Peck Life

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.

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.

Steppin' Out in Curls

Yesterday was a fun {super blustery but SUNNY!} day. We dropped Sky off with Nana and Papa and had the afternoon to ourselves! There was lunch at El Toreador {because where else do you go for the best EVERYTHING EVER!?}, a little thrifting, late afternoon Dick’s milkshakes at the park, and of course, Target.

I thought this would be a perfect day to try some no-clamp curls courtesy of Sarah at Whoorl {you can thank Mandy for introducing me to this blog}. Sarah is beyond adorable. I pretty much love everything about her. They turned out SOOOO magical and I can’t wait to do this to my hair more! I always default to the flat iron but I’m kinda sick of it so this is a great alternative and something I somehow was never able to achieve with my curling iron before. YAY for good hair days!

{Linking up with Mandy at Harper’s Happenings! On me: sweater/forever21, scarf/gift, leggings/target, skirt/marshalls, boots/dsw}

Tangerine Tango

Today, I’m inspired by the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2012 – Tangerine Tango. It’s like that perfect color in between coral, red, orange, and tomato. I LOVE it. I’ve actually been coveting some skinny jeans in this color. Here are just a few of my other favorites:

You can view all the details for each item on my Polyvore page.

Self-Portrait Photo Challenge

I apprehensively took some photos of my face in honor of The Paper Mama’s Self Photo Challenge. I’m totally self-conscious and rather than bore you with why I don’t like all the pictures I took, I’m just putting them out here along with some juicy tid-bits of life inside my brain at the moment. Here you go!

Obsessing over…

This video:

 

If you are a fan of sloths as much as I am, then you might also like this.

Working on…

Outfits for all the exciting social gatherings and Birthday fun planned for February. Is that work?! I feel like it is. I’m loving all the bold colors out so far. Yellow flats are on my mind.

Thinking about…

Yellow flats. See last item. I’m also thinking about chocolate, and somewhere tropical…and how I need to make a list of all the other things I need to think about.

Anticipating…

Date time with the hubby on Saturday!!

Listening to…

The buzzing of our stupid computer. I hate this beast. Laptop suggestions? I’m a PC girl.

Eating…

Champagne. About 3 hours ago, I had a burrito.

Wishing…

Just a little bit of money would fall from the Sky. Enough to move out of this house and go on vacation this year but NOT enough to go on “how the lottery ruined my life”.

Linking up with The Paper Mama for her Self Photo Challenge!

Weekending

Ahhh, a low key weekend. Between the dreary rain and colds we are all trying to fight off, it was one of those weekends where the pillow seemed like the best spot. We did, however, manage to not be completely lazy! There was dinner with family, banana bread making, a bit of thrifting, and many challenging hours spent dealing with Sky’s tantrums and poor sleeping.

Do you think he’s teething? I can’t tell. Not only is he sick right now {oh my gosh the snot!}, but we have started to transition him to a big bed via a mattress that’s on the floor of his bedroom. The ratio of bad to good nights is about 50/50 so I’m still trying to figure out if it’s his cold or this new sleeping situation. When he’s not being cranky and totally hysterical, he is a very very sweet boy. In between the spurts of 2-year old ishness, were many snuggles and silly play times, book reading, and of course, throwing a handful of bouncy balls ALL OVER the house.

On Saturday morning, Sky slept until 9:15 am. A world record I think? All this morning free time allowed me to make banana bread with the rotting bananas that had been sitting on our counter all week! Whoo hoo! I used this recipe from our America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.

Saturday afternoon we stepped out to go visit grandma, grandpa, and GREAT grandma! We ended up at Chinese food for dinner where Sky was actually pretty well behaved, thanks to the toys and endless supply of cheese-its and craisins while we waited for the food to arrive.

{Emily: scarf/marshalls, sweater/don’t remember, it’s old!, jeans/american rag, boots/ office via top shop. Sky: fleece/REI, jeans/osh kosh, shoes/etnies}

{linking up with Mandy at Harper’s Happenings}

Sunday was mostly a lazy day at home with the exception of an early evening goodwill drop off. I had 3 huge bags taking up space in the garage! We did a cruise through the store and while there were a few cute things {like the pyrex below}, we walked away mostly empty handed. The big score was a toy caterpillar excavator truck that was nearly brand new and working. It matches the backhoe we already have! Sky spotted it right away and carried it around the entire store, stopping to play with it whenever there was a little break. I get a little freaked about all the germs and grime but our local goodwill is fairly new so it’s not too bad. Definitely need to some wipes and soap when you’re done though.

And so, the weekend comes to close. As I type this, I’m eating giant peppermint patty hearts. They are pink inside….for Valentine’s day…oh such a good way to end a Sunday!

An afternoon at the mall

Last Friday, I managed to have nearly 2 hours by myself, alone, at a mall. Since we were meeting friends for dinner across the street, I didn’t want to leave the area. This resulted in a lot of wandering, a little bit of Christmas shopping, and a new lipstick. Yes, I bought a red lipstick. It made the entire day better!

 

1. chevron bitty bags 2. t-bar pumps in green 3. my current favorite foundation 4. jammies for sky 

5. moustache paper clips 6. yummy soaps 7. the best duct tape I’ve ever seen 8. my new lipstick, matte!

Steppin' Out {Date Night!}

After a long day of work and craziness, Josh and I stepped out on Friday for a date! I wasn’t able to go home in between so my outfit was an all day thing – work, meetings, commuting, then…date.

Details: scarf: gap outlet / sweater: gap thrifted / mustard tee: tj maxx / skirt: mossimo thrifted / tights: target / boots: office via top shop in Chicago!

Although we had planned to have dinner in Seattle, we were so hungry by the time we met up we ate first thing, at El Toreador {where else?! my fav!}. After dinner, we had a little time to kill so we went over to University Village and walked around. It’s such a charming place to shop, especially at Christmas time when everything is lit up.

Last but not least, we ended our night at The Neptune, and old movie theater from 1921 that has recently been converted to a concert venue, to see my favorite Oregon band, Blind Pilot. They were amazing as usual and we left before the show even ended {close to midnight!} just because we were practically falling asleep, our feet hurt, we couldn’t stand any longer, lalala….we felt so old amongst the crazy almost 95% UW college crowd. Oh, those were the days…I miss college! It was a great show!

Hairtastic

When I was little, I had WHITE hair. I’ve always been really really blond; I even used to get teased in middle school that I was albino, but it was mainly by very immature boys who probably couldn’t come up with anything better to say. However, just in the past year or two, my hair has really darkened, almost to a very light brown. It gets darker with each passing winter and never lightens back up as it once did each summer.

So, in the spirit of trying new things, I put my trust into my awesome hair stylist, Shawna, and let her work her magic, in the form of a partial high lift tint. I was a little nervous since I had never had a drop of ANYTHING in my hair up until now, but I’m completely in love with the results. It reminds me of my old self, about 7 or 8 years ago. The difference is really subtle but can you tell?? I feel so grown up!

Yellow On The Brain {Again...}

The other day I was picking up the house and realized that I had been subconsciously selecting yellow things in my recent errands/shopping travels. I put everything together in one spot and snapped a few pictures. It makes me really happy to see my yellows all in one spot! I'm particularly partial to mustard right now; I just need to figure out what I can wear with those tights! The yellow vase is from my mom – she gave it to me after she saw my first yellow post. She’s so thoughtful!