Feeling hot, hot, hot!

July 11, 2011 hannahviolin 2 Comments

We are going through a serious heat wave right now.

Yesterday I ran a race in the morning that I’ll recap later (waiting for official times) and then we went to the St Louis Cardinals Game.

Luckily our seats were in the shade, but STILL it was super hot. Over 90 degrees with humidity. The Cardinals won (yay!) and the walk back to the car felt like we were walking through the gates of hell. I felt as if I had been sweating constantly for hours (I had been, actually) and my clothing was soaked through…so gross!

We had dinner last night with my folks and then this morning they headed off to Boulder, Colorado to visit my sister Leslie. Chris and I were planning to do our engagement photo session this evening with our photographer, Sarah Crowder, but we decided to postpone since it is supposed to be even hotter today and we just don’t look that great dripping in sweat. I’m disappointed because I was really excited about getting pictures done, but today would just be too miserable. We’ll rebook for mid-August.

How’s your week going so far? Are you staying cool? I am so thankful for my air conditioning!

Travel

Sightseeing in my own city

July 9, 2011 hannahviolin 3 Comments

I have lived in St Louis for around three years, so it’s not like I’m a native. However, it’s always nice when people come in from out of town because then you do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do.

My parents are visiting and I wanted to show them some of the St Louis sites. But my dad had the idea of taking a riverboat cruise—he saw them on his bike ride yesterday and thought it looked like a neat thing. We had all been up in the arch before (and had no desire to do so again) so it seemed like the perfect St Louis activity.

Great view of the arch!

We considered renting a four person "bike".

I didn’t get a picture but all four of us piled into the vehicle to see how it would work. My head hit the yellow awning unfortunately, but the concept is fantastic. Another time.

The water level is very high. We learned that they had actually been closed for 45 days until a couple of days before because the road was slightly underwater. The normal parking lot was completely underwater.

Finally it was time to board the "Tom Sawyer."

Overall it was a great tour! I had (obviously) never seen that side of St Louis, and I do love being on a ship. I would probably go again if I were with people who wanted to (Leslie?). Our captain pointed out all of the barges on the river—we suspected that he secretly wished he were a tugboat captain.

After the tour we decided to go to Forest Park. I gave my parents the tour from the car and then we tried to go to the Art Museum. The parking was a disaster, so finally we parked at the bottom of the hill by the Grand Basin and "hiked" up the hill. It was less fun than it sounds, but I finally got to see the Art Museum. My mother was impressed by all of the famous paintings there, and I think we all enjoyed it very much.

Oh, and we saw larpers! Can you see them? I didn’t want to get too close for pictures.

We made a reservation at Trattoria Marcella for dinner. I had the shrimp risotto and it was fantastic. We also split the mushrooms with polenta fries.

All in all it was a wonderful day!

Oh, and I got a wedding dress yesterday ;) I don’t get to see it again until December 1 or so! But it’s gorgeous :) (Yes, I just threw that in at the end.)

Random thoughts

My save the date cards

July 8, 2011 hannahviolin 4 Comments

Okay, I think FINALLY people have all gotten their save the date cards with the exception of a couple we were/are still tracking down addresses for. That means…I can finally share them with you all!

*disclaimer, if you are only reading this on my blog, do NOT save the date, though presents are of course still welcome*

*other disclaimer, I am not going to post a link to the wonderful artist who made these for us because I don’t want to spoil the invitation plan. I’ll tell you all about her later!*

I love them! I was so excited when I got them :) What do you think? Awesome, right?

Random thoughts

Tomorrow: Wedding dress shopping part the second

July 7, 2011 hannahviolin 1 Comment

I have two appointments tomorrow for wedding dress shopping. I’m sure it will be grand!

Last night we went to the Cardinals game. Joe and Michelle got the tickets.

Incredibly flattering photographs of me! Anyway, those were our seats—it was in a section of the stadium I’d never sat in, called the "left field porch" or I guess more appropriately the "left field party porch."

The game started poorly (the Reds were up 8-0 at one point) but the Cards came back and eventually tied the game. It went into extra innings, and we actually had to leave (work night for some people), but caught the end of the game at home. The Cardinals unfortunately lost, but at least it wasn’t super embarrassing.

I was good and didn’t eat any of that junk. I just photographed it for blackmail purposes.

Anyway, we had a great time—the chairs even had cushions on them!

Today I had a workout with Mike, met with another florist, and (gasp) taught a few students. Tomorrow my parents are coming to visit. They are actually driving up from SC right now. They’ll be here over the weekend, and it’s the first time they’ve come to visit, so there should be lots to do. If I don’t blog over the next couple of days, that’s why!

Wish me luck tomorrow! Ideally I’ll find my dress.

Random thoughts

Wedding Dress Shopping, Part 1

July 7, 2011 hannahviolin 2 Comments

Obviously I didn’t buy any of these or I wouldn’t be posting here…

I didn’t find anything I really liked yesterday. Some of them were okay, and I definitely got a better idea of what I am looking for. It may just be that I felt a bit ridiculous in a gigantic white (ish) dress and the whole thing is crazy. Or alternately that I wanted MORE ridiculous attention from the saleslady and she was being more hands off. Looking at the pictures we took I like some of them more than I did in the store, and vice versa. Either way, don’t they say that when you find your dress you just know?

I’ve got more dress appointments on Friday, so I’ll have more chances. We’ll see what happens!

Also the other day was cake tasting again.

And we have chosen our cake. It’s just a matter of going and booking it now.

Chris looks really tan here.

Food

Fourth of July

July 5, 2011 hannahviolin

So, after my early morning race, I had a BBQ to prepare for!

Or cookout. Depending.

In a nutshell: making dark and stormies (rum and ginger beer), burgers and brats, hanging out in the backyard with friends, playing badminton, and using a badminton birdie retrieval device when the birdie (or shuttlecock) went into the neighbor’s yard by accident.

(it was a pasta spoon taped to a broom.)

I made “chocolate eclair dessert” (link goes to basically my recipe) and Ina Garten’s potato salad. Both were delicious. I also made a 7 layer dip (avocadoes, beans, tomatoes, onions, olives, cheese, sour cream, salsa…that’s more than 7 layers already though…).

And now for some of Brad‘s pictures I ripped from his facebook page: