Maxwell Street Days: sidewalk sale extravaganza.

After a hot tip from Tonya at work, I opted to spend the afternoon on State Street at the annual Maxwell Street Days sidewalk sale. All weekend, the State Street stores have major sales: it's total fun, but total chaos.

I was joined by my friend/coworker, Rebecca, who had already visited part of the sale yesterday. While we enjoyed browsing the sales, we both found ourselves particularly overwhelmed by the large crowd and noisy DJ at Urban Outfitters, so we sought refuge in a quiet used bookstore and then people-watched on the curb while enjoying some refreshing treats at Red Mango.

In the words of my design professor from freshman year, I "showed good use of restraint" and actually didn't buy anything at this enormous sale. I truthfully don't need any clothes right now, and I'd rather save up for home decor.

This was yet another day when I was grateful to live downtown and be walking distance from all the excitement.

Art fairs on (and off) the square.

At knitting group, I found out that the annual Art Fair On The Square was happening downtown. While I'm not much of an art buff, it sounded like a fun (and free) opportunity to check out a wide variety of art.

I ventured out to the square and enjoyed browsing the entire fair.

John Petrey is an artist who focuses on themed dress sculptures made from a variety of materials. Here are two of my favorite pieces from his display:

Playing card-themed dress sculpture.

Dress sculpture made from 1960's shoe tags.

An artist with a lot of visitors at the fair was Michael Gard. Michael makes wire sculptures, focusing on human forms. Here are some of my favorite pieces from his display:

When I told my coworker Erika that I was going to the fair, she recommended that I also visit Art Fair Off The Square, located right off Capitol Square. Art Fair Off The Square focuses specifically on local artists. I explored this fair as well, which featured a stilt walker, food vendors, and many artists.

My favorite display at this part of the fair was Jim Sauer's sculpture exhibit, which featured funky anthropomorphic animals:

A frog on a laptop, of course!

Mama and baby kangaroos playing a tuba!

Days like this reassure me that I was right to live downtown. I wanted to be near the action and excitement. Today, the fun was 2 blocks from home. 

Results from the June poll!

After 35 votes, the June poll results are in...

Question: What is your favorite type of cheese?
1st place: I love cheese so much that I can't choose just one!
2nd place: Other
3rd place: Cheddar
4th place: Swiss
5th place: Brie

I believe that "other" came in 2nd because I neglected to put feta cheese in the poll. I voted for provolone, which my blog readers don't seem to like as much as me!

MadCat Pet Supplies: a cat lover's dream.

Anticipating the arrival of my two cats this Thursday, I decided to go buy them a nice surprise yesterday. I went to MadCat Pet Supplies' largest location on Mineral Point Road (right near the West Towne Mall) in search of the perfect cat tree. There were plenty of reasonably priced choices. The trees at MadCat look nothing like the ugly ones at most pet stores. MadCat trees are functional, yet quite aesthetically pleasing: the perfect addition to my new apartment.

One of the many awesome reasons to buy a cat tree from MadCat: they deliver for free. This is a great perk for a girl like me with a compact car and no upper body strength.

I chose a wooden tree with three carpeted tiers.

My tree was delivered right to my door 24 hours after it had been purchased: very efficient! I plan to sprinkle catnip all over it in order to get the cats interested. I think it looks like a very nice place for them to lounge and scratch.

My cats are not related-- they just happen to look very similar.
Jupiter (left) and Phoebe (right) will relocate to Madison this Thursday!

Got Feathers? Tour des Coops!

While chilling at a post-work gathering last week, Amie mentioned that there was a chicken coop tour happening in her neighborhood. That's right, Tour des Coops: a free walking tour of the local chicken coops, sponsored by the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association. As someone who has never properly toured a chicken coop before, this sounded like a blog-worthy Saturday adventure.

I began my day in true chicken coop fashion: I got feather hair extensions. I had been wanting them for awhile, and I was sold when my friend Nicole told me that Fine Featherheads were cruelty-free. Thanks to Jece for putting them in:

6 feathers: 2 red, 2 purple, and 2 black & white.
Because I have very thick hair, they should stay in for 8 weeks. Sweet!

I had feathers in my hair and I was truly in the mood to bond with some chickens. I walked to the Tenney-Lapham neighborhood, which is about a mile from my apartment. On my way there, I passed this lovely window decoration on East Johnson Street:

A house is not complete without a cow in the front window.

Daily dose of cow: complete! Now, onto the chickens. I arrived at the first stop on the tour: Richard Freihoefer's chicken coop:

Two chickens hanging out in their coop.

Richard owns two types of chickens: Buff Orpington (tan) and Plymouth Rock (black & white).

