Category Archives: Adventures

{2020} Year in review

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What a year!

2020 started off like any other: Michael stayed up until midnight with us to ring in the New Year, and we were excited and ready for a big year: adventures, kindergarten, and lots of time with family. (Oh, we had no idea!)

In January we embarked on a Southern adventure, with Brandon and I having work conferences a state and a week apart. We decided to make a trip of it and brought Michael with us.

We flew to Nashville, ate lots of BBQ and Michael and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of Music City while Brandon conferenced.

From there, we rented a car and our next stop was Gatlinburg and a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains. We were there off-season but we still had a great time. We rode the Rowdy Bear Mountain Coaster, we hiked in the rain at the park, and we ate the best sandwiches we’ve ever had at Tennessee Jed’s. (SO GOOD!!)  We stayed at the Park Vista Double Tree right in Gatlinburg, which we honestly chose because of the indoor pool with two water slides. They did not disappoint and to this day, almost a year later, Michael talks about the pool and how much he wants to go back and visit.  

Back in the car and we were off to my work conference in Charlotte. Michael and Brandon explored and I had a great time connecting with my colleagues from around the country.

Our final stop was Charleston, SC. We stopped by Congaree National Park on our way for a boardwalk hike and a stamp for our National Park passport book and a Junior Ranger activity book and badge for Michael.

Exploring Congaree

Congaree National Park

Sunset on the shores of the Atlantic

We stayed at the Mills House as our home base and explored historic Charleston and the Magnolia Plantation, dined at Husk (Michael’s first James Beard award-winning restaurant), visited Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter (dolphins escorted our ferry!), and really enjoyed ourselves.  

Magnolia Plantation

Magnolia Plantation

Rainbow Row in Charleston

Doughnuts at the Pineapple Fountain before our flight back to Buffalo

We returned to a brisk Buffalo winter and dreams of Spring trips to Southern California and Seattle, trying to make the most of Michael not being in kindergarten yet.  

Little did we know, this would be our last air travel for a while. And those plans were cancelled, well, never fully planned.

We’ve been ‘safe at home’ since New York’s first lockdown in March. We’re lucky to have had the flexibility to spend a lot of time at home, teaching Michael while also being able to work.

We finished up hockey, took a hiatus from swim lessons, and we’ve painted, planted, cleaned, crafted, cooked, baked (a lot), cut our own hair, and grown out our hair. We’ve become experts at zoom’ing and FaceTiming, attending virtual birthday parties, holidays, and lots of work meetings and class virtually. We learned math, we became kindergarten teachers and a kindergarten student, and Michael has made great progress in learning how to read. We even took “porch photos” to commemorate our time at home. 

Hockey

Math! Math! Math!

Porch photo by MKhoshnavaz Photography

Nature has played a large role in our time at home — we have gone for countless walks and hikes. We discovered, logged, and tracked frogs and toads at our neighbor pond. We tended to a huge snapping turtle who found their way into our yard. Our front yard was even chosen by a pair of rabbits for their burrow and baby bunnies. We had a great time watching them through the window and checking on them multiple times a day. Hopefully they come back this spring!  

One of the frogs we logged in our daily nature walk/PE/science/math class.

Our backyard visitor. It was 18″ from head to tail!

Our baby bunnies in their burrow.

This year Michael has become an expert computer gamer (coding school/camp is definitely in his future). He started off quarantine riding his bike with training wheels — now he’s in a 7-gear bike flying by me, sans training wheels. We’ve really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together (all while wanting to pull our hair out).

From a former-public-servant standpoint, I’ve been very pleased with Governor Cuomo’s response. I’m able to at least listen to 75 percent of his press conferences and I know that we have a great leader in this unprecedented time.  

We were itching to travel and after watching the infection rates closely, we took for a socially-distant road trip south, visiting Gettysburg and Shenandoah National Park in July. We had a great getaway and enjoyed seeing Pennsylvania, Maryland (briefly), Virginia, and West Virginia.

Visiting Gettysburg

At Shenandoah, we stayed at the Skyland Lodge in the national park and had a great private room with a balcony where we would eat our meals and watch fireflies at dusk. We saw tons of deer, hawks, and raccoons, including one in a recycling bin.

