Category Archives: Weather

Winter Fat

April 3, 2013 hannahviolin 6 Comments

My sister Leslie flies here today! She hasn’t been to St Louis since the wedding…

Monday I met up with a twitter friend who was in town for business. We went to PI on the loop and then to Eclipse at the Moonrise Hotel (I’m too lazy to do links, but you can do a google if you are curious).

We tried to take a selfie of the two of us (that’s a very internet thing to do) but we couldn’t because we both had the same side part and looked ridiculous trying to catch our best angles.

So I just took this one of her. She wasn’t in love with it but I think it’s cute. I hope she comes back to town again for more work soon and when I am less busy! In fact, I hope all my out of town twitter friends come into town for business. You know, St Louis has a lot of cool things to do. There’s the arch, great restaurants, the symphony, baseball, Forest Park, ME, and lots of road construction!

The Moonrise has an interesting chair in the lobby.

So many ways to sit on it! None of them comfortable…

It’s been a beautiful week of weather. Here are some pictures of Tower Grove Park. I took them whilst on a RUN.

And now I’m off for another run. I’m getting serious about this thing. I have been sitting around long enough. Time to wear out my running shoes.

And lose some of my “winter fat.” Yesterday at my workout Mike pointed out how much stronger I had gotten over the past month—I was shoulder pressing a good ten pounds more than a few weeks ago, no big deal. Plus the dead lifts I mentioned before. And other stuff. I told him it’s because I’d been bulking up, and that under my layer of “winter fat” I was incredibly muscular. He started laughing and said humans didn’t get winter fat, that we aren’t like bears.

He is wrong though. It’s so much easier to go out for a run and eat healthier when it’s warm outside!

Mike is wrong a lot though. He once said that we aren’t dogs and don’t need to reward ourselves with food.

I’d love to see those muscles though! I shall try to maintain that thought when my brain tells me I want to eat cookies or the leftover cheesecake in the fridge…

Speaking of winter fat…

Random thoughts, Weather

Why it’s best not to gloat

January 13, 2013 hannahviolin 6 Comments

Yesterday morning my friend Sarah was complaining of being so “cold” in Phoenix. I often give her a hard time about this, because “cold” to her is usually about 60 degrees and I find when I visit she is always wearing significantly more clothing than I am.

Then I went to check the weather. When you go to Weather.com the most recent cities you have looked at show up at the top. After seeing the results I made a little picture for her…and for the world…

That’s right, I have mad “Paint” skills.

But then later I checked back and…

Things got even worse from there but I had stuff to do so I couldn’t spend all my time making pictures on the computer! I had to take pictures of the cat!

I could spend hours photographing this magnificent creature. (I mean, I do.)

If you look closely you can see my gross black toenail(s). (She resembles a potato here I think. Or is potatoe?)

And then I had to go to work later. I saw this in one of the pieces we played.

And I had to make my friend take pictures of my tiny diet coke! (You know how I am about diet coke.)

Today—better go get some stuff done before we “have” to see:

How’s your weekend so far? How’s the weather?

(current weather…)

Deep Thoughts, Weather, Weddings

Sometimes it’s really hard to think of a title—in a nutshell, I was really sweaty, watched Downton Abbey, and Men are Different, as I always say.

May 6, 2012 hannahviolin 3 Comments

It must be July already or something, because this weather is out of control. We’re talking about 90 degrees, at the beginning of May! Yesterday we played an outdoor wedding at the Botanical Gardens. I wore my summer wedding black dress (had to dig that out of storage) and I believe within five minutes I had completely sweated through it. It was like working out but without the working out part, just the sweating part. Or like Bikram Yoga without the poses, and instead of yoga then you had to play the violin.

Actually this is a really good picture of Chris. Maybe I should make him stop smiling for photos and just make that smoldering look at the camera instead.

