All posts by hannahviolin

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

Less than a week away!

1 Comment

I think it would likely make more sense to have more time off BEFORE Christmas, i.e. swap Christmas and New Years, to get ready for the holiday. In fact, that should go for all holidays. What ends up happening is that we get so busy and stressed out leading up to the holiday that by the time it gets here we are just so tired, and perhaps don’t enjoy it as much as we’d want.

That being said, I’m enjoying everything, I’m just ready for a break. I hear the Senate is off, but the rest of us are still working. There’s two more days of school, and I’m working until Christmas Eve as usual. I do have Christmas Eve Eve off though! I’m playing with Mannheim Steamroller tomorrow, and I have two more early morning classes this year.

The weekend has been fun. We went out to Nixta on Friday night, which was nice. We’ve watched entirely too much Yellowstone (for us that’s like 4 episodes over two nights, binge tv watchers we are not), and we watched two sets at Jazz at the Bistro last night. We had bought tickets because Sean Jones was playing, and then it turned out that a friend of my sister Carrie’s, a fabulous pianist named Aaron Diehl was playing as well. We loved the performance and had a great time.

The Clark Terry Centennial Celebration Band.
Selfie! This is the new autograph, right? And proof of meeting someone, of course.

This morning I’m getting ready for friends to come over for a little brunch. It’s basically my quartet, except the personnel has changed a bit since Eliana had her baby and we also haven’t been meeting anymore. But we have a concert with the St Louis Chamber Chorus this afternoon and we thought it would be great fun to get together beforehand. I made an egg casserole with spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese, and the others are bringing things. (I’m also setting out a few other things, a small cheese ball that was in the freezer from cheese ball making last weekend, and some dilly snack mix I made for sharing and snacking, plus probably fruitcake cookies.)

Tonight we are meeting friends to walk down Candy Cane Lane, which we have never done. And this week we are having dinner with Louie’s family, hanging out with my friend April (woo hoo!!!!) and of course, getting ready for the holidays. We are traveling south, and I’m excited.

Since the holidays are coming up and you might have more time to read, a few recommendations:

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. I almost put this one down after starting because I found the writing style annoying. I’m glad I didn’t because I ended up really enjoying it. So many characters, so different than myself, such a great read. Really really good.

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. It’s a novel set during the beginning of the pandemic, which is…maybe too soon right now, but it’s really good.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Light, fun, unique, a little sci fi.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. Strange and different. Cloning is bad?

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Makes you feel glad your family is less dysfunctional. Communication is important!

That’s it for now! I’d better finish getting the house ready for guests and bake an egg casserole.

Random thoughts

Christmas Time Is Here

1 Comment

It’s been a busy month, but in a good way!

I’ve realized that when I don’t hang out with musicians as much I don’t experience the whole FOMO about gigs and stuff. Musicians are always, oh are you playing the such and such on Sunday and then you feel like if you aren’t that you should be, and that can turn into a vicious cycle. I’ve played so many gigs here and there and everywhere, and they all run together…spending a Saturday morning rehearsing with yet another church choir can be perfectly fine, but it’s not what I spent my childhood practicing for!

In any case, I’ve been busy doing all manner of holiday things plus the usual teaching up a storm.

Last weekend we finished celebrating Hanukkah. We found it tough to fit in lighting the candles each night after work, but it forced us to give that time, to stop working, to relax, and to sit together with the lights. I teach from early until late, and Louie works all day as well, hoping to finish his doctorate by the end of next summer, and weekdays are long as a result.

We attended a Jazz at the Bistro show with Keyon Harrold. It was packed, which is both fun and a little scary, as always. (They require vaccination OR a negative covid test, but that doesn’t guarantee anything, does it?)

Work wise, we did “open house” all last week at my before school job, which meant that each day some parents were there and the kids performed solos for them. This is no small feat, and very exciting and stressful for the students, to perform a short piece from memory in front of a group of people! Though I have some things to work on in my group teaching, I was overall pleased with how my students did.

Other happenings this week: we went to see A Christmas Carol at the Rep on Thursday night. I really enjoyed the production! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the play live, and it was a lot of fun. I only took one photo there, but it was very interesting, because I didn’t realize that so many of our traditions come from Victorian England. Or, that is, I probably did know but forgot, as I am prone to do.

It was fun to see a few actors I knew from my Runaway Cupcake days as well.

Saturday morning I attended a party that a student’s mom invited me to. I went with my friend who is their piano teacher, and we stayed for a bit. It was mostly outside and was a hot chocolate/cookie decorating party. I took home a small box of cookies to decorate and enjoyed chatting and eating spinach mushroom quiche baked in bread.

