Peck Life

Weekending + Be Right Back

Oh what a week it has been! My grandma, aunt and uncle came to visit so we spent the weekend being tourists. Eating out, shopping, cooking a delicious dinner of fresh Dungeness crab, and a taking a trip on the brand new Seattle Great Wheel. It’s so fun actually exploring our area!

In other exciting news, this post is going live at 6:15 am today because that is the exact time I will be taking off down the runway, bound for New York City. It’s a trip I’ve been waiting nearly my entire life to go on and I have constant butterflies at the thought of being there. I CAN’T WAIT. I thought I’d have more time to organize some posts for you this week but there just aren’t enough hours in the day…soooooo…..I’ll be taking a little break on the blog here until next week. I am NOT taking a laptop with me to NYC. Why waste time staring at a screen?! There’s so much to do! In case you want to keep up on our adventures, I’m sure I’ll be tweet tweeting my way though the fun.

Have a beautiful week!

Friday Favorites

Photos courtesy of Heather Bullard and Sweet Beat & Green Bean

1. Loving this recipe for low sugar raspberry jam.

2. I’ve been obsessing over lemonade and chamomile, no idea why! It was the last photo on this post that started the chamomile obsession and it has slowly spiraled out of control. I know what I’m planting next year…

3. A beautiful blog, a beautiful baby, and dreamy sheets. This put me into a tizzy of wanting striped yellow sheets.

4. I’m planning to take this wonderful e-course. Wanna join me?

5. The simplicity and calmness of this home makes me happy.

6. Random thought, random website….I want to go here.

7. A BEAUTIFUL cake.

8. Someone in our group of friends needs to have a baby girl SOMEDAY….I mean….this dress!

9. Blue cheese biscuits. Blue cheese biscuits. Blue cheese biscuits.

10. I love everything about this vintage carnival wedding.

Happy Friday friends! Apologies for the absence yesterday….I was feeling a little blah of blogging, ran out of time to photograph what I really wanted, and finally decided to choose sleep over computer time. It’s been one of those weeks! I hope you all have an exciting weekend ahead! We have family from out of town and tons of NYC prepping to do, whoo hoo!

Wednesday Random

As this song continues to play on a solid loop in my head, and I can’t seem to focus on anything other than BlogHer in 6 days {!!!!}, I thought I would share a sprinkling of this and that with you today. A peek into my brain if you will….

I GOT DRESSED

Josh and I had a dinner date on Sunday to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary. Nothing fancy {OBVIOUSLY since I was too lazy to do my hair and instead put it up in a messy bun}, but still fun to eat in peace and not have a toddler who says “I’m all done” 3 minutes into the meal.

FLATTERY

A lovely blog friend, Sarah, was nice enough to invite me to write a guest post for her while she’s enjoying some summer vacation. It’s part of her “Women and Children” series and focuses on making the decision to have more than one child. You can read it over at her blog, Well and Cheaply, and I’ll be republishing it here next week while I’m in NYC.

A SUMMER SOCIAL

This past weekend, I went to a little Seattle blogger social, hosted by the lovely Ravenna Girls at their ADORABLE house. It was a small group but still wonderful to get to connect and have conversations longer than a few minutes. Sarah, Eva, Cathy {who brought the beautiful flowers featured above}, Madeline, Jenny, Brianne, Danielle, and Lyndsey – all such talented women! Check out their blogs!

NEW YORK CITY!!!!

This map is making me really happy right now:

Not only am I SUPER excited to attend BlogHer {especially to hear Martha Stewart and Katie Couric speak!!}, but that giant city is calling my name and there will be no shortage of sightseeing. As you can tell from the map above, I’ve plotted nearly every possibility knowing that we probably won’t make it to all the places. At least we’ll know what’s around if we are in the area! Extra special thanks to Sandra and Jess {who I’m excited to meet in NYC!} for providing some restaurant suggestions yesterday. It was the missing link to our otherwise very well researched list of adventures. So so SO excited!

As for pre-conference jitters, I’m trying to relax and just enjoy the ride. Packing has started, outfits are mostly picked out, business cards are ready, and I’m just busy plotting, planning, and preparing. I still need a belt for a dress and possibly one more pair of wedges, two things that have been surprisingly hard to find…or I’m just picky. The only other thing I'm missing is a coherent elevator pitch....I literally freeze up when someone asks me what my blog is about. What should I say?!

In case you’re interested, more fun BlogHer related posts from this week can be found here, here, and here!

