The cupcakes were ordered, the decorations were raised and the children were buzzing.
After months of preparation, the employees once in a bookstore in Montrose were scheduled for their largest event of the year: Pippi Longstocking, the resident cat of the oldest children's bookstore, was turning 10 years.
The only hitch? The guest of honor was solid on the shelf on the entrance door of the store.
Pippi's favorite place is at the same time a shelf on the main door where he often sleeps during the day.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The owner at once, Maureen Palacios, envied the sleeping cat. “I didn't sleep last night,” Palacios said while revoking, making last -minute space adjustments to accommodate the 100 expected guests, almost twice as many attendance last year.
At his past parties, Pippi always descended from his hanger on time for birthday festivities. But during this Sunday in Ronda, Palacios was in complete panic mode when the cat cut it closer than ever.
Pippi, a diluted mixture of Calico-Tabby, was installed at the same time in 2015. His feline predecessor, Kitty Mama, was a difficult act to continue, Palacios said.
“I have had cats all my life,” said the owner of the bookstore, “and none of my cats would make the cut friendly and gentle and all that, [but] This was Kitty Mama. “
After Kitty Mama died, Palacios worried that she never replaced her. But after consulting with Pasadena Humane, who promised to put her best behaviorists at work, her fears were relieved. The shelter offered some options, but once Palacios saw Pippi, he didn't even feel like making a decision.
-
Share by
“I had 9 months and literally calm and sweet and not scared at all,” said Palacios.
She was perfect.
On any day of the week, the chorus “Where is Pippi?” It will be recited a dozen times by visitors to the size of a pint at once. When business is slow enough, the cat will give the guests A tour of the store or even A book recommendation.
Chloe Oh, 11, Pets Pippi, who is responsible for contracting the bookstore during the time of the story.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Pippi is the employee of the month of the bookstore every month, although recently another employee suggested that they give recognition to a dog, “because Pippi has been bad.”
Despite the mischievous behavior, Pippi is a fans who have essentially become synonymous with Once Upon to Time. “She is an institution a little here,” said Laura Festen, a patron of the bookstore for a long time and local teacher.
Festen said the store for her is like a second house, and “a cat makes any home a better place.”
The party attendees participated in a treasure search to find nine versions of Pippi, including a twenty -year -old Pippi roar, hidden for once.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Drew Daywalt, author of the best -selling children's book “The Day The Crayans Rait”, added that as independent libraries fight to stay alive, a bookstore pet is not only a way to heat the space, but also a tool to draw business.
“I think Maureen is a genius to have a Kitty Cat birthday party, because, look!” Daywalt said, pointing to the multitude of match attendees that they couldn't help hitting the elbows while moving through the store. Most of the afternoon, both store payment lines were open.
In the time before the Pippi party, the children toured the room in a treasure search to find nine pippis, wearing disguised from a Dodgers shirt to a fin dress from the fifties. Some parents accompanied him, while others hugged the shelves that border the room. All the time, Pippi savored his beauty dream, and Palacios contemplated taking a contingency ladder to recover it.
At 2 pm at the point, Palacios officially welcomed the guests, packed in the bookstore as sardines, and prepared for his classic feast: The time of history (with cat theme, of course).
But before he could start his dramatic reading, Pippi, “diva” that is, in the words of Palacios, stole the show.
“Did you see my heart down when it finally appeared?” Maureen Palacios said, owner of Once Upon to Time Bookstore.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Leaving his dream, the cat jumped to the payment counter, where he posed as for a real portrait. As a “pippi!” In eruption through the room, the children sitting at the apple point cross -linked on the floor jumped on their knees to take a look. The more emboldened the payment counter made, hoping to caress the cat.
Palacios herself cheered when she saw the birthday girl. But once his delight was established in relief, he gently ordered the young people to return to their seats.
“We are going to let Pippi do his own,” Palacios told the children. “She is the star.”
While the owner of the bookstore continued to read “Everyone saw a cat” by Brendan Wenzel, most children behaved, while a few streets near the front approached more and closer to Pippi. One of them kept his eyes glued to Palacios as he furtively arrived for the mottled fur of the cat.
After the time of the story, the selected guests of the party presented their presentations to the message of the writing contest: “What does Pippi do at night in the bookstore?”
A guest postulated that the cat intercepted meat deliveries in nearby restaurants, while another suggested that he attended a local underground “catsquerade”.
Megheti Feghali, 6, celebrates his writing contest entry for the Pippi the Cat's birthday party. His homemade book told Pippi's story finding his mother in a castle.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The owner of the bookstore, Maureen Palacios de Time, reads the entrance of the Megheti Feghali writing contest on Pippi's trip to find her mother.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Megheti Feghali, 6, chronated in an enlightened home book by Pippi's Epic Journey to meet with his mother of cats.
“Pippi saw a castle,” Palacios said when Feghali's story came to an end, “but she didn't know what a castle is.”
“The End”, Feghali delivered his phrase to read the story for a smaller group a while later. While closing her five -page manuscript, the young author laughed between teeth.
“She is a little comedian,” said Feghali's mother Tsoleen Feghali. Tujunga residents are regular customers in the bookstore. In the days that Pippi is asleep upon arrival, Megheti Feghali begs his mother to stay until the cat wakes up.
When the 6 -year -old girl learned about Pippi's birthday party, her mother said: “He wanted to be part of her.”
Pippi, the cat, eats his tuna cake on a silver dish while celebrating his tenth birthday.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
Finally, it was time to sing “Happy Birthday.” Indifferent to the serenade in his honor, Pippi held by Wolfing for his tuna cake, which had been special ordered by the Andersen pet store on the other side of the street and literally presented the cat on a silver plate.
Then, as quickly as he had arrived, Pippi climbed the shelves and resumed his publication on the door.
Pippi's paraphernalia adorned every corner of Once Upon to Time during the tenth cat birthday party.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
In the end, Jessica Palacios, the daughter and manager of Maureen Palacios de Once Upon to Time, estimated that the party had attracted more than 150 attendees, from loyal Pippi fans to passers -by who wondered: “What did we enter?”
Whoever they were and for older, both women from Palacios said they warmed their hearts to see so many people in their beloved bookstore.
If organizing cat birthday parties is what is needed to keep them coming, Maureen Palacios said he perfectly agrees.