The coop is in Richard's backyard. We chatted and I told him that I'm new in town and recently started this blog. Then, he said words that were music to my ears: "Would you like to hold a chicken?" I obviously said yes. As it may have already been implied, I'm a total animal lover. I never refuse an opportunity to snuggle an animal:

Complete with my feathered hair, I totally bonded with this bird (Richard doesn't name his chickens).
She let me hold her for quite awhile and enjoyed being petted.

Little did I know that it was about to get even better. Obviously getting the impression that I love holding animals, Richard asked me: "Would you like to hold a baby turkey?" Again, obviously, my answer was yes:

Meet Tom: he's a 4-week-old baby turkey.
He didn't mind being held and petted, but his real joy came from pecking at my rings. 

After bonding with Richard's birds, I decided to continue exploring the local coops. Before I left, Richard gave me three eggs fresh from the coop:

Thanks for the eggs, Richard!

I proceeded to explore other local coops (all of which are in the backyards of homes in a residential neighborhood). I saw some chickens with beautiful feathers (much fancier than the ones in my hair):

Click to enlarge the photos and see the feathers up close: they're gorgeous! 

After touring a few coops, I thought that I should go check out Lake Mendota (Madison is an isthmus surrounded by lakes). On my way to the lake, I ran into Amie, who had told me about the tour. She had also just finished touring the coops, and I wound up making a pit stop at her house instead of seeing the lake (it's not going anywhere and I'm sure I'll see it eventually). I got to meet Mr. Otterpants (a very sweet cat) and grab a snack. Thanks for the rhubarb turnover, Amie!

My not-so-average morning drive.

Around 9:00am this morning, and I was driving to work while listening to the new Lady GaGa album (excellent wake-up music for me since I am NOT a morning person). It was a typical morning until I noticed that I was behind a large white trailer. As I looked closer, I noticed big black and white noses poking out of the trailer, along with a cow staring at me. There was a trailer full of cows driving downtown on a Wednesday morning. I managed to snap a picture while sitting at a red light:

Look closely: a cow is poking her nose out to get a whiff of the summer air.

I counted four cows in the trailer and they seemed quite content with driving around downtown. I'm hoping that they were on their way to a nice milking, rather than a slaughterhouse. This was quite an interesting start to my morning. I hope the cows enjoyed the ride.

Anthology on State Street: a crafty girl's dream.

I have a personal rule of thumb that tends to be quite accurate: any street with an American Apparel store is in a cool neighborhood. Yes, I know, this sounds quite generalized. Here is my reasoning: I really like American Apparel (despite the fact that they've been investigated for multiple scandals, but that's a whole other can of worms). American Apparel puts their stores in cool neighborhoods where the legging-clad hipsters can go find them. Simple as that.

When I went apartment hunting in Madison, I observed that the only local American Apparel store was on State Street. In accordance with my rule of thumb, I decided that State Street must be a cool place. I was right.

State Street is youthful and artsy, equally populated by chains and local businesses who seem to get along quite nicely with each other. My favorite discovery on State Street thus far has been a store called Anthology. I can't get enough of this place. If Etsy had a storefront, it would look like Anthology. They sell handmade gifts and goodies on consignment from local crafty folks, and there's even a craft table right in the store where anyone can sit down and get creative. I want to buy everything in this store.

In an attempt to show some restraint and not go broke in my first month of adulthood, I only spent $8 on my first trip to Anthology. I bought 8 yards of beautiful hand-dyed ribbon for $1/yard (score!). I brought it home and crocheted a wrap bracelet in a mere 10 minutes. As a craft enthusiast, it was quite an exciting day for me. Here is the result:

Beautiful, vibrant colors. Also, it's rainbow-colored yet it doesn't remind me of a bag of Skittles. Win.

Obviously, I knew that my love affair with this store would continue. After browsing the farmers' market yesterday, I returned to Anthology and spent time searching through a glass vase filled with cards of scrap yarn, ribbon, and string for $6 each. I chose a card with a blend of brown, purple, and green tones-- the colors just looked so rich, and I've been trying to integrate more green and purple into my wardrobe:

Gorgeous yarn, ribbon, and string for $6: I'm a very happy girl.

In another 10 minute crochet experiment, I tied the scraps from the card together and crocheted them into a bracelet. I'm loving how the textures nicely mixed together:

I suppose I have given in to the wrap bracelet trend, huh?

I'm usually a knitter (not a crocheter), so this new interest has surprised me a bit. I predict that I will continue making these, and I think they could make great gifts for friends.

Goal: sell my hand-knit cupcake hats at Anthology. I believe they'd fit right in, and I'd love to be a part of this wonderful store.