DAILY LIFE

// Fresh peas from the garden // Knarly traffic, boo! // Our wild July garden // New shoes – he was so excited! //

I think it’s safe to say Sky is pretty much a full blown adult now. With phrases like “Sure, mom”, “I’m just gonna stand right here and do this”, and “Let’s go check to see if the plum’s are ripe”, it’s like I’m living with a teenager, not a 2 1/2 year old. He wants to do EVERYTHING on his own with no help from anyone. I’ve been trying to lure him on the potty with m&m’s but so far, it’s not really working. I told him he could have 1 m&m just for trying to go, 2 m&m’s for #1 and 3 m&m’s for #2. Shortly after that, he pronounced that he is entitled to FIVE m&m’s just for sitting on the potty. I shouldn’t be surprised since he asks for candy and ice cream comes ALL day long. That boy has a serious sweet tooth like his mama!

July Garden

My very favorite surprise in our July garden was the perfectly tiny and sweet robin’s egg left on the low fence that divides the main yard from the veggie/fruit area. It looked a little lonely and hopefully it found it’s way back home somehow. It’s so amazing to me the things nature makes! All I know is that I want a wall this color….or an entire bathroom….it was just the most beautiful hue.

This is our man-eating clematis. It dominates our front steps. In looking at these pictures from 2010, I can’t believe how much it’s grown in 2 years. AND, I cut it down to the ground nearly every year! Beastly!

Last year, our plum crop was miniscule. This year? The entire tree is LOADED. There is so much fruit I need to get busy to finding some good recipes. Any suggestions? I thought this stone fruit cake sounded scrumptious!

Unplugging: July 2012

Welcome to the second of a 3 part summer series about my experience unplugging for a full day. I’ll be doing it once a month all summer and invite you to join in the fun! You can read part one here.

If there’s one thing I gathered from unplugging this month, it’s that one day might not be enough. What I thought would take me months to warm up to, has quickly become rooted and left me only wanting to do more. One day is great for quieting your mind and catching up on things that have fallen to the wayside. But to truly reinvigorate creativity and relaxation, more days are needed.

My actual unplugging day this month wasn’t anything special. We stayed home and did chores, played, worked in the garden, and I think we drove somewhere {although I can’t remember why?}. I just remember being in the car and consciously having to tell myself to not check my phone. Although, more and more there isn’t a strong urge to constantly check when I remind myself that I’m not missing much. I’m finding that the summer has been a quieter time in blog land and I like it. Do you feel like people are online less in the summer? Everyone seems to be taking their own mini-breaks, posting only when they feel like it, and generally staying busy with other activities like vacation, being outside, and playing with the kids who are on summer break.

To give you a glimpse of how I’ve been spending my time when I’m not online or at work, here’s a peek into our adventures lately:

Sky likes to make messes, but not in a destructive intentional way…..more in a “I’m a boy and this is just what I do” way. Last week, he climbed up into one of the empty raised garden beds and started playing with the dirt. I indulged him as you can see…

I got a new lens for my camera – a 50 MM 1.8 and I LOVE IT. I’ve had so much fun playing around. Lily was nice enough to sit still for 30 seconds so I could take a picture of her ear.

July has brought with it the daylilies, daisies, crocosmia, black eyed susan’s, and spirea in the garden – all perfect for flower arranging. We celebrated 2 birthdays so far this month – both of our moms! So, bouquets were a necessity.

We attended a local street fair and all Sky wanted was an ice cream cone. Sweet boy got his wish and proceeded to bounce off the walls for the next 2 hours. The shoes, the giant band aid, the entire package….he’s too cute.

When I was little, picking huckleberries was one of my favorite pastimes. It was how we spent our summers. I’m happy to report that my boy is a little huckleberry hound as well and we enjoy picking anywhere we can find some bushes {mainly in nana/poppa and grandma/grandpas yard}. The crop is robust this year!

Yet another mess we’ve made lately has been with BEANS. They keep Sky entertained for quite a while with all of his trucks. They do get everywhere but thankfully any beans too small to be picked up can just be vacuumed!

I’d love to hear how you’ve been unplugging this summer and welcome you to link up below!

Sweet Finds: LEIF

Created by the lovely Stacy based out of Brooklyn, LEIF is an online boutique filled with beautiful items for yourself and your home. You will only find simple, functional, colorful, and modern one of a kind pieces here. I love it ALL! I also have a really big crush on this necklace. What a statement piece! Enjoy browsing friends!

