be careful what you blog about...

because sometimes blog posts come true. our post before last was a plea for helping rescued animals, and well, looky what followed mona and m21 home last night:we spotted him while walking mona, looking like he was about to get his ass kicked by a cat. we began talking to him from across the street, which was enough to drive the cat away, but luckily, he was interested enough to stick around. after a good half hour of sweet talk from a distance, he was curious enough to finally let us cross without running, and after bit more chatting, comfortable enough to come say hi to mona (though he still shied away from me).

well, one whiff of mona meant love on his part (he's not fixed) and he proceeded to follow us the 8 blocks home (promising him a good meal along the way may have helped). we put mona in the house immediately (we're willing to provide food, but not sex, thank you) and we then worked on gaining his trust (and tricking him into the m21mobile) with lots and lots of treats.

after freaking out a bit- doubt he'd ever been in a car before- he eventually calmed down, munching on biscuits while happily curled beside me. by the time we got to the shelter, we were buds, and it broke my heart to turn him in. our first priority has to be to mona and richard- keeping an un-neutered stray male dog in the house, no matter how sweet and mild-mannered- is just too risky. still, it was touch and go at the shelter- a big ol' wave of "please mom, can i keep him? i'll walk him and feed him and everything" swept over me as i filled out the paperwork.

today we put up flyers, though to be honest, we are ambivalent about his original owner claiming him- really, what responsible pet owner keeps un-neutered male dog without a collar or chip? still, there could be a reason- perhaps he was newly adopted, or escaped after a bath... he's very skittish, though and seems untrained (we tried a leash- total fiasco) so we just can't tell if he's a pet or born to the streets (he seemed just a bit too clean and well-fed to have been on the streets for long, so we think he must have come from someone's house or yard).

our new lil buddy is now at the west los angeles animal shelter, and if unclaimed, will be available for adoption on 1/04/09 (hint, hint, hint). the WLA animal shelter has a lower kill rate than any other city of LA shelter, so we have high hopes for a good home. (i'd never take him to the south LA shelter which services my zip code- it's overrun with strays, so his chances for adoption wouldn't be nearly as good). we also told the shelter we would be responsible for him if a home can't be found, so his future is guaranteed- we wouldn't rescue someone from the streets, just to put them on death row.

which brings us to the point of this post: we REALLY don't want another little buddy here at the m21 atelier, so before he lands back in my lap, if anyone wants a doggie, PLEASE email me, ok?

a mystery in the 'hood

near the maison21 atelier, there is a rather grimy little retail strip (you'd never know there is an adorable neighborhood right behind it). we've mentioned it before as it has a couple of junk shops we've hit from time to time, and if we liked ethiopian food a little more, we'd be in heaven, as there are approximately 300 ethiopian restaurants and coffee shops in a one block stretch. but generally we avoid our neighborhood business strip- it's not pretty enough to stroll along with mona, and we certainly try never to drive through it, as it contains one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in los angeles (if you live here, you know EXACTLY where we're talkin' about).

not so long ago, we noticed a store front had been leased, and we've been curious about it ever since, as through the plastic drop cloth initially covering the window, the outline of two bright yellow highback chairs could be seen. we thought perhaps the designer next door had expanded his office space, but his space is now up for lease, so we're thinking not...

when the drop cloth finally came down, the most little glamorous jewel of a shop was revealed- waaaaaay chic for the hood! how pretty are these windows? we still don't know exactly what the shop is about- there are pillows and trims visible inside the teeny-tiny space, as well as a few vintage lamps and furniture pieces- looks more like a beautifully decorated studio apartment than a shop, actually. no signage yet, and every time we've stopped by, it has been closed (our own fault probably- we only tend to think about it when walking mona in the evening hours- you'll note the pictures were taken at night).

whatever the purpose of this little shop, we couldn't be more excited- the unglamorous retail area of our neighborhood could certainly use a chic injection. we've even fantasized about our own little shop on the strip from time to time, but decided it was just bit too down market for us- glad it's movin' on up! maybe we should get in before the rents move on up too!
we will definitely keep you posted as we unravel the mystery of our local jewel box of a shop, and we will FOR SURE do a real post on it soon- any store opening in this economy needs all the publicity it can get- even if it just reaches the 3 local readers of our blog! better make that just one local reader- i think mona and richard just look at the pictures... ;-)

teh giving season (itteh bitteh kitteh edishun)

the holidays are time for giving, right? so m21 wants to talk to you about really giving, by giving a homeless pet a new leash on life. here in southern california, the local news outlets have been giving attention to a serious and growing problem- not only are people being displaced from their homes by foreclosures and job losses, sadly their pets are being displaced too- often people can't take their pets with them because they are moving into "no pets allowed" apartments, or moving in with relatives with allergies; more often, people simply can no longer afford to care for their loved pet, and surrender them in hopes of finding them a better home.

maison21's oh-so-talkative first animal companion, the elegant "kitty"- she showed up on our doorstep one day, meowering up a storm and refused to leave. after unsuccessfully trying to wait her out for a couple days, m21 relented and fed her the only thing he had on hand- clam chowder. she loved it, and proceeded to spend many happy years with us (eating real cat food, mind you). she truly had nine lives (and i have the vet bills to prove it), and at the end, she was completely blind but still able to successfully navigate around the atelier. pretty amazing little gal. and the stories she could tell: "meor meow r ow meow mao mao mew, meorarow, meow"

the result is our animal shelters and rescues are overcrowded to bursting, and many pets that would normally be kept until they found a good home, are now on death row due to overcrowding. all through no fault of their own.

