Category Archives: Weddings

My wedding: weight loss incentive

June 17, 2011 hannahviolin 2 Comments

I’m going to talk about weight loss here. Don’t read it if that is a trigger for you.

I wrote about body image a few weeks ago. I wanted to continue along the same lines.

I used to look down on people who wanted to lose weight for their wedding, or for other special events. After all, why not lose weight just to lose weight or to look great all the time?

Lately I’ve been putting together some old pictures for potential wedding stuff. And I’ve realized how FAT I used to look. This is partly because I am incredibly judgmental of myself. And partly because I WAS fat.

I am not as fat anymore. But I still want to lose more weight, as regular blog-readers know. But I’ve gotten lazy with my diet (not with my workouts though) and it’s harder to be as strict with myself without true incentive.

(Yes, that’s a garden gnome.)

And gosh darn it, wouldn’t you know that incentive comes from my darned wedding? I keep seeing pictures of women in wedding dresses…and my eyes go STRAIGHT to their fat. Is this fair? No. Frankly, I’m probably an awful person for it. But to be a little fair, these aren’t women I know in real life. I do NOT look at my friends like that of course, in fact, I always find my friends attractive. We all do, right? The more you like somebody the more attractive they seem.

But I don’t want people to see my fat in my wedding pictures. I want people to see long limbs and muscles. Well, long muscular arms, and a lovely back, and perhaps a thin face with fairly prominent cheekbones. Is that too much to ask? And then, ideally I would stay that way for years and years…

Not that people would think that I looked fat in my wedding pictures. But I would. And why not look my best?

But let’s not let my best be my best ever! Always evolving, always improving, right?

I’m winning Mike’s weight loss comp. Five pounds down since weigh-in day May 31. Six to go. I can do this. But I’ll want more. (He was perhaps more surprised than I was…but I have actually been doing pretty well. I’m just really critical.)

These are all me. Different years, different hair, different weights. I can’t throw away the fat pictures of me.

But I can keep there from being any more fat pictures. And whether that is because of my wedding or because I know I look a lot better now. And more importantly, feel a lot better. Nothing brings out confidence like being in great shape.

So here’s the deal: I’ll lose some weight for my wedding. But it won’t be JUST for my wedding. Is that still hypocritical of me?

Weddings

Files restored

May 24, 2011 hannahviolin

I think I’ve finally got most of my itunes music back on my computer. I had been using an online backup (dell datasafe online, since I had a dell before), and since getting my new computer a few weeks ago, I was having a ton of issues getting my backed up files restored. I finally realized it just wasn’t going to work to do them all at once, and I needed to break them up into smaller parts, and voila! gradually I am restoring my music, my pictures, and all of the other important things I need. I’m sure my itunes library will be a mess of duplicates though, since it seems every piece is listed two or three different ways. I guess that will be my next computer project. I don’t even have a full size ipod!

That reminds me, a lot of times at wedding venues, they tell you, oh, you can even just plug in your ipod and play your music! That makes me giggle. I’m sure people would really enjoy listening to episodes of Car Talk and This American Life, Brahms Violin Concerto by a variety of artists, or perhaps a variety of violin orchestral excerpts, while trying to dance or talk with their friends.

This is a picture from inside the Jewel Box in Forest Park. I have played two weddings there this month, and I have at least 4 more lined up for the summer. I think it would be a great idea to simply be the resident musicians for the Jewel Box, and perhaps move in downstairs. That would save on gas.

Cat, Weddings

Caturday

May 21, 2011 hannahviolin

I think this sums it all up. (And it’s Caturday, so stop complaining).

I can’t believe this weekend is finally here. I had a few rough weeks of busy-ness and stress…and now it’s basically summer. And this is going to be my skinniest summer since ’98. (Okay, I’m sadly excited about that.)

I taught yesterday and then went to Lemongrass with Melissa. I branched out from my usual meal there of "seafood hotpot". I love the hotpot because the rice at the edges gets very crispy. I also love fishcakes, something I first had at Siam Cafe in Cleveland. But I wanted to get something different so I got something with noodles instead. It still involved fishcakes and shrimp. All foods should contain at least a couple of shrimp.

Fascinating. I know. This would be a better entry if we hadn’t THEN gone to Absolutli Goosed and met up with some other folks. Good times were had. But I woke up feeling somewhat…dehydrated…to say the least, and I still wanted to get in a run. I did the front loop of Tower Grove Park and returned home completely drenched. With the thermometer only reading 70 degrees. I weighed myself before and after, and my scale registered a 1/2 pound loss from the run. I don’t know how people deal with this heat.

Now it’s a student recital followed by a wedding at the Jewel Box.

That greenhouse looking thing is the Jewel Box, which is located in Forest Park. I have played dozens of weddings there, and have a half dozen on the schedule for this summer. It’s a nice place, I guess.

That’s Albergo. And that concludes today’s post. If anything exciting happens I’ll let you know 🙂

Random thoughts, Running, Teaching, Weddings

Friday the 13th

May 13, 2011 hannahviolin 1 Comment

Ooh, SCARY! ‘

source

I feel like I should write something, but I can’t think of anything good. Often while I’m driving I’ll think of a fun topic for a blog post, but I can’t remember any of them right now. I should probably write those down, but I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to take notes while driving (especially in construction zones).

Tonight is another school concert. I will be relieved when it’s over—I know the kids will be fine, but these things are still stressful, because who knows what might happen. For instance, several children might break their violins (likely) or perhaps somebody will play the wrong song because they didn’t listen to the introduction (less likely, but still possible) or maybe the parents will complain the violin portion of the program is still too long (don’t care, listen for 6 minutes, okay?).