Dear Italy

10 years ago at this very moment, Josh and I were gallivanting around Venice, Florence, and Rome on an Art History tour with our community college. I can’t explain how a city gets inside your blood but it just does. Those moments of standing on centuries old cobblestone as gondolas pass by or feeling the breeze whip through your hair as you take in the view at the top of a Tuscan hill before sunset…it’s just….nothing you can ever ever accurately describe. You just have to GO THERE and feel it {hear it…smell it….see it….and taste it….} for yourself.

Rome and Florence was one masterpiece after the next. The Sistine Chapel {You want know what inner peace feels like? Go here and bask in the glory}, the Vatican, David, Ponte Vecchio, Trevi Fountain, Ostia Antica, the Colosseum, and the list goes on and on and on. But as much as it was all amazing and beautiful, there’s was one place that trumped all of it. 

Venice.

If I could fly there tomorrow, I’d drop everything and do it {even if it meant not going to New York City for BlogHer}. It’s THAT magnificent.

I’ll never forget taking my first water taxi from the airport to our hotel and seeing the city at dusk and what it felt like to be in a completely different world – you could hear dinner dishes clanking, people singing, and windows being closed for the evening. I’ll also never forget walking through mazes of streets just as nightfall hit, only to turn a corner into the open magic that is Piazza San Marco at night – the most beautiful place in the entire world.

I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was standing at the entrance of St. Mark’s Basilica feeling the heavy silence and coolness of all the marble that waves over you when you step into one of these places of worship. Regardless of what religion you are, standing inside here will make you believe in something. It’s powerful energy you just can’t replicate. I still have dreams on a regular basis that I get to go back and go inside that glorious church…or that I’m wandering around Venice eating gelato….or walking through the Rialto market.

I’ll never forget that final night, group dining at Trattoria Sempione in a cozy corner with the lights glimmering as gondolas go by….singing off in the distance….and the sound of water calmly swaying from side to side from the gondolier pole. It’s INDESCRIBABLE how full Venice makes my heart. If you ever have the chance to go…..GO GO!!!

I still can’t believe it’s been 10 years and my hope is that it will not be another 10 before I get to return. In 3 more years, we will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary…..hmmmmm……..I think a trip might be in order.

*Picture note – in 2002, I did not own a digital camera so many of these are all old scans or digital images from some of my tour-mates. The resolution is not high enough in most to make them full size so that’s why they look small and a bit grainy.

New Business cards

I really really love my handmade business cards, but let’s be honest: there is no way I’m going to be able to make 100+ of them in the next 15 days before #blogher12 mania. Instead, I decided to create a new card….something a little more professional, clean, simple, and better sized for pocketing.

I designed the card myself using some of the same elements from the blog along with a floral background {licensed of course} and the card printing was done by MOO. It was fun scouring stock photo websites, something I haven’t done too much of in the past. Of course, there is Getty Images, but sites like Shutterstock, iStock Photo, You work for them, csa images, and veer are all great options to browse for patterns and illustrations. Most are pretty inexpensive and come with broad rights to use them for your business or blog. I’m so happy with the way they turned out!

Friday Favorites

Today, you get a picture of Manhattan, because that’s really what’s on my brain right now. 18 days!

A few of my favorite links this week:

1. Even though I don’t have an iPad, these are all my favorite.

2. These photographs are GORGEOUS.

3. I’m loving the wall art in this nursery!

4. Has anyone ever had success with obedience beads? It sounds cool {and I LOVE this entire blog, new find!}

5. A pretty cute video about a pretty cute dessert.

6. Get in my mouth NOW.

7. A lovely recipe for homemade cleaner + free printable labels!

8. I REALLY love this space.

9. Have you heard about free little libraries? It’s the best idea!

10. Printable handwriting worksheets for kids.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend! xo!

P.S. - The next installment of unplugging will go live a week from today. Everyone is welcome to participate! All the cool kids are doing it!

Farm Anatomy

I picked up a little treasure during our visit to Powell’s:

Julia Rothman, and illustrator that I love, came out with this lovely book last fall that is brimming with helpful tips, names, measurements, recipes, and lists of important things to know for the home farmer…..or even home gardener. Or, even if you don’t farm OR have a garden, it’s still a pleasure to read and look through. Everyone should know the parts of a bee, which flowers are edible, and common barn styles, don’t you think??