Scoping out the views from the Upper Hawksbill Trail — My favorite of all of the hikes we did at Shenandoah

Adventuring

The easy way to hike a trail

If you’re down that way, definitely plan a visit to the Luray Caverns, the largest caverns in the eastern US. The caverns were discovered in 1878 and are incredible floor-to-ceiling stalactites, stalagmites, and mirrored pools. It’s really cool.

Luray Caverns

Luray Caverns. So cool!

Michael started kindergarten in the fall and it’s been weird. He hates virtual school but loves learning, so we’re figuring it out. We’ve bounced between hybrid and virtual learning this year and look forward to (hopefully) more hybrid learning as the vaccine rolls out.

This fall Michael joined Cub Scouts and Brandon is the Den leader (fulfilling a lifelong goal of his). The kids have mainly met virtually so far. We’re hoping for more in-person gathering as we get into 2021.  

My magazine flourished this year. When you’re stuck at home, what do you have time for? Writing for your community magazine! (That I publish.) My advertising partners generally stuck with me and I even made more sales this year than I did in 2019. I look forward to sharing more resident stories and meeting more business partners in 2021.  

Another year of Delaware Park Living

This year Brandon published his first research paper, MD&A Disclosure of Critical Accounting Policies and Financial Reporting Risk: Evidence from Restatements, and redid his curriculum to transition to teaching virtual and hybrid courses. We all picked up bike riding this year and Brandon often rode to work.

We’re cautiously optimistic for 2021. Of course we’d love to travel, especially to the west coast to see family and friends we’ve missed over the past year. We’d love to get vaccinated for COVID and eventually see a five-day school (& work) week.

Michael lost his very first tooth on December 28 and his second one to ring in the New Year on January 1. He already has three permanent teeth on their way, so we’ll likely see more of the Tooth Fairy this year. (It’s very common, but very weird: Michael’s two bottom middle teeth started coming in a month or so ago and they basically pushed the baby teeth out, causing us to miss the whole “jack-o’-lantern” missing teeth look!) 

The Tooth Fairy visited twice in one week!

We’re skipping hockey this winter but have embraced skiing, joining the Buffalo Ski Center. Michael had his first lesson a few weekends ago and he LOVES skiing. We stayed a few hours after his lesson and two hours after putting skies on for the first time, he can ski as well as I can, cruising up and down the magic carpet hill like an expert. 

Skiing at the Buffalo Ski Center

Megan & Brandon — incognito

We’re looking forward to continuing to enjoy our time together, safe and sound at home. Cheers to 2021! 

2018 {Year In Review}

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo!, Holidays by

While 2018 wasn’t the best year for the blog, we had a blast in real life.

It was our first full year in Buffalo, including our first winter and full summer. (Apparently Buffalo doesn’t have a spring or fall with climate change the way it is. I’m pretty sure it went from snow to sweltering this spring and same for the fall.)

2018 started off with travel. We celebrated a late Christmas in Seattle and loved catching up with everyone.

Brandon taught his first class during the spring semester. He taught a mere 550 inquiring minds. Overall it was a positive experience and he’s getting ready to teach the class again in early 2019.

Over the summer, we took advantage of our flexible work schedules to celebrate some of our good friends’ love, traveling to Arizona and the Hudson River Valley. Both trips were so much fun and will be their own blog posts in the coming year.

Szerwos take the Grand Canyon

Our introduction to the Finger Lakes, en route to the Hudson River Valley

 

For Father’s Day, we went camping at Letchworth State Park, a first for Michael. We went with our best Buffalo friends and enjoyed it. We hope to camp again next spring/summer.

Father’s Day camping at Letchworth 2018

We continue to explore Buffalo and have really perfected our tour for guests who visit. That’s a blog post for another day, too.

Niagara Falls: One stop on our Buffalo tour

Professionally, I launched Delaware Park Living in September. It’s a monthly neighborhood newsletter magazine for the residents of one of the most established communities in Buffalo. I’m the publisher of the publication, which means I get to work with the residents, business sponsors, and our central design team to make a beautiful 30-40 page magazine each month.

Presenting: Delaware Park Living

Halloween 2018 was pretty epic. I went all out and created an award-winning (seriously! I won $100 for it!) Mater costume for Michael. He continues to love playing in it. I’m working on a “how to” tutorial for the costume as there isn’t a complete one currently online. Brandon and I phoned it in and were both Waldo. We’ve already started thinking about Halloween 2019 costumes though.

Where’s Waldo? Hanging out in Buffalo!

