All posts by hannahviolin

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

Primal, a book by D.A. Serra

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Book Review and Giveaway:

PRIMAL by D.A. Serra (screenplay originally purchased by James Cameron)

The most dangerous place on Earth is between a mother and her child…

With everything at stake – what are you capable of? What if the worst happens and you’re not a policeman, a soldier, or a spy with weapons training and an iron heart? What if you’re a schoolteacher – a mom? In this gritty crime thriller a family vacation takes a vicious turn when a fishing camp is invaded by four armed men. With nothing except her brains, her will, and the element of surprise on her side, Alison must learn to kill or watch her family die.

And then, things get worse.

I read the book (received a copy for free in exchange for this review and participation in the “tour“, with no obligation for a positive review though)—I thought it was very entertaining.  I had thought the book would be primarily about the crime, but it was also about the aftermath…though as it turns out, the aftermath of the crime only led to further the story.  It was decently written and fast-paced, though the author is very prone to arbitrary dramatic statements…

In any case, it’s a page turner and you might be surprised by the ending!  I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.  And a side note:  James Cameron!  (Titanic!)

About D. A. Serra:

Deborah Serra was a screenwriter for twenty years and recognized by the Writer’s Guild for her long term continuous employment. She has written ten TV movies, four feature films, and numerous TV episodes including two years as a staff writer for NBC.  She worked for top producers, directors, and actors.  She has taught writing at the University of California, San Diego, Wofford College and at writers’ conferences nationwide.  Serra has now turned her attention to novels, and she was honored as a recent recipient of the prestigious Hawthornden Literary Fellowship, and as a semi-finalist for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Award given by the Faulkner Society in New Orleans, LA.

Do you want to win a free PDF of the novel?  One winner will be chosen at random:  leave a comment below and I’ll pick somebody on Saturday, February 16, will close at 11 pm CST.  Worldwide! (Giveaway closed)

Giveaways

Celebrate Fitness!

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You all know I’m obsessed with fitness and cats, right?  (Well, at least cats.) But I like running (well…not as of late, but that’s due to being sick and extremely lazy) and working out (especially lifting weights and ANYTHING weight lifting that you do lying down is my favorite…I’m working out…and I’m lying down!).

My friend and fellow blogger Katie from Mom’s Little Running Buddy runs an event called Celebrate Fitness on March 9th of this year.  She told us about it in the St Louis Bloggers Group I belong to and asked if anyone was interested in giving away a free entry.  I jumped on the chance, because I thought some of you might be interested– There’s a race, but there’s so much MORE than just a race—there’s all kinds of other workouts you can do, and it would be a really fun event for families or group of friends!

(all pictures courtesy of Katie.)

I originally thought I’d be able to do it (I’d love to run the 10k with Chris! but it looks like I’m working that morning after all…) but I think you should all participate.

Have any readers done this event in the past?

Okay, here’s all the basic information you need to know:

Date: March 9th, 2013

Location: Washington University Athletic Complex

Registration Fee:

  • $30
  • Junior Registration for ages 13 – 19 = $20
  • Day of Registration = $35; Junior $25

Time:

  • 7:00 – 8:00 Check in
  • 8:00 – Opening Ceremonies
  • 8:30 – Run and workout

Event Options:

  • 10K Competitive Run
  • 5K competitive Run
  • 5K Walk
  • 1Mile Fun Walk
  • Boot Camp
  • Water Aerobics –Shallow
  • Water Aerobics – Deep
  • Yoga
  • Zumba

See the registration form for more details.

Participants get to choose between a shirt and a goodie bag.  Katie tells me the goodie bags are filled with great stuff and that that is one of her favorite parts of the event.  I have tons of shirts, so if I were able to sign up for this, that’s what I’d want!

