t.h. robsjohn-gibbings classiques live on...

did we know that the classical greece furniture designs of t.h. robsjohn-gibbings are still in production? maison21 didn't, until he read the latest issue of the world of interiors and spotted a full page ad for saridis s. a.- the original manufacturer of gibbings' timeless reinterpretations of the furniture of classical antiquity.

the saridis website is fairly primitive, and no information is available on their site as to where one can purchase the furniture, but it's nice to know that some of the most enduring furniture pieces of all time are still available...

cheap 'n chic?

maison21 will be spending part of his sunday afternoon going to pier1 imports, of all places. why you ask? well, m21 was recently at one of his clients' homes and they received a pier1 sale flyer in the mail, in which we proceeded to spot these great tables, at $49.98 & $59.98 respectively:



not bad, right? and that those prices, they sure look cute enough that feel we have to go check them out in person- if the finished product is even close to the cuteness of the pictures, we're going to snap a couple up- have no idea where or how they will be used, but we'll figure that out later.

when we googled "pier1" to find out where in the heck they have stores (either east hollywood or the western edge of culver city. at 5.5 miles away, they are each well outside of the 2.5 mile comfort zone in which we prefer to spend 98% of our time- but oh well- we'll make the sacrifice and brave l.a. traffic in search of cheap n' chic). we also saw these kinda cute little pagoda-esque etageres at $99.00, so we'll be checking them out too.



we'll let everyone know if these finds pan out, and we hope y'all are having a cheap 'n chic sunday as well....

post update: saw the etagére in person- way cute for the price- i didn't buy 'cuz i want two in red, and the pier1 i went to only had black, so now i'm on a hunt. blue tables were fab as well- picked up two. they were sold out of the red.

city pretty (l.a. vintage & antique resource)

maison21 has written several posts about where to find vintage and antique goodies out in palm springs, but he feels he's somewhat neglected his home town- so here's a place maison21 goes to find bargains on cool stuff right here in los angeles: the wertz brothers antique mall (santa monica to be exact - same thing really, just nicer weather).

like most antique malls, wertz bros is filled with booths stocked by individual vendors, meaning the merchandise runs the gamut from scary grandma country kitchen kitsch to chic 19th & 20th century delights and curiosities. the prices are similarly varied- from "are we in manhattan?" high to ridiculously " this can't be right" low. amongst the highlights maison21 spotted on his last visit were:

a pair of monumental ram's head wall mounted planters, one of the items offered for a ridiculously low price. maison21 wishes he had somewhere to use them- he would have snatched them up in a heartbeat.

a lovely, large carved wood sunburst (one of the loftier priced items)- maison21 would remove the clock and add a mirror, like he did to the former clock in his bedroom.


maison21 loves his objets in pairs, like these chic brass obelisks,
and these carved marble tusks.

lantern lovers take note- this big ol' lantern might be the biggest bargain in the joint at $150- probably isn't very vintage, but looks good enough for us (especially with the judicious use of some black lacquer spray paint on the "patina" bits).


maison21 is kicking himself for not picking up this well-priced pair of 1970's chapman brass white ceramic ram's head lamps.
the same vendor had this chic michael taylor coffee table,

as well as this chic 70's mazzega glass chandelier, which maison21 DID snatch up, and is now hanging in a client's hall vestibule, soon to be surrounded by cavern's "blackbird" wallpaper.

this pair of blanc de chine quan yin busts would be the chicest bookends.

lots of vendors had under-the-sea goodness, both real,

and fake.

last image- and you either get maison21 on this one, or you think he's nutz- we loved, this crazily over-scale felix agostini-meets-zsa zsa gabor wall sconce. once again, we had no conceivable use for it, so we had to leave it behind, but m21 sure loved it's chic, yet near grotesque, one-of-a-kind goodness.

so y'all get on out to the wertz brothers antique mall, y'hear?

