"that was an hour of disappointment"

with one day left of summer vacation, the old lady and i decided to take the bean somewhere fun that we'd been eyeing for awhile.  have you heard about those places where you can go have a cup of tea or coffee and play with a roomful of cats who are waiting for someone to adopt them?  well, there's one in l.a. called the cat cafe lounge, and since there's no way we'll ever get a cat at home (the hub's not a fan), that's where we went.  

it's located on a busy street off the 405 near the westwood/brentwood area.

luckily, it has its own parking lot.  parking is always my biggest concern out on the west side.

i made the bean and me these matching shirts (the old lady got a hair scrunchie because she doesn't do the matching thing, heh.),

you go in through this gate:

follow the paw prints:

at the top of the stairs you find this door, where you ring the bell for entry.

and then you're in!

it's kitties everywhere.  the restroom:

the merchandise:

tips on how to play with the kitties.

here's the menu for your complimentary beverage, plus other drinks and snacks for sale.

and then you go through the double doors, making sure to close the first door before opening the second to make sure none of the cats scamper out.

look up and find the first resident gazing down at you disdainfully as you enter their domain.

the room is truly cat heaven.  it's filled with feline-friendly furniture and tons of places for them to jump and play and lounge and nap.

the girls were loving it, although i gotta say that most of the cats were - shall we say, less than friendly?

 they're so pretty, though.

and this little guy was fun to watch, being the youngest one in the room and super playful.

the wall of adoptions.

and fun throw pillows.

too bad for me that about five minutes into our hour-long visit i started sneezing.  a lot.  i've had cats before, been around them, love playing with them...but i guess my body said "cats are cool and all, but 30 of them in the same room?  NOPE."  my eyes started watering and after awhile i was having trouble breathing.  boo.  and the old lady was finding for herself that cats aren't as fun to play with as she remembered.  none of them wanted to be petted for more than two seconds, and they would look at us with those contemptuous eyes as they sashayed past us in search of something better to do.  sigh.

the bean had a blast the whole time though, which was good.  and the old lady and i both learned lessons in there - no cats for either of us by choice now, and i can't be around multiple cats at the same time.  all good stuff to know.

and as soon as we got home i cuddled mollydog to remind me that dogs are definitely our spirit animals.

meow.