One of my favorite blog readers read about my trouble finding my favorite tea and sent me a canister as a surprise. I am so blessed! Thanks Mama, for making my cubicle time a little more fruitful!
Tea on my Doorstep!
02/14/2011
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Art, Art: Cooking, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: gift, mama, republic of tea, surprise, tea | 
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Posted by mahlbrandt
Prayer Shower
02/10/2011
Last Monday Jason and I gathered around his brother Dan and his wife Ginger along with 7 of their closet friends to give them a baby shower. Not the gift kind of baby shower—we’ve already done that—this was a prayer shower. We all went around and prayed blessings over their baby girl, the upcoming birth, the new parents, their home and gave thanks for the gift she is and will be to our community of friends and family. It was relaxed and informal but a really special time for the parents-to-be. (I didn’t take any pictures that night but here’s another one from the maternity shoot two days before.)
Have you ever hosted a prayer shower or been to one?
5 Comments | Faith, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Jason | Tagged: expecting, Faith, prayer shower, praying | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Update on the MCM Post-Flood Rebuild
02/08/2011At the beginning of the year, our friends’ house was torn down. (Remember, it had been destroyed in the May 2010 Nashville Flood after having standing water 4 ft. above the foundation level.) The new house must be built up off the ground and follow all sorts of ridiculous FEMA regulations. Construction started last week:
The house basically has an above-ground unfinished basement. They’re not allowed to use this space for any habitable living space. Half of it is graveled and the other half is paved for a garage and storage area. And possibly a roller rink?
If I can get their permission to do so, I’ll keep you posted with the design and interior development. If not, I’ll just kept tabs on the exterior changes.
(CBB 3.0)
3 Comments | Art, Art: CBB 3.0, Art: mid-century design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: CBB, flood, new build, renovation | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Expecting
02/02/2011On Saturday I had the privilege of snapping some last minute pregnancy pictures of my brother- and sister-in-law. They were going to have a photographer friend of ours do some portraits but it never worked out and we’re down to the wire (2.5 weeks to due today) so I offered my free but mediocre photography skills. I was happy to try out my new Nikon in a portrait setting and I’m pleased that a few good ones emerged. Not bad for a point and shoot.
I played with some different photo treatments in Photoshop. Mama-to-be requested some black & white and some without her face in the shot. (Full term pregnant women are always a bit self-conscious about looking puffy in the face. I think Ginger looks radiant!) Photographer friends – feel free to offer your constructive criticism on my skillz (or lack of skills).
I think she looks so lovely in this one:
They’re silly. I’m glad I captured this moment because I don’t think it could be reproduced. Their house is always full of laughs and I know they’ll be super fun parents.
This is one of my favorite shots because Dan didn’t know I was taking it. I was setting up for the next shot while Ginger when to change clothes.
This is the only shot that I actually had a vision of creating the night before. I think it works and captures them fairly well. Daddy Dan, the thinker, a man of few words, a planner. Mama Ginger, always rubbing her baby bump and speaking sweetly to her daughter, lovely and content.
Marty can’t wait to have another master to lick…
Jason and I are so excited for them and excited to meet our niece. It’s been really cool to see how Dan and Ginger have grown so much the past 9 months in maturity and spiritually. I know that they will be great parents. I’ve been so encouraged and inspired by how positive Ginger has been through the entire pregnancy. She hasn’t had any complaints and has enjoyed every moment of carrying a baby (except maybe for that couple of hours early on when the mid-wife said she couldn’t find the heartbeat, but that all worked out). Her pure love and joy for their baby girl is contagious. Or maybe it’s just that as her auntie, I already have a lot of love and joy for her, too.
We love you guys and are looking forward to walking with you into this new adventure!
7 Comments | Art, Art: graphic design, Art: modern design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: expecting, maternity photos, niece, pregnancy | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
January Spring
01/31/2011
This weekend was January Spring! What’s January Spring, you ask? That’s what Jason and I call the weekend we seem to get every winter, usually in January, where we get a preview of spring and a respite from winter. This past Saturday and Sunday were sunny with highs of 65º. A glorious change from all the snow we’ve had in Nashville this year. (We had 4.5 inches in December and I think it’s been more than that in January.) I left the doors hanging open hoping to lure the warm sunshine into the house!
Here’s a little weekend recap:
Friday night I had dinner with my parents and we saw 127 Hours. It was intense and disturbing so be forewarned if you go. It is inspiring to see how Aron Ralston went through what he did and survived. Talk about a will to live.
