Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!
Phone Photo Friday
11/30/2012
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Posted by mahlbrandt
New Home Update
11/29/2012It’s been 2 weeks since my last update so there is a lot to share. Two big things: our wood flooring is all done and our kitchen cabinets and appliances have been installed. This week the electrical is getting finished, the countertops are being installed and the plumbing will be done. All of that makes for a pretty much finished house. I’m a little behind in my picture taking so next week I will probably have pictures of a completely finished house. We’re moving in next Friday. Holla! On to the pics:
Den/playroom
I’m loving this fancy pull out trash and recycling drawer!
There will be doors on the corner cabinet up there, they just didn’t have the right hinge with them.
Those upper cabinets of the pantry will have white doors sometime this week.
That air compressor around the corner is a bit scary…
Blowing kisses at the granite yard
We chose these slabs of kashmir granite
Ali knows this is her room. She runs up the pink wall and slaps her hands on it, babbling incoherently. I think she approves.
Master:
Next kids room:
Ali’s room:
Master bedroom
Cherry cabinets stained a walnut color (I don’t remember the name of the specific finish)
I love the white ice appliances in our house as much as I did in the store.
I’m realizing I haven’t taken many new photos of the laundry room or Jason’s studio – those were the last rooms to have the flooring finished. I also haven’t photographed the bathrooms lately. We did have one little snafu with the tile in the master bathroom. We didn’t order enough the first time around so we had to get some more. The tile company sent the wrong color and the tile guy installed it anyway. (What the ?!) So that needs to be scraped up and the tile company promises the new tile will arrive by the end of this week. So, no big deal but a small set back nonetheless. It may or may not be fixed by moving day, but it will be fixed soon.
2 Comments | Art, Art: modern design, Art: new home build | Tagged: cabinets, construction, flooring, hickory, home, house, kitchen, lighting, modern, new home update, new house | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Thanksgiving 2012
11/28/2012I had a really nice Thanksgiving, partly because my sister and her family visited for 3 days and partly because I was forced to take a 4-day break from work during a busy deadline period because I had no place or time to work. And of course, also because of all the time with family, friends and delicious food!
It was a beautiful sunny, warm day so we took a walk down to our new house to show my sister’s family. Ali and her cousin Iris rode in the red wagon.
Jason and his brother Daniel finally had an opportunity to deep fry a turkey this year. They used a Cajun Butter injection. Oh my goodness…it was so good!
Both of Ali’s girl cousins were there for Thanksgiving. That’s Eliza on the left and her mom Aunt Ginger (Daniel’s wife) and Iris on the right. Iris and Eliza look like they could be cousins too, but they’re not related.
My mom also roasted a turkey in the oven with stuffing. My dad and sister Jessica carved it.
Clearly Jason was very excited about how the fried turkey turned out.
Papa (Jason’s dad) and Ali were intrigued by the turkey, too.
I didn’t take any pictures of everyone at the table this year. Boo. We had a diverse group of my family, Jason’s family and some friends … 18 people I think. After dinner, Ali and Eliza took a bath in the living room. (Not really.)
Self-portrait mode on the iPhone = a good trick to get a low quality picture of a toddler looking at the camera…
…and maybe even smiling at her cute self! Hi Eliza
Jason’s mom/Nana/Grandma K made Iris an owlie hat just like Ali’s but with shut eyes. So cute!
Piddling around behind a record store on Black Friday.
We tried a new hairstyle for Ali: pigtails! She looks so different!
Her hair looked absolutely hilarious when we took the piggies out.
After dinner my early Christmas present from Jason arrived in the mail. A NEW CAMERA!!! I’m so excited to start getting better quality pictures. I have a lot of learning to do but the good news is that I’ll be practicing a lot which means lots of pictures to share with you here.
My very first picture of the most easy going subject. A little dark but I was quite impressed that it could capture her tongue mid lip-lick without a flash in low light.
Cousins in matching PJs horsing around on the couch also made willing subjects. (Testing out the external flash on these ones.)
Ali giving Iris a big smacker kiss.
It was a wonderful, fun weekend! I’m already looking forward to Christmas break now, which will be spent at our new house. Yay!
1 Comment | Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Jason, Family: Me, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: blessings, cousins, Family, food, fun, holiday, thankfulness, thanksgiving | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Posters for Sale
11/27/2012Now that Thanksgiving is over, it seems everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit. Here we’re getting into the almost time to move into the new house spirit. Christmas decorating is in the way, way back of my mind. I wanted to remind you that I put the Wishing You a Shiny Brite Christmas poster back in my Etsy shop again this year. It’s 11×17 and $12 plus shipping.
I’m trying something new this year. I also turned two color variations of the Shiny Brite Christmas poster into downloadable PDFs that can be printed at home on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. They’re $2 a piece and free shipping, of course.
Shiny Brite Poster – Green Print-at-Home / Shiny Brite Poster – Brown Print-at-Home
Leave a Comment » | Art, Art: graphic design, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design | Tagged: Christmas, graphic design, poster, print, shiny brite, welcome home | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Recent Estate Sale Finds
11/26/2012I head out to estate sales looking for mid-century modern treasures. Like this Cosco stool that doubles as a step-stool and metal wastebasket with cut-out circles.
Sometimes I end up finding a bunch of kid stuff that’s too cheap to pass up. I’m particularly excited about this swing and finding a place to hang it in our new yard.
1 Comment | Art, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design | Tagged: estate sale, mid-century modern, pickers, picking, thrift | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Phone Photo Friday
11/23/2012
Most of my Phone Photo Friday pictures are from my Instagram feed. Follow me @mahlbrandt if you’d like!
