What a cold day!  I woke up this morning and wanted to go for a short run (3 to 4 miles).  Well, firstly, my hamstrings were incredibly sore from a lot of dead lift type exercises the day before, so running was TOUGH/nearly impossible.  Secondly it was freezing…I don’t know if my long run tomorrow is going to happen.  We’ll see how my legs feel in the morning.

I played a wedding then at the Piper Palm House.  It was all decked out for Christmas and was very beautiful!  I love Christmas decorations, especially poinsettias.

Even the busts were decorated!  Here’s Mozart wearing a red bow.

The bridesmaids were also wearing red, all in all it was a beautiful wedding.

Next was an Advent Mass in Madison, Illinois at St. Mary’s Church.

It is a totally round church!  The people of the church had evidently never had strings play at their church before (had gotten a donation for this) and they were very appreciative.  We are playing there the next three weeks (well, I’m only doing two more.)  I’ll try to get a good picture of the inside before then.  It’s really unique and beautiful.

I went to dinner with my friend Melissa at Mai Lee in Brentwood.  We split a couple of appetizers (bbq pork spring rolls and papaya salad w/pork & shrimp) and I got the Sliced pork cooked w/mixed vegetables in a black bean hot pot.  I was hoping it would have crunchy rice on the sides like at Lemongrass, but it didn’t.  However, the food was still delicious!  I would definitely go back. 

Last on the menu for the day was a quick jaunt to the Royale.  I was pretty tired so we didn’t stay long.

HBBC:  3 mile run/walk :  3 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 4 points

Well, sort of.  I basically had the day off, but I did have a wedding to play.

The wedding was at Temple Israel.  It went smoothly, nothing noteworthy.

Before and after the wedding was the hard work!  I did get to sleep in today, for once, but after I got up I was seriously in cleaning mode.  I spent about two hours cleaning the house, then went grocery shopping.  After the wedding I made several of the things I am serving the girls for tomorrow’s Cookie Swap.  Since the party is over dinner time, but not technically a dinner, I wanted to provide some more substantial snacks.  I decided to make some spinach roll-ups and some “crab” roll-ups.  Basically, I made two different spreads, spread them on tortillas, and rolled them up.  Tomorrow I will slice them into bite size pieces.  I also got a bunch of other stuff at the store—cheese, crackers, veggies, etc.  I’m sure there will be plenty of savory food, and then of course dozens and dozens of cookies, but those are technically for later.

On a more personal note:  yesterday I was a bit stressed and I wrote about how yoga is stressing me out.  I think the issue is that I need to set a boundary.  I’ve decided I will go two times next week and two times ONLY, and not worry about it.  If I decide to continue with yoga, I will only go once a week, and if that doesn’t happen due to my work schedule, I will not let it bother me.  I spend lots of time working, practicing, and running…I can’t do everything, and I need to allow myself to do some things less well, or at least less often.  That was the problem I had earlier in the year with the pottery class—I ended up resenting it because I wasn’t putting in as much time as the other people in the class and I felt like I was a failure.  Instead, I should have tried to appreciate the time I was able to put into it, and simply allowed myself to do what was possible for me.

Edited:  I forgot to say what I am thankful for today!  Today I am thankful that I live in a small house so it doesn’t take too long to clean the whole place from top to bottom!!

HBBC:  2 hours cleaning house:  4 points, 7 fruits/veggies: 1 point, 30 minutes cardio/strength training video: 1.5 points.  Total points: 6.5

Happy Friend Day!  This cracked me up–calling one another “friend” is a long-standing joke for Chris and I.  It stems from several sources.  One source is those ridiculous emails from places like Nigeria, where the greeting is often “Good day, friend.”  The other source is from awkward introductions by people who aren’t sure how to introduce us (I guess after a decade together, they think boyfriend or girlfriend is funny!).  In any case, I love this picture!

Quick recap of yesterday then:  wedding at Grace Baptist went well.  The church was in Granite City, Illinois.  We drove by a steel plant (or more than one) on our way.  I didn’t get any other pictures of the outside of the church, just one of the altar.

Next on the docket was the STL Symphony concert at Powell Hall.  The program was Stravinsky’s “The Fairy’s Kiss” and Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1 with Emmanuel Ax.  It was a great program, and the orchestra played well.  Emmanuel Ax played wonderfully!  He is one of the greatest pianists in the world for sure.  We had seats on the left side so we were able to watch his hands the whole time.

Today’s plan:  Run, bake, baby shower.  Also some prep for classes tomorrow.

Saturday was a busy day!  Two weddings in Crystal City, MO, and then a rehearsal with Chamber Project St. Louis for our upcoming concert.  Crystal City is about 45 minutes south of where I live.  I had never been there, but the name made me think of the Wizard of Oz…not so much.  Crystal City was not sparkling, though it did have a nice Panera where we had coffee in between weddings.

(As you can see, I decided to use my retro camera app today again to make everything look a bit fancier!)

First:  Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The first wedding was for trio, the second for quartet.  In between we got coffee at Panera (also known as St. Louis Bread Company here).  I have been very careful to pack snacks for this sort of thing as to not be tempted by junk, so I had my coffee and a Luna Bar, which was tasty.  We had to bring our instruments in, of course, and several people commented on this.  One employee came over to ask questions about violin lessons for his girlfriend!  We couldn’t really help him though, since we were 45 minutes south…we just suggested to ask the local music store for recommendations.

It was strange to have two weddings so close to each other.  The second wedding was literally right down the street, and we only had 1 hour in between.  Great timing!!  The location was Grace Presbyterian Church.  I only took a couple of pictures here because I was tired.

And after that, another Saturday’s weddings were done.  The bulk of “wedding season” is behind us, but there are still plenty left this year–more often it’s just one per weekend rather than two, three, or four.

I had about 30 minutes at home before I had to leave for Ravel and Mozart rehearsal–it was a nice way to spend a Saturday evening.