1607 Lincoln Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 452-1800
Mon - Sat: 10 to 6 • Sun: 12 - 6
All major credit cards accepted
Complimentary Valet Parking

project preview (pretty über alles)

things are starting to look rather fabulous at one of m21's current design projects- we've just turned the corner from dust and mayhem, to "hey, it's starting to look kinda pretty around here"!

after a long search, viewing seemingly every single wall sconce ever made (and finding none of them quite right), we just scored four of these chic and unusual vintage brass and crystal bird-form sconces at auction (and if you've ever sourced vintage wall sconces, you know finding a chic set of 4 is no small task):
we think they are going to be STUNNING (as in couldn't be more perfect), mounted on the below chinoiserie wall panels. no, the panels AREN'T the delicious de gournay, rather a new source for hand-painted silk wall coverings we've recently discovered (which of course maison21 promises to share with you in a future post- just want to get them in hand first, for some prettier pictures). below is a jpeg of one the actual panels we commissioned- sent to us for pattern approval from the workroom. the color isn't exactly true, but we already signed off on a background color strike-off a few weeks back, so we aren't worried. the actual color is a true banana yellow- a brighter, clearer, and even more cheery color than below jpeg- m21 loves hisself some bold color, and thankfully, so do his clients! we don't do beige here at maison21! nope- not us! (but if we were to make an exception to our no beige rule, we promise to make it really pretty- after all, the m21 motto is "pretty über alles").
have a pretty weekend- don't know if we'll get to any posts or not- things are a little busy 'round the m21 atelier!

ps- we'll be announcing the winner of the "free pretty" sweepstakes the beginning of the week, so if you haven't entered, get on it! you only have until midnight tonight!

remember (as if m21 hasn't overused the word "pretty" enough in this post)- pretty über alles!

art furniture (dreamy & smart)

not much time to post this week, so maison21 is going to have to cheat a bit and pull images from a recent magazine article- he figures that since 98% of the design blog community seems to be women, so y'all might not have seen the below pics in the current issue of men's vogue. m21 supposes that maybe some of you girls might have glimpsed them, as the issue had dr. mcdreamy on the cover and for some unknown reason, dr. mcdreamy seems to be popular with the ladeeez. well, maybe that should be two unknown reasons- the hair and the eyes (or is that three unknown reasons?). oh, alright, already, maison21 knows perfectly well why mcdreamy is popular with the ladeeez but he swears he didn't buy the issue just because of the cover (now if it was mcsteamy on the cover, that would be a whole different story- m21 would admit to buying a magazine with him on the cover, because that sh*t is fine).

anyway, besides the eye candy cover, the art and design section of men's vogue featured these fabulous, limited edition art furniture pieces designed by architecture/design firm, aranda/lasch, exhibited at the johnson trading gallery in nyc. the pieces were inspired by "quasicrystal geometries"- whatever the heck that means- and though the underlying scientific principles may make maison21's oh-so-unscientific head hurt, the results make m21's oh-so-sensitive eyes very happy. the quasi table is "made of 3,700 individual blocks of solid walnut cut in only two different shapes but assembled in a complex pattern"- m21 would trade both mcdreamy and mcsteamy, for one of the limited edition of 6 tables (m21 will always prefer pretty furniture to pretty men- maybe that explains why we're eternally single, yet have 4 credenzas and 8 chandeliers out in our garage).



read all about about the smart & hip people behind the pretty furniture here in men's vogue, and let us know what you think (about the art, or mcdreamy or mcsteamy, or whatever)!

all praise maison21 (will work for compliments)

lauren, co-author of the delightful material girls blog, recently "tagged" maison21. m21 has mixed feelings about tagging- he thinks in a way, it's the online equivalent of a chain letter: "dear friend, if you don't send this letter to 10 people within 24 hours you'll have 10 years of bad luck, and your bad karma will cause earthquakes. sincerely, sharon stone"- BUT in this case, maison21 has put his misgivings aside, because material girl lauren had the nicest, most complimentary way of asking him to play, and with m21, flattery will get you everywhere:

"Person I want to know more about...Maison21, he is the funniest blogger ever! I'm always laughing out loud and reading some of his lines to my husband!"

now if lauren had said that maison21 is ONE of the funniest bloggers out there, he would have brutally snubbed her request, but, lauren, being the smart girl that she is, buttered m21 up with "(maison21) is the funniest blogger EVER"- meaning maison21 , and just maison21, is numero uno- and he likes that. a lot. of course now maison21 is lauren's new bff, and will not only answer her tag, but he will also soon be flying to her home town to take her to dinner, detail her car and wax her floors (compliment a blogger, gain a stalker!). seriously, flattery WORKS, people! maison21 thinks more people should try it! (pleeze?)

so here we go:

What I was doing 10 years ago:

same ol', same ol'- just trying to make the world a little bit prettier! when you've found something you really love in life, why change? maison21 will probably be doing the same thing 10 years from now, too- hopefully just on a slightly larger scale. our own line of furniture, lighting and accessories would make us very happy.

we actually thought about attempting a handmade, green lighting line about 10 years ago, with this homage d'artichoke lamp. it was made from recycled 1 gallon water bottles, and each petal was lovingly cut by hand. we made a grand total of 3, before we said- "screw this save the environment bullsh*t! we'll go green when we can have our recycled goods made in a big ol' polluting factory! (just kidding on that one by the way- since we use vintage whenever possible in our work, we figure in our own limited way, we're doing our bit to reuse and recycle).