We had friends over Saturday night for eggnog tasting. I’ve made 4 batches of eggnog over the past year–if you add enough alcohol it will keep in the fridge indefinitely. It wasn’t a super scientific process, but the overall favorite was this recipe, which I made in January. I used Jim Beam Bourbon, Grand Marnier, and Xo VSOP Brandy instead of cognac. The second favorite overall was this recipe, made in October, though I don’t know which rum I used, I think whatever I had on hand. The other two batches were the same recipe from Serious Eats, from July and November, and while everybody liked them as well, they just weren’t the favorites. I suspect the Grand Marnier recipes had a bit more oomph, and the longer aged one with spices was just more complex and delicious. We have more eggnog left so we may do the testing again on a few more people, but the basic gist was that aged eggnog is tasty!

You can see everybody had the four samples of eggnog to taste. We labeled the cups 1 through 4.

We also ate goodies: cheese ball, nuts, latke cookies, and so much more. I have been lax on my picture taking lately and I didn’t get a photo of a whole tray of cookies I put together (sad face) but you are probably tired of cookie photos anyway. We took a break from snacking to attend the Garden Glow at the Botanical Gardens, which was very well done. It was a nice night for it: cold but not so cold that wearing a coat and hat didn’t keep you warm enough.

We waited in line for a while to go into the house, so we watched the light and music show about 3 or 4 times through! The lights project onto this house. This was during the Nutcracker music.
We waited in line a few times for pictures and made strangers try to take our pictures. Louie got nervous after one woman fumbled and almost dropped his phone so I insisted they use mine as it is super protected.

Coming up this week is the last full week of teaching, woo hoo! No specific holiday festivities planned this week, but I have a concert this weekend my quartet is playing on (with the St Louis Chamber Chorus).

Today is a day off. I’m enjoying a slow start, a relaxing day, and planning another batch of cookies before starting to package them up for gifts. (I wrote gifting first and then said, what, no, no, I’m not doing that.)

Phoenix

December?

2 Comments

I managed one post in November, yay me!

Happy belated Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah!

We traveled to Phoenix over Thanksgiving.

Wearing masks at the St Louis Airport.

I’d been stressed about getting ready for the trip for a variety of reasons. Leading up to it I had a busy weekend with a gig and three student recitals (in person!). They all went well, but I was exhausted overall from the year. Then I had to teach a morning class right before we went to the airport, so I had to be all ready to go by 6:30 in the morning and then trust Louie to finish up getting ready to leave the house empty for several days. He picked me up at work, and we got to Sky Park, through security, all that with no problems.

We flew Spirit Airlines since it was significantly cheaper than our other options. You are only allowed one free personal item, so we decided to pay for one checked bag (up to 40 pounds only, which wasn’t an issue for us but if you are considering it, just an FYI). Mask wearing on the flight out seemed pretty good, but the way back was NOT GREAT, and at one point the pilot came onboard threatening to land the plane in Amarillo and boot people off. It got better for a short period of time but several people near us took their masks off to “eat” and then never put them back on. When we landed back in St Louis mask wearing at the airport was about 50-50. Phoenix airport was very good about it though.

Anyway, we spent Thanksgiving week visiting my sister Leslie and her family, and my sister Carrie flew out to visit as well. It was nice to see them together, the weather was lovely, we made a huge meal, we ate that huge meal for at least three more meals, and it was nice to have a few days off teaching!

We did a short hike on Thanksgiving morning to work up an appetite!
Everybody except Carrie on the hike. Carrie took the picture.
At the playground on a different day. Carrie is picture, far right. Luca is swinging.
Oh, here was Carrie doing a proof of actually being there. I left my phone in the car because my pockets aren’t big enough so I had to depend on the kindness of others to share photos.
Chocolate bourbon pecan pie
Pumpkin pie
Old Fashioned Cream Pie, my favorite.

As pictured, we made three pies. We also made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, green bean casserole, brussels sprouts, and cranberry relish. I think that’s everything?

In addition to just hanging out, the hike, and the aforementioned playground, we went to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo. It was really cool! So many lights all over.

I loved this style of lights/decorations. There was a whole path of animals like this, set up in various habitats.
Lights reflecting off a large pond.

We flew home on Saturday in order to save money, so I was able to decorate on Sunday. (And catch up, clean, laundry, etc.)

Nothing to see here, just a Christmas tree with a large cat in it.

Anyway, I’m sure December will fly by! I’m finishing up the semester, a few more weeks of teaching, makeup lessons, open house performances at school, some extra gigs but not too many, and a few parties/social events.

We are doing the Garden Glow one night with friends and having an aged eggnog tasting afterwards–what snacks go well with eggnog?

