Category / Brandi

by Talmadge House

Happy 38th Birthday Mikey!

We celebrated Mike’s 38th birthday yesterday.  He received a couple of nice gifts if I might say so myself and we dined at the Outback which was alright.  The company and atmosphere was superb however the choice in food not so much.  We’ll get something different next time.

My birthday guy and our buddy wrapped up on the couch for their evening cuddling

A few other pics from the weekend blizzard . . . look how much snow fell on us!

And for good measure another picture of Scottie in his snow trail that his daddy so nicely snow blows for him.  He’d really have  hard time getting around otherwise.  Look how deep it is compared to his little body.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I’m so excited!  Here’s what our tree looks like . . . before we swiped her up at the tree farm.  She’s a little thing isn’t she . . . PERFECT!

by Talmadge House

Drum Roll Please . . . We Have a Winner

And the winner of the Talmadge House “spirit of the season giveaway” is . . . . . . . .

MY SISTER BRIDGET

And the crowd roars . . . I can hear the shrilling screams of joy coming from her already.  Congrats Bridget!!!  I’ll put it in the mail tomorrow morning  (12/18) with Priority shipping so you can enjoy through the rest of the season.  Thank you to everyone who played along.  It was so nice to read about everyone’s traditions.  Simply divine!  Don’t you just love this time of year!  This was a lot of fun so I’m thinking we’ll have another giveaway in January.  Hmmm . . . what will I make for the next giveaway.  Keep your eyes peeled.

Alrighty then here are a few miscellaneous pictures from the last week of our lives.

Me and my mother-in-law Carol.  We all went to The Nutcracker of which Carla played a part in.  Loved this show!  Gorgeous costumes and divine music performed by The Danbury Symphony Orchestra.  Carla, the only picture of you and your girlfriends that turned out was the one you were talking in and I think you’d kill me if I posted it.  So you’re stuck with me and Carol’s pic instead.

And the man of all men . . . ooo la la.  Check out that smile/smurk on his face . . . I’ll just say it again ooo la la!  Picture taken the other day when we took Scottie for a walk at the marina.  Nice green trailer behind him huh?  Love this marina, so homey and down to earth!

Listen guys I know I take too many pictures of this dog of ours but really though how many of you can say you have a picture of your dog doing this?  You name it, I’ve probably got it.  Hysterical! This too was taken while at the marina.  SMILE SCOTTIE YOU’RE ON CAMERA!  Watch out when I’m around with the camera . . .  I’ll catch you doing something funky and am bound to post it here.  HA!

by Talmadge House

In the spirit of giving “A Free Giveaway”

Attention all friends and family . . . In the spirit of Christmas Talmadge House presents a giveaway of an advent calander handmade by me.  You can tuck the calendar into one of your Christmas displays or lean up against something on your desk.  I borrowed the idea from Jenni Bowlin who designs and sells all things pretty.  Isn’t that picture of the children and santa vintagy?  It’s circa 1940’s of my Uncle David, Uncle Gary and Aunt Ruth.  My Aunt Alicia and my mom call Mr Santa “The Sexy Santa”.  I think they’re right . . . our santa’s today don’t look like this one.  Although if you look at his eyes and the grip he has on my aunt he looks a bit scared.  I’m thinking my uncles bribed him for whatever it was they wanted for Christmas and told him they’d give him up if he didn’t make it happen (little devils).

So there’s only one so only person can win and here’s what you need to do to qualify.  You must subscribe to our blog (Talmadge House) which is very easy and I’ll describe in a minute.  The second thing you must do is leave a comment telling us one of your families Christmas Traditions.  Don’t have a tradition then tell us your favorite Christmas movie.  Comment section is at the end of this post.  If you’ve already subscribed then all you have to do is leave a comment as noted above.

