Extreme Poodles

Oh my gawd!
Awhile ago I posted these super silly pictures of poodles that had been groomed into fantastical creatures and other animals, such as a panda, or camel.......

Last night on TLC, they aired the back story reality show about this poodle pagent and the groomers who created their doos!

So two things;

1. W and I aren't the only crazy poodle obsessed freaks who think their poodle is human.

2. Poodles ARE the best dog EVER! I don't care what you say.....

W and are are constantly coiffing pepe and putting hats on him, and I squeal with delight almost every time I walk into Pepe's groomers which is usually FULL of poodles, all sizes all colors, I forget how happy it makes me every time, until I get there.

The show is actually similar to "Toddlers & Tiaras" except less creepy, cause it's poodles who are cute and fluffy, not evil white trash children and their hideous parents.

Extreme Poodles, is more about the crazy poodle owners than the actual poodles. All of whom are actual "Dog Groomers" by trade, who are all obsessed with their poodles.

As much as I loved the woman from Oklahoma who coiffed her standard poodle named"Falcor" in to a lion...
My favorite poodle was "Jet", who was carefully coiffed in to a female "Roller Derby" player, complete with helmet and skates. Unfortunately Jet's Roller Derby Drag doo didn't get him a trophy, he definately should have won "Best Personality"
Jet's human is bat shit crazy, but you could tell she loves that dog more than anything else on the planet, and I secretly loved her for that.
The best part of the whole show is the finale where the dogs and their owners present their finished masterpieces with music, dance and costumes. It was better than most performance art for sure!

My other favorite was 2 poodles who's fur was carved into HR Geiger-esque like alien creatures.

And of course the judges are groce and weird, but thats par for the course.
The best part is this "Extreme Poodle" contest is that it's held every year in Pasadena! Holla!!

The importance of cheese knives......

As I have gotten older, the importance of certain things have been revealed to me....of course with these revelations comes the acceptance of my age. Items I thought were important when I was 18 are not the same items I think are of necessary importance at 40.
Some of these including; cheese knives, caviar spoons, a large purse, a Gardner.......and tea cosies (or sometimes spelled cozies)

Long before Mercado's existence, I bought this felted chicken tea cosy as a Christmas gift for W. She was not as excited about it as I was. (Later, I admitted that I really bought it for myself under the guise of a "Christmas present", this was back in "05 when we had the luxury of buying each other and ourselves things we didn't really need.) Immediately upon opening it that Christmas morning she said "wow, a chicken hat" and placed it on her head.......

I like objects made out of felt, and I love chickens, this tea cosy bridged modern aesthetics, and hand crafting to a level that I had not seen before. I didn't care that it was functional. It was a an amazing modern felted, interpretation of a chicken, and it was black.... hat, tea cosy, whatever....it was coming home with me.

The other morning, (years later), W had woke up before me and made our morning tea. (we quit coffee 6 months ago) As I shuffled through the kitchen, I was jolted into an unusual early morning squeal of excitement! "ahhh the chicken cozy!!!"
W-"giggle, yea it keeps the tea pot really hot"
C-"really?"
W-"yea we can make a whole pot of tea and it won't get cold so fast."
C-"genius"

So tea cosy is added to the famous "things I used to think were stupid, but now realize the importance of..." list.

" With all the chatter at teatime the teapot would get cold, which would have at times cut short some tea parties. And so, the tea cosy came about. Tea cosies then flourished during the late 1800s, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the Victorian era."



hmmm.."obsession of decorating and covering objects"....



.... well waking up to my 100% merino wool, hand felted out of one piece of felt, imported from Germany chicken cosy, makes me really happy!


Mercado sells bunny and sheep cosies, but no chickens.

The Poodle Trainer

In this intimate portrait of destiny, passion, and loss, Irina Markova, a solitary Russian poodle trainer, reveals her transcendent relationship with her dogs, the childhood tragedy that sparked a lifetime of working with animals, and the welcome isolation behind the red velvet curtains of the circus.




Russian circus costumes and poodles....... genius!

in memory

So, it's Memorial Day Weekend. Did you know that the holiday was actually started in the south, by newly emancipated slaves, who felt that the fallen Union Soldiers, who had been buried in mass graves at a temporary Confederate prison camp, deserved a proper burial.

"In 1865, immediately after the cessation of hostilities, formerly enslaved people exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reentered them properly with individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. The work was completed in only ten days. On May 1, 1865, the Charleston newspaper reported that a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to the location for included sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds, thereby creating the first Decoration Day."
Later Watreloo N.Y was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson, in 1966."

I either completely forgot this interesting piece of history, or was never taught it, I'd bet cash it's the later.....




2 years ago this week end we officially opened our doors, Which has nothing to do with Memorial Day.......
Happy Berfday to us!!

Boy was I totally unprepared for my news maker moment. All day I kept regretting that I had forgotten to put on my vibrating mascara,
But my curmudgeon inner voice kept saying "oh whatever Chelsea, no will notice..."
Uh bull shit! Besides the fact that my eyes looked like dark small vortexes sinking into my skull.
Is that really what I sound like?
And why was I flapping my arms up and down like a frantic duck?
W. makes fun of me all the time for talking with my hands, I laugh, I cant help it I'm Italian...... but jeez, a few more minutes and I would have taken off.

Let this be a lesson, don