Peck Life

For the babies!

This weekend, we were awesome and laced up our walking shoes to support healthy babies on behalf of the March of Dimes. 11 local bloggers = $4,000 raised, because that’s how we roll. The day was perfectly sunny and wonderful. Chelsey made a gif of our attempt at jumping, because one picture really doesn’t do it justice.

The best crew (L > R): Tracy, Jill, Stephanie, Chelsey, Melissa, me!, Chelsea, Mandy, Carolyn, Ashley, and Fiona.

After the walk we enjoyed lunch and playtime at a nearby park in the blistering sun. I’m not going to complain but next time around…let’s just say there will be more sunscreen and more water involved. Happy Monday everyone!

PS - the MOO.COM winners have been announced! Click to see if it's you!

Ten on Ten: May 2012

It’s that time again and it sure has been a while! Put on by the lovely Rebekah {welcome baby Zeb!!!}. The premise is simple: once a month, on the 10th of the month, take a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. It’s a fun way to practice your photography skills and find beauty in the every day!

This month was a little different. I was at work….for a very long time….so you can thank my great husband for managing the photo taking process for this post! I was short a few photos but hopefully the little movie makes up for it.

Driving – Sky’s favorite pastime...this is his OVERLY happy squinty face.

The half dying magnolia in our yard that smells like lemons.

Sky’s work of art

Saying hi to dolly!

It’s trucks around here…..24/7

Seriously? Really? Can this get any cuter?

Mustard Fields

I often complain about my commute because it’s so long….but living in the country does have benefits, like mustard fields in May! They are so beautiful, it almost feels fake. Oh, how I love you yellow flowers.

A special giveaway from MOO!

Happy Tuesday friends! Today, I am thrilled to announce that MOO.COM has graciously offered to provide some very lucky readers with a stash of business cards and greeting cards in an exclusive giveaway! If you have not heard of MOO before, they just love to print – whether it’s creative business cards, stickers, Postcards, MiniCards, Greeting cards, and much more!

Well, MOO was born from a love of beautiful, high-quality print and design. They make printing beautiful and unique business cards online so simple! Either upload your own images or artwork to create truly creative cards, or you choose a designer business card template to personalize with your own details.

I am actually completely obsessed with their designs. For example:

Can you believe these are just ready to order so perfect and cute already? The thought of designing my own also makes me a little excited, the possibilities are endless!

There will be 3 lucky winners!

Each winner will receive 100 classic Business Cards.

But WAIT, there’s more!

One of the winners will not only receive their business cards…they will also receive a set of 25 MOO Greeting Cards!

To enter, post a comment below telling me how you would put your cards to good use and/or what your favorite MOO design is! You must include a valid email address or way to reach you so we can let you know if you are a winner. No contact info = disqualified, and that would be sad. You have until Sunday, May 13 at 8pm pacific time. 

The 3 lucky winners will be selected via Random.org and announced on the blog Monday, May 14.

This giveaway is now closed. And the winners (as determined by random.org) are:

GRAND PRIZE (100 business cards + 25 greeting cards): Libby from Libby’s Life

1st Prize (100 business cards): Bridget from Being Frugal and Making it Work

2nd Prize (100 business cards): Alyssa from Everyday Maven

Thank you to everyone who entered and congrats to the winners! You will receive an email shortly with more details on how to claim your prize.

PS – Liking Peck Life on Facebook or Twitter is not mandatory but is always welcomed and appreciated.

GOOD LUCK!

Details and Disclosures: This giveaway is open worldwide (because MOO ships anywhere!) and will close at 8pm Pacific on 5/13/12. Limit one entry per person. Your contact info will only be used to contact you if you are selected as a winner. While MOO was awesome enough to supply me with some business cards as well, I was not otherwise compensated for writing this post. All opinions and commentary included in this post are my own and it’s the honest truth. I don’t lie about products I love.

Weekending

{First of all, I think I might have a few new readers so welcome! If you are just getting familiar, I’m Emily {hiiii!} and you can read more about our family here. It’s nice to “meet” you!}

A typical Saturday – “play trucks mommy!”

Birthday party sprinkles for Lily

Jumpin’ with my boy.

The most precious naptime photos – sleeping and stretching, just like super Grover!

Our sweet dog, Lily

This weekend seemed 2-fold. On one hand, it felt long and slow and was filled with birthday parties, visiting family, house cleaning, thinking about Grandma {still can’t believe she’s gone…} and general laziness, mainly due to exhaustion. On the other hand, my mind was in overdrive trying to complete some outstanding “day job” work, a manual photography class, and blog posts for the week, since I’ll be working crazy hours for the next 5 days. You can bet I’m counting down the days until Friday! It seems to be one of those times in life where there is just TOO much going on. Is it just me or is it happening in your life too?

PS - On another note, I didn't have the urge to check Pinterest all weekend. What's wrong with me??

I’ll see you all tomorrow for a very special giveaway, my first one {eeeek!}. Happy Monday friends!

