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2nd Blogiversary, Day 5: Round-Up & New Additions!

November 11, 2011

The 2nd Blogiversary Week has come to a close… but in case you’re just tuning in, here’s a round-up of stuff to check out:

Day 1: Wardrobe Giveaway with EmersonMade (one of my favorite online husband+wife clothing boutiques!)
Day 2: DIY Pack Giveaway offering up an awesome paint sprayer (makes furniture & cabinet makeovers a snap), a professional set of paint brushes and the super handy X-ACTO kit
Day 3: Meet & Greet with PDB and a behind-the-scenes look at our blog, family and home
Day 4: Favorite Home Decor Giveaway with Room & Board, The Company Store and Rifle Paper Co. (three of my favorite stores to find great additions for the house)

In other news…

I had every intention of announcing the very new Project Gallery (a place where bloggers can submit their projects in one large, awesome database) this week, but with a few last minute coding/styling issues and so much going on I’ve pushed that out to Monday. It’s finished! Come back to check it out :).

I have another exciting announcement today! If you’re a fan of the wardrobe styleboards that are posted here on a not-so-regular basis, I’m so happy to share that I’m bringing on a very style-savvy contributor who will make sure that our styleboard gallery is packed to the max with inspiring ideas.

Maryam of milkfriendly.com will be joining us beginning next week! And between Maryam and myself we hope to post on favorite wardrobe ideas more often. I would describe Maryam’s style as bohemian-modern, with a big dash of practical. Bohemian in the sense that she takes risks (that always work out beautifully), modern in that her looks will resonate with nearly all, and practical in price and wearability. Welcome, Maryam!

And that, my friends, concludes the 2nd Blogiversary week at Pepper Design Blog.

2nd Blogiversary, Day 4: Favorite Home Decor Giveaway!

November 10, 2011

Happy Thursday! Day 4 here of the 2nd Blogiversary week and I have a wonderful giveaway lined up from three of my favorite home goods stores: Room & Board, The Company Store and Rifle Paper Co. I LOVE each of these stores and I’m excited to partner with these companies to share a few of my favorite products with a reader!

The line up is…

First up is a Pendleton blanket from Room & Board. I cannot think of a better winter accessory for your living room (or the foot of your bed) than this cozy, wool blanket.

The throw looks beautiful slung over a couch (as Country Living demonstrates below) or rolled up in a large basket next to the fireplace (just waiting for a cool winter’s night and some snuggling time).

Room & Board is a 30 year old, family-based design retailer headquartered in Minneapolis with 11 stores nationwide (3 on the West Coast). The brand consists of over 90% handcrafted, American-made product and their focus in on providing customers with quality crafted, simple, classic designs at an affordable price. The Pendleton blanket is sustainably made and manufactured in the Pacific Northwest! Read more about the labor of love (and the quality of this cozy accessory) here. I love that Room & Board partners with US-based artists and makes every effort to manufacture and produce locally.

Given the option, I would choose this one with its soft greys and subtle red stripe. This is winter in a blanket:

Next up is a $50 gift certificate to The Company Store! I fell in love with their jute rugs a while back and we have their jersey knit bedding in our master bedroom. I love this store and their wonderful prices.

Our jute rug looked great in our previous kitchen and our bedding is fantastic, I cannot recommend it enough! It is so, so soft and if you have a pet that likes to snuggle at the foot of your bed it doesn’t hold onto hair like a traditional jersey duvet cover might (is that awkward to post? This is a huge bonus for us though ;)).

This is so awesome: The Company Store has committed to donating $20,000 worth of pajamas to Pajama Project, a not-for-profit organization that provides new, warm pajamas and books to children in need throughout the U.S., once it reaches 20,000 website pledges! So sign-up to celebrate Family Pajama Night in your home with a fall slumber party on November 19! We’ll definitely be participating.

And last but certainly not least is one of my very favorite paper companies, Rifle Paper Co. The illustrations and designs are beautiful! Very much my style.

I have their 2012 botanical calendar and while most months will be hanging in the office, June and August are now framed and hanging in our kitchen :). And the cover of the calendar is hanging in this office wall collage. Today’s giveaway includes the same 2012 botanical calendar to do with what you please.

And that’s today’s line up! So excited for the giveaway.

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Giveaway: A cozy Pendleton blanket from Room & Board, a $50 gift card towards your favorite Company Store product and a 2012 Botanical Calendar from Rifle Paper Co. (all in all totaling in at about a $200 value)

Blogiversary Question to Enter: Since it’s a week of celebration for PDB, I would love to know… how long have you been tuning in to the happenings over here at the blog? and a bonus question! when it comes to decorating, what’s your style? (you know, from the usual shabby chic, traditional, modern, vintage and so on :))

For Additional Entries: Become a Facebook fan of Rifle Paper Co (for great discount codes) and The Company Store (for all of the latest and greatest), and subscribe to Room & Board’s email list for updates and coupons! Be sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

Giveaway ends Sunday, November 13 at midnight PST, winner will be chosen randomly and announced the following Monday. Good luck!

