All posts by hannahviolin

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

Summertime and the living is easy

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I realized I’ve got a lot of trips happening in the next few months!  Boulder, Boston, Paris, and Phoenix.

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The other day I was saying to Melissa how I was excited about my upcoming travels, especially as I hadn’t been anywhere in a long time.  Other than South Carolina, you know, I haven’t been anywhere in like a year.  Well, other than our honeymoon, Miami and a  Caribbean Cruise.  Okay.  Seriously.  My life.  Not too shabby.

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(neither is her life)

Okay, readers.  Here’s the deal.  If you were in Boston and had one morning/early afternoon to sightsee on your own, where would you go and what would you do?  And then, if you were in Paris with your husband for a week, where would you go, what would you do, where would you stay?  Basically if you could plan that trip for me, that would be awesome, as I have other stuff to worry about…

I’m kidding.  A little bit.  Part of the fun of traveling is the planning and anticipation.  Except when you are doing so MUCH traveling, that you don’t know quite where to begin.  Phoenix and Boulder are fine as those are visiting friends/weddings/etc.  Boston is for a wedding too but I want to take advantage of sightseeing too since I’ve never been.  Paris…is going to be glorious.  But I’m tired, and overwhelmed by life, and we are moving in under two weeks and there is tons to be done.

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Oh, and today is some sort of holiday.  Fourth of July I hear.  Do they celebrate that everywhere or just here in the good ol’ United States?

There’s an ongoing joke between my friend Sarah, Chris, and then I’m involved even though I wasn’t there.  A few years ago (I believe it was the summer of 99, actually…somebody correct me if I’m wrong) Chris and Sarah were tooling around on the Fourth trying to find somewhere to eat lunch in Cleveland.  They went to Einstein’s Bagels, but it was closed.  However, there was a crazy homeless lady walking around, and she looked at them and yelled “HAPPY F***ING FOURTH OF JULY, EINSTEIN’S!!!!!!”

Ever since then on almost every major holiday, we send each other a barrage of text messages to the same effect.  Today, since we FINALLY (lolz) all have iPhones, there is a group message thread happening.

Weddings

Six months already?

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I reminded Chris that today is our six month wedding anniversary.  (Okay, technically I shouldn’t use the word anniversary to describe it, but whatever.)  He said, "is that something people celebrate?"  I told him we didn’t need to do anything special, but that I planned to use it as an excuse to post more wedding pictures on this here ye olde blogge.  He thought that seemed just fine.

Warning:  many pictures ahead.  Enjoy!  (Photos by the wonderful Sarah Crowder, of course!)

Edited to add:  For some reason my blog theme distorts the horizontal photos.  If you click on them they load just right though.  Not sure of the problem.

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(I just love this picture of us!)

I know it’s a cliché, but where has the time gone?  I feel like we just got married.  My dress is still in the bag I put it in the night of the wedding (yeah, I really need to do something with that.) Many of our gifts are still in their original packaging!  (We are planning to use them in our new house where we have tons more space.) 

This just came to mind:

"It’s been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets had never been slept in. Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was."

But I digress.  As usual.

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Isn’t he handsome?  Just as handsome as the day I married him!

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Our first look.  I’m being critical and I see that the back of the dress still wasn’t right yet (we got it better a little later), but I love our expressions!

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Admiring Chris’s picture at Powell Hall.  He hates the picture, but I think it’s adorable 🙂

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Another mantel picture.  LOVE IT.

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We’re falling…!

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This picture makes me giggle a bit. 

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Ugh.  I love my dress so much. (The ugh is because I don’t get to wear it again.  Unless…no.  I don’t get to wear it again.  My sister’s wedding is not an option.)

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With all the attendants!  John, Sarah, Leslie, Dave, Chris, Me, Norbert, Carrie. (left to right)

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Yada, yada, you may kiss the bride!  Then it was time to party. 

So much planning, and it was over just like that!  But the memories will last forever.  What a wonderful day :)  I got to marry my Chris, and we got to celebrate with our friends and family.  AND there was bacon wrapped shrimp.

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And CAKE—the top layer of which is still safely in our freezer and we will move to our NEW freezer soon.

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And dancing…

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Want to see more?  Just visit my wedding planning tab.  It’s all there!

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Next:

Only 111 days until I’m a matron of honor at Leslie’s wedding 😉 (I checked her wedding website.  I did not count.)

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(Some of their engagement photos—Leslie, who was your photographer? Or is it a secret?)

(Edited to add, pictures by Jacquie from StAnnePhotography.com)

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I guess I’d better start on my toast!

Cat

Caturday 6/30

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(Warning:  This post started out nice and relaxed, and then things got out of control.  There may be cute overload further down the page.  Reader beware!)

I know I post cat pictures more often than not.  But whatever, it’s CATURDAY!  (Actually, full disclosure.  I’m writing this on Friday night.  We had an outdoor wedding, temperature 102, followed by dinner at Riverbend and perhaps a few too many raspberry vodka tonics, but I deserved it, dammit!  IT’S CATURDAY SOMEWHERE!)

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That’s Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee.  I imagine a cat would enjoy it, hence it’s relevance here.