mister, teh first stray mona found (she has a nose for kitties), now has a home with one of maison21's good friends, and she spoils him rotten. (he was named mister because of the 'm' his fur pattern forms on his forehead).

if teh problem is worsening here in relatively wealthy southern california, m21 is sure it's bad for animals everywhere, and since you know m21's own furry family are amongst the highlights of his life, he is encouraging ANYONE who might be thinking of taking the pet plunge, to do so by adopting a little friend from a local animal shelter or rescue. one visit seeing those little furry faces staring back at you at petfinder.com, and you'll want to help. it's worth a visit just to look, even if you aren't thinking about adoption. ok- we admit it, we're trying to trick you into visiting- you know one free try, and soon you're hooked. but we swear- there are worse addictions then puppies and kitties- addictions that love you back aren't really addictions at all, are they?

napoleon and josephine- two more of mona's finds (really, after finding so many kittehs, mona's lucky she ever gets walks at all). these two were the most beautiful kittens we've ever seen- if they weren't playing, you could see their big blue eyes. so darn cute, and really affectionate too. we would have for sure kept them, 'cept it would have been a pretty unfair thing to kitty, m21's blind and elderly cat- watch the video and you'll see why! napoleon might be the luckiest stray cat in the entire universe- his new mom takes him with her to work everyday, along with his doggie brother! we didn't even know cats were portable like that. (ours isn't, we tried it once- 2 hours in a car with a screaming fighting kitten- nope, our cat is house bound 4 life).

this is tulip, probably the spunkiest of our little rescues- she had two states of being: attacking or sleeping, with nothing in between- what a little character! maison21 had her for several weeks and was beginning to worry about finding her a new home, when in one of those weird twists of fate, m21 struck up a random conversation with a women in an antique store who mentioned she was on her way to the shelter afterward to adopt an adult cat to replace the one she recently lost to cancer. she even had her cat carrier in the car for the new adoptee, along with treats and toys! and get this, she aid she was looking for a extremely playful and active cat! lucky 'lil tulip- the fates smiled on her that day!

we certainly understand not everyone can give a pet a home, but if you can't, and you happen to have a little extra in your post-xmas budget, maison21 urges you to donate a little money (or time) to a local shelter or rescue- like all non-profits in this economy, they are hurting. there are all kinds of small private rescues on petfinder who operate on a shoestring, and the extremely dedicated people who run them would welcome any monetary help. we know of one pet rescuer, who on her office manager salary, pays to rescue and privately board dogs that are facing being put to sleep- to the tune of hundreds of dollars a month. this is in addition to the pets she fosters at her own home, and the pet adoption fairs where she volunteers at least once a month. we know from our own few rescues just how costly and time consuming fostering pets can be, so if you have a little extra abundance in your life, why not donate to a worthy cause? the cute lil' kitties and pups will thank you for it- even if they can't say so themselves...

richard (far right), with his sisters, piglet and paris (she was blond and had a lazy eye- what else could m21 name her?). if you are a long time reader, you'll know richard's story- his sisters were immediately adopted, but nobody seemed to want a boy kitteh. during our search for a good home, m21's beloved miss kitty sadly passed away and well, we already had the litter box set up and everything, so ... (it might sound callous to fill her place so quickly, but m21 actually highly recommends it- it's hard to mourn when a tiny ball of fluff is mercilessly attacking you 24/7).

last, if adopting a pet is out of teh question, and if a donation is out because your budget has the post-xmas, recessionary blues (trust us, we understand), here's one thing everybody can do to help teh animuls for absolutely free! simply visit theanimalerescuesite.com and click- every click raises funds for animal rescue! it's like magic! just click. and you'd REALLY be helping if you were to forward the theanimalerescuesite.com info along to your entire address book- teh more clicks, the more little lives saved! email and click, click, click. giving doesn't get any easier than that!

maison21 knows he may have bummed you out a bit with this post- homeless doggies and kittehs aren't the most light-hearted item we've ever posted on decorative but not serious... so as a palate cleanser, why not go check out teh funny LOLcatz pics at i can has cheezeburger- they always make us smile.

last, here's a funny little pet picture of our own- an outtake from our xmas photo shoot with richard. we took about 50 pictures of him wearing his santa hat and beard, and this is how at least 49 of them turned out:

coal, or candy canes?

have you been naughty?

or nice?happy holidays!

oxoxo,

m21, richard & mona

same time next year (white xmas bargain shopping)

if like maison21, you like your xmas tree to be faker than fake, and preferably white, we ran across the bargain of all bargains in a matching pre-lit wreath- on sale for $7.49 at domestications! you probably won't get it in time for christmas this year, but you'll be ahead of the game for next!
fyi- we don't know what it looks like in person, as we just ordered ours yesterday, but for that price, who cares? even with shipping, and some bogus $1.99 "service charge" (why not just price it at $10.49?), the wreath is still a bargain at around 15 bucks.