All posts by hannahviolin

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

It’s been…one year…

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Happy Anniversary to my husband Chris! 

Last year:

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This year:

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(No, I’m not wearing my bridesmaids dress.  Yes, I did buy it because it sort of looked like my bridesmaids dress. It’s a short version and I got it for approximately $25 at Marshall’s and I love it! Yes, I own things that aren’t purple but I rarely wear them.)

Here’s to many more! 

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Looks about the same, right?  The holes are where there were little wooden “support beams” for the cake topper. 

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Tasted great too!  I wrapped it in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, one year later, tastes fantastic!  We actually refroze it after each having a piece…I don’t know how many more times we can do that though.

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Shameless “our wedding” plug: If you are new to the blog and you love weddings, be sure to visit my wedding tab!  We planned our wedding mostly by ourselves and had it in St Louis (at Moulin Events, and here’s a link to my post with all our vendors), so if you are getting married in St Louis and have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them (honestly I love talking about weddings, so feel free to talk to me no matter).  A good friend of mine recently got engaged and I was getting all excited talking to her about it, and she said, You really want to plan another wedding, don’t you!  I said, well, maybe…maybe I should be a wedding planner!  But seriously, no, it’s entirely too stressful (I do play violin for weddings, so I’m in the industry), but I had so much fun planning it (in retrospect, I think we had an okay time and fought a bunch) and frankly, I love attending weddings too.  I’m still waiting for my sister’s professional photographs and hope to do a recap of her wedding and vendors when that time comes. 

Grand Ideas

The Best is STILL Yet to Come

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I know everybody is the same, but I hate taking down the tree and the Christmas decorations.  We have to dispose of the tree today and I spent what seemed like forever (15 minutes, omg!) taking the ornaments off and lovingly putting them away (wrapping a few in tissue paper, piling the rest haphazardly in the box) for next year.  I used to get really sad about Christmas being over, but this year I’m not feeling that.  I’m excited for the next few months, excited for our upcoming anniversary and anniversary trip, and nervous about the hard work I’ll be putting in the next few months, both work wise (lots of violin about to start happening), marathon training, and of course, blogging.

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(more self portraits at gigs?)

In other words, I’m looking forward to the New Year and am taking today easy to regroup, pack, and mentally prepare myself for what is ahead.

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(And watching some Indiana Jones!)

I haven’t made any resolutions as I’m already pretty awesome, but that doesn’t mean I’m not continually trying to better myself.

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(I am already pretty awesome though!  And I spent about 20 to 30 minutes on my hair for once and loved it.  I still had a few bobby pins in my head this morning.)

My friends are awesome too—and BEAUTIFUL.  We girls decided to dress up all fancy-like for the party (that’s why the women are pictured but not necessarily the men, who were primarily wearing jeans and button down shirts.)

Stephanie—a fantastic hostess for the party last night, me, Jennedy—who just got engaged, and of course, the one, the only, Vanessa.

New friends and old!  Carrie, Michelle, Vanessa, me, and Christy.

With Michelle, just about to officially toast the New Year!

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I cut my foot with my other shoe heel.  It looks worse than it felt.  I love these shoes though!

Photo: Chris Tantillo is very serious about his gin.

Chris doesn’t like to take normal pictures, but he’s happy to make a ridiculous pose!

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Case in point!  That’s Bryan, Chris, Jessica, and Kyle (who just got engaged to Jennedy, pictured above.)

Oh—and we’ve got this bit of cake on top of the fridge thawing.  Wonder how it’s going to taste, one year later 😉

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I was rereading this post from last year “The Best is Yet to Come.”  I think the title continues to ring true.  I hope I never get to the point where I feel my best stuff is behind me.

Food

Spinach Artichoke Dip

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Happy New Year, dear readers!  I thought I’d kick off 2013 by sharing the recipe I made last night for a party I attended.  I’m waiting to get a few more pictures from the party before I tell you all about it.  So I’ll just talk about food instead!

Who doesn’t love a good spinach artichoke dip?  I recently decided it was time for me to make my own for an earlier party, and it was so delicious that Chris requested I make it again for New Year’s.  I basically followed Alton Brown’s recipe, but I made a few minor changes for my convenience and it turned out great!  (It may not be the prettiest food, but it IS delicious.  And totally healthy, as spinach is a very healthy vegetable.  I’m sure my trainer would give this recipe the A-OK.)

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Ingredients

  • 1 small package (10 oz) thawed, chopped frozen spinach, thawed
  • 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I used fresh garlic instead)

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook the spinach until completely heated.  (I didn’t add water, nor did I drain afterwards, but you certainly could.) Add the artichoke hearts and the cream cheese.  Stir until cream cheese is melted.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.  (I doubled the recipe for the party and it was all gone.)

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…

fatcat

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.