Five Things on My To-Do-List:

1. meet with a flooring installer for an estimate at a client's house in 15 minutes (this gives you your first insight into maison21: he is always late- always, always, always- but, he is also always upfront about it too, so anyone meeting with him has the option of a: being late themselves, or b: lying to maison21 and giving him a fake time a 15 minutes earlier than you really intend on meeting him. m21's friends lie to him all the time when dinner reservations are involved, and it (almost) always works).
2. finish painting his kitchen (as long as you read this blog, maison21 will be talking about painting his kitchen. come back 5 years from now and maison21 will STILL be bitching and moaning about his damn half-painted kitchen).
3. finish sketching custom furniture for another client meeting this afternoon. (maison21 is HUGE procrastinator, but in his defense, he does pretty damn good work under the pressure of a fast approaching deadline).
4. make appointment to get hair cut (maison21 always forgets to do this until his hair looks like a big ol' bush- all of a sudden he'll look in the mirror one morning and get scared of what looks back, then he has to call his girl in a panic, begging her to squeeze him in- "puhleeeeeze- it's a total big hair emergency").
5. last item on every single day's to-do list: give mona and richard lots of love and attention (this one is easy, and he doesn't even forget, procrastinate or show up late).

Snacks I Enjoy:

is vodka a snack? no? ok then, bacon. someone needs to invent a "bacotini".

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:

first thing maison21 would do if he was a billionaire would be to set up a foundation to give 900 million of his billion dollars away. he would do this because 1) a billion dollars is entirely too much money for 1 man, 1 dog and 1 cat- as long as there are people in this world doing without the most basic of necessities of life, a billion dollars in the hands of one man just seems a little selfish, dontchathink? and 2) maison21 is just gonna blow through all the money anyway- buying pretty things and such- and it's 10 times sadder to have had a billion dollars and lost it, then to merely blow through 100 million.

Places I have Lived:
the maison21 clan in hawaii, back when m21 was just baby m.

though born in hawaii, maison21 is a california boy through and through (he left hawaii not long after the above photo). he grew up in san diego, moved to cold and wet san francisco for 5 years in his 20's and then returned to southern california to grow old gracefully under the warm los angeles sun. those of you living in other, less temperate climes, will poo-poo maison21 for thinking san francisco was too cold, but if you grew up in southern california, you too, would have problems adapting to anything other than 80 and sunny. maison21 actually thinks everyone should live here, and enjoy the goodness. on second thought, since it recently took m21 45 minutes to travel 16 miles, NO! STAY AWAY! the weather sucks and the people are shallow! and earthquakes! we have earthquakes!

I will now tag:

maison21 was going to tag tobi, from tobi et al, since she recently called m21, her "design idol" (god, we love that. can't get enough of that- lauren, who?). but alas, tobi was already recently tagged, plus she's pretty funny herself, so we really don't want to draw attention to any competition in the "funniest blogger ever" category.

in fact, maison21 started checking out all the bloggers who have ever said anything remotely complimentary about him, and discovered that pretty much everyone had already been tagged (or didn't care to play the game). so we've decided to tag YOU- simply write something incredibly flattering about maison21 on your blog, then consider yourself tagged! see? real easy, and you'll be preventing maison21 from breaking the "tag"chain and incurring the wrath of sharon stone when the next natural disaster comes along.

and remember, when praising maison21, the phrases "funniest blogger ever" and "design idol" have been used, so you'll have to get creative- if you need help, the phrases "high priest of chic", "hottest stud in decor" and "maison21: my first, my last, my everything..." are still in play.

go for it! (lantern love)

this is a shout out to maison21's design blogging friend, things that inspire, who today posted a great post on lanterns.

m21 doesn't have your email but he knows you stop by frequently, so he wanted to tell you- in both word and image- to:

go for it!