Halloween costumes

Mater with his two besties

Michael’s day-time costume: Captain America.

Captain America with his super squad

We finished up the year with a pre-Christmas holiday trip to NYC. We’ve been there before and seeing it in all of its holiday splendor was magical. We caught up with friends, shopped the holiday pop-up markets, rode through Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage while sipping hot chocolate, and walked more than 13 miles one day, among lots of other fun things. I think we should make it an annual tradition!

Rockefeller Plaza all done up for the holidays

The only thing missing was snow! {Central Park Carriage Ride}

Merry Christmas from NYC!

We’re actually looking forward to our Buffalo winter and the snow, and all of the adventures we have planned for 2019. We can’t wait to share them with you. More posts in 2019, I promise.

What’s Michael doing these days?

Our 3.25 year old is SO active. He loves running and jumping and can move for hours… unless you want him to walk beside you on a neighborhood walk. Then his “shoes are hard” and he requires holding.

Michael knows the alphabet (both the song and capital and lower case letter identification) and can count to 20.

He’s back in swim lessons and getting more and more comfortable bobbing underwater. He loves school and has several best friends.

He’s sweet and sassy and still even likes to snuggle sometimes. Michael learned Christmas carols this year and his favorite song is Jingle Bells which he’s recently re-titled to “Jingle Smells.” He’s been using the potty since his third birthday and loves using potty words any chance he can (toot, tooty, poop, poopy, etc).

Fall bucket list {2018}

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo! by

I feel like I just wrote our summer bucket list post (which we did really well on!), but here we are: another season in the blink of an eye. Before we know it it’ll be winter! (I actually kind of liked our first Buffalo winter… call me crazy!)

Pre-snow, here’s what we’d like to do with our fall:

Actually decorate for fall.

I picked up some very large mums and the main components to make a friendly scarecrow for our front porch. The Jack ‘O Lantern lights and spiders Michael made last year are already up on the mantle and over the weekend Michael also did his annual wood painting. Last year it was leaves. This year, a pumpkin. (Available at Target.)

Painting pumpkins!

Painting pumpkins!

Go apple picking and make all of the apple things.

We celebrated the first day of fall a couple of weeks ago by apple picking! (Post forthcoming.) We we’ve already been eating all of the apple things. Mark this one accomplished!

Apple picking at Sanger Farms

Apple picking at Sanger Farms

Visit a pumpkin patch — and pick some late-season raspberries!

We had a lot of fun last year and looked forward to doing it again this year. We had an out of town visitor last weekend, so we hit up Greg’s U-Pick and picked three pints of raspberries. They were delicious!! We’re scheduled to go pumpkin patch’ing this weekend!

Late-season raspberry picking!

Go leaf-peeping

Last year we peeped leaves in Ellicottville. This year? I’m thinking Canada and taking a leisurely trip to and from Toronto! Chestnut Ridge Park is also supposed to be pretty pretty this time of year. Maybe head back to Knox State Farm? These mid-October photos are some of my favorites!

Stop the presses: We found a FALL FOLIAGE TRAIN TOUR! We’re so doing this. Yes.

Last year…

Impromptu fall photo shoot in 2017

Fall foliage at Knox Farm {circa 2017}

Halloween dinner party and trick-or-treating

We’re having friends over for Halloween trick or treating and I want to plan and execute a really fun, festive, easy dinner. Tell me what you might be dining on this Halloween, so I can borrow your ideas! Thank you in advance.

Happy fall, y’all!

Our Buffalo summer top 5 list

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo!, Food by

Now that we’re officially into summer, and with this being our first summer in Buffalo, we put together our Buffalo summer top 5 list: (in no particular order)

1. Eat local: berry picking & shop the farmer’s market

Brandon and I have been picking berries for years — blueberries and raspberries are our favorites, since the picking is easy (no bending required) — and Western NY has a ton of u-pick farms. Last summer we picked raspberries, apples, and pumpkins and we went strawberry-picking a few weeks ago — perfect for a 3 foot tall individual… far less bending…

Strawberry picking at Greg's U-Pick Farm in Clarence NY

Berry picking is in Michael’s blood!

Strawberry picking at Greg's U-Pick Farm in Clarence NY

Yum! Strawberries!

Strawberry picking at Greg's U-Pick

Michael loved strawberry picking

We’ve also been loving all of the farmer’s markets in WNY and have made a point to buy whatever fruits and veggies (that we’re not picking) at the local farmer’s markets. We’re having fun and really enjoying the food!