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#ImThankfulFor
11/22/2012Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all! Thanksgiving is one of my absolute favorites because I love good food, getting together with family and friends, and I love to be thankful. We have been blessed with so much and this day is all about giving gratitude to God for His provision and abundant blessings. I’ve been participating in the Twitter Trend #ImThankfulFor this month, each day listing another thing I’m thankful for. These have been pretty random based on whatever is happening each day. Here’s my list so far:
Day 1: #ImThankfulFor Good friends and a girls’ night out … even when the kiddies come along. Mostly I’m thankful for our awesome friends!
Day 2: #ImThankfulFor my daughter’s bio family and especially her bio mom – for carrying her, loving her and wanting the best for her.
Day 3: #ImThankfulFor honest, fair and hard-working business people like our contractors, our architect and our mechanic … to name a few.
Day 4: #ImThankfulFor my church @gracechurchnash and my pastor @LindellCooley. Every Sunday I’m both challenged and encouraged.
Day 5: #ImThankfulFor my husband @JAhlb814 getting to travel the world playing music. But, #jealous he has 12x more passport stamps than me.
Day 6: #ImThankfulFor my rights as a U.S. citizen and glad to live in this country. And, I’m grateful that campaign season is finally over!
Day 7: #ImThankfulFor a knowing smile from a fellow adoptive mom at the grocery story, when stories are exchanged without words.#adoption
Day 8: #ImThankfulFor the wonderful people I work with who are creative, hard-working, trusting, encouraging, independent and supportive.
Day 9: #ImThankfulFor Friday night shopping dates with my daughter whenever @JAhlb814‘s on the road, even if it’s to Kroger. We have fun.
Day 10: #ImThankfulFor friendship that has survived college, careers, motherhood and distance…the kind of friendship that lasts forever.
Day 11: #ImThankfulFor times apart because they make reunion oh so sweet. Thankful my awesome hubby & best friend @JAhlb814 is almost home!
Day 12: #ImThankfulFor inspiring people who are kind, hard-working, motivated and optimistic even after coming through horrific situations.
Day 13: #ImThankfulFor electricity and light, gas and heat, running water, four walls and a roof … It’s easy to take them for granted.
Day 14: #ImThankfulFor a mid-week night out with my two favorite people and warm Italian food on a cold, dark evening.
Day 15: #ImThankfulFor the miracle that happened one year ago today! https://mymcmlife.com/2012/11/14/i-believe-in-miracles/ … #fostercare #court#custody #adoption
Day 16: #ImThankfulFor family near and far, but especially the ones close by that are willing to babysit their granddaughter so often!
Day 17: #ImThankfulFor estate sales! Found all kind of great stuff today, haggled for good discounts & got a workout moving furniture, too!
Day 18: #ImThankfulFor siblings. My childhood would have been so dull without them. Happy bday to my favorite sister!pic.twitter.com/AAkSVXUD
Day 19: #ImThankfulFor really big dreams and the first exciting/scary step of a new adventure.
Day 20: #ImThankfulFor Oreos. And the sweet guy who is willing to get them from the grocery store at 10:30pm. @JAhlb814 #itsthelittlethings
Day 21: #ImThankfulFor getting out of work while the sun’s still shining & an early start to a much needed 4 days off! pic.twitter.com/MU2j9jxL
Day 22: #ImThankfulFor Father God, from Whom all blessings flow! I have so many, many things to be thankful for today. Praise the Lord!
Leave a Comment » | Faith, Family | Tagged: Family, friends, God, gratitude, thanksgiving, twitter | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Little Free Library
11/21/2012I recently paid my first visit to a Little Free Library in our neighborhood. Have you ever heard of this movement? I think they’re all around the country but I’m not sure if there is an extensive list anywhere. It’s an honor system book exchange with a simple policy: take a book, leave a book. Anyone can use it. Anyone can start one. I left 4 of Ali’s board books that we no longer use and picked up a new one, But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton. Isn’t this precious? I love how the owners built the little free library to match their house. This one had one shelf of kids books and one of adult books.
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Posted by mahlbrandt
Secret Projects and Randomness
11/20/2012I probably won’t get around to doing a full New Home Update this week because of all that’s going on with Thanksgiving, family visiting and a boat load of graphic design work I need to do this week, but here are a couple of shots of our new wood floors in the great room.
There is still a lot of slippery sawdust on the floors. Ali looked like she was at a skating rink.
I moved/helped move a huge amount of furniture this weekend (no… we’re not moving into our new house for another couple weeks) including this sofa (with hide-a-bed), desk, wall cabinet and a large media cabinet (not pictured because it’s for my parents) from an estate sale…
And also all this furniture for a secret project that has been in the works for many, many months… Here’s a sneak peek at our first home staging job. Much more about that coming soon… including the official launch of our new business, more photos and hopefully a video tour of this house:
This goober is 16 months old today! I’ve been looking forward to 16 months for a long time because that’s how old Ladybug was when we parented her. Oh, 16 months! I have experience with that age! Of course, the two girls are very different.
1 Comment | Art, Art: home staging, Art: mcm thrift store find, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: estate sales, furniture, mid-century modern, new home, precious, staging, vintage, wood floors | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Cheekwood Autumn Beauty
11/19/2012My parents and I took Ali to Cheekwood Botanical Garden on a lovely Sunday afternoon (while Jason was on his way home from an 11-day tour). It was absolutely gorgeous in the park. Combine that with my beautiful daughter and I couldn’t stop taking photos! Ali’s grandparents couldn’t stop breaking the rules and picking flowers for her. Here are a few of my favorites photos:
1 Comment | Art, Art: gardening, Art: God's creation, Family, Family: Precious/Ali | Tagged: autumn, beauty, botanical, fall, flowers, garden | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
myMCMlife.com 