the maison21 atelier, spring '07

hang that lantern over your breakfast table! the bigger the better!

oxoxo-

m21

the junque whisperer

y'all know that maison21 loves his junque (not junk, because what we pick up is a bit chic-er than that, we think). he's never met a junk shop, thrift store, yard sale, estate (tag) sale or flea market he didn't want to stop into and browse for pretty things. well, here's where you might think maison21 is bit crazazy- sometimes maison21 thinks his ability to find the good junque borders on the psychic- like little voices in his head leading him to pretty things, kind of psychic (though in reality it's probably more like little voices saying maison21 needs his meds). but seriously, sometimes it's more than habit or frequency of shopping that leads maison21 to his finds, sometimes it's a higher power calling him to his destiny... hence, the title of today's post, "the junque whisperer". *cue creepy music*

take yesterday- maison21 was inspired to write up his little post on the under-the sea themed tchotchkes he has been collecting of late, and as soon as he was finished with said post, he ran out the door to run some errands. one of his stops was next to a goodwill thrift store, and though m21 previously said he never met a thrift shop he didn't like, that wasn't entirely true- maison21 doesn't normally EVER step foot inside a goodwill, because the quality of their junque (at least here in los angeles) is well, junky- as in just throw that sh*t away, junky- and they are usually dirty, and gross, to boot. but yesterday, a little voice whispered to m21: "stop in to the yucky goodwill, maison21, stop in".

so he did.

and amidst all the chipped china, broken appliances and soiled baby clothes was the following under-the-sea beauty of a ceramic bowl, for just $4.99:
big deal- so he found a shell bowl, you might say- but sometimes the scores are much bigger than that:

several years ago, while in palm springs, maison21 was on the way for his first thing in the morning starbuck's injection, and NOTHING gets in the way of maison21 and his coffee first thing in the morning- NOTHING. but this particular morning, a little voice whispered in his head to drive by one of his favorite consignment stores BEFORE he got his coffee, not after. luckily, cranky maison21 listened to the little whisper, not to the screaming of his caffeine withdrawal, and he's quite glad he did- because there, being unloaded off a truck, (and surrounded by a nimbus of golden light- seriously- like angels sang and sh*t), was something that maison21 had coveted for years- a dorothy draper chest of drawers! maison21 proceeded to scoop it up for virtually nothing (and has long since resold it, for slightly more than nothing. course now he wishes he kept it, as he's since found another and would have a pair. but that's another story).sometimes maison21's little voice works in a slightly more circuitous way:

last year, while seeking design inspiration for a chic and shapely curtain pelmet to be used in a client's bedroom, m21 randomly pulled out one of his vintage decorating books, a bound volume of house and garden magazines circa 1961. while flipping through the book, maison noticed an ad for furniture by one of his design heroes, harvey probber. m21 had long admired mr. probber's work, but the chic gothic meets modern headboard in the ad was new to him, and m21 made a mental note of it, to possibly adapt for a future design project.
cut to the very next day, when maison21's little voice told him he needed a coffee break, and to walk to his neighborhood starbuck's (this wasn't the caffeine addiction screaming this time either- it was the little whisper, swear). now there are two ways to walk to maison21's neighborhood starbuck's- one down a leafy tree lined street- the route he normally takes when mona is along, or down a busy retail strip, filled with slightly run down antique shops (read junk stores). this is the route he takes if mona isn't along, as several of the shop owners frown upon his well-behaved little girl in their stores (they're mean). mona was at the groomer that day, so shops run by mean, animal-hating people it was...

and there, inside one of those dusty "antique" shops (ok, thrift store), maison21 spied- though a grimy window no less, hidden behind a stack of shabby-chic iron headboards- a 1961 harvey probber headboard, exactly like the one he saw the day before in his vintage decor book! freaky coincidence, or psychic phenomenon?

here's where it gets a little weirder- maison21 had tried literally DOZENS of vintage headboards over the years, and none had ever worked out. he has exactly 63 inches between his inward swinging casement windows, and all the headboards he's tried for his queen sized bed, have either been too big, or if they fit, they looked crowded and ugly. maison21 had actually resigned himself to life without a headboard, and had nothing but plaster behind his head- until little mr. harvey probber headboard walked into his life, that is- and who amazingly, fit into maison21's tight squeeze of a bed wall, just perfectly at 62 inches (the exact width of m21's platform bed), and little mr. probber headboard even matched m21's existing vintage nightstands! it truly was meant to be- thank you, little voices!the moral of our story? listen to those little voices in your head- they could be trying to tell you something important! like, go shopping- your destiny awaits you inside the next antique shop...