2. Patio happy hours 

Winter in Buffalo wasn’t as bad as we expected (knock on wood!) but now that summer is here — there wasn’t a spring, it was skipped this year — we’re ready to enjoy the heat and humidity that is summer in Buffalo. We’re looking forward to tackling this (year old) list of patio happy hours this summer. Sun + drink & food specials + kid in school = an excellent time.

3. Camping 

We’re already making progress on this item with our recent camping trip at Letchworth Park. It’s been 10+ years since I camped and was Michael’s first time. All-in-all, we enjoyed it. It was ~10 degrees colder than we expected at night, so we have a better idea of what to pack for next time. Also, friendly skunks and raccoons aren’t cool.

Letchworth State Park 2018

Father’s Day camping trip to Letchworth State Park

We’re looking forward to checking out: Four-Mile Creek State Park, the Adirondacks (maybe Cranberry Lake with Michael’s BFF?!), around the Finger Lakes (maybe some glamping through The Quiet Place?) and any other parks you recommend in the comments below.

4. Pool time 

We moved to Buffalo and discovered the splash park with only a week left of summer. Michael loved it and was so excited for his first visit on the 4th of July. The hours are a little wonky and really cut into nap time, but we’ll get there as often as we can!

Clearfield Pool

Michael’s new happy place

5. Play tourist

Buffalo was ranked one of the 52 places to visit this year by the New York Times. While my job allows me to drive around and explore a lot, it’s not quite the same without my boys. So, I’ve been keeping track of places I want to show to them. Here are of a few of the places I’ve already found and some that I’m eager to explore:

What am I missing? Fill me in, Buffalo. We’re still new here and know we have a ton left to do!

Buffalo Botanical Gardens

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo! by

As we continue to adjust to the city of never-ending winter, I mean, Buffalo, we went on a mission to find spring a few weeks ago.

We didn’t have to go far, just 30 minutes south from our house, to find the Buffalo Botanical Gardens.

Buffalo Botanical Gardens

We found spring!

Stopping to smell the flowers

Cheese!

Warmth and pretty, pretty flowers!

Family photo!

To be fair, this post was drafted last weekend during our freezing rain bout, which was then followed by our first 70 degree day in exactly six months, and there is snow in the forecast tomorrow!

I’ve been told that it has snowed plenty of times in May here, so I’m not putting away my snow clothes quite yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s dose of vitamin D!

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for breastfeeding working moms

Posted in Adventures, Baby Michael by

Milk? Formula? Fed is best.

This post is over a year in the making. Life of a working mom, then-pumping mom, then mom, right?

Having a kid is a lot of fun, but it’s also hard work. (Like, the hardest job I’ve ever had!) One of the hardest/most annoying parts of motherhood is feeding your kid, specifically breastfeeding.

Michael was a good breastfeed-er and we hit our stride pretty early on. But, it was a task; not something I wanted to do, but something I had to do. You know, to feed my kid. Breastfeeding while you’re with the kid is pretty easy to get the hang of, but when you’re away from him and pumping? A whole ‘nother story.

Until recently, and while I was nursing Michael, I worked for the City of Seattle and while some of the city buildings only have adequate pumping facilities, my building’s “mother’s room” is amazing. In addition to a couple of mini fridges, a sink, and microwave (essentials for storing and cleaning your milk), we had plush chairs, private cubicles, and a bank of lockers to store our gear.

By themselves, these attributes made my pumping experience a bit better than some of my friends who didn’t have quite this nice of setup. But it isn’t a standalone thing. The City employs thousands of individuals, and some of them are lactating moms. This is a strong, close-knit community that I was honored to be a part of for close to a year.

It’s not easy going from months off of work, focusing solely on nurturing your new human to working 8+ hours a day, trying to pretend that you didn’t just give birth and don’t have biological needs that have to be addressed. Do you know what it’s like to push your pump break a few minutes only to have to rush to the Emergency Operations Center with your non-parent, mostly male colleagues to address citywide messaging for a huge power outage in downtown Seattle instead of “milking yourself”? I do. It’s not ideal.

