100 days until the big day!

Posted in Around the house, Baby Michael, Crafts, DIY, Homemade by mszerwo

Wow. Where did the time go!? It feels like I’ve been both pregnant forever but also pregnant for just a few days, when in reality, the clock is quickly ticking down and there are only 100 days remaining until Baby Michael’s anticipated arrival! (I think he’ll be early, so maybe it’s even fewer than 100 days!)

Brandon is done with spring quarter today, so starting this weekend our attention will be focused on the little man’s new room. It’s always best to start with some sketches, some inspiration and a list. So, here we go!

What do you think of my masterful sketching? We’ll see how true-to-life this ends up being:

Sketching out the room

And the master to do list:

Remove the mattress and bed frame. Wrap for transport to the cabin.
Apologize to Maddie for stealing her favorite napping spot.
Wash sheets, take comforter to dry cleaners.
Remove ball lights.
Clean out and remove the bookshelf side table.
Vacuum and dust thoroughly!
Buy paint and paint the room. We’re debating between Behr’s Sparrow and Anonymous. Which one is your favorite?
Secure baseboards. Touch up with paint if necessary.
Hang curtain rods and curtains.
Place the art on the shelves and think about where wall art will be placed
Empty Brandon’s clothes from the dresser.
Replant and move Brandon’s terrarium.
Assemble new rocking chair.
Grab crib from home-home and set it up.
Finish whale mobile.
Finish painting ceramic fish and lampshade.
Measure dresser, cut whitewood (or other kind of cheap wood) to create a top. (We’re making something like this, but only the top.)
Sand and paint dresser, replace drawer pulls.
Sand and stain dresser top, elephant rocker, side table, trophy bases and book boxes.
Spray paint the ceramic animal heads, adhere them to the wood trophy bases.
Make rope basket “zoo” for stuffed animals.

That’s about it. Totally doable, right? Maybe not in a single weekend, but we’ve got 100 days!

Here are some before photos.

The rocker will likely be on this wall. Ball lights will be gone. Pictures are already gone.

We’re thinking dresser, changing pad and toys on this wall

We’re thinking crib on this wall!

Closet wall. Not much will change here except many of the clothes will change!

Let the magic begin! Happy Friday!!

8Jan2015

Blog photo composition secrets

Posted in Around the house, Cats, Photos by mszerwo

Ever wonder how I get all of the great photos I post here and on Instagram? This comic pretty much sums it up:

The truth behind all of my photos… Kind of. 😉

Lucky for me, my cats are lazy and photogenic, my camera and I are friends and understand one another, and I’ve enjoyed composing and taking photos for many years.

Shortly after I saw this comic, I stumbled across this post on Instagram. The only thing missing here is a glass of wine! I think Jack and I totally nailed it!

Have a great rest of the week!

Comic from Huffington Post

4Nov2014

Let there be light!

Posted in Around the house by mszerwo

It was a dark and stormy weekend…

…And I was home by myself and the power went out! Brandon was at the UW Homecoming game and I had to fend for myself. I was able to get by just fine. Our house and the pizza oven also fared just fine. The wind caused some of our bistro lights to come unhooked, and a lot of leaves and needles to fall in the backyard, but it wasn’t too bad. I’m so glad that no big branches fell off of the trees and that nothing came crashing down on the pizza oven. We’ve gotten great use out of it, but not enough for the effort we put into it!

Windstorm hits the backyard and the bistro lights fared just fine!

I wrote the rest of this post last Sunday night, nearly 24 hours into the power outage. (The lights came back a few hours later and then went out again all night on Monday.)

The fireplace is turned on (it’s gas), I’ve got my headlamp at the ready, and I discovered the “light my keys” function on my laptop. My laptop was fully charged last night, so I’ve got ~7 hours of uninterrupted writing time ahead of me. I’ve also been using my new Kindle PaperWhite, which is backlit, enabling me to read the one item I had gotten around to uploading. Fortunately/unfortunately it was a Jackie Collins teaser for several new romance books she has out. That’s what I get for searching the freebie books, I guess. Once the power is back on, I’m absolutely downloading some actual books.

I was thinking back to last year and I’m pretty sure that there was a power outage on Megan’s Island (Mercer Island) Halloween 2013. Seeing the ‘wind warning’ notices and driving through the sheets of rain last night tipped me off to what was to come and I charged my phone as soon as I got home. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made! This year’s outage was much longer than last year’s. Last year we blamed the lack of a single trick-or-treater on the power outage. This year, we again failed to receive even one trick-or-treater. Maybe it is the lack of sidewalks and street lamps and the dead end street.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the residents of Mercer Island. On Sept. 27 we had strains of e.coli found in our water and a “boil water notice” went into effect. That lasted for 11 days and was much harder on the businesses than on the residents. Businesses lost a ton of money and I’ve heard of at least one business that wasn’t able to recover. Our grocery stores had to throw out a ton of food and it was pretty slim-pickings around here for a while.

