when m21 was a little boy, nothing made him happier then a bird's nest in his back yard, a big lizard sunning on his windowsill, or polliwogs growing in the little stream in the canyon behind his house. and you know what? not much has changed over the years! the natural world, particularly in m21's unnatural urban neighborhood, fascinates him still, and makes our inner little boy smile with delight. when the flock of wild parrots residing in our 'hood raucously lands in the pear tree out front, m21 stops whatever he's doing to watch the colorful (and loud) explosion; same thing when local gang of raccoons is out for a stroll at 2 in the morning, we stop to watch (from a distance & after putting mona inside, of course- those things are
big and a little bit scary. m21 isn't quite unconvinced they don't pack saturday night specials inside their fur coats).
lately, m21 has been entertained by a pair of bluebirds building nest about 15 feet from his bedroom window. 'bell' and 'boy' as we call them, are industrious parents, building their nest with non-stop activity. they aren't shy about scolding us when we get too close for comfort either! they don't divebomb like the mocking birds we had last year, rather they like to verbally let us know to keep away, with loud chicken-like clucking sounds. their scolding seems to work, as we haven't seen any squirrels in their tree since they moved in, and they told the squirrels to get the heck out. richard, of course, thought the bluebird/squirrel wars were particularly entertaining, though i doubt he was rooting for the bluebirds to win like m21, rather he just wanted to get outside and
kill them all... even knowing that they are permanently out of reach doesn't stop rich, and the minute he hears a rustle in the tree, he is at at the window like a rocket, watching another episode of 'kitty krack tv' (kind of like his dad and VH1's "i love new york 8"- he just can't turn away).
the nest is hidden in a thatch of morning glory vine, so we can't see it to know if there is an egg yet, but mom & dad are still hanging out, so we figure that's a good sign (the vine is great camouflage, btw- see if you can spot boy in the picture). no kids yet, as visible or not, we're sure we'll know when they arrive- nature probably won't be as cool at 4 in the morning with hungry chicks begging to be fed, but the noise will be only temporary, and m21 will be rooting for bell & boy to successfully raise their chicks to adulthood, and hopefully come back again next year!
someone else obviously thought the building had potential as well, as it was recently transformed into a retail space for los angeles interior designer extraordinaire, timothy corrigan. completely chic, no? but then you'd expect nothing less from one of the top interior designers in the world.
just thinkin' big... :-)
a candid shot of ms. wearstler looking fabulous in chunky jewelry, a fur vest, skinny jeans and tall leather boots, as she tries to figure out why this freaky character is asking for his book to be inscribed with an odd combination of letters and numbers. "what does 'm21' stand for?" ms wearstler politely asked, and i replied "i write a little design blog called maison21 and m21 is shorthand for the title". "that's nice", ms. wearstler hesitantly mumbled, as she looked around for security to escort the weirdo away if he caused trouble... ;-) (photo surreptitiously snapped by jill on her iphone- thank you, jill!)
ms. wearstler's pretty designs for pickard, available at tableart.
a portion of the bounty to be available on friday and saturday (10-4 both days)! meg touborg, CEO of rose tarlow melrose house explained to us that they've recently freshened all 16 showrooms, in addition to opening their new flagship location here in los angeles, so they had a significant number of samples to offer this year, making the sale extra special- with prices from 30% - 80% percent off net!
also graciously giving time to m21, was victoria dyer, director of sales and marketing, who showed us these fabulous rose tarlow fabric bolt ends (under 5 yards), some priced as low as $24.95/yard- a spectacular bargain! m21 tried to hide a couple for himself, but she caught us and made us return them to their bins. ;-) they also will be offering entire bolts of discontinued fabrics at clearance prices- here's your chance if you need 35 yards of sumpthin' fabulous, but only have a 10 yard budget! 
rarely are entire suites of side chairs available at sales like this, but there were six of these fabulous black lacquer lion's foot chairs (5 sides and an arm); as well as an entire banquet hall's worth of unfinished frames! victoria said they would be offering a finish option for them if the buyers wished, but m21 thought they'd be fab with just a waxing and some simple linen seats. they were also one of the amazing bargains of the sale- a small fraction of their normal price.
when m21 was a little boy, nothing made him happier then a bird's nest in his back yard, a big lizard sunning on his windowsill, or polliwogs growing in the little stream in the canyon behind his house. and you know what? not much has changed over the years! the natural world, particularly in m21's unnatural urban neighborhood, fascinates him still, and makes our inner little boy smile with delight. when the flock of wild parrots residing in our 'hood raucously lands in the pear tree out front, m21 stops whatever he's doing to watch the colorful (and loud) explosion; same thing when local gang of raccoons is out for a stroll at 2 in the morning, we stop to watch (from a distance & after putting mona inside, of course- those things are big and a little bit scary. m21 isn't quite unconvinced they don't pack saturday night specials inside their fur coats).
the nest is hidden in a thatch of morning glory vine, so we can't see it to know if there is an egg yet, but mom & dad are still hanging out, so we figure that's a good sign (the vine is great camouflage, btw- see if you can spot boy in the picture). no kids yet, as visible or not, we're sure we'll know when they arrive- nature probably won't be as cool at 4 in the morning with hungry chicks begging to be fed, but the noise will be only temporary, and m21 will be rooting for bell & boy to successfully raise their chicks to adulthood, and hopefully come back again next year!