I named the lactation/mother’s room the Pump Haus (or Microsoft, which is what it looks like you’re saying if your colleague mouths “milk yourself” after saying you need to leave a meeting urgently). I made some really great friendships there with moms with kids weeks or months older or younger than Michael. We talked about everything. It was a real, live chat board! The more experienced moms set many of our concerns to rest and I was thankful that I was able to pass along my knowledge to the newbies. We talked sleeping, eating, drinking not just for our babes, but also for ourselves; everything under the sun! We shared sale codes, recipes, and advice about decorating, first birthday parties, vacations, and jobs. I even took a meeting or two in the Pump Haus, with a new-mom colleague. Talk about multi-tasking!

I stopped pumping in September, after Michael’s first birthday. I didn’t realize how emotional it would be, but as I wrote a note to my fellow Pump Haus moms, I teared up. While I blame the hormones for the tears, the Pump Haus and my Pump Haus community were a huge part of last year. I count my blessings that I was able to have such a positive pumping experience, because I know that’s not always the case.

Just before the end of the year Michael nursed for the last time and seems to be doing just fine without breast milk. (YESSSSS!!!) It’s pretty freeing for me and for those of you who are struggling with breastfeeding and/or pumping, or heading back to work soon, I’m here to share my tips with you.

My daily haul of “milkies”

Lactation cookies: a reason to eat cookies? Yes, please!

For milk production: 

  1. Drink a lot of water. Like, a lot. Drink one ounce of water for every pound that you weigh. I know. That’s a lot of water, but I promise, it’ll keep your supply up!
  2. Don’t diet. Making milk burns about 500 calories a day, and you need those calories in order to make the milk, so don’t diet.
  3. Eat healthy, but… Don’t deny yourself either. I’m a pretty healthy eater, but my milk seemed to increase those days when I had a little bit shittier things to eat (licorice, Cheetos, cookies, etc).
  4. Drink this tea or take Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle supplements. It tastes gnarly, but it works.
  5. Eat lactation cookies! I tried a million recipes and my favorite one came from Milkin’ Mamas, but the link doesn’t work anymore, so I retyped it. (You know a recipe is legit if it’s posted in the lactation room at work and dated almost two years prior!) I would make a large batch of cookie dough, bake the cookies I needed for the week and then freeze the extras, so I could bake them whenever I needed cookies.
  6. Your supply operates on a supply and demand schedule. If there isn’t a demand, there won’t be a supply. So, if you want to keep your supply up, pump as many times as you would normally feed your wee one on the weekend. This also meant pumping before bed for me, which was pretty annoying, but it also meant Michael was a good nighttime sleeper, so a trade-off I was ok with.
  7. Supplement! Sometimes you just don’t make as much milk as others. It’s most important that your child eat. We used Similac for Supplementation throughout Michael’s first year and he continues to thrive!

Pumping at work: 

  1. Get this bra. It’s sizing is very forgiving (growing and shrinking with you, easy to wash) and you’ll have your hands free to properly search Pinterest. (I mean, respond to work emails.)
  2. Keeping a pump at work with clutch for me. If possible, keep one at work, so you won’t have to drag it back and forth.
  3. I can’t say enough about my steam sanitizer. I preferred to wash my pump supplies at home, but have the supplies (soap, brush, steamer) if you’re washing there.
  4. The jury is out on how long you can leave milk un-refrigerated. I usually kept it out no more than 4 hours.
  5. Have a waterproof bag for transporting your milk upright. As much as you want those Madela lids to work flawlessly, they don’t.
  6. I bought these 8 oz Madela bottles and kept my milk in them. It was a lot easier than lugging lots of small bottles around!

I think that’s it. Happy pumping!

Don’t let this happen to you! Pay attention to clean up!

2018 resolutions

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo!, Holidays by

As I think about my resolutions or goals for this year, the usuals come to mind: exercise more, eat healthier, sleep more.  Then I  popped over to Pinterest and searched “2018 resolutions.” Lots of content and this one really struck me:

2018 resolutions

Here are my thoughts. Once I publish this post, they will become commitments to myself for 2018. 

Sleep more. I definitely want to adjust my bedtime from 11/11:30 p.m. down, closer to 10/10:30 p.m. Do I really need to be awake that extra hour? The Daily Show is already being recorded. I don’t need to watch it live.