bad taste? (the under the sea edition)

you know who makes maison21 happy?

felicity, from all things bright and beautiful, that's who.
whenever she leaves a comment on our blog, we smile (and not just because she's always unfailingly complimentary, but of course, that doesn't hurt either!). when felicity posts on her own blog, or leaves comments on others' (like ours), her happiness, warmth and enthusiasm just shine through, and that is an AMAZING thing- especially when you consider she has 3 kids under the age of 3. i mean, maison21 would be a raving bitch if he had 3 little ones to take care of (like he isn't already- he can't even blame it on the tots).

felicity's recent comment on m21's post featuring the "arielle, the slutty mermaid" table, made us smile especially broadly, because somehow she managed to compliment us AND call us on our shit, all in the same comment!

Maison,

are you trying to apologise for your fabulously left field taste?

I think she's rather splendid (and I think you do too:-)

Its pieces like this that make your blog unique - bring them on I say and influence blogland one marvellous brass mermaid table at a time !!

Woohoo!

cuz she's right- that ugly ass table made maison21 MAD because he really wouldn't mind a mermaid table of his very own- just not that one! maybe caryatid-like mermaids forming leg supports...

you see maison21 has been on a bit of an under-the-sea kick lately, so that table, with it's weird proportions, tear-drop shaped head, and near obscene breasts and butt, really offended maison21's sensibilities. yuck. maison21 feels like 60's supreme court justice, potter stewart, who when asked to define pornography replied "i know it when i see it", and that's how maison21 defines bad taste- he knows it when he sees it- and that table is baaaddddd.

but then again, who is maison21 to judge? he knows that there are those out there in blogland who will think that the vintage under-the-sea themed tchotckes maison21 has been hoarding lately are in questionable taste as well. BUT there is a big difference between "questionable taste" and "bad taste", and this is where it turns into a judgment call (ie: i know it when i see it). you see, maison21 thinks "questionable taste" is actually an important part of decor- how are you going to know that the good stuff is really good, unless there is a quirky item or two in the room to compare it to? but "bad taste" is always a bad idea, because an item in truly bad taste (like an "arielle, the slutty mermaid" table), just drags down the good stuff with it and ruins the whole room.

so what do we think? are the above accessories examples of m21's " fabulously left field taste" ? (god bless you, felicity!), or are they in "questionable taste"? or just plain old "i know it when i see it" obscenely bad taste? have at it, kiddies.

**and yes, decorno, the little display of tchotchkes maison21 threw together for the above photo is a tablescape. deal with it. ;-)

MY EYES, MY EYES!

maison21 is a bit brass obsessed these days, so today we enjoyed our morning coffee while searching the internets for "brass table" (the maison21 atelier has been without a coffee table for months- we sold our previous table to a client, and shattered it's mirrored replacement while impatiently trying to move it into the house by ourselves).

well, we enjoyed our coffee until we almost spit it out all over our keyboard, after running across this monstrosity.

words fail.
apologies to all our visitors- we know you come here in search of pretty, but today, we had to share our pain. when our vision finally returns to normal, we'll post more pretty pictures to help remove this image from your retinas.

sex and maison21

ok, after reading that title, did you really think m21 was going to discuss his sex life with you? puhleeeze- he would never bore you with that! 'cuz that would be for reals boring. *cue sound of crickets chirping*

what maison21 is referring to, is his recent featured role in the "sex and the city" movie.

what? you didn't see maison21 on screen?

well, perhaps m21 exaggerated just a bit- he wasn't actually featured in the movie, but a fabulous piece of decor he once owned was...

if you've seen the movie (and this isn't a spoiler, so it's safe to read on), there is a scene where carrie bradshaw (sjp) is in the office of her vogue editor (candice bergen), and in that office, on one of the purty dorothy draper chests, there is a stunning brass bust of an antelope with long murano glass horns. and that is the maison21 connection! that chic bust was once part of m21's very own decor! but as often happens, after loving it for a while (and he DID love it), m21 decided that it was time to switch the bust out for something new, and he auctioned it off on ebay. the sculpture was sold to a new york decorator, the very talented olivia song (check out her fab work on her website here). the sculpture didn't work for the client olivia intended it for, so she in turn traded it to one of new york city's finest vintage modern dealers, todd merrill, for something even more fabulous! (did you follow all that?) and maison21 is assuming that sometime after that, mr. merrill rented the sculpture out to the "sex and the city" production.

