to the public

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My parents in front of the arch on a visit a couple of years ago.

I won’t be able to attend the event, but it seems like a pretty cool thing—if you are looking for something fun and family-friendly (if those things can be synonymous 😉 ) to do on June 8, head on down to the arch!

LAST TIDBIT

My blog was recently mentioned in an article about…blogs! CRAZY, right? Well, local blogs. Always fun to get mentioned for something that I work so hard on. OR for blogging! I’m listed under healthy living, but I find my blog very difficult to categorize. That’s probably a problem with my blogging…but oh well. SORRY I’M NOT SORRY.

And on that note. Have a great Friday! What are your weekend plans? (I don’t really care. Unless you’re doing something really awesome. And then I’ll pretend I don’t care but secretly I’m really jealous.)

Running

Tour De Grove 5k

I was waiting to write a race recap until I could find the results online, but you know what, it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t a PR, it was a slow race for me…and that’s what you all expect anyway, right? Plus…the results ARE online…except not my time, for some reason. Too slow I guess? They gave up? Whatever.

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Tour de Grove 5k

My friend April asked me about this race one day when there was a deal to get the entry for $15 (half price). We figured, might as well!

The race was a 5k along a course that later would be used for the “Tour de Grove” which is a professional bike race. The 5k course was a double loop with a little spur out to the side, I’m guessing to make it 5k.

The Grove is a neighborhood not too far from where I live. According to the website, “The Grove is a growing vibrant business and entertainment district along Manchester between Kingshighway and Vandeventer in St. Louis City. In the Grove you can find a diversity of independently owned restaurants, nightlife, retail, and services. It is also home to the premier nightlife in the area, and is a thriving center for the LGBT, artist, and cycling communities in the St. Louis area.”

All of that is true. It’s also the neighborhood where Chris got punched in the face randomly walking with a friend going to a bar. Things he learned that night: he can really take a punch. But that’s not really a race recap story now, is it? That’s just your normal, “the night I almost got mugged but then they ran away because they didn’t realize that I would keep standing” story. But that’s really quite unrelated.

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April and I, pre race

Anyway, we met super early because we needed to register the morning of and we weren’t sure how easy that would be. Answer: really easy. We both arrived 30 minutes before our planned time and parking was a breeze (plenty of parking near Vandeventer and Chouteau). Registration took about two minutes and then we found ourselves with about an hour to kill. Oops.

It turned out there were less than 100 runners in the race. If we had been fast runners we might have been excited by the chance to do well. But instead we were nervous about coming in last. We decided it didn’t matter. Because once you’ve come in last in a race, it’s okay. Plus last in a tiny race like this would be no big deal.

Anyway, we agreed to just stay together unless we got really annoyed. And we didn’t. We ran the whole first loop and then the heat started to get to us and we took a few short walk breaks. I think our time would have been around 38 minutes which seems really slow…and maybe it was…or maybe the course was long because both of our running apps clocked in at 3.4 to 3.45 miles. But I hate people who say that, and they claim the course was certified. But then again, they claimed they’d have results online and neither of us seemed to show up.

It was a nice race though. Great, well marked course, though the double loop is kind of boring, at least you know where you are going the second half. We almost got run down by the 2nd place male at one point…but we didn’t. It was a fairly flat course and the T-shirt was good (I’m actually wearing it right now.)

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Other plusses: nice volunteers and staff who handed us bottles of water as soon as we finished—none of that dazed wandering around looking for water while trying not to pass out. So I’d totally recommend this race. It was a fun way to spend the morning.

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April and I, post race! Proud and sweaty.

Teaching

Sometimes teaching is a wonderful thing

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Teaching violin often feels like a thankless, worthless job. (Like all teachers, I imagine.) Underpaid, often overworked, tired, and feeling like it just doesn’t matter. I mean, who needs violinists anyway? (Answer: we all do, but that’s for another day.)

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As you may know, the school I teach three afternoon/evenings a week is closing at the end of the school year (beginning of June.) We had our last studio recital on Saturday. I’d been working hard, the kids had been working hard, and it’s a stressful thing for some of them—getting up in front of everybody, playing their piece from memory (some, at least). Performing is a tough thing! (and excellent preparation for the future…)

I always get really stressed out. Will people remember to show up? Will they bring their violins? Will they mess up and make me look bad? Will the other teachers judge me for having students with bad posture?

And as always, none of those things mattered or happened. It was a great day. My students did their best, and I was a proud teacher.

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And at the end, one of my students, after finishing a very musical and exciting performance of the third movement of Vivaldi’s Concerto in G minor…after that, she gave a speech about how much the school has meant to her over the past years (she’s been there since she was 4, I believe) and how much she will miss it. And I got teary. And then she gave me flowers and the above note.

Sometimes that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Making a difference to one person. And I think, at least I hope, that I mean that to most if not all of my students.

Underpaid and often undervalued by society, yes. Thankless and worthless, no.

These next few weeks at the school will be bittersweet.

Cat

Catuesday

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Catuesday is the new Caturday, right?

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It’s her favorite cat nip toy. It was a Christmas Present, I believe.

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Though the fatness doesn’t actually celebrate Christmas, she is still happy to have toys other than fake stuffed sardines and stolen ponytail holders.

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I challenge you to look at these pictures and not have the urge to squeeze her around the middle.

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Over the weekend I got some flowers at our studio recital. Here she is trying to eat one.

She did eat a leaf. Am I a bad pet owner for taking this picture rather than moving her? (Don’t answer). This happened on Saturday night though, and she’s absolutely fine, so I think we’re okay. Probably a little salad won’t hurt her.

Product Reviews

How is it Monday already?

I think it’s important to moan and groan about Monday as much as possible, right? Especially when, as regular readers know, I don’t really have much on Mondays. It’s the official DAY OFF for the symphony, so Chris never has rehearsal on Mondays (unless it’s an extra gig, of course) and so I TRY to keep it clear to be lazy with him. (Then he goes golfing, which means I end up sleeping in and then guiltily and frantically responding to the masses of emails that I let pile up over the weekend…)

But I digress. As usual.

Okay, business first. I received some free stuff that I need to review. It’s from Vitacost.com which is an online discount site from which you can get all kinds of health and beauty stuff from.

I was sent two different drinks to drink. Celsius Sparkling Orange and Celsius Sparkling Wild Berry. They claim to be calorie reducing drinks. I tried them after runs to rehydrate and refresh, and they were both really tasty. (I love a sparkling beverage of any sort.) Do they, as claimed, burn up to 100 calories? I doubt it, because if that was really true, why, the person who created them would be absolutely rich—burn 100 calories by drinking this tasty drink!—everybody would be on board. But who knows. I did lose a few pounds in the past few weeks.

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The drinks were tasty and made me feel better after my runs (I had four samples) so that’s good enough for me.

(I was provided the product free of charge and not obligated to write a positive review.)

My last post got weird and I don’t know what happened. I’m hoping this post publishes correctly or else I’m going to have to really work to figure out what went wrong (I did make a change in the meantime…). Blogging and computers are indeed hard work!

(Reminds me of the Titanic quote “Women and machinery do not mix.”)