Upon closer inspection, it might just be a look of disgust towards me taking a picture. Oh and apparently some of the guys are growing out beards for the Indy 500 on Memorial Day. Every time I think I start to understand men I hear something like that…and just think: Men are different. (original post here)

This morning I went to a spin class with Vanessa. This was HUGE because I haven’t worked out since getting sick, and honestly, before that with the shoulder problems…let’s just say it’s been awhile. I thought a spin class would be perfect since if I were getting overwhelmed or having shoulder issues it would be easy enough to sand bag. It was AWESOME. I made Vanessa take a picture of me afterwards, but that didn’t work so well. This is actually the best one.

My eyes may be shut but I think you can appreciate how tired and sweaty I look, right? You might ask, why would you post this picture? Well, it’s the best I’ve got, and if I don’t post a picture of myself in workout clothes, how will you know I worked out?

Anyway, the class was great. I am halfway tempted to push my luck and go for a run as well today…but I’ll probably just finish up this blog post and watch Downton Abbey instead. (Oh yes, I started on Thursday, watched all of Season 1 and two episodes of Season 2…and then a bunch more last night, and now I’m ready to finish Season 2. SO GOOD WHY DID I RESIST WATCHING THIS BEFORE????)

I recently started using Instagram on my phone. I presume it is just to put up pictures of my cat? Does anybody think it’s weird when you have a friend and then after being friends for awhile you learn they have a pet…and you didn’t know. What I’m asking is: What is truly the purpose of social media and camera phones if NOT to take and post pictures of your pets online at all times? Or what I’m really asking: Do I talk about the fatness too much?

That’s the fatness, instagrammed. Doesn’t she look more old-timey and authentic now?

She is on my legs as I’m stretched out on the couch watching Downton Abbey…love it. Also I think my legs went numb.

If you think I talk about my cat or post too many pictures of her, please don’t tell me. I won’t change my behavior, and then I’ll just be awkward around you.

And I’m being a good blogger today. A variety of pictures, one from Instagram, check! Self-portrait to prove I worked out, check! References to popular culture, check! And links to old blog posts, check!

Self fist bump for the win!

(If you don’t follow me on twitter, you should. If you don’t have a twitter, you really should!)

Weather

Optimism

March 19, 2012 hannahviolin 2 Comments

I feel like this morning I was really turning into my mother. I needed a day off running, but ate an obscene amount of chips and salsa the night before, so I wanted to get some sort of exercise. But…the weather was just too pretty to go to the gym, so I decided a walk around the park was just the ticket. And I took my phone to take pictures of how beautiful it was.

This reminds me of a moment in my adolescence where my mother was trying to get me to do something…she said, “It’s such a nice day!” and I recall my response of “Every day is a nice day here” and in my head I definitely thought that was a bad thing.

But here I am as an adult (a married lady, no less!) enjoying a string of nice days, remarking on them with everybody I know and pass, and making efforts to go and GET MY WALK IN. And…take pictures for the blog.

I love these pink trees! I am not a plant person, I don’t know what they are (can somebody tell me in the comments?) but they are ubiquitous in the park and very pretty.

I started thinking about how when Chris and I move I want it to still be close enough that I can do all my short runs in the park.

Not quite as spring-like in this photo. I don’t know all the history of the park but I love all the little random (seeming) buildings. I imagine people back in the past wearing old fashioned clothing, riding horses, or perhaps talking on really giant cell phones enjoying a day much like today.

What sort of blogger would I be without a self portrait? Besides which, I wanted to show off my new sunglasses! I once said that I felt every outfit needed a touch of whimsy. Now I can wear black socks on sunny days.

Not sure why, but this tree made me think of Gondor.

This was much prettier in person. My camera skills are not the greatest 😉 And another gate…I love the random gates—did they used to have fences that continued? Because otherwise they really do seem like a waste.

The little castle at the side entrance of the park.

Another pink tree.

It was a lovely walk!

I passed a few people I knew, and got passed by random people—one a runner talking on the phone, another a man wearing sweatpants and a heavy coat running who yelled at me to keep my elbows up. I passed two woman sitting on a bench, one just sitting and her friend was on her side doing leg lifts. I see so many characters—is that because these are the sort of people who are off work on a Monday morning??

Anyway, I apologize to my readers for the maudlin-esque tone of my blog recently. I am feeling pretty good today and look forward to the week, so you can call off the men in white coats.