Anyway, 22 more days until Christmas break! That actually includes two days off, which long time blog readers know is rare for me. Thanks to the pandemic for pushing me away from so many gigs, for cutting down on the number of gigs, and for making me see that having a day off here and there is nice…though I definitely have some creep of pre-pandemic busy-ness returning…I think it’s okay.

How was your Thanksgiving? What are you doing this month to celebrate the holidays?

Teaching, Weather

November

I keep asking time to slow down. I can’t believe it’s already mid-November and soon it will be Thanksgiving, then Hanukkah and Christmas. This is my favorite time of year and it’s going by so quickly!

November has been pretty busy: the usual overload of teaching, plus some weddings and a few extra things. We’ve gone to another symphony concert, and have plans for one more before Thanksgiving. I’ve gotten more used to my early morning schedule…I had a few nights this week though where I was in bed at 8:30 pm, though I didn’t always go to sleep right away, I was exhausted! Some of my colleagues live closer, but I do have a 20 minute drive, and I like to just start my day, have breakfast and coffee before so that I feel normal.

This week I’m starting another wonderful online course. I’ve taken quite a few and this is with a teacher I’ve heard great things about. It’s about a time in the development when bow technique really starts getting exciting and I’m looking forward to learning a few more ideas. I will say this, I have found most of the classes I’ve taken to be super helpful with ideas, and I’ve found my teaching to be much more enjoyable over the past year or two. Somehow, the more I do, the more I enjoy it. I don’t know if it’s old age, or just acceptance that this is my career now, or what.

I’ve been doing some decluttering as part of a group, and ran across this bookmark. Carrie is my youngest sister, and she gave this to me some time ago!

The one thing that bothers me is when people say things commenting incredulously at how many hours I teach. It’s really not a big deal. Yes, I teach a lot of hours (33-34 including before school, university, and private, plus a couple extra students right now for another teacher’s maternity leave) but if that’s all I do, my admin work is only about 1-3 hours a week (more when there are events/recitals/grading to do). I do some practicing, but I haven’t been doing much lately–I play a lot in lessons, so I don’t feel out of shape exactly, though I may want to add more in soon.

I guess my point is: yes, I work a lot. So do many people. It’s not like people pay me not to teach though!

Okay, okay enough annoyed ranting, I know, I know.

The weather this month is finally like fall! We had cold weather, hot weather, and cooler weather again, and the trees finally turned and the leaves are falling. It’s gorgeous outside. Except our front lawn where our volunteer black walnut tree lost its leaves right away and just looks craggy and dead. I put the garden down yesterday, took down my posts, yanked some stuff, put down cardboard and leaves and such. We had a good season, with basil, swiss chard, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, and peas. I made a lot of dilly beans, pesto with chard and basil, some pickles, and we ate lots of peas, chard, green beans, and lettuce. I’ll decide later what to plant next year.

Last weekend we got over to Forest Park for a lovely hike, though it was pretty warm. Today we are thinking of heading to Creve Coeur Lake to walk around, though it’ll be much cooler.

Cooking wise this month: I’ve made a carrot cake, black pepper tofu and eggplant (for the second time, highly recommend this dish, it’s delicious!), roasted shrimp and pea couscous salad, and an improvised crockpot lentil, sweet potato and kale coconut curry. We’ve also started eating out more normally, having gone to Union Loafers for lunch and dinner–they are seating again though you have to order at the counter and then sit down, to Rooster on South Grand for lunch, to Little Fox for dinner with Louie’s family (delicious!!!) and to Lily’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner–lately I’m obsessed with the fajitas there.

Reading wise I haven’t done anything exciting lately. I’ve been reading some new titles from a cozy mystery series I had enjoyed before (Meg Langslow series) and that’s been pretty much it. I have to read a book this week for my book club though, so I’ll start on that next. (How the One-armed Sister Sweeps Her House.) TV wise we started Yellowstone, are watching Succession, and also started season two of The Morning Show.

What have you been up to lately? Any books or tv shows to recommend?

Food

Nathaniel Reid Bakery

2 Comments

I mention them in the title, because GO GO GO right now.

Louie’s birthday was Tuesday, so I went to Nathaniel Reid Bakery to get some breakfast treats. Once I got there, everything looked great, so I got croissants, quiche, and little cakes, for a full day of treats.

We had almond croissants and apple pie croissants first.

The almond croissant tasted like what all other almond croissants I have ever eaten aspired to be but weren’t able. It was delicious.

Then we went on a lovely hike in Shaw Nature Reserve. We’ve both had some time on Tuesdays the past few weeks to get outside, and it’s nicer hiking and being out when less people are (versus on a lovely Sunday afternoon when everybody is free.)

I believe this is the Meramac River.