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Katie has been generous enough to offer you guys a chance to win a free paid entry to Celebrate Fitness (Another blogger in the group, Angie, is also running a contest, so go over there and enter to double your chances to win!)  The winner will be notified by email after the contest ends so be sure to use a valid address you check. Contest runs through 11 pm CST on February 16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Performing

The Ballad of Baby Doe

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This weekend I’m performing in the orchestra for Winter Opera St Louis‘s performances of The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore.  We perform  Friday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm, Chaminade Preparatory School.  It’s the regional premiere!

We started rehearsing yesterday.  The way this works is that we have a few orchestra only rehearsals (in this case, 1 or 2) and then a couple dress rehearsals and then BOOM it’s performance time.  The singers have been rehearsing for a couple weeks, because they have to have their parts memorized and of course there is staging and costumes and everything on their end.  We just have to hide below the front of the stage and read our parts and stay with the conductor, much easier, really!

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I play as concertmaster which means I’m the first chair, first violin.  For this performance there are only five total violins so that’s not really that impressive 😉  But it’s my job to help lead the orchestra and interpret what the conductor is saying and all that.

And occasionally play solos—last night in the second rehearsal there was a solo that I totally forgot to play.  We were rehearsing one of the arias with the singers and I was just listening (I think) and zoned out, and Steve, the conductor, turned to me, and said, um, you should be playing your solo right now.  It was only about four measures long…and I just missed it entirely.  Oops!  I appreciate that he knows me well enough to know he didn’t need to worry about it, and he didn’t stop or anything.  I’ll get it next time for sure.

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(I thought it was important for me to wear as many grey sweaters in this post as possible.)

So that makes for a busy week.  Some weeks I have tons of free time, and other weeks are filled with extra opera rehearsals and practicing (NOT for the opera, for that other thing.)

How was your weekend?  I hear there was some sort of football type sporting event people watched during my rehearsal yesterday?

Hope

Inspirational Photos

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I realized that I’ve been a pretty light blogger in terms of posts lately.  Maybe you are okay with that—maybe it’s better if I don’t blog as often.  But honestly, I’ve just been sick, and thanks to a suggestion on my post the other day (Hi Dad!) I’ve decided not to sweat the small stuff and PRIORITIZE. 

That means I only care about the audition.  The rest of the stuff, whatever.  No offense Opera or CPSTL, but you’ll be fine.  Other things I’ve learned in the past two days:  taking about a week off practicing is evidently just not that big of a deal.  (Not good things to know, and any students reading this, um, that’s for when you’ve been playing for a really long time like me!)  I didn’t even feel like I’d backtracked.  So while I’ve lost approximately a week of forward progress, I’m not also making up for backwards progress. 

The good news is that I’m not sick of all the audition music yet.  Usually by this point I’d be both hating my life and hating the music.  Now it’s still fresh and I’m not totally burned out yet.  Maybe this is brilliant and okay!

Oh, and I did make time earlier in the week to do a variety of “inspirational” photos.  I get so sick and tired of seeing these posted on facebook and other websites…to be fair I was still really sick that morning so it doesn’t count as failing at time management 😉

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The idea came to me during a twitter conversation…anyway you can see this is brilliant.

So then people started making requests. 

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Send me a picture of you, I’ll make it “inspirational!”

Go enter my two giveaways.  Slippers and Pain Relief Cream! 

Have a great weekend!  What are you doing for the SuperBowl?  I have a double opera rehearsal!  You can argue that I detest football, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good SuperBowl party, or any occasion for make unhealthy dips and chili.  Oh well.  Worky work!

Cat, Random thoughts

Back to Work

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It occurred to me this afternoon that maybe I’ve had the flu this whole time.  I wanted to practice this afternoon, but after about ten minutes of struggling, I realized I was UTTERLY EXHAUSTED and was missing shifts and really the whole exercise was pointless.  So I listened to some recordings instead and lay on the couch and rested up for my Tuesday afternoon teaching.

I asked Chris if he thought I was just turning into a cat and he told me that despite how much he knows I want that, it was highly unlikely.