Alrighty then . . . so onto those needing help subscribing to our blog.  Look to the top right of this post and you’ll see a red square with a gold door knob (this is actually our front door of which you’ll see on all of our pages . . . you can click on it and it will take you back to the home page otherwise known as the front door, clever huh?)  OK so right below our red door is a field where you enter your email address and then select the “subscribe” button.  You will receive an email (from confirmations @ emailenfuego .com) asking if you really want to subscribe to Talmadge House’s Blog. You will need to click on the link listed in this message to activate your subscription. By subscribing you will automatically receive an email from us when we post a new blog entry.  Isn’t that awesome!  You only have to visit us when we send you an “invitation” via your email.  Of course you can visit any other time as you’re always welcome.

OK you guys listen up . . . we will know who does and does not subscribe and you can only qualify for this advent calander by subscribing and leaving a comment as noted above.  By the way, our blog is for fun and so that you can keep up with our daily lives (that’s if you want to see us and read about us) and we do not give away your email address.  We will draw a random name on Wednesday 12/17/08 9PM eastern time and will post the winners name the same night.  We will mail the advent calendar to you . . . of course we’ll pay for the shipping . . . it IS a giveaway right?  It would warm our hearts and we’ll even do the sugar plum fairy dance if we have all of you sign up.

And a picture of the baby who we took for a walk at the marina this weekend.  Had to check on the boat to make sure all was well.  Look how little Scottie is compared to the boat . . . or maybe our boat is a big girl?  Scottie was right at home though, he LOVES the marina!  His spirit was lighter after this visit, it has been awhile.  He’s so used to going there pretty much every day from April – October.

Oh wow . . . this is a lengthy post hope you don’t mind.  I promised my girlfriend Latonya that I’d post pictures of my vintage finds from last week so here they are.

My most favorite is this vintage fan that has the original cord and yes it really works.  FABULOUS find!

And an apothecary jar for my peroxide (2nd jar from the left).  Love these containers, they dress up your bathroom.

And these door knobs made into knobs that can be added to a shelf to hang all things pretty from.  These are from Belgium.  I asked Santa (Mike) to make me a custom shelf for my studio of which we’ll add these knobs to.  Yippee!

by Talmadge House

Free Vintage Gift Tags

Ooo-la-la these are sooo pretty.  Sweet Jessie has given her readers a free PDF for these vintage gift tags which was worth sharing with my female readers.  Sorry guys Mike has to get to work with his manly postings.  Until then you’re stuck with me and HEY I don’t think that’s so bad and I’m sure you’d all agree wouldn’t you?  And listen think of the points you’ll earn if you printed these Vintage gift tags on nice cardstock and brought them home for your wives to use?  Mike would earn alot of extra credit points for that gesture.  So hop to it guys, get printing!

And a picture worth sharing of our baby sleeping while I was working for Thought Out assembling iPhone hands.  Such a good boy!  You can’t really see in the picture but his little head is actually laying on one of the metal hands.  He was comphie & content next to his mama and the warm wood stove . . . spoiled for sure!

by Talmadge House

Sparkly Christmas Wreath Tutorial & a Birthday Party

A sparkly ornamental wreath tutorial just in time for Christmas.  If I don’t make it this year, I’ll surely make it in the future so to the tutorial archives this link goes for me.  Can you imagine the sparkly pretty things that can be added . . . oh my

And a great big Happy Birthday #5 to Miss Isabella who celebrated with nine of her little friends at Great Escape today.  Wow, what an experience . . . I’m thinking my sister does not want me to have a child by allowing me into places such as this.  LOL!!!

This was at time of arrival when all the children were sweet smelling and extremely excited!

See how busy it started to become.  All the children were tagged like heards of animals and had to leave their shoes with the hearding staff.  Picture is a bit blurry but you get the idea.

Look at her looking at Leium (I know I’ve misspelled this little guys name).  He was quite the little entertainer as you can see by the sweet smile on Bella’s face.  It appears he’s covered his eye with a purple cup and she apparently thought this was funny.

Like monkeys in cages . . .

And yes Isabella I felt the same exact way at the end of this party . . . HA!

While I joke I’m truly blessed and entirely greatful to be a part of Isabella growing up.  Happy 5th birthday cutie pie!