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And don’t forget about the DIY Pack giveaway (with a paint sprayer, brushes and utility knives!) from Tuesday and the EmersonMade gift card giveaway from Monday!

2nd Blogiversary, Day 3: Meet & Greet + PDB Stats

November 9, 2011

It’s day 3 of celebrating the 2nd blogiversary of PDB! I promised a Meet & Greet on Monday and I thought it might be fun to share a little more about our family and the blog. Those of you that are not family or friends might appreciate a bit more insight, and we’re cool with a little transparency over here. If I don’t mention something that you’re specifically wondering – feel free to ask!

So… grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair. Let’s officially meet & greet.

A few things you may not know about us…

Married: 4.5 years (more about the big day here)
Homeowners: 3.5 years (more about that journey here)
Renters: 5 years (Morgan), 4 years (Kevin – do military barracks count?)
Hometown: Santa Cruz, California (Morgan) Tempe, Arizona (Kevin)
Alma Mater: University of Southern California to study Business Ethics & Leadership (Morgan), New School of Architecture (Kevin & in progress)
Dying to travel to: Machu Picchu (Morgan), Ireland (Kevin)
Favorite nightcap: White Russian (Morgan), Crown and coke (Kevin)
Favorite room in our home: the cozy living room (Morgan), kitchen (Kevin – king of the kitchen)
Pets: 4-year-old yellow lab, cockatiel (I’ve had this little birdy since I was 9!) and two chickens

And just for fun…

Olivia: 10 months old (today!)
College: TBD (I reinforce my suggestion with a USC onesie in each size)
Renter: 9 months (does mom’s belly count?)
Dying to travel to: Down the street to the local park
Favorite nightcap: Mom
Favorite room in our home: any room with low cabinets and easy to open drawers, please.
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I know it’s not too common for blogs to reveal the behind-the-scenes of visitors, pageviews and who’s clicking around where, but I thought that a yearly sneak peek at PDB’s stats might make this blog a bit more transparent for our readers – and PDB wouldn’t be anywhere without you.

So, here it is. Here are the digits:

Average daily readers: 4,400 (SiteMeter.com shares that PDB has somewhere in the 2,000+ range of daily organic readers (aka those that read the blog directly on the internet) + nearly 900 email subscribers and over 1,500 who check out daily posts through their Google Reader)
Monthly visits: 132,000 (the above numbers equal roughly 60,000 monthly blog readers who visit via the web and a total of 72,000 visits from those who check in on a post through email and Google Reader). Anyone know how to check stats on readers other than Google? I’ve always been curious…
Monthly pageviews: 200,000 (of those 60,000 organic visitors, the average pageview is 3.9 – so that leaves us with just over 200,000 total per month)
Facebook friends: 1,719 last time I checked. Join the love here.

The Business of Blogging is a crazy one, and I’m no expert, but if you have any blogging questions that I might be able to help with, I’d be happy to give it a shot. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments section.
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Our little Spanish bungalow is nestled in a cozy, walkable neighborhood in San Diego. Liv and I walk down to the library for story time once a week, we have a teeny two room cinema that plays the best foreign films, a delicious Mexican hot chocolate can be found at our local coffee shop on the corner and we adore our neighbors. We found a gem.

Age of home: She was built in 1935 so our home is 76 years young
Rooms before: kitchen, dining room, living room, den, two bedrooms and one bath
Rooms currently: kitchen (in old den), dining room, living room, three bedrooms (one is a guestroom/office that’s now in the old kitchen), two baths (one currently being built from three adjoining closets)
Room makeovers to date: kitchen (from den), nursery, living room, outdoor kitchen
Room makeovers in progress: guestroom/office (from old kitchen), new bathroom
Room makeovers in the pipeline: dining room, master bed & bath, outdoor deck

A glance back at before we moved in:

A few pics from how the house looks today:

Check out more ‘before’ pictures here!
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First, I want to thank you for taking the time to check in on this little blog. I feel so honored to have you guys as readers. Thank you for the opportunity to grow this blog with you, and thanks for hanging in there through these past two years. Here’s to many more.

IF you feel so inclined – I would love to meet you! It’s already been SO cool to hear your answers to the giveaways from Monday and Tuesday. Feel free to share in the comments any of the following!

1. A little about you: first name, your family stats (married? single? kids? grand kids? bun in the oven??), your blog (if you have one!)
2. Q’s about PDB: how long you’ve been reading, where you found us (giveaway question from Monday :)), what you tune in for – it’s a hodge podge of topics over here! (giveaway question from Tuesday :))
3. Feel free to ask anything else… the business of blogging, home info, why Kevin always wears the same green jumpsuit in all pics, when Liv took her first step…(you can always email me at: morgan at pepperdesignblog dot com, too)
4. And just for fun: If you could travel anywhere? and what’s your favorite night cap!

There you have it! The backstage of PDB is revealed. It was so nice to *meet* you.