New Obsession - Top Golf

Have you heard of it?  I hadn't until recently when the hubs and brother-in-law received Top Golf gift cards for Christmas.  There are only 6 locations around the globe - 3 in the U.S. and 3 in the U.K.  It is one of those multi-level driving ranges but with a twist.  It is a competitive game with targets spread out across the green that you must aim for.  You get 20 balls that have RFID tags in them to track your points.  It is like a mix of golf, skee ball and bowling - it is so darn fun!

We gathered most of the crew and headed over there on Sunday to enjoy drinks, appetizers and a crazy competitive game of Top Golf. Spoiler alert - Bran and I won the first round.

And the my camera died - silly me.

I guess phone pictures will have to do.

Lots of victory fist pumps.

And the winners - You could only have 5 people per computer so we broke up into 3 teams and Bran and I won the first round!

Madelyn and Josh creamed everyone in the second and last round.  I didn't take a pic of that screen - so shameful.

Well if you happen to be near a Top Golf I highly recommend a visit.  It is great for birthday parties, group outings and even just a date.  We will definitely be going back may more times.

Yarn Feature - Muskat Egyptian Cotton

I have a new favorite yarn so I would like to start a new series where I can share with you what's in my yarn basket.  Personally I feel that the yarn is the most important component of a knit item. It is also my favorite thing about knitting.  I love all the colors, textures, styles......everything.  It is always the yarn that inspires my next project and the yarn that has been inspiring me the most lately is Muskat Egyptian Cotton.  It is soft, silky and has such a rich color.  It even has a nice sheen to it that almost shimmers. 

The price is in the mid-range around $6.50 a skein.  I buy my Muskat at my local yarn store.  It actually has been kind of hard to track down an internet provider to share with you so hopefully your own searches will go better than mine.

Here are a few items I have made with this yarn in the past.

But I am most excited for the hat I am currently working on with this yarn.

A chevron earflap hat.  I'll post as soon as I finish.

A strange, strange weekend

This has been a strange weekend.  Straight out of the twilight zone.  That may be a slight exaggeration but there have been enough unexplained things happening around this house that it has set me quite on edge.  It started out small enough and was easy to dismiss.

Saturday morning we awoke to a strange and excessive amount of what appeared to be dirt in the shape of many paw prints all over our kitchen floor.  Now ordinarily this isn't a strange thing to find at all, in fact it is quite common.  We have two large dogs who have the horrible habit of digging - with this Chicago weather it is near impossible to keep our kitchen floor clean.  What makes it strange is they had not recently been outside.  In fact they were inside most of the evening and when we locked them up for bedtime they had not been outside in many hours.  Our kitchen floor was clean and they did not have dirt on their paws.  If so, the evidence would have been all over my carpet.  So it was bizarre when in the morning we awoke to find such a thick and dark layer (darker and thicker than the above picture) of dirt on the floor.  It was as if our dogs had escaped in the night, had a joy ride in the mud and sneaked back into the house just in time for morning.  Which of course they could not have done.  It was creepy!  Oh and in case you are wondering it is not smeared poop - we stuck our noses in it many times.  Not proud of that but you do what you have to do.

Then later in the day as Bran went downstairs to do some laundry he discovered a brand new bottle (jug really) of detergent had fallen and spilled all over the floor - under both the washer and dryer.  It was a disaster and quite messy for something intended to clean.  Again, my camera wasn't readily on hand but I quickly snapped the above photos towards the end of our cleaning rampage.

By far the strangest and most unexplainable event took place once again when we awoke Sunday morning.  I'm still baffled by what we found.

The drawer full of heavy Le Creuset dishware and other miscellaneous items was found in the middle of the kitchen, right next to Hudson's bed.  First of all, this drawer is heavy.  Second, it locks in.  You can't just pull it out easily.  And thirdly, we did not hear a thing through out the evening and this had to be loud.  Metal strainers and ceramic pots were strewn across the floor and the mere noise of dragging the drawer on the hard floor had to be loud.  Lastly, Hudson was still laying on his bed when we came down.  Right next to the drawer.  If you have read my blog you may know that Hudson has some issues - a little anxiety and a lot of fear.  And he pees - a lot.  There was not a drop of pee on that kitchen floor.  The dogs acted as if nothing happened and nothing disturbed their sleep.  It was strange. Very, very strange.  Oh and I forgot to mention that once again there was the mysterious, excessive amount of dirt on the floor.  

So as of tonight, the mystery still stands.  What are our dogs up to when we turn out the lights and lay our heads down.  I am becoming very tempted to purchase one of those video baby monitors........very tempted.