Self care. My friend Anna posted about self care on her FB recently. Physically I’m big on pedicures, but I usually scrimp on lotions, potions, and other tools to keep me looking and feeling my best. I finally found a stylist in Buffalo, so my hair is looking good again. I will continue to drink lots of water, and I hope to incorporate more activity (exercise, movement in general) in my everyday life in 2018. I also hope to read more. I just finished Origin by Dan Brown and highly recommend it. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in basically three days of travel. What books should I pick up next?

Explore more. My new job gives me the opportunity to meet lots of new people in our new city, and find all sorts of cool shops and neighborhoods. I hope to continue this local exploration, but also explore up and down the east coast this year. Toronto and Montreal are also on our list. With the sub-freezing temps and constant snow flurries, we’ve been hibernating and need to get our list ready for the spring and beyond.

I think that’s it for me. No wacky food resolutions. No crazy crafts. Just me focusing on me. What do you have planned for 2018?

 

2017 year in review

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo! by

What a year it’s been!

As 2017 began, we had no idea where the year would take us. Brandon continued interviewing, traveling to New Orleans, Phoenix, Reno, and Buffalo. After accepting a position with the University at Buffalo in March, we were able to start our Seattle Bucket List and get everything in order to move across the country and remodel and rent our Seattle home.

While we were waiting for Brandon’s offer, we explored the west coast. Michael continued his love of travel with a visit to Santa Barbara to celebrate his Great Grandpa Joe’s 95th birthday and meet some of his extended Szerwo relatives. We also put our passport to good use and traveled to Bliss Landing on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, one of Brandon’s favorite places. In May, we marked Mt Rainier National Park off of our bucket list for a fun Mother’s Day trip with my parents.

Bliss Landing, British Columbia

Michael’s first sandy beach: Santa Barbara, CA

Junior Ranger: Michael!

2017 was also the year that we found out that Michael had allergies: both food and pet. We were able to figure out his food sensitivities and can avoid his main allergen (soy) pretty well. Unfortunately, his cat and dog allergy meant that the cats wouldn’t make the trip to Buffalo with us and we found a great home for them. Their new Cat Mom is wonderful and she continues to send at-least-weekly updates, which I love. Everyone is happier with the new arrangement but me.

I love these cats!!

We experienced more of the wrapping up of our life in Seattle, with Megan leaving the City of Seattle at the end of May and Brandon graduating from UW in June.

Professor Szerwo.

After saying good bye to our family and friends, a quick jaunt to Idaho to visit Brandon’s parents, and setting the remodel of our Seattle home in motion, we were off!

Our epic road trip took us through 14 states, traveling more than 3300 miles in 11 days. Epic road-tripping with a 1.75-year-old you say? It’s totally doable. We definitely had our ups and downs, but we had so much fun that we would actually do it again! We visited national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Badlands, and Wind Cave), national monuments (Mt. Rushmore, Jewel Cave, and Devil’s Tower), other national things (Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site), and even a couple of can’t-miss roadside attractions (the Crazy Horse monument, Corn Palace, and Wall Drug in South Dakota, and a larger-than-life Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, Minnesota).

Some days were better than others. Michael was only crying because we made him stop exploring the rocks at the base of Devil’s Tower.

We landed in Buffalo, toured the house we bought the next day, and got ready for our next big adventure!

Our new Buffalo home

Since relocating, we’ve kept our travel fairly local to Buffalo, including a trip to NYC in September to cheer on our beloved UW Huskies (and check off more national park service sites (Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island national monuments) and another new state for Michael (New Jersey)!).

Playing tourist in NYC

In October, I started as an Area Director with N2 Publishing. I’m currently ramping up a neighborhood newsletter in the Delaware Park neighborhood in Buffalo. I used to write for our N2 newsletter on Mercer Island and knew I wanted to work with them after we moved.

Michael took swim lessons and has discovered he’s a fish. (It only took 5 weeks of tearful lessons to discover!) We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary, and we enjoyed seeing Alton Brown as a part of UB’s Distinguished Speaker series.

Michael’s turned two in September and we celebrated with all of our new friends! We have developed some great friendships here already and had a wonderful backyard BBQ for Michael’s birthday, complete with a water table and giant homemade bubbles. (Until a certain two-year-old decided to touch the very hot grill…)

Michael’s 2nd birthday

We’ve had some wonderful house guests at our new home and have the tourist routine down pretty well. We’re accepting visitors and would love to show you around our new town. Our favorites include: Niagara Falls, Niagara on the Lake (a quaint Carmel-by-the-Sea-esque town in Canada on the shores of Lake Ontario), downtown Buffalo, the Darwin Martin House (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright), and authentic Buffalo eats: beef on weck, chicken wings, sponge candy, and loads of pizza, ice cream and doughnuts. (Those are the six Buffalo food groups, we think.)

