There are far worse things in the world. Seems like a good day to really use our museum passes.
All posts by hannahviolin
A week is not enough
This is the view from our Parisienne apartment for the next six days. I was planning out the itinerary (yeah, I know, but I was completely overwhelmed until I got here and now it makes more sense) and I’m already sad. A week is not enough time. I guess it’ll have to do!
Packed and Ready
As you may know, I am heading to Paris today to meet my husband at the end of the St Louis Symphony’s European Tour. I might have mentioned this already…
I’ve got my bags packed, my folder of super important information and my Rick Steves guidebook packed. I’ve got extra contact lenses and my camera. I’ve been to Europe before, but 1) before the European Union 2) before digital cameras and 3) before wi-fi and easy internet access. This will be very different!
Ooh, pretty play money, right? I’m pretty sure if the money has color on it is just pretend money and I can spend it freely.
The last time I was in France, this was the money:
I’m pretty sure I have some of those coins around somewhere too. I guess they won’t do me much good.
I also found some of my pictures from my last trip to Paris in 1996.
Evidently the Notre Dame was undergoing renovations at that time. Can’t wait to see it again!
And there’s one of the Louvre. I love that I’m taking pictures of old snapshots. Technology sure has changed, hasn’t it?
I’ll miss this guy though…Look at that sad sad face. 🙁
Au revoir!
Vue Aérienne
The fatness, from above. I was standing on a ladder for this picture, otherwise I couldn’t get her to fit into the frame.
Paris is so almost happening. I am THRILLED. And nervous, and worried I’ll forget all kinds of important stuff, and stressed about organizing all my teaching for when I get back, but EXCITED mostly. I keep pinching myself because I can’t believe I’m really going.
Chris is in Berlin now. Yesterday the symphony had their concert in London, today is Berlin, tomorrow is Luzerne, and Friday is Paris and I’LL BE THERE (I actually arrive in Paris before the symphony does.) Then we have a week for sightseeing and being generally French and whatnot. We’ve rented an apartment for the week (after the first night where we’ll be staying in the Symphony hotel) and should really start to blend in with the locals within a day or two.
I don’t plan to blog while I’m gone but you just never know. You can bet I’ll be taking tons of pictures and having a wonderful time eating cheese and bread, and drinking wine, and I’ll tell you all about when I return!
Oh, and I signed up for my first marathon yesterday. The Go St Louis Marathon in April. My sister Leslie is doing it too—what better way to counter what are surely to be the post wedding planning blues than by training hard for a marathon?
Lauren and Elliot’s Wedding
My friends Lauren and Elliot got married on Saturday in Boston. They ceremony was in Belmont, Massachusetts and the reception was at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. It was one of the most fun weddings I’d been to in a long time!
Things to know about attending weddings as a newlywed: You will want to talk to everybody around you about how this wedding compares to your wedding. Pro tip: no one cares…EXCEPT other newlyweds, who will never tire of said talking. Oh, and one of the reasons I had such a great time at the wedding was because it reminded me of my own wedding and how fun it was. Rather than weddings in the past that were ruined by people asking when I was getting married or what was wrong with me that I wasn’t engaged yet.
(I love her invitations—so classy and simple. And I love black tie optional. I thought I had a picture with the reply card and ribbon from way back when, but I couldn’t find it.)
I arrived in Boston on Friday evening. I had been invited to the rehearsal dinner but wasn’t sure if I’d make it—I did! The dinner was on a harbor cruise (on the Seaport Elite) and was a great way to relax, meet some new people, and get to see Boston from the water. And I got to talk to Lauren more at the rehearsal dinner than I did at my own wedding, so I was really glad she invited me!
Adda and I—Adda was one of the bridesmaids and an old friend of mine from when I played with ProMusica in Columbus. I hadn’t seen her in YEARS.
Elliot (the groom), Rick, Frances, and Lauren (the bride)—and yeah, I’m sorry this is a bad picture, but honestly, the rest I had to choose from are even worse. I think I was too tired, plus, unless I’m instagramming, I need to not use the iPhone for blog pictures.