Image by Craig Blankenhorn/New Line Cinema ©2008 New Line Cinema from Traditional Home (via the silver screen surroundings blog)

now, admittedly, maison21 doesn't really know if this is the same bust, as he hasn't confirmed his story with the other parties, but as he's never seen another bust exactly like it, and actually remembers it very well 'cuz it was so freakin' stunning, so m21 is pretty confident in saying that he (or rather something he once owned, twice removed), played a prominent role in sex and the city, the movie! (compare the photos and judge for yourself).
btw, maison21 enjoyed the movie, and recommends it to any girl or gay man (who made up the entire audience at the arclight sunday matinee maison21 attended- not a straight dude in sight!). m21 started crying about 10 minutes in, and kept it up for the next 2 hours! (it wasn't that much of a tear jerker, it's just that m21 is a HUGE cry baby. he cries at anything- a cute baby, a hallmark commercial, a simpson's thanksgiving episode, a puppy- really, anything...). criticisms aimed at the movie are somewhat justified- it's a little too long (2 1/2 hours), the conspicuous consumption and materialism seem dated (the "it bag" is soooo 90's). maison21 also thought that they should have left carrie bradshaw's apartment alone- the redesign wasn't needed- i mean really, who would ever give up a t.h. robsjohn-gibbings chaise and coffee table? (well, maison21 guesses he would got rid of both, if he found something he liked more at the time, so i guess that negates that criticism). overall,the movie is a fun ride, and it's great to spend time with the girls again.

so if you haven't seen the satc movie yet, maison21 says go! and be sure to keep your eyeballs peeled for m21's former piece o' pretty in it's co-starring role!

update 6/12/08- it has been confirmed! maison21's former sculpture (thrice removed) was indeed the same sculpture sharing the screen with sarah jessica parker in the sex and the city movie. omg- m21 and sjp are total bff's 4ever!

putting my demons to rest

or more perhaps more appropriate- "shhh- my demon is resting".

isn't he adorable?

maison21 never really thought he'd say that about a cat. kittens are adorable, for sure. but a growed up cat? not so much. in fact, even though we've owned cats for many years, m21 has always considered himself a dog person at heart- that is, a dog person until our lil devil, richard, came along. now m21 is a committed dog AND cat person! don't get m21 wrong- he loved richard's predecessor, the regal, talkative and completely blind, miss kitty, very, very much. but maybe it's because he's had richard since he was a kitten, whereas miss kitty came into m21's life as an older adult cat, but somehow with richard, maison21, for the first time , truly "gets" why some people are cat crazy.

richard is funny, playful, loving and completely unpredictable. cats get a bad rap for not being as affectionate as dogs, but not richard- he demands our attention as much, if not more, than his big sister, mona. he just loves being near maison21 (as well as his big sis)- if he's within a couple of feet of either one of us, you can often hear him contentedly purring away, just happy to be in our presence.
if m21 picks richard up when he is completely passed out, like the first pictures of this post, richard immediately responds with a deep rumbling purr- even before he opens his eyes! awwww.

the only difference m21 can see between the two animals and their bond with him, is that where mona never leaves m21's side and would probably prefer to play exclusively with him (though sometimes she will give in and wrestle with her brother), richard, on the other hand, is content playing or hanging all by himself, just as much as he loves being with mona and m21. it cracks m21 up when m21 is downstairs puttering around in the kitchen to hear richard upstairs, jumping and running around like crazy- getting up to god knows what kind of mischief (occasionally followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground). 16 pounds thumping on a hardwood floor is surprisingly loud when you are directly underneath!richard walked into our life 2 years ago sometime in june- maison21 didn't really note the date because he was never planning on keeping him around, instead hoping to find richard a loving home with someone- anyone- else. richard didn't even have a name for the first week he was around- we called him 'lil no-name so we wouldn't get attached. so while we don't know the actual date of richard's birth, or even the date of the anniversary of our first meeting, we do know it was sometime in june, so now that's when we celebrate his special day.

happy birthday, big guy! you 'lil devil, you!