Boil-water advisory on Mercer Island

No seafood here… or veggies… or meats… or deli foods…

Bottle-water-washed veggies at QFC

The Associated Press even contacted me on Instagram and ended up using two of my photos for their articles about our e. coli.

Thankfully very few of the Mercer Island businesses were affected by this seemingly-never-ending power outage. (Yes, I’m being overly dramatic. I just want to shower, ok!?) Little Britches Bakery was ok, since I had access to my Etsy account via my phone and I filled my outstanding order before the storm rolled in.

It’s a lot more fun being stuck in dark solitude with someone else. The cats are great, but every time the wind picked up or pinecones fell on our roof, they would freak out and run and hide. I wanted to do the same, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. We’ve been closely following Puget Sound Energy on social media—not via their online outage map though, it’s virtually unusable via a mobile phone—and know what to expect. We collected all the candles, turned on the fireplace and unearthed our headlamps from Alaska.

We’ve got headlamps!

Power outage? Glassybabies are the solution!

Maddie loves the fire!

Studying by candlelight

Our power was out long enough that we had to get rid of some of the perishable foods in the fridge and freezer. We started cleaning things out and realized that the garbage disposal was electric. Whoops. Thankfully we got power back quickly after this poor decision and it wasn’t as gross as it could have been. Note to self: don’t do that again.

What not to do in a power outage

Even though they couldn’t find the source of the e.coli, I hope it’s behind us for awhile. Our water is super-chlorinated now and my skin and hair is sort-of getting used to it. Cheers to a new month, hopefully a better one for us Mercer Islanders.

17Oct2014

My new AstroTurf “W” wreath

Posted in Around the house, Crafts, DIY, Homemade by mszerwo

One of my most favorite crafts to date: An AstroTurf W!

My dear old glue gun made it halfway through this very special project. I wanted to finish it so badly that after the literal glue gun explosion, we rushed to Lowe’s to pick up a new one.

I started with this “W” letter from JoAnn’s. It runs $2.99 and stands 9.5″ tall. Perfect. And, you can use this technique for just about any letter or number combination.

You’ll also need that giant roll of AstroTurf that I convinced you to buy a couple of months ago.

I flipped the AstroTurf over and traced my letter, leaving about an inch of overhang. From there, cut it out and get that glue gun ready.

Flip and glue. And glue and glue and glue

What I didn’t do on my first go-around and will do in the future– and you SHOULD do your first time, add a wire or a tie of some sort toward the middle of your “wreath” before you glue on the facing layer of AstroTurf.

Start gluing. It’s important to go from one side to the other of the facing of the letter and to go with quick speed, since hot glue dries pretty quickly. Specifically, I glued in three main sections (left, right, middle), one section at a time. First, the fully covered “front” side, then I wrapped the overhang around the back, being very careful not to burn myself. On the backside, I pulled the turf tight and added cuts with the X-acto knife as needed.

Two sides done, just one to go

I added some felt flowers to give the wreath that extra Husky feel, using leftover felt from a new coaster project I’ve got up my sleeve. (I tried a variety of designs for the flowers with this technique, for the most part.)

Felt flowers made out of extra AstroTurf coaster fabric

The project didn’t take too long and I think the finished product was well worth the time. I’m going to wager that this wreath and its presence at our game watching parties are the reason the Huskies are winning! (I hope I didn’t just jinx them!)

Anyway, happy Purple Friday and GO HUSKIES!

(YES! There is still time for you to grab the project pieces and make one of these to celebrate UW Homecoming on Oct. 25! You know I’m going to make a couple more!!)

6Oct2014

RIP hot glue gun

Posted in Around the house, Crafts, DIY, Q13 by mszerwo

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already heard the news: I lost a dear old friend a few weeks ago: my hot glue gun.

RIP my dear old friend!

This wasn’t just any hot glue gun. This gun has been by my side, my crafting companion since I was in middle school, many, many, many years ago.

In fact, I used this very glue gun when I worked on several years of Milk Carton Derby boats, gluing the milk cartons and jugs shut, so they were airtight. I still remember that each gallon jug displaced 8 lbs of weight in the water. I’ll check with my parents for some of the old photos. We had very elaborate themes and boat designs.