Great Big Hugs & Kisses From

Aunt Brandi & Uncle Mike

by Talmadge House

Sis Boom Wahoo

Today my friend Michele and I made a trip to Wilton to visit Sis Boom’s open house.  She designs her own yummy fabric and makes all things kitschy.  Here’s her blog which also contains all things pretty surely a must see!

Here’s my vintage goodie finds . . .My favs?  Oh gosh definately the black & white cabinet card in the upper right hand corner (LOVE IT!) & the bag of miscellaneous fabric.

And this apron . . . I purchased it for our niece Isabella for her birthday, pink is one of her favorite colors right now.  It’s Sis Boom’s fabric and the apron is made from one of her fabric lines called “Girlfriends”.  Simply adorable, gosh I think it might fit me right?  HA!  It’s so pretty I’d love one in a big girl size.

Oh and since we WERE in Wilton we had to stop at Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk.  Oh my gosh this was a day of all things pretty and yummy.  Stew has great marketing with his taste samples.  I mean I had no intention of purchasing Brussel Sprouts that is until I tasted what was cooking.  You go Stew for taking our hard earned money!  So here are the ingredients needed.

And the recipe . . .

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves (chopped)

1 tsp salt

2 shallots (chopped)

2 containers brussel sprouts cut in half

1/2 cup crispy onions (you know like french’s in the red & white can . . . I have fancy imported onions in my picture though).  I love all things fancy you know.

3/4 cup mushrooms chopped

In a large skillet, saute garlic and mushrooms in olive oil.  Add shallots, brussel sprouts and chicken broth.  Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes.  When brussel sprouts are tender add the crispy onions.

THE VERDICT:  I had to add about 1/3 cup more chicken broth for the last five minutes of cooking and next time I’ll try cooking on medium-high.  I loved this recipe!  Mike on the other hand, well lets just say he took a bite but then pushed them around his plate while making funny faces.  He’s such a good sport!  Thanks Mikey for letting me cook ONE NEW thing once per week and for trying it.  You see, I was in a phase of cooking new recipes all of the time so Mike thought it best to try one new recipe per week.

And lastly this little guy sprained his back right leg before I left for my Sis Boom/Stew Leonard’s day today.  Poor thing knew I was getting ready to leave and that I WAS NOT going to work (he knows).  He thought he might be going for a grand ride in the car.  Through his excitement he fell at the bottom of our stairs and injured his leg.  He cried which brook my heart.  He’s still gimping around on it tonight so I’m on my way out to the family room to put an ice pack on it.

by Talmadge House

A Mixed Bag

Our first snow fall of the season happened this morning . . . so pretty!

OK . . . this year we had two Thanksgiving meals.  Thursday we went to Michael’s dads and Saturday we went to my sisters.  Here are some photos from the events.  We’ll start with my sisters dinner first.

This is where you’ll typically find Mike . . . yep always working!

My mom . . .

My brother Scott . . . love the new beard/stash!

Our niece Shelbie who has the most beautiful blue eyes . . . She’s growing up so fast!

Our niece Isabella who is such a bundle of bouncy joy . . . simply adorable!

And we decorated their Christmas Tree (Bridget handed out the ornaments) . . .

Now onto Mike’s dads dinner . . .

Mike’s sister Crystal loving the turkey . . .

Mike’s sister Carla . . . we got a picture with both eyes open, amen!

Me with Crystal’s new puppy Chloe (such a sweet loving little puppy) . . .

LuLu (sweet mush pie)

And last but no least Charlie (he’s the alpha dog of this household) who’s growing tired these days . . . we love you Charlie!

by Talmadge House

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was awakened as normal on a day off at 5:30 AM by our furry baby pawing me at the bedside.  It’s his new thing lately asking me to please help him up into the bed so he can cuddle.  He isn’t so good with jumping up into the bed these days.  So up he went and we were off to cuddle land and I let out a great big “gooble gooble” as I always do on Turkey Day.  I was then reminded of one of the greatest things I’m thankful for.  It’s the unconditional sweet love that Scottie gives us every second of his life.  I’m also thankful for my husband who is the greatest man in this entire universe and also our friends and family.  Without the relationships we have life wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is.  And isn’t it true that the things we are most thankful for are the things we work hardest at?  So with that statement I’m thankful for the business Mike has developed and is taking off like no ones business.

