Peck Life

Sweet Finds: Claudia Pearson

I’ve got garden planning on the brain so it’s easy to see why I instantly fell in love with Claudia’s work. Her style of illustration suits me, it’s beautiful and detailed, yet still simple and vibrant. More fun designs, including an interesting recipe for sour cherry soup, can be found in her Etsy shop. Enjoy!

Food Lately

We’ve been enjoying some yummy grub over the past week! Thanks to a few new recipes I discovered, Valentine’s Day, a friendly neighbor, and an impromptu dinner with family, the noshing has been in full force! Let’s begin!

On Valentine’s Day, we made Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Apple Grilled Cheese based off a recipe I found at Jen Loves Kev. It was so yummy and hearty! A welcome change from plain ol’ grilled cheese for sure. We topped it off with fancy strawberry pop in honor of the holiday {Sky had milk}. Overall, a SWEET dinner, but gooooood.

The very next day we heard a knock at the front door and it was our neighbor {probably the nicest most “normal” neighbor in our cul-de-sac}, giving us freshly homemade tamales to sample and asking if we’d like to buy more as a way to raise money to send her son to New York. They were so good that we ordered a dozen and have been stuffing our bellies with them all week. There are 2 kinds; chicken and pepper/cheese. I can’t get enough!!

Another scrumptious recipe, also found at Jen Loves Kev: African Sweet Potato Stew with Red Beans. Sometimes these things look intimidating but it was actually very easy and quick to make! It was loaded with vegetables and was so warm and delicious. Add a little cornbread and you have the perfect dinner! You can see Sky’s “mini-version” above along with his assortment of fruit, which seems to be a staple for him. He also requested slivered almonds.

Lastly, we had a special dinner with our special cousins, Heidi and Ben who are visiting from out of town. Ben has magic hands and can create anything on a whim…he’s just a natural. They brought over some fish and also “whipped up” a simple salad of radicchio, tomato, beans, onion, and garlic topped with avocado. It may have been the best thing I ate all week, simple, dynamic, and amazinnnnnggggg. We paired the fish with couscous, more green salad and of course, wine. It was the best dinner among even better company. I love them. Seeing them multiple times within the last few months has been such a treat!

{Linking up with mini-meals at with two cats!}

Eat, drink, and be merry

It’s fair to say the entire weekend has been centered around food and gathering. It’s the perfect thing really….eating, talking, visiting, eating more, drinking, dessert. I’m a happy camper.

Saturday night, I met up with a few of my favorite bloggin’ girls for dinner at Z’Tejas in Bellevue, followed by frozen yogurt, which led to mall standing {it could probably be a pastime} and roaming through Forever 21. Part of me felt like I was in high school all over again. Oh, and PS….the mall was so crowded! Bellevue, hello?! Remember when you were tiny? I LOVED seeing these ladies and we had such an awesome time commiserating about life, blogging, raising young kiddos, working, target, colored pants…all of the important things.

Left to right: amanda, jill, chelsey, fiona, chelsea, melissa, mandy, amy, ashley, mandy, me, stephanie, and kiara.

This is Chelsea. She makes me laugh hard! She has a cute daughter named Lily {just like our doggie} and another little bun on the way. You should check out her blog because she’s adorable. <3 {Linking up with Mandy at Harper’s Happenings! On me: pants/kohls {again}, shirt/marshall’s, shoes/ruche}

Aren’t these hats the best? You can get your very own at Forever 21! We got shoosh’d for taking pictures, ooops!

The merriment continued on Sunday for a brunch spectacular at Salty’s on Alki. I’ve always wanted to try it so as a final 30th birthday party celebration with all our family and a couple close friends, it finally happened!

The amount of food is out of control. Anything your heart desires…it’s there. Crepes, omelets, pasta, tons of meat, oysters, crab, shrimp, pancakes, bacon, eggs benedict, 50 million desserts….enough to keep you full forever. Sometimes I get a little weary of buffets…because there are a lot of hands on the same pair of tongs..but really, this was completely fine and the food was soo soo soo good! They even bought us warm towels to wipe the germs with!

We reserved a private room downstairs and I’m SO GLAD WE DID. The main dining room was packed, like standing room only! It was so wonderful, we had tons of space, a gorgeous view of Seattle, our own private deck, and the kiddos could run all over without disturbing the peace. Such a perfect way to lounge while you stuff your face.

This is my best friend, Fallon. I love her a lot…that’s why we make hearts, yo!

Aside from all this consuming and quality friend/family time, the last 2 days of festivities was topped off with a very VERY special birthday gift:

I am like, indescribable, over the moon excited. Not only is blogging one of my favorite things in the entire world and I’m super giddy to learn, hear great speakers, and be in the presence of people I’ve followed and loved for YEARS, BUT….New York City, man. It’s been a dream for as long as I can remember. The one thing I need to do before I die, the pinnacle, the PEAK! I can’t even think about it without getting butterflies. I am SO SO SO excited.

