Monthly Archives: February 2016

Birth announcements

Posted in Baby Michael by
Baby announcement

Our very special delivery!

Michael recently celebrated his five-month birthday and we celebrated by finally getting his birth announcements in the mail! A few months later than I had hoped, but, that’s how things are these days. As I was preparing to send out Baby Michael’s birth announcements, I did some research and stumbled across something great: you can get a welcome note for your new child from the President and First Lady! Send them an announcement or submit the information online.

It’s super quick and easy to do and look what came in the mail the other day:

A welcome note for Michael from President and Mrs. Obama

A welcome note for Michael from President and Mrs. Obama

We also sent an announcement to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. (We haven’t received anything back yet!) If you’re Catholic, you can send an announcement to the Pope for a blessing. Find all of the details on Parents.com.

And since I’m people who knows people, Mayor Ed Murray, the mayor of Seattle, proclaimed Michael’s birthday as a “day” in the city of Seattle. This proclamation is amazing:

Michael Carl Szerwo Day in the City of Seattle

Michael Carl Szerwo Day in the City of Seattle

I worked for the Seattle City Council when Brandon and I got married. The Council members proclaimed our wedding day a “day” in the city of Seattle too! Mark your calendar to celebrate Michael Szerwo Day this year: only 6.5 months to go and at the speed time is flying by these days, it’ll be here before we know it!

Michael’s first valentines

Posted in Baby Michael, Crafts, DIY, Holidays by

I finally had a chance to use my Valentine’s Day inspirations pinterest board for Michael’s first Valentine’s Day party at his daycare!

There are so many great ideas out there! I especially liked the fish bowls, tic tacs, and chips.

However, since many of those at daycare (including Michael) aren’t eating solids, I went the route of age-appropriate toys instead.

And… voila! Amazing valentines!

These valentines are DINO-riffic!

These valentines are DINO-riffic!

I combined a few of the dinosaur valentines I found online and designed one perfect for “our” (Michael’s, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing yet…) needs. Download the template here. I added these dino bath squirters from Amazon.

The final product

The final product

I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day!

Dinner at the Herbfarm

Posted in Adventures, Drinky drinky, Exploring Seattle, Food by

Truffle Treasures at the Herbfarm

Truffle Treasures at the Herbfarm

Brandon and I have a lot of stuff. There I said it. So for Christmas, we decided that instead of more stuff, we would do an experience. We’ve always wanted to visit the Herbfarm, so we started scoping out menus and selected the Truffle menu.

You see, the Herbfarm does theme eating monthly. Right after my own heart! We opted for the “Truffle Treasure” of January and we were very glad that we did!

The Herbfarm is an award-winning restaurant in Woodinville, a suburb of Seattle. It’s on the expensive side and the nine courses (nine!) are paired with drinks for the most part. It also takes several hours. We won’t be going back monthly, but this was a great experience and one that I would recommend you do at least once during your time in Seattle! 

My parents watched Michael and we feasted on…

Herbfarm first course

Herbfarm first course

Truffledom: White truffle shumai; black truffle soup with red beet cream; Dungeness crab with truffle butter; and, beech mushroom tempura, truffle salt, Idaho lemon wedge.

Drink pairing: Blue Mountain Vineyard Brut, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Herbfarm second course

Herbfarm second course

Albacore & Pickles: Grilled rare Oregon Albacore tuna, assorted pickles put up from our larder.

Drink pairing: 2013 Dr. Loosen Eroica Riesling, Columbia Valley

Herbfarm third course

Herbfarm third course

Earth ‘n’ Trees: Oregon chesnut angolloti, cipollini onion, chervil, Oregon white truffle sauce.

Drink pairing: 2002 L’Ecole No. 41 Semillion, Fries Vineyard, Walla Walla

Herbfarm fourth course

Herbfarm fourth course

Black, White & Blue: Buttermilk-poached blue-footed chicken breast, chicken-skin-crusted salsify, sauce perigourdine.

Drink pairing: 2012 Broadley Vineyards Pinot Noir, Jessica, Willamette Valley

Herbfarm fifth course

Herbfarm fifth course

Mr. Kuro Goes to Washington: Bay-braised Gold Beach Oregon Wagyu beef short rib in feuille de brick, turnips & their greens, our Roy’s Calais Flint corn polenta, huckleberry sweet-sour sauce, black truffle puree.

Drink pairing: 2012 Gorman Winery Winemaker’s Reserve Malbec, Red Mountain

Herbfarm sixth course

Herbfarm sixth course

Parsnip in a Pear’s Pad: Grated parsnip and pear, shave Willamette Valley Boerenkaas cheese, nocino sauce.

Herbfarm seventh course

Herbfarm seventh course

Glass & Ice: Sorbet of muddled Idaho Valencia orange rind and sake, gin glass, Douglas Fir snowbank.

Herbfarm eighth course

Herbfarm eighth course

Oh, Sweet Truffle: Sourdough ice cream, black truffle-caramel apples, fromage blanc, Oregon olive oil cake.

Drink pairing: 2005 Thurston-Wolfe 8-year cask-aged Tawny Port

And course nine: 

Extra desserts!

Extra desserts!

Accompanying dinner: truffled wood-oven foccacia

Thankfully little Michael had equally as fun of night with Grandma and Grandpa. He passed out!

Sleepy Michael

Sleepy Michael

Next on our Seattle food bucket list? Canlis. Maybe next Christmas?