Anywho . . . a few pictures of our furry babies and their attitudes this morning . . .

These two faught all morning.  Pele (the black kitty) will sit and just look at Wilbur which causes growling.  Had to keep seperating the two of them and reminded them they’re lucky their not turkeys!

This one kept howling at the back door.  Guess she wanted a turkey hunt outside . . .

And this one . . . he laid around the kitchen floor while I prepared some food to take to dad’s for dinner.  Love when he lays like this . . . By the way, we’re getting new flooring for the kitchen.  Wouldn’t you agree it’s about time?  HA!

So now we’re off to my father-in-law’s for dinner.  I’ve been assigned to the mashed potatoes this year.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

by Talmadge House

24 Degrees & Fido Fleece

Who’d of thought we’d have January weather in November?  Then I remember “oh yeah, we live in New England so there’s no telling what weather is in store for us” which is one of the many reasons I call the northeast home and have no interest in living anywhere else.  So this was Scottie’s year for a new winter jacket or as the dog’s call em “Fido Fleece” and we found the perfect one for him.  It screamed Scottie Buddy Boy, it’s adorbaly cute, soft & warm.  Scottie and I excitedly made our purchase and dashed home to show Mike (dad) our great find only to be confronted with a response that went something like this “it’s alright, I don’t like the shade of blue”.  Well ba hum bug . . . we adore it and will wear it with furry pride.

On this 24 degree day with a wind chill factor of gosh must’ve been 10 degrees Scottie happily put on his bran new fido fleece and off we went to run errands.  He instantly did his business as usual but was then perplexed at why his crazy mother has decided to stand in the freezing cold taking pictures.  “Lets go mom, I’m freezing”.

His ears were flapping in the wind . . . LOL!

“Aaaaa . . . thanks mom for putting me into the warm car, now you get in here . . . lets go!”

Fido fleece is our favorite dog jacket of choice on the market today.  Although Scottie has his routine of reactions when we put his jacket on and it goes like this.  He’s very agreeable when putting his two front paws into the jacket but when we go to attach the velcro down his back, he goes nutz trying to bite and pull on it.  I think it’s cuz he’s crazy happy to be going bye bye and is showing his gratitude.  Funny little guy!

by Talmadge House

Is It Bob’s or Barbara’s?

It’s that time of year again . . . Christmas card planning which involves a family picture for us (me, Mike and Scottie Buddy Boy).  Can’t forget the furry baby, he’s part of the festive experience.  So off we went to pick up a new shirt for Mike cause ya know he has to match what I’ve chosen to wear.  So he decides that Bob’s would be a good place to start and who am I to complain, I’ve got him in the car actually going to pick this new shirt out.  So Bob’s it is, here we come.

I never really thought about the name of the store and that it might imply they catter more to the male species.  I mean they’ve got a little bit for us females but nothing like they have for our counterparts.  As we make our way to the back of the store I notice they’ve got all this hunting clothing (you know like Carharts & Dickies).  I’ve catagorized the make of gear as hunting due to growing up in upstate New York where almost all the men hunted and always wore Carhart clothing.  So I finally say to Mike “you know this store has so much stuff for men and very little for women”.  He proceeds to say “well, it IS Bob’s NOT Barbara’s”.  HA!!!  Funny little man came out with a good analogy of which I had to share with all of you.  Thanks for reading.

Because I love pictures so much and don’t like posting without one here’s one I pulled from the Fall this year.  Mike and his dad impatiently waiting for me to finish taking pictures while at the Bethlehem Fair.  See the impatience on Mike’s face?  I’m surprised my father in law didn’t have his tongue sticking out at me.  See what I have to deal with . . . like father like son.  HA!