Thankfully the glue gun held on through it’s big break on Q13. When it’s time did come, it went out with a bang — literally — with a loud pop and a plume of smoke.

At least it made it on TV!

Here’s the new glue gun. The jury is still out on whether it’s a comparable model. It does a fine job gluing but it doesn’t have the same finesse as my old one. Don’t worry, I’ll keep on crafting… and I have a great project to share with you soon! Need a clue? AstroTurf!

My new hot glue gun: names needed!

14Sep2014

Pizza, pizza: We named the oven

Posted in Around the house, Food, Garden by mszerwo

Our glorious backyard pizza oven

We capped off a wonderful summer with a big, ‘ole party. It was the prefect weather and we invited all of our friends for a full-on Italian feast, complete with a make-your-own pizza bar.

Backyard pizza party toppings bar

Brandon and I thought up some unique Italian names for our pizza oven and narrowed the list down to four:

Name ideas for the oven

We had our party guests vote (I love elections!) and we chose the winning name…

Oven’s got a name: Fatto e mano!

Since the oven is short and stout, we think Fatto (or Fattie, as we like to call it) is perfect.

Now that we have the name I’m working on a fun logo (it’s a pizza place, right?!) and a fancy door for the oven. More to come on both of those fronts soon! Have a wonderful week!

UPDATE: It appears as though Google translate failed us! “Fatto e mano” isn’t the correct, rather Fattie’s new name is Fatto A mano. Thanks to Sarah for catching it!

Fattie in action!

9Sep2014

Fall 2014 TV premiere dates

Posted in Around the house by mszerwo

Each year I try to wait until Labor Day to get really excited about the fall TV premieres. This year was no different and I started this blog post and my extensive research on Labor Day, surfing the net and chatting up my TV buddies. My friend Liz lives in SoCal and works at CBS. We have similar tastes in TV and she informs me on everything I need to know, especially the new shows.

I’ve already printed this calendar (from TVline.com) and highlighted the shows we (mainly just me) will be watching. I like to set the DVR for the week each Sunday.

Fall TV premiere dates from TVLINE.COM

I’m most excited for the returning shows, specifically and in chronological order of return:

Sleepy Hollow (9/22, 9 p.m., FOX)
The Blacklist (9/22, 10 p.m., NBC)
The Goldbergs (9/24, 8:30 p.m., ABC)
Modern Family (9/24, 9 p.m., ABC)
Nashville (9/24, 10 p.m., ABC)
Scandal (9/25, 9 p.m., ABC)
Castle (9/29, 10 p.m., ABC)
Homeland (10/5, 9 p.m., Showtime)
Grimm (10/24, 9 p.m., NBC)

And I have the following new shows on my radar:

Z Nation (9/12, 10 p.m., Syfy) I’ve never really been into zombie shows — I prefer vampires — but a friend of mine from high school is in this show, so I’m going to check it out.
Gotham (9/22, 8 p.m., FOX) I’m not that into superhero shows, but I’ll try it. Maybe it’ll be a surprise breakout show, like Sleepy Hollow was last year.
Scorpion (9/22, 9 p.m., CBS) I’m on the fence with Scorpion too but it looks interesting and I do enjoy Katherine McPhee.
Selfie (9/30, 8 p.m., ABC) I’ve heard mediocre reviews, but it’s the same writers as Suburgatory, so I’d like to give it a shot.
Bad Judge (10/2, 9 p.m., NBC) I’ve heard poor reviews (again), but I really like Kate Walsh, so hopefully she’s able to save this show!
How to Get Away with Murder (9/25, 10 p.m., ABC). I’ve heard nothing but amazing reviews on this show. I’ve heard its even better than Scandal, which means it’s going to be really good.
The Flash (10/27, 8 p.m., CW) I’m not that into superhero shows, but I’m hearing really good things about The Flash, so it’s on my list!

I’m pretty bummed out about these cancellations:

Betrayal: It was weird but I couldn’t get enough.
Ravenswood: I love Pretty Little Liars and although it was almost too creepy to watch live, I loved this spin-off and miss it. It does sound like they’re planning on blending it back into the next season of PLL, which will be cool.
Suburgatory: Although it is/was apparently shopped around to other networks, so maybe we’ll see it again in the future.
Trophy Wife: I was loving this show! Too bad.

Beyond the Mindy Project (9/16, 9:30 p.m., FOX) and the Good Wife (9/21, 9 p.m., CBS) — which I don’t currently watch but might start this year! — what do you think I should watch? Tell me in the comments below!