Every time we go to Shaw Nature Reserve we say we should go more often! It’s just a little further than some of our other go-to places, but we always enjoy it. It was a lovely day, sunny and a little cool. We aren’t in full fall colors yet, but some trees are turning.

Then for lunch we had pieces of quiche from the bakery with side salads. Then we worked, and at night with dinner we had a little cake…and then one the next night as well.

If calories didn’t matter, we would eat this way every day. These pastries and cakes and quiche (not picture, it was wedge shaped, yellow, and OH so creamy and custardy) were amazing. I’m glad Louie had a birthday.

Random thoughts, Weather

An Almost normal weekend

What a weekend! First off, I didn’t have to work at all. (With the exception of a bit of emailing and a few tiny things, probably less than one hour’s worth of work.) Second of all, we went to TWO performances.

Friday night Louie and I went to the 560 Center at Wash U to see our friends Mark and Jae-Won play a lovely program of two piano music, all written by women. The 560 Center requires masks and either proof of vaccination or a very recent negative test. I really lovely the program, particularly Seis cantos de los campos (2013) by Gabriela Lena Frank and Kilter by Mary Ellen Childs.

After the concert a group of us went to Blood and Sand to celebrate. It was weird being in a restaurant in a group (we were all vaccinated, but who knows about the rest of the people…not too busy though.) I recall Blood and Sand being a “hot” place to go a few years ago…I suppose the pandemic has hit them hard because I was underwhelmed, and the prices were pretty high for St Louis. It felt more like a typical Washington Ave/Downtown St Louis restaurant, more flash than substance. It was a good time nonetheless.

Saturday was a relaxing day, and at night we went to Jazz at the Bistro to see Harold Lopez-Nussa play Cuban Music. Louie and I went a little early to eat dinner there, and it was as good as ever (that is, totally fine, not great, but not bad). My salmon dish was really well cooked, so I was very pleased with that. (Often salmon is overcooked and dry, and this was just right.)

We loved the program, and stayed for the second set as well. It was awesome to be back at the Bistro (who were also checking vaccination/negative tests).

Sunday I really slept in, it was almost 9 by the time I woke up! We took a walk in the afternoon, and it was HOT. I had a family zoom call and then a book club zoom call, and then it was time for dinner and bed.

Food wise: we made mushroom quesadillas one meal, tuna melts another meal, and pumpkin waffles (frozen from Trader Joe’s) and scrambled eggs one meal. Just to give you some ideas.

Now it’s Monday, and I already taught an early morning class. I have a love/hate relationship with my early morning job. I hate getting up so early. But I actually really love teaching the kids once I get going: it’s busy, stressful, and I feel like I’m really accomplishing things with them! But everytime my alarm goes off…ugh I really hate it and tell myself, that’s it, I’m quitting after this year. We’ll see how things go!

My online book club is with some old friends from when I lived in Cleveland. It’s weird talking with them: I feel like that time of my life was both so long ago and also not long at all. I also have been through a lot of life changes since then, and haven’t kept up very well with my friends from there, but it was nice to hear them talk about gigs I used to play there, etc. Sometimes I feel weird telling people that what I mostly do is teach, because I sometimes feel like I’m wasting my hard-earned playing skills not playing more, yet, teaching is fun, something I’m good at, and pays better (in my current life/city) so I’m happy with it, and I spend hours a day playing!

I guess it’s more like I’m looking at what my life might have been there if I hadn’t made the fateful decision to move here. I also sometime wonder, would I have moved here if I’d known that ultimately I would be basically giving up my performing career? I’m not regretting my decisions, because I enjoy my life and I particularly love being with Louie and love our life together, but I miss playing big orchestra concerts and I do miss some of my friendships from there.

And I do actually really enjoy teaching, which isn’t something I would have said 10 years ago. The pandemic pushed me to teach more, and over the years I enjoy it more and more. 10 years ago I taught some classes at various schools and really didn’t like it, but I’m really enjoying my classes now. I love teaching my college students at Wash U, and I have many private students that I absolutely adore. So perhaps it isn’t exactly where I thought I’d end up, but it’s something I’m currently loving. And my studio is running quite smoothly right now, and I’m happy about that as well. So that’s life for you, you don’t always end up where you expect, but maybe that’s okay.

Enough of my navel gazing. How are you on this fine morning? It’s quite windy, and we had some bad storms last night–we were lucky in the city but some people in the TV viewing radius were less lucky with tornadoes and storm damage 🙁 I stayed up later than I should have watching local news to make sure we weren’t at risk (I didn’t want to go to bed if there might be a tornado warning) and then morning came quickly because of my relaxing weekend. The rest of the week is busy enough, plus it’ll be Louie’s birthday!