Friday Favorites

{Photo credits: Heather Bullard, fun.kyti.me, and a cup of jo}

Today is Friday. What a draining week. Roughly 24 hours ago, I lost my sweet Grandma. We are all still grieving so these links seem a bit trivial but each one put a smile on my face sometime over the past few days so I hope they do the same for you. Happy weekend. xoxo

1. I wish this was my Mother’s Day brunch.

2. Paint chip perfection.

3. And then the sweaters were happy.

4. The most perfect way to spend an afternoon.

5. Is it a cheese name or a font name? This will keep you busy for hours.

6. This brightened my day.

Things I'm afraid to tell you.

There is a lot of blogging buzz lately about authenticity. Are we being genuine and true to what life is really like when we share our world online? Or, are we presenting an unrealistic fairytale? Does it even matter? Today, I am teaming up with Ez from Creature Comforts and a host of other amazing bloggers to discuss this very topic, spurred to life from a few twitter conversations and this post from Jess over at Makeunder My Life.

I should start by telling you that I’m a peace keeper and avoider of all things confrontation and controversy. I don’t like to be mean or strongly opinionated so I’m not really down with blog drama or judgment; we are all just trying to do the best we can, I’m sure. For me personally, my hope always is that I am always “myself” online, just as I am in real life and that people see and recognize that. Being honest and an over-sharer is in my nature (I am a horrible liar) and presenting a virtual life by any other vein doesn’t contribute to the reasons I blog in the first place. That being said, there is such a thing as “selective editing of non-essential material”. Just because I choose not to share every detail of life, does that make me “un-authentic”? How about if I only ever showcased the good and never mentioned the bad? All good things to ponder! What do you think?

The level at which people share their personal lives or daily struggles online runs the gamut and in my opinion, it’s a personal choice and is probably dependent on a number of things such as the type of blog you write, your follower base, relationships with sponsors/brands, or your overall comfort level with the internet in general. I truly believe we attract what we put out into the universe. If you feel like a blog may be unauthentic or fake and you don’t like it because it’s not “real life”, then don’t read it. If you need that bit of fantasy to help you through your day, go for it. There’s something for everyone, and there always will be.

Although I feel like this blog is pretty open, there are always things I fail to mention just because I feel like they aren’t really that important or uplifting, or I just plain forget. For example:

• Josh and I have opposite work schedules and no similar days off together. Some days, we only see each other for a few minutes. It makes me sad and blah.
• I feel like I “need a drink” a lot more after having Sky. It’s exhausting. Thinking about doing it all over again makes me even more exhausted. Sky will definitely have a sibling though….at some point.
• I pay someone to clean our house because I can’t handle the stress that comes with things always being dirty or the resentment that builds up when I spend all nap/free time cleaning toilets and floors. I sometimes feel guilty because having a housecleaner was always something only “rich” people had, and I don’t consider us rich at all.
• I am a typical first born, type A, paranoid/OCD, people pleaser.
• I think I’m probably deficient in a ton of vitamins because I’m so tired and worn out all the time. I kind of want to go to the doctor just to get all my levels checked, especially Vitamin D.
• The first thing that attracts me to read and stay with a blog is the design and layout. If a blog looks like it was created in a 1992 version of PAINT or is cluttered with so much junk that I can’t find the content, I might bounce away….just because it hurts my eyes.
• I never really experienced “mom guilt” about returning to work after I had Sky. In fact, I actually wanted to go to work. It’s very possible I might be in the loony bin if I stayed home full time. Although, as Sky has gotten older, I think I could handle stay at home life better now than I could when he was a baby.

Even more randomness can be found in this post.

Be sure to check out Ez’s post as well as links to all the other wonderful bloggers who contributed to this project and were brave enough to share things they might otherwise delete before hitting "publish". I hope you enjoyed reading this today and take the time to see what other’s have to say on this topic!

3 Months and Counting!

Just 3 short months from today, I’ll hopefully be skipping through Central Park with an ice cream cone in sunny summer weather and cute sandals. New York City has been a lifelong dream and I just can’t believe how close it is…and that it’s really happening. To-do lists are being made, outfits are being purchased, and planning has begun! Of course the whole purpose is to attend BlogHer ‘12. There is so much to learn, so much networking to be done, new friends to be made, shenanigans {I’m sure} with roomies Melissa and Diana and whoever else wants to join the fun…lives will be changed people! Will you be there??

{In case you are wondering….yes, I really do study maps before I travel}

The best Of {April 2012}

Happy May day friends! Another month has come and gone. April was sure fun but I’m ready for more sun and outside time, oh summer where are you? As I type this it’s literally dumping buckets of rain outside. Here are a few of my favorite posts from ye old blog in April:

1. DIY fabric covered thumbtacks

2. Weekending

3. Our April garden!

4. Local, BEAUTIFUL public art

5. Sewn Easter cards

6. A sunny egg hunt