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Her favorite seat:  next to Chris on the papasan chair.  Side note:  we got a new couch and chair today for the new place, and we may not really be using the papasan so much.  Personally I haven’t really sat in the papasan in about 5 years or more, but Chris loves it.  I guess he’s looking forward to the new furniture though.

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Pretty cool, right?  It’s a mullet type couch.  Leather on the bottom, some other softer material on the top.  And we got a matching chair as well.

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I’m sure the fatness will like that!  Or the dog.  Chris wants to get a dog.  I guess compromise is part of marriage, huh? 

Okay, next.  I know I shared this yesterday but I’m sharing again because I love it.

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So soft and furry.  SO soft and furry.

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Fatness in the window. 

Oh, quick FYI, if you didn’t know.  Officially her name is Oistrakh.  I had another cat named Heifetz, and then I got the Fatness (who was a tiny, 5 week old kitty) and named her Oistrakh, who is another amazing violinist like Heifetz, but that was too hefty of a name for a tiny kitty.  So we called her "little kitty" until one day we realized she wasn’t little any more.  For awhile we called her fatty, but she was so entitled we started calling her "her royal fatness" and then also "the fat ham" because of that Family Guy episode where Chris is accused of having a ham under his shirt…anyway, that transitioned into simply "the Fatness". 

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Heifetz and "Little Kitty"

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Heifetz, my first cat.  SO beautiful she was. And sweet.  She loved the violin, unlike the Fatness.

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I think her head is still the same size?  (Seriously, I just can’t with this picture.  It’s ridiculous.  I don’t even know.)

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And this one. SO FREAKING CUTE I THINK I’M GOING TO CRY.

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(Okay, seriously, how ugly was my couch? And how cute is that adorable creature??)

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Okay, back to the present day.  You can see that while her size has changed, her personality hasn’t.

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Sometimes I’m frightened of how much I love the Fatness.  I’m scared that I’ll come home one day and she’ll be gone.  That happened with Heifetz…she was just in the closet…dead…and the Fatness was freaking out.  I still get teary when I think about it.  And I know that someday the Fatness will die too, as my friend Alex said, pets are little tragedies…

But until then.  As much as I get annoyed at her in the morning when she tries to wake up me up (by slowly moving things around like my glasses or my phone)…I love her fiercely and with abandon.

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Leslie (right) and I have always been cat lovers.  And tan.

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Vega Protein Powder and Kitties

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I was contacted by Vega Protein Powder about getting some free samples of their product as well as giving my readers and followers some samples.  Now, you all know that I eat (drink? use? mainline?) protein powder every morning in my oatmeal, and I also often make a protein shake after workouts, depending on if I remember or have time.  So when they asked if I’d like some samples, I said sure.  I mean really, this blog is obviously taking off:  free protein powder, free shoes, free Saucy Soiree tickets.  I’m raking it in here, and YOU can say you knew me before I was big.  (Unless you’re just meeting me now.  Too late.)

(Go here to see a hilarious bit from The Office about protein powder.)

Honestly though, it’s fun, but of course I write for me (for me, not for you.  Don’t forget!)  I won’t say no to free samples, but (and I know everybody says this, but it’s true) I would never push anything on you, and I won’t lie about liking something that I don’t like.

So here’s the deal.  I have no idea what this stuff is like, because I haven’t gotten my samples yet, but you can sign up for a bit of junk email and get a free sample for yourself.  Maybe it’s terrible, maybe it’s awesome, but it is probably worth trying if you are a protein powder user like me.  And it’s 100% plant based—so if that is a concern of yours, you’re good to go!  (Though the small print implies it might be made in a facility that processes chocolate which might contain dairy and soy, so depending on your level of paranoia/seriousness you’ll want to be wary, as with anything processed.)

Go here to sign up for your free sample.

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Okay part two.  I promised you kitties.

My kitty!

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And that is the funniest thing I saw on the internet this week.  Can anybody top it?

Running

A Brilliant Run

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I love the smell of a new pair of shoes.  Women’s size 10, Mizuno Inspires.  Thanks to Mizuno Running and the Mezamashii Project.

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I took a lot of pictures of my new shoes inside.

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But, I figured I’d better try out my new shoes on the road.

(Free shoes courtesy of the Mezamashii Project from Mizuno Running, but I wasn’t required to write anything at all.  I am because I love them and primarily because the soles of the shoes are purple.  Want your own pair of free shoes?  Apply here.)

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What beautiful shoes.  Mike asked me something about the soles the other day, and I looked at him blankly.  I said, um, I don’t know, but they are purple on the bottom.  He laughed at me, and said, well, of course you know that.

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Have you ever tried to take a picture while running?  Now I have.  It’s harder than you’d think.

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I went to the park, ran all the way around Tower Grove Park and Missouri Botanical Gardens.  I cut down that street by the Gardens with the wonderful shaded dirt and grass path.  The dirt was very dry, and so was the grass.  We really need some rain.

The shoes were great.  They don’t feel too different from what I’ve been running in, and they look fantastic.  Yes, I’m aware that is not actually what matters in a shoe.  But I can’t deny that I enjoy the look of them.

I felt great running.  I felt like myself again.  There is just something about running that makes me feel alive, that makes me feel like anything is possible.

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Oh, yeah, that’s sweat.

(It’s funny that that is my default attitude.  I can do anything.  Anything is possible.)

I’m already thinking about my next run.