We went out into the harbor, hung out, ate dinner, heard some speeches and toasts, and then the boat returned to the dock. It was still early at that point, so we continued the party at the hotel. I got to bed pretty late.
The next morning I had had grand plans of sightseeing, but I slept in instead and ended up just wandering around a bit and doing a little jogging. It was a GORGEOUS day, 75 and sunny, and compared to St Louis (who were getting the remnants of Hurricane Isaac) I could not have picked a better wedding to get away. I walked about five miles, and took absolutely no pictures. Blogger fail, but it was a nice day.
We had to meet the bus for transportation to the wedding ceremony at 3 pm so I got all dolled up and went outside. I ran into Katie, a woman I’d met the night before who was also attending the wedding as a single married lady (as in, our husbands were unable to attend so we were date-less) and we decided to be each others dates. Added bonus: could compare this wedding to our own weddings with no judgment from each other.
The church was really cute!
Me in front of the church. Please ignore my ridiculous tan lines—they were more obvious in photos than reality, I think.
The music was wonderful! Since both Lauren and Elliot are musicians, they asked some of their friends to play. They sounded great and I loved the arrangements. They used organ, trumpet, and strings, sometimes separately and sometimes all together.
She had four bridesmaids and a maid of honor.
All in all, the ceremony was very nice. I especially liked that they did a unity candle ceremony BUT the minister made a point of saying that their individual candles would remain lit. I hate the idea of people getting married and completely losing their self and only being party of a couple (this is something Chris and I struggle with—staying true to ourselves while giving our best to each other and to our relationship.)
We re-boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel for the reception. We had a little time to kill before the cocktail hour started so Katie and I did a little pre-party at the hotel bar.
Sparkling wine seemed most appropriate!
Oh, and I have no decent pictures of Katie. Note to everyone: just because your iPhone is super convenient does not mean it is going to take great pictures. I should have used my regular camera, and I MUST do so in Paris. Some were okay but showed up upside down on my blog and I couldn’t seem to fix that properly. And weren’t really good enough to put forth the effort of editing them in a different program. But I digress, and I’ll stop making excuses for something that was entirely under my control.
We headed up to the cocktail hour which was in a lobby area that opened up to the outside. It was wonderful! There was cheese, crackers, veggies, and an amazing spinach and artichoke dip. There were also a nice variety of passed appetizers, including tiny crab cakes, lobster salad in little ice cream cones, egg rolls, and a few other things. Plus open bar, always a winner. We mingled and chatted with people for an hour or so and then it was dinner and dancing time.
View of the reception hall. Oh, and that’s Katie on the left at the bar 🙂
The wedding cake.
The view out the window from the reception hall. This was also basically the view from my hotel room at the same hotel, on the 11th floor. Gorgeous!
My table—lucky table 13.
The menu. Guess what I chose for entree…
The dinner started with toasts, and there was a live band and dancing in between each course. I opted to wait to dance until after dessert—I was happy to sit down for awhile and just chat and enjoy the delicious food.
(Yes, of course I chose the LOBSTAH, as they say it in Boston.)
Lemon cake—there was also chocolate and carrot cake.
Me and the beautiful bride Lauren. She and Elliot did a wonderful job mingling.
Adda and I. I could have posed better. The bridesmaid dresses were really lovely!
After dinner, we danced for what seemed like HOURS. I believe the band played until close to midnight, though I could be wrong. My feet and my entire body were exhausted, but people wanted to continue celebrating—I made it for about 30 more minutes before I had to say my goodbyes.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend! So great to see Lauren and Adda, to meet Elliot and Katie and tons of other people as well, and to visit Boston and the Seaport Hotel (who did a wonderful job), and to wear my purple dress that I bought months ago with these shoes.
Huge Congratulations to Lauren and Elliot, on their marriage and on a wonderful wedding!
Ashokan Farewell Video
I tweeted about this video the other day, but I wanted to directly share it with you all. It’s me, playing Ashokan Farewell in a video made by the amazing and talented Sarah Crowder. We made the video for fun and so she could have practice doing music videos, and I think it turned out pretty well. It was taken on the Katy Trail. I hope you enjoy!