Saturday I had the privilege of snapping some last minute maternity pictures of my brother- and sister-in-law. More on that later this week. After that: grocery shopping, lunch outside, a Vanderbilt – University of Arkansas basketball game, and a movie with friends.
Sunday Jason got home—if you’ve been reading this blog for the past 6 months you know how much I love homecomings!—and we enjoyed the warm weather with breakfast outside, weeding the garden (Jason) and a walk with Lucy. After that his family came over to hang out for the evening. We ate tortilla soup and berry delight and played Apples to Apples. Jason and I topped the night off with catching up on the past couple episodes of Modern Family. It was a wonderful weekend!
—–
By the way… sorry for the unannounced blog hiatus the past couple weeks. I was feeling uninspired after weeks of cold, snowy winter and decided I needed a break. Five posts a week is a big time commitment and though I enjoy it, sometimes I feel like I put too much pressure on myself. So I’m back. I’m not sure if I’m 5-days-a-week back, but I’m here.
2 Comments | Art, Art: God's creation, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Jason, Family: Me | Tagged: january spring, weekend, winter | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Bringing the House Down
01/19/2011Back in May I wrote about the flood that impacted Nashville and the surrounding Tennessee areas, including our friends and downhill neighbors Leila and Jeremy.
As a reminder, here’s what their house looked like after they purchased it and worked to fully renovate it:
Here’s what the house looked like during the flood:
And here’s the house at almost the peak of flood level. It’s the one on the right. You can see that the water is up to the base of the windows. It eventually made it half way up the window to a level of 4 ft. in the house. The water was too deep (and disgusting) for me to get a picture straight on:
So here we are now, 7-8 months later, and their house is finally being demolished. FEMA regulations required that the house be raised 4ft to be above flood plain. When the costs were evaluated it made the most sense to demo and start over. This process has been long and painful for our friends and it was so good to see tangible forward progress just before New Years.
Demolition was set to begin just around sunrise on a crisp morning:
A quick peak inside before it’s gone; everything of value had been striped out: windows, insulation, wiring, plumbing…
And before the sun was above the tree line, the house was a pile of sticks and bricks:
It turned out to be a bright, beautiful day and brought new meaning to a clean slate for a new year. I’ll do my best to keep you updated on the progress. Soon (once the snow melts…) the foundation will be poured and construction on their new home will begin. I’m hopeful that they’ll be in their new home by the anniversary of the flood.
(CBB)
3 Comments | Art, Art: mid-century design, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: CBB, demolition, Nashville Flood, renovation | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Christmas 2010
12/30/2010
My last post on our mid-century modern Christmas 2010 is a recap through photos. (I’m still in vacation mentality so most of these are staight-out-of-camera shots.) First, we got together with Jason’s parents, his brother and our sister-in-law (who is 7.5 months pregnant with our niece) at our house for an early, laid-back celebration. We played dominos, ate pizza, opened presents and watched a movie.
Then, for Christmas weekend, we drove with my parents to my brother and sister-in-law’s house in Pennsylvania. We had great weather the whole way. Clear roads and snow on the ground in some places.
Lucy came along. She sat on my lap most of the way. Jason gave me a new camera for Christmas so I was still trying to learn it over the holiday. It’s a Nikon Coolpix. (I got him rain boots and a drill bit & driver set, in case anyone cares.)
This is Lucy’s cousin Queso. She’s wearing a Penn State sweater.
Hi Mama!
My brother-in-law Jeff and my brother Aaron
Jason and I accidentally matched our black and white striped shirts on Christmas Eve.
SISTERS! 🙂
Our Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve tradition. Jessica, mama and me.
My sister-in-law Laura gave Aaron a pair of thrifted cowboy boots as a joke. The joke is on her when he starts wearing them for real!
Queso got a new toy from Aunt Martina and Uncle Jason.
Jason enjoying his new subscription to Money magazine.
Dad spent a lot of time playing with is new iPad.
Lucy is very tolerant.
Aaron, Laura, my parents.
Jeff’s sister Megan, his dad, Jess and Jeff.
Neko got a new bone from Aunt Martina and Uncle Jason.
Me, Jason, Jessica on Christmas Day 2010
A major snow storm was forecasted to hit Eastern Pennsylvania on Sunday night so we left a day ahead of schedule and headed home a different route, which led us right through Cincinnati were our dear friends live. They generously offered to host us overnight. It was a great Christmas gift to get to see them again this year!