For Halloween, Michael dressed up as a Buffalo Zoo zookeeper and tried residential trick-or-treating for the first time. He made it to about 12 houses in 45 minutes, and continues to enjoy the sweets he received.

Zookeeper Michael

We trekked back to Seattle for Thanksgiving, celebrating the holiday, another Husky Apple Cup victory, and our new niece/cousin Isabella Mamiya! She and Michael were fast friends.

A visit to the market!

We’re wrapping up the year in Buffalo, and enjoying a white Christmas for the first time in a very long time.

2018 is going to be a great year with the launch of my monthly neighborhood newsletter, Brandon’s continued research and first Intro to Managerial Accounting class (550 students!) and lots of new east coast adventures!

University at Buffalo!

The Handmade Project

Posted in Adventures, Crafts, DIY, Homemade, Parties!, Photos, Q13 by

Umm… did you know that my wildest dreams might actually come true?! It’s a long shot, but when Brandon forwarded me the application for The Handmade Project, a reality television show about crafting (!!!!), I knew that I had to apply.

It took three weeks for me to perfect my responses to the dozens of questions they asked, find my craft projects and photos, and to film just the right 3 minute video. The stars aligned last week and I submitted my application!

You have to apply to be chosen! Fingers crossed!!

I’ve never applied to a reality TV show before, but I’m guessing it’s a little bit of a popularity contest, so I’d really appreciate it if you could please watch, comment, and like my application video on YouTube, this blog post, and on my social channels. (Links in the top right!)

Who knows… you might be seeing me on the big screen in August!

Here are some highlights of my application, so you can know what you’re supporting:

My PR/introductory blurb:

During the day, Megan Szerwo is a real-life Leslie Knope, making her living working on behalf of the people of the City of Seattle. After hours though, Megan grabs a glass of her favorite red and she gets down to business on her real passion: crafting. A jack of all trades, Megan focuses her attention on party and holiday decor, gifts for new parents, and any and every craft possible with her endless supply of corks. Megan’s three passions in life are easily described: cats, crafts, and carafes! Megan lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband, son, and two cats.

And some of the projects that I highlight:

My Q13 debut!

My small business: Little Britches Bakery

Our homemade wood-fired oven in the backyard

My party pinatas

My mad party-throwing skills

Cork art!

And a couple of projects that are new to you as a blog reader:

Michael’s ONE HAPPY CAMPER first birthday party! I promise you’ll see it soon!

Muzzle Guzzler glassware: coming soon!

Fourth of July onesies! (Post coming only a year late, but in time for 7/4/17!)

Since it’s likely that this show would just perfectly foul up our Buffalo moving plans, it’s almost guaranteed to happen!

Don’t forget to watch my application video, tell all your friends to watch it, and like/comment on this post!

Thank you for reading and your unending support of my creative endeavors!

Megan’s Island: shuffling off to Buffalo, NY!

Posted in Adventures, Buffalo! by

Buffalo, NY!

It’s official! We’re trading in the grey drizzle of the Seattle area for upstate New York!

Brandon signed the official paperwork this week and come next fall, he’ll be teaching accounting, Michael will be making new friends at a new daycare, and I’ll be spending a lot more time here, on this blog. And on my small business. And working on my real estate license. And, finally, working on even more ideas I have up my sleeve! You’ll just have to keep tuning in to find out!

Since I’ve never left the Seattle-area for more than a couple of weeks at a time, I need your help.

Tell me everything you know about the Buffalo area: favorite restaurants, favorite wineries, favorite spot to see the fall colors, favorite great lake, favorite parks and snow boots, you get my drift. Snow drift. Get it? (For those not in the know, it averages 94″ of snow each year there. That’s nearly EIGHT FEET of snow.)

Tell me all of your tips for moving to a new town. Should I find my new favorite stores and make friends there? Same story but at my new favorite restaurant, wine bar or winery? Should I volunteer?

I’m sad to be leaving my friends and family in Seattle, but nervous and excited about this new adventure. I’m definitely looking forward to spending a lot more time here, with you.

Now, we’re off to shuffle off to Buffalo!