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Nonetheless.  I’m trying to convince myself that one week of not practicing is not going to entirely derail several previous great weeks of practicing, so this is just a minor setback.  Flu or not flu, this was a nasty bit of something, and I’ve still got a bad cough.  I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll have a bit more energy…or failing that, Thursday!  It will be fine. 

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This is one of those blog posts where I just had a few things I wanted to say so I’m supplementing with cat pictures. 

Have you guys seen Homeland?  We’ve been watching it on-demand.  We’re on the second season and it’s really good!  I recommend you check it out if you haven’t seen it.  Very well done and thought provoking, and I really like the haircut of the character played by Claire Danes.  I think maybe I need more layers in my haircut next time?

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My last haircut…what do you guys think?

Not the blonde—or should I do that too?  It’d be very St. Louis 😉

Okay, really, not the blonde, but some more layers?  My hair feels boring all of a sudden.  This is how I think–we were watching some really intense scenes from Homeland and then I turned to Chris and said, Hey honey, how do you think I’d look with her haircut? 

My husband thinks I’m a crazy person.  I’m pretty sure of that.  He also said, sure, why not?

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Red pants, purple shoes? I wanted to wear purple shoes and I thought I saw somewhere that red and purple matched.  I think I need a “fashion” page on the blog, don’t I?

storms

We had some crazy “spring” storms today!  I was happy to make it home from work safely tonight.  There was a lot of rain and water on the ground, and various tornado watches and warnings all afternoon and evening.  I guess it’s supposed to be cold again tomorrow.  What a crazy winter we’ve had!

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Giveaways, Product Reviews

Nature’s Sleep Slipper Review and Giveaway

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Recently I was sent a pair of Nature’s Sleep slippers to try out and share with you guys.  I tend to spend a lot of my leisure time under a throw blanket so often I don’t bother with slippers, but I am not one to turn up my nose at a free pair of slippers.  Plus since I’ve been spending a lot of time at home with the flu or a bad cold…having a nice new pair of slippers has been pretty great!

I was sent the Open Toe Slippers with Memory Foam.

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From the company’s website: “Open Toe Memory Foam Slippers – Take a walk in the clouds and slip your feet into these open-toe terry slippers. The visco-elastic memory foam in the bottom of the sole contours and cradles your foot for luxurious comfort and support with each and every step. The warm, soft terry fabric ensures your feet stay cozy all year round.”

I asked my husband, Chris if they looked like “old lady slippers” and he said that really, all slippers are old people slippers…so that’s a yes, but it’s okay because they are house slippers.  They are comfortable and soft, and feel nice on my bare feet and with socks.  The terry cloth fabric feels great and the foam padding is very comfortable to walk on, not that I do a whole lot of walking around the house!  The sole is a rubbery and non skid so you don’t feel like you’ll slip on hardwood or tile floors.

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The only thing I don’t love about the slippers is the color.  It’s sort of a pale pink, and it’s not really ME.  But that won’t be enough to keep me from wearing them, because they aren’t supposed to be a fashion statement, they are supposed to be comfortable!

You can get 50 percent off with the code BEARS50, which is good for anything on the Nature’s Sleep site and will not expire!  In addition to slippers the site offers mattresses, pillows, pet beds and more.

Their mission is “to provide everybody the opportunity to enjoy a better night’s sleep at affordable prices, while maintaining a concern for our environment. We understand that sleeping is a key ingredient to a productive life and that the proper memory foam mattress and pillow is essential. All our products are designed to deliver to you the rest, relaxation and rejuvenation that you and your body need and deserve. ”  I agree that sleep is very important!

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In addition to the 50 percent off with the code BEARS50, good for anything on the Nature’s Sleep site the company has offered to give a pair of slippers to one of you!  They are requiring you “like” their facebook and enter a contest for your mandatory entry—anyway, it’s all on the Rafflecopter Widger here.  Good luck!  The contests runs for awhile too, so you’ll have plenty of time to entry.  US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note:  I was given a free product or compensated to provide  my opinion on this product. Nonetheless all opinions are my own and I did not have to provide a positive review.