1 Comment | Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends, Family: Jason, Family: Lucy, Family: Me | Tagged: a mid-century modern Christmas, Christmas, Family, framily, friends | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
I made cookies.
12/23/2010I had plans to walk you step by step through my favorite cookie recipe—Peanut Butter Blossoms—and a new recipe from my neighbor that I tried for the first time—Peanut Brittle—but a) I don’t have time, b) I’m too lazy to dig the recipes back out of the recipe box, and c) you are done making Christmas cookies and treats by now, anyway, right?
I’m eating both right now and they are delicious! That’s all you really need to know, really.
Speaking of our recipe box, a friend gave us this one as a wedding gift. Susan, I think of you every time I’m digging for a recipe!
5 Comments | Art, Art: Cooking, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: cookies, peanut brittle, peanut butter blossoms, recipe box, wedding gift | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
Nashville Christmas Parade 2010
12/22/2010
A couple of weeks ago I went to Nashville’s Christmas tree lighting and parade. It’s on a Friday night downtown, which I thought was so weird when we moved here but I guess it makes sense with the lights. This is the first time in 7 years I’ve made it out to watch the parade. Usually we forget about it until we’re stuck in a traffic jam due to the closed roads. Anyway…
My friend Laren and I went down to Public Square to meet our friends Kala and Nate. Nate was busy doing some video thing for work so the three of us waited for the tree to be lit. (Jason was on the road with a music gig, in case anyone is wondering.)
I was glad I had my new hat cuz it was COLD!
Waiting … waiting … waiting …
There it is!
As soon as the tree was lit, fireworks started going off … 2 blocks away! We could hear them echoing through the city streets but we could barely see them. I love fireworks! Who planned the timing and location of these 2 events? Oh well. We set off to find Nate, who didn’t have his phone with him.
Found him and a high place to stand and watch the parade.
Music City offered some pretty good marching bands.
And several fun Christmasy floats. They were really the only thing worth photographing from our perch. A candy cane, followed by a bizarre bloated rocking horse…
A Jack-in-the-Box…
A big green donut…
A T-Rex … wait a second … what does this have to do with Christmas?!
A Godzilla-size Gingerbread Man …
And an ornament.
According to tradition, the parade ended with Santa Clause. I didn’t get a good picture of the big guy because we had moved over by this propane heater to thaw out our feet and make awkward conversation with the other people huddled around it.
3 Comments | Art, Art: crafts, Art: music, Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: Christmas parade, christmas tree, downtown, Nashville | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
A Baby Shower for Eliza!
12/02/2010
Two Saturdays ago I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law and my little niece, Eliza (with lots of help from Ginger’s friends and Eliza’s grandma and my mom.) Baby girl is due around Valentine’s Day so we decided to go for a love-hearts-valentine theme. I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have but thankfully our dear photographer friend, Beth Rose was there with camera in hand. Here are some pictures I did take.
One of the food tables, before guests arrived:
(Do you love IZZE as much as I do? Just fruit juice and carbonated water. And it’s pretty, too!)
Tables set up before guests arrived:
The favor and craft table. We had two crafty activities: a hair accessory making station and a bunch of handmade Valentines and a mailbox for welcome notes and prayers for baby Eliza.
My beautiful sis-in-law Ginger, the mom-to-be!
Guests:
We played two games. The first one everyone had 5-10 minutes to sculpt a baby out of playdoh. That’s all the instructions I gave. Once everyone was done, I asked Ginger to select the most realistic, the funniest and the most hideous. The other game we played was baby shower bingo, where partiers mark off items on a pre-made bingo card as the mama is opening her gifts. I downloaded the bingo cards free from here.
In the hallway we set up a photo “booth” with silly props to encourage ladies to pose in front of the camera. It turned out to be a lot of fun. These photos were taken by Beth Rose Goin:
Ginger and me:
Ginger and her sister Crystal (Eliza is the one with the glasses and mustache):
I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos BR took. But not as much as I’m looking forward to meeting my baby niece in a couple months! It was a really fun time and most importantly I think Ginger felt the love for her, Eliza and dad-to-be Daniel from their friends, family and co-workers.
3 Comments | Family, Family: Extended Family and Friends | Tagged: baby shower, Eliza, Family, framily, niece | Permalink
Posted by mahlbrandt
myMCMlife.com 