I hope it will be a more positive week and I feel like today is off to an awesome start. I’m off to rehearse the Martinu duo for this weekend’s Chamber Project St Louis concert at the Wine Press in the Central West End (tickets are $40 and include dinner), then I have just a little bit of teaching—many students are on spring break in addition to the school I teach at, so it’s a very light teaching week.

What are you up to this week?

Food, Weather

Beautiful Weather

August 10, 2011 hannahviolin

Doesn’t that look just BEAUTIFUL? And by Saturday, I’ll be running again (not in the T-storms, but I think you understand.)

Hard to get a good picture of that. But how pretty are my purple toenails? I need to cut them before I start running again or I will be in trouble.

Sorry, this blog post is rather boring. Oh, you know what it needs?

Bacon. Praline Bacon from Monarch, to be exact. This stuff is AMAZING.

Oh! I don’t think I told you guys about Monarch yet. I went there Saturday night with my friends Jen and Kim. We split the bacon and BBQ goat appetizers. The bacon is pictured about…it’s smothered in brown sugar and who knows what else. Great for splitting though, probably a bit decadent to order on your own. (The guilt, oh the guilt.)

Then I got the BBQ shrimp and grits. I’m a southern girl. When shrimp and grits are on the menu somewhere, I have a really hard time NOT ordering them. They were fantastic, and what’s more is that I was able to eat exactly half and take the rest home. Monarch is owned by the same people who own Herbie’s, another restaurant I love. It was a great dinner, and I would definitely return (and take Chris, he’d like it too, even though he does NOT share my bacon obsession, silly boy.)

After dinner we went to the Central West End to meet some people from Jen’s gym, but it was too humid outside, and several of the people from her gym were…how do I say this, STILL wearing their gym clothes even though it was Saturday night, so we decided to move on. We ended up at Beale on Broadway (a blues club) listening to a really great band. I generally don’t like bars with live music (yes, sue me…) plus this was great! It was still outdoors though, and the heat and humidity was rough. It was a good evening though.

But like I showed you at the top, the weather NOW is fantastic. I’m going out for a walk around the park. Have a great day!

Random thoughts, Weather

Urban Heat Island

August 3, 2011 hannahviolin

So far the excessive heat warning is still set to expire at 7 pm this evening…keep your fingers crossed. Yes, it will still be hot, but I suppose not excessively so? Yesterday on my way to work (late afternoon) they were warning that temperatures were something like 103 with heat index of 115. CRAZY.

From the National Weather Service: HEAT INDEX VALUES… HEAT INDEX READINGS THIS AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB TO AROUND 105 DEGREES. THE MOST OPPRESSIVE CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR IN THE SAINT LOUIS METRO AREA DUE TO THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.

Did you read that? URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT. I feel like they are just making stuff up at this point. Except it exists on Wikipedia so it must be true.

Either way I’m not running today because my leg is very sore on the side of the calf (I am not an anatomy expert so I can’t tell you the name of the muscle or whatnot) so I figure a day off is in order. I haven’t taken a day off since I returned home from Chicago. I probably should have taken Monday off rather than walking for 4 miles, but oh well. *spoiler alert* You know the end of the HP 7.2 movie when Neville is limping around due to injuries? I walk that way a lot, especially when I first get up or when I’ve been sitting for awhile, or after a long run or particularly tough workout. Is that wrong?

In addition to the ridiculous heat, it can make you angry (this is definitely true.) Here’s an article about the heat wave in Oklahoma causing heat rage for people! I think it must be like road rage but far sweatier. I am so over the heat. I am tired of the oppressive feeling you get walking outside, and I’m tired of feeling like I am going to throw up or pass out when I am trying to run outside.

Here’s some other interesting stuff I’ve read recently (and likely posted to facebook):

Scientists Suggest Red Wine Helps Prevent Sunburn

"Pumpkin Pasties" from the Unofficial HP Cookbook (I love you, serious eats!)

How I feel about "adulthood"

And a few entries from the "blogosphere" that I starred in my reader:

Life Lessons

I was trying to remember not to run

How to handle praise

All right, dear readers. That’s it for this morning.