Today is the first day in a long time that I got up after 8:00 am. WHO AM I? I have been waking up before my alarm even. I blame the sun, and the fact that I have been generally going to bed before midnight. Does this mean I am an adult now? (No, my criteria remains that I want to have a washer/dryer ON MY FLOOR.)

Here’s a photo of one of the places we are looking at for the wedding…I like the table runners/colored tablecloths. (See, I’m taking an interest in decor! )

Seriously though, I dislike too much monotony or white in decor, and want color and texture. Hence my house is cluttered with junk— Besides which, what would my students look at while playing? Their bows?? That’s crazy talk. But for the wedding I think some color will be nice.

I have a relaxing weekend ahead of me and I can’t wait. I only have TWO things to do this weekend, and considering I am counting my 5k race, I really only have one thing to do (play a wedding). SWEET.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth to you!

Running, Weddings

SNOWPOCALYPSE?!?

January 30, 2011 hannahviolin

… WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM MONDAY TO NOON CST WEDNESDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR FREEZING RAIN… SLEET… AND SNOW… WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM MONDAY TO NOON CST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* TIMING… LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WILL DEVELOP ON MONDAY AND CONTINUE IN WAVES MONDAY NIGHT. THE FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCASIONALLY MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING AND EVENTUALLY CHANGE TO ALL SNOW TUESDAY EVENING. THE SNOW WILL END WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* ACCUMULATIONS… ICE ACCUMULATIONS BETWEEN 1/2 AND 3/4 INCH ARE LIKELY… WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SLEET AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM AROUND 3 INCHES ACROSS SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS TO 6 TO 12 INCHES IN PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EASTERN MISSOURI.

* WINDS… NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL GUST TO 40 MPH TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

* IMPACTS… SIGNIFICANT ICE ACCUMULATION AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS MAY LEAD TO WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES. THE COMBINATION OF ICE… SLEET AND SNOW WILL MAKE ROAD CONDITIONS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND THIS COULD LIMIT TRAVEL FOR DAYS.

Gotta love the all caps from the National Weather Service. Basically we are all in BIG TROUBLE.

Today: Spinning class (mainly hills…not sure if the teacher really plans these classes out or simply likes to ride the bike while standing) and a 7 mile run. I did the run a little faster than some of my long runs in the past (4.8-5.0 mph rather than 4.7) and felt fine. The bottom of my feet were killing me around mile 3 so I tried to really focus on how my feet were landing. I need to pay a visit to the shoe store, even though I wore my newer shoes today.

Tomorrow: Lots of teaching? Or a snow day? (I do NOT want to drive to St. Peters and then have it start icing…I’m totally stressed about that.)

Last night I had a great time hanging out with my friend Sarah. We had dinner and drinks, and chitchatted about life, whatever, teaching violin, etc. It was a nice end to a day that was a bit trying at times (had an awful and awkward gig that I won’t go into on the blog.)

I also played a wedding at the New Town Chapel. I had not been there before, and was NOT prepared for the “Truman Show”-like atmosphere that is New Town (St. Charles). I don’t want to be too negative about it, but I was really not prepared! Seriously, there is a creepy 1950’s style looking town in the middle of nowhere…for no apparent reason. Maybe I have a negative attitude towards homogeneity (I am a city dweller and I love diversity) and shouldn’t assume the worst. The chapel was pretty enough, though oddly the doors in the balcony kept blowing open and we really struggled to keep them shut, as it was cold outside. Oddly none of the guests sitting nearby seemed to care about the doors. I have my opinions on why that is as well—not a single person offered to help me or my colleague shut the doors even though we were trying to PLAY for the wedding while this was happning. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have been happy if the doors stayed open…

(and this wasn’t the awkward awful gig I was referring to!)

Some pictures—I felt the retro camera app was VERY appropriate.

Why yes, I’m in a crabby mood tonight! Thanks for asking! We bloggers can’t always be roses and songbirds, you know Winking smile

Weddings

Good times #reverb10

December 9, 2010 hannahviolin 2 Comments

Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

Ah, now this is a prompt I can relax and enjoy Winking smile It’s been a great year for social gatherings—several weddings, parties, a great Thanksgiving dinner, small get-togethers with friends, all have been quite delightful. It’s hard to describe one event that “rocked my socks off”…

I generally enjoy smaller get togethers more than large gatherings. Parties can be fun, but I usually find myself holed up in one place chatting with people that I would just as soon have lunch with! When I was younger it seemed that a party was often an event that lasted forever and ever…and often I would be up all night, so I guess that perception was fairly close. These days a party is usually just for a few hours and then I am tired and go home! I’ll put that on my list of “signs that I’m getting old.” Or “signs that my friends are getting old also.”

I think the most fun I’ve had this year was at my friends’ Loren and Mathieu’s wedding in Chicago in April. Chris was a groomsmen, my sister Leslie attended, and I also made a few new friends. I didn’t actually know that many people there, but those I did know were near and dear to me. The whole weekend was wonderful! Our first night there we had a delicious dinner at “Blackbird.” The second night was the rehearsal dinner, also great fun, and Leslie flew in that night.

Then the wedding—the ceremony was lovely (though the cabbie had QUITE the time finding it), the reception was gorgeous (at the top of a building overlooking downtown Chicago), the food was fantastic, the band was… not bad—we even danced–(though they CLAIMED they didn’t know the Titanic song), the dessert was tasty and the drinks were free flowing. Everybody was thrilled to be celebrating with the happy couple, friends and family included, and the whole weekend was well planned and simply, fantastic. I’m glad we were able to attend.

(Granted I was also in bed by midnight…but the whole day was a party!)