House Goals for 2012

Now that we are a few days into this new year  Bran and I can't waste any more time because we created an extremely full list of house projects we wish to complete in 2012.  Of course we realize that we won't get to them all due to time, resources and most importantly finances but hopefully we can complete a good portion of them.

We have been putting a lot of money into this tiny little house and while it was necessary and we don't regret any of it, we both feel it is time to slow down and work on building our savings.  All the major purchases and remodels have now been completed on the house.  I made a list of everything we have done in 2011 (not including 2008-2010) and it is really exciting to see how extensive it is.

Projects Completed in 2011


- Kitchen remodel
- New doors on lower level
- Opening the gas line to the house
- New gas furnace and air conditioner
- New front and back door
- New front porch
- New gas water heater
- Painting and refinishing the deck
- New washing machine and gas dryer
- Painting the living room

As you can see the above list was pretty financially draining so the following list for 2012 fortunately is mostly cosmetic and hopefully cheaper(and in my opinion - more fun!).

House Goals for 2012

- Upstairs bathroom remodel
- Carpet runner on stairs
- Add functionality to laundry room (or create a laundry space in the basement)
- Paint guest room and re-decorate a bit
- Paint hallway - below trim
- Repair holes and re-paint
- Make curtains/shades for guest room, master bedroom and office
- Find artwork/photos to hang in living room
- Paint dining room chairs
- New light fixture in dining room
- Shelves in kitchen above butcher block
- Landscaping
- Freshen trim with new paint
- New doors upstairs and in office
- Mantle and entertainment shelves around fireplace

After these items are completed Bran and I both feel the house will be in pretty good order and hopefully will just be in a state of upkeep.  Of course we both have the pipe dream of someday finishing the basement and maybe adding a sunroom but we highly doubt we will do either in this house given the duration we wish to live here.  But hey if HGTV wants to show up or we win the lottery then thats the first thing we'll do.

Now back to work.......

Recycled Baby Hats

I do not think I express my love for Pinterest enough.  I adore Pinterest.  It has changed my life.  Little much?  I agree.  Needless to say I do care for Pinterest quite a lot and really find it useful in my life.  It has helped with keeping track of new recipes to try, party ideas, home decor inspiration and of course great projects and new blogs to follow.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that it really has helped attract so many fabulous readers to this little blog - thanks to my fabric flower tutorial.  So if you are here from Pinterest - welcome and thanks for stopping by and checking out what else Cherry Street Cottage is blabbering about.  (That may or may not be a word.)

I have Pinterest and Make It and Love It to thank for my next project.  I pinned these adorable hats a few weeks ago hoping to get to them someday.  As you know I've made a little business from knitting baby hats but these were so cute!

As I was cleaning out my closet in prep for the new year I reluctantly decided to get rid of some of my favorite pieces of clothing.  I was having such a hard time putting them in the goodwill pile.  I don't wear them anymore but I just can't let go.  Silly.  But then I thought of this project and decided to try and recycle these outfits and turn them into baby hats.  The tutorial was so easy to follow and I think the hats turned out great.  Now I just need a baby to wear them.

Top 11 of 2011: Projects Edition

I know I just did this post but this one is different.  Here are the top 11 projects of 2011.

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Bow Tutorial

My favorite - Bow Tie Onesies

Deck Refresh

Stripping my PB Dining Table

Football Hat

Chevron Hat

Corbel Shelf

Oversized Frame

TV Cabinet Transformation

Front Porch Remodel

I think that sums up the year pretty well.  But it is making me worry.  Now I have to think of projects to do this year..........

Top 11 of 2011

I'm joining the trend and sharing the highlights of the previous year.  

So welcome to the Top 11 of 2011.

 The great adventure that was Snowpocalypse 2011

Our wonderful trip to Boston, MA and the north coast with my family for my brother's graduation.  

This is Motif no. 1 in Rockport, MA. (As seen in The Proposal)

4th of July at the lake.  Nothing better.

Lola.  The pups love our trips to the lake too.

A trip to Colorado with the Keith family for some cattle herding - and hiking of course.

The boys. 

Oh and then there was the TRIATHLON......

Enough said.

Our front porch transformation.

The End of Summer Bash 2011.

Another quick trip to Colorado - just the two of us. 

(Just realized that I forgot to post about this trip....coming soon.)

And my favorite holiday - Christmas.  

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year - actually we had such a wonderful year.  I'm sad it is all over but the great thing is we get to do it all over next year.  Plus we have a lot of great things to look forward to in 2012 like my best friend's wedding in California and hopefully a trip to Scotland for the Keith family reunion.  And the best part of the new year is there will be so many fun, unexpected adventures.

Happy New Year!!