Local readers:  come see me play with Chamber Project St Louis this week!

“STRINGS ATTACHED”

Thursday, November 3 2011, 7:30pm
The Chapel: A sanctuary for the arts
$12/4 Purchase tickets online HERE. Includes two drinks.

Friday, November 4, 8:00pm
The Tavern of Fine Arts
suggested contribution: 10$
gratitude contribution: 20$ – includes food and drink gift
Attach your heart to beautiful sound.
Mozart, Roussel and Emmanuel.

I’m on the Mozart only, but the other two pieces should be wonderful also.

 

(source)

It’s hard to believe that my Dad was in town for the last concert and since then he biked all the way to Phoenix and is now at home!

In any case, please come out, you’ll have a good time.  We aim to make our concerts accessible for people who don’t ordinarily go to concerts, so don’t worry if you don’t ordinarily attend chamber music concerts!

Also, I’ll probably have one comp ticket…sooooo if anybody wants it…email me!

Day 1 of 30 days of Thanksgiving:

I’m thankful I have the opportunity to play with the awesome members of Chamber Project St Louis.  It’s a privilege and an honor!

Today also marks the start of “Pile on the Miles.”  Time to get back on track with my diet and exercise!

You know I’m not a native St Louisian.  I’m a southern girl, and as a result, yes, I’m an Atlanta Braves fan.  So I would have appreciated a bit of thanks from the Cardinals for my team’s spectacular collapse that allowed them to get to the post season and THUS be in the position to win the World Series.  But nothing…

How great is this picture?  Sarah Crowder is the best (ripped from her facebook page).  The drivers look like leprechauns to me.

On another note:  Halloween at the St Louis Symphony!

Those trombone players are always up to shenanigans.  Check out this excellent video on facebook of them playing the Monty Python theme.  Be sure to watch to the end.  It’s seriously one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

Over the weekend Chris and I flew to LaGuardia to attend his cousin John’s wedding in the Bronx.  It isn’t easy for him to get away during the season without taking off work (aka losing a week’s pay) but luckily he only lost a few services since the orchestra was playing two different programs last week, and he only had to take off for one of them, provided we flew back really early Sunday morning.

The lighting for this picture was not great, but I wanted to show off my awesome dress.  I wore this in August, and I seriously love it.  It is definitely coming on honeymoon with me.

I’m not going to go into a lengthy description of the wedding, because you don’t know them and probably don’t care, so I’m just going to post some pictures and give a little commentary.  Basically the wedding was completely over the top as far as food—SO much food, we were beyond stuffed and then more food was served.  It was great to see Chris’s family, especially those that might not make it for our wedding, and the Frank Sinatra style singer at the cocktail hour was the best.

Sugar rimmed champagne glasses upon arrival!

The cocktail hour was great fun, and there were about 8 tables of food to try.  We were pretty stuffed before dinner!

My camera was having lighting difficulties.  I like the blue lighting.

Chris’s family

 

Father/daughter dance.

  

The end of the wedding was ridiculous—after the cake was served, they turned the dance floor into a dessert buffet, with 10 stations of desserts, including an espresso bar, a gelato bar, fruit, chocolate fountain, cannolis, homemade eggs creams, and a crepe station.

We were completely exhausted and almost sick to our stomachs by the end of the wedding, but I’m glad we got to celebrate with them! 

And now I am REALLY excited about our wedding…

Chris and I took a quick trip to New York (Long Island and the Bronx) to attend his cousin’s wedding over the weekend.  Traveling is exhausting, especially the sort of traveling where you get to your hotel at 1:00 am, the toilet doesn’t flush, the heat doesn’t turn off, and you have to wake up at 5:30 am to catch your return flight home.  And you tossed and turned for most of those 4 hours due to having eaten SO much at the wedding.

So I count that as 2 to 3 hours of sleep.  Then 2 hours of sleep on the airplane, followed by a GLORIOUS 3 hour nap.  Now I am trying to psych myself up for a short run before rehearsal.  I suppose I could always just make it a walk if I’m not feeling the run. 

The bride was beautiful, the food was delicious and ridiculously plentiful, and all in all it was a wonderful time!  I’ll share more later this week, after I recover a bit more!  We got some ideas for our own wedding, of course, and it made us really excited for January 2!

Remember, the bake sale is going on RIGHT now over at Running Ricig’s blog.  All proceeds go to charity.

Don’t forget to read my "30 days of Thanksgiving" post if you haven’t.  You too can make it a thankful November.  Or send out Thanksgiving cards :) 

Favorite question I got asked over the weekend (several times):  Why are you getting married in January? 

Um…because that’s the best time for us?  Believe it or not, having a wedding in the spring (the general suggestion) would not work as well for our schedules.  Grr. 

That’s Chris and I at my (parents) house for Leslie’s high school graduation.  We’d been dating for three months!

Same day, different meal?  And that’s Carrie’s head peeking out.

April or May of 1999 at my old apartment, 1961 Ford, in Cleveland.

I feel so old looking at these pictures!  I scanned some into my computer last night working on a wedding related project.  I mean, seriously, this was before digital photos 😉

Leslie and friends waiting on a street corner in Tempe, Arizona, for my dad.

There he is!

He even wore his American Southwest Bike Jersey in honor of the trip!

Leslie and Dad.

Eating breakfast.

And that’s the end of the line…

Want to review my dad’s trip?  Here are my previous posts:

Bike Trip

From South Carolina to Phoenix by bike

Cross Country solo bike trip, continued!

Bike Trip FAQ

89 Miles to Phoenix

It’s crazy to think he’s done!  I bet he is relieved to not have to ride back.  Maybe Dad will get a 3340 sticker for his car now?  Or a 3340 tattoo??