Friday Favorites

1. My favorite post of the week!

2. I heart typography so this made me really happy.

3. Possible Idea for Sky’s room? How about a huge letter “S” ?

4. I love everything about this colorful, casual, vintage wedding.

5. How was your Valentine’s Day? I thought these natural hearts were pretty.

6. This might be my next obsession now that cupcakes are {supposedly} waning.

7. I can’t WAIT to get this book.

8. Some freebie digital vintage labels for you!

I can’t believe Friday is finally here, what a long week it has been! I’ve been a bit tired and lax on computer time but hope to be back with some great posts next week. There are adventures to be had this weekend! Xo!

On turning 30.

{Print via Studio Mela – just one of many many amazing pieces of art}

Today is my 30th birthday. It’s a big one, for sure. Lately I find myself filled with a mix of emotions that always seem to surround these high-profile milestones. There’s so much hype and everyone has a different opinion on what it means to age. I’ve been feeling like I’m supposed to feel passionate about it, like because it’s THIRTY, I’m expected to go crazy, have a mid-life crisis, wish I was still 20, or mope over the fact that I’m getting wrinkles.

The honest truth is that I’m happy for this day. It’s finally here, I’m embracing it, and I don’t really feel bad about getting older. With each year comes more layers, more learning, more growing – like rings on a tree I tell you! I feel like I’m officially an adult now! Of course, there are also drawbacks; I can’t stay up super late and be able to function the following day, the music the “kids” are playing is too loud, and I’m not sure if I should still be shopping in the juniors section. Does anyone know? How about Forever 21?

Like I mentioned in my 2012 resolutions, change is in the air. There will be new challenges and new experiences this year, I know that for sure, but it will be awesome and I say bring it on! I will know myself better than I ever did in my 20’s. I wonder if I’ll be saying the same thing about my 30’s when I turn 40?

Cheers to a new decade!

Mushy Gushy

Happy Valentine’s Day dear family, friends, and readers!

Burlesque me baby.

In honor of my upcoming 30th birthday, I gathered a group of friends for a Saturday night on the town that started with dinner at Wild Ginger, followed by J’Adore – A burlesque Valentine at the Triple Door, and ending {at least for Josh and I}, at Hotel Monaco in downtown Seattle. We decided to splurge and not make the hour drive home at midnight {it was TOTALLY worth it btw}! Dinner was kind of “eh” compared to previous visits to the same restaurant and the show was….comical….but still fun and entertaining. I’ve never been to a burlesque show before – the amount of PASTIES they must go through, eeeek! {Linking up with Mandy at Harper’s Happenings! On me: shirt and pants/kohls, tank/target, shoes/ruche}

{don’t mind my squinty eyes, not sure what’s going on with my face!}

A few highlights and low-lights for you {and so I can remember too}:

SWEEEEEET

• Valet parking included with our hotel stay!
• A peach bellini at dinner, delivered from afar by my best friend, Fallon, who couldn’t make it.
• All the wonderful friends/family that came with us to celebrate!
• Post show Purple Café drink with Clint and Malia!
• The BEST SUNDAY BRUNCH EVER at the Library Bistro. Let me just tell you….HOMEMADE HOT APPLE FRITTERS covered with CINNAMON AND SUGAR, served with CREAM CHEESE FROSTING. I DIED. Then, I had shredded CORNED BEEF covered with a layer of POTATOES, covered with 2 giant POACHED EGGS, covered with HOLLANDAISE SAUCE. And then I died again.

BLAH

• I don’t really have any good photos, nothing was in focus and I was scared to use the flash.
• I will always associate this hotel with “where I was” when I found out Whitney died.
• Watered down drinks at the Triple Door.
• Wanting just a simple chill night out with all my close girl friends but instead it turned into a bit of a planning nightmare and not everyone was able to make it. I learned my lesson and it will probably be a very long time before I attempt this again.
• I’m old – going to bed at 2 am and waking up at 7:30 is NOT A GOOD IDEA. No more for me.

The Best Of {January 2012}

My favorite posts from the past month, yippee! Click directly on the image for more goodness.

Right Now...

Right now, I am...

:: living in groundhog day. Kind of like the movie, I feel like each weekday is the same over and over and over.

:: feeling humbled that a very special sister in law made me the prettiest scarf {yellow!!!} and gloves.

:: thinking about a little birthday party this weekend and giddy that Josh and I splurged on a hotel for the night.

:: looking at plane tickets for NYC. SO EXPENSIVE. Yes, BlogHer…I’m coming for you. I’m completely giddy.

:: letting go of the fact that I won’t be able to do anything about my nails before Saturday.

:: holding onto the promise of spring. My co-worker gave me a seed starting tray….this is a sign.

:: wondering if one day Facebook will be like MySpace?

:: eating life cereal!

:: listening to the hum of the space heater.

:: treasuring Josh and how much he does to care for Sky during the week while I work.

:: savoring my Fran’s chocolates that need to be eaten before their “freshness” date. I save things too long.

:: preparing for Sky to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday.

:: wishing for some more sunny days ahead.

{format adapted from Soule Mama, among others}

Welcome weekend!!!

Sweet Finds: Pink Olive

If you like boutiques that have a good mix of home goods, kid stuff, and paper supplies, this is the place! Both brick and mortar stores can be found in NYC {none in Washington, boo!}, but it’s great to see that their online presence is just as wonderful; there is so much to see! That cloud pillow? I die. How perfect would that be for Sky’s room?