Winter Activities

We are well over the halfway mark of the winter season (officially 23 days until Spring!) and while I can’t wait for the warmer weather to come back, I’ve tried to really embrace winter for all that it is this year. To be honest I don’t think we’ve had a really bad winter, the grey skies and cold temps can be daunting some days but we haven’t had unfathomable snow amounts.

winter walks at Front Park

Over the last few weeks despite the cold I set a goal for myself to get outside and get in as much fresh air as I can, even if it’s a short walk it can work wonders on my mental health. Below I share some of the places I’ve gone for walks and other winter activities I’ve done and things I’d still like to do before the season is over.

greenhouse at MLK Jr. Park

Walking/Visiting the Olmsted Parks. I’m part of a new young professionals group, YPOP for Olmsted, so when the idea was tossed out there to meet up at a park and network it was a no brainer for me to participate in as many of these meet-ups that I could. Not only have I met some pretty cool yp’s but I also walked around some parks I don’t get to visit that often. Some of the parks we walked were Cazenovia Park, Delaware Park, Front Park and MLK Jr. Park.

Another place that my niece, Savannah and I visited a couple weeks ago was the Charles E. Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca, even though the trails are short we made the most of our time exploring, rolling down snow mounds, looking at the art work and Savannah got to play on the playground for a little bit.

Tifft Nature Preserve has been another great winter spot where my niece, nephew and I have visited this winter season. Great all year round, its nice to visit and explore what’s around you.

The Niagara Wine Trail - last weekend a couple friends and myself did a day trip up to Niagara County. Spring Lake Winery was great, they offer smore’s, a glass of wine or beer (or non-alcoholic drinks) and a bonfire for an hour. Tickets are $12. This was great for the snowy day that it was. We then went to Niagara Landing, they are taking reservations for tastings which is nice because it wasn’t crowded. The last place we went was Arrowhead Winery, there space is so big that it was easy to social distance yourself from the other visitors and the view out the window was pretty nice.

Things I’d still like to do before winter is over:

• Snow Shoeing at one of the parks in the area. I hear Ellicott Creek Park may be good for this, suggestions are welcome!

• Cross Country skiing (I haven’t done this since I was in high school)

• Night Tubing under the lights at Peek’ n Peak Resort

Tuesday's Tastings...

Like we have done for the past few years, my friend Karen hosted her annual birthday wine tour on the Niagara Wine Trail this past Saturday. While we have been to all of the wineries I'm about to mention before, this time I tried to take a different approach on each place... instead of going to just drink, I observed more -picking out what I liked, didn't like, etc. about each place. While I am no wine expert, below is my review.

I'd love to get to the Finger Lakes and do a comparison of wine trails in the months ahead.

Cheers!

-B

Honeymoon Wine Trail - while it is nice and cozy with the fireplace, I won't purchase wine or tasting from this winery. After what I think was poor customer service, I decided that even if we go there I won't support a business that I think needs some attitude adjustments.

I will mention they did have an artist painting this wine barrel which was pretty cool to see, but she was set up right by the bar area making it a little crammed when groups came in for tastings.

On my top 3 wineries on the Niagara Wine Trail: Niagara Landing Wine Cellar. I love just about all of their wines {minus the chocolate one}. I love the wine bottles, the layout of the winery and you can't beat the price - $3 for 6 tastings, that's a deal to me!

Perfect idea for those couples looking for something to do on Valentine's Day weekend...

Part of the wine trail group!

So many options to choose from...

Schulze Vineyards, while I'm indifferent with this winery, I used my tastings on a lot of their red wine, but did sample the Chardonnay last which was pretty good. The only winery that uses the nicest wine glasses to sample from, the tasting room was nice and clean, along with their bathrooms.

Freedom Run, this made the top of my list of favorite wineries. Not only because I love their barn they use for private functions and weddings, the customer service was amazing. While I don't know the gentleman's name who poured are wine, he was the nicest and most informational man I've met on all of the tours I've been on. Not only was the staff great, but it was a spacious tasting room with unique seats made from wine barrels.

You can't beat the sweet and hot pepper relish and apple butter snacks they had out as well.

Becker Farms, you can't go wrong there, while I opted out of the wine at this stop I ordered a pint of the Winter Ale {I believe that is what it was called}. It was a nice stop and I love all the areas where you can walk outside.

The last stop of the day was at Leonard Oakes, while I liked a majority of their wine and the layout of the tasting room, I didn't like are pourer. I felt like she was a little rude and hurried us along. Offering not only wine, but beer flights as well I thought the flights were a little on the higher price {$8 for 4 5oz. samples}.

Friday Favorites!

{Thank you Kate Spade for having the best phrases to start my month off right. #GoalsforFebruary}

Yay for Friday! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy that the weekend is almost upon us. I'm looking forward to hitting up the wineries on the Niagara Wine Trail tomorrow with some of my favorite people. Here are some things that made me smile this week. I hope you have a great weekend! -B

{A look at the frozen lake and Peace Bridge in the background}

{Catching up with a friend on my lunch break. You can't go wrong at Globe Market on Hertel}

{My husky, Sabre, he is the only one I know right now that loves this cold, wintery weather we've been having}

February To-Do

We are in the second month of the year and not to get to boring, but the beginning of 2015 hasn't gone exactly as I wanted {yes, I know that's how life goes}. While I focused so much on what I didn't do and what didn't go right for me, I need to think of what did. I met some amazing people and did some pretty cool things. I, {like I think most people are}, am my worst critic, I focus on always improving myself and the things that I didn't do, that I don't take the time to enjoy what I've accomplished.

February is about getting back to me - focusing on my goals and enjoying the things I do for me and not being so hard on myself {or at least trying to - this isn't going to be an overnight switch-a-roo}. So today I'm kicking it off by heading to Holiday Valley for the day. I took the day off and am looking forward to a day of Ellicottville fun with Annette.

A  couple other things  I have on the calendar that I'm looking forward to this month are trying some new fitness classes out {Barre at Catalyst, Pound at BikeorBar, incorporating a little yoga in my life - if you know of a good studio to go to let me know! and learning more TRX at Revolution Buffalo}, a Makers Buffalo Class is always fun!, a Niagara Wine Trail wine tour for a friend's birthday, the Polar Bites event benefiting the Buffalo Zoo and planning the finishing touches for my 30th birthday party next month. Who knows what else will come up, but sometimes its those "unplanned" adventures that make the best memories.

What are some fun things you are looking forward to this month. Leave them in the comments section below and I'll pick a random person to win a gift card to 716!

-B