(A few of my favorites are mid-season shows: Parks & Rec (final season!!!! NO!!!), CSI: Cyber (new show…looks interesting…I like IT), and Downton Abbey! I’ll be looking forward to them too, but likely won’t be blogging specially about them…)

Read last year’s fall TV premiere post here and happy watching!

3Jul2014

Happy 10th Birthday, Maddie!

Posted in Around the house, Cats, Photos by mszerwo

I’m a bit of a crazy cat lady and my oldest, Madison, is celebrating a very special birthday tomorrow: DOUBLE DIGITS!

My sweet Maddie will be 10 tomorrow! She hates fireworks, so she kind of detests her birthday, but I’ll try to make it up to her with a long weekend of quality time and some really good treats!

As I did with Jack last year, here is Maddie’s photo show:

Sweet Maddie Cat

Delicate lady paws

Another shot of her delicate lady paws

And some of her favorite activities…

… Boxing

… Lounging

… Exploring

… Sleeping awkwardly on her brother

… A lot

Happy birthday, Maddie!

Hanging with Mom: birthday plans of champions

24Nov2013

A Sunday crafternoon

Posted in Around the house, Crafts, DIY by mszerwo

I hope you had a nice weekend. Beyond the usual grocery shopping and cleaning, I spent this afternoon finishing up a lot of projects I’ve been working on for the past few weeks (or sometimes years!).

How did I spend my crafternoon? Let me tell you all about it!

First, I’m on a pinata making kick and I put the last layer of paper mache on a WSU Cougar pinata that I’m making for the big Washington vs Washington State Apple Cup game this Friday.

The pinata is turning out really well and I’m hoping that its dry enough to paint tonight.

My pinata tutorial will be posted in the next few weeks.

Next, I made 15 pairs of holiday earrings for a craft show at work. These are super easy to make and I’ve made them many times in the past.

How do you make them?

First gather your ingredients and tools:

Needle-nosed pliers
Something to make the earrings out of (I use small glass ornaments from Michael’s. These were $5.99 for 27 ornaments)
Earring backs. I used the cheap silver ones, since these won’t likely get all that much use. I don’t remember the cost, but they came in the million pack and it was less than $5.
That’s it! (I wanted to be extra fancy and used punches to make a little backdrop for the earrings with fancy cranberry-colored glitter paper, also from Michael’s. It’s 12″ x 12″ and was $0.59 per sheet)

Use the pliers and open the circle hook at the base of the earring hook a tiny bit. It should be easy to open but don’t open it too far, but just enough to slip on the ornament.
Slip on the ornament.
Close the hook back up.
Tada. Totally easy, right? And oh so festive!

Since Seattle has been so sunny (ok, not rainy) this week, I decided to do some spray painting. Here is a sneak peek. There will be much more explanation in the weeks to come.I was just happy that I got to bust out the gold spray paint. UPDATE: Read about my golden pine cones here!

Finally, I bought a bunch of felt balls more than a year ago (online from the Felt Pod) and recently re-discovered them in the garage. It took me about 30 minutes to create a felt ball garland by stringing them on some embroidery floss and hang them in front of the big mirrors in our living room.

What do you think? I love them and I’m so glad I finally finished this project!

(Please note: I only made one strand, that’s just the reflection in the mirror.)

And now? It’s time to make dinner. We’re making this root vegetable stew with beef and barley from Whole Foods. It’s so good! Definitely pin this as a dish to try this winter!

Have a great week!

17Nov2013

Winter decomposition

Posted in Around the house, DIY, Garden by mszerwo

It was just a few short months ago when our backyard looked like this:

Backyard shade garden, circa summer 2013

With the rain and wind and the changing of seasons, our yard now looks like this:

Fall shade garden decomposition | Megan's Island Blog

Looks like we traded UW Husky flamingos for hostas!

A few weeks and showers later… It’s almost a winter shade garden

Where did all of those beautiful hostas go!? I know from previous experience that hostas die back in the winter, so I was prepared for the decomposition and their disappearance.

In fact, I’ve taken my sweet time planting most of these hostas and have had them in their pots for years. This is how it usually goes: Clean up the yard in the spring, look at the empty pots as I’m taking them out to the yard waste bin, see new plants sprouting! So, they stay in their pots another year. Summer 2013 was a big time for us in that we actually freed the hostas from their pots and planted them!

Knowing that the hostas and a few of our fern varieties will disappear until the spring and that I’ll forget where I planted them, I bought some golf tees (~$5 for 100 of them from Target) to put in the ground, so I’ll know where not to plant next spring.

Here’s how it looks:

Pretty inexpensive solution, right? As your fall gardens start to decompose, I encourage you to get some golf tees of your own to help with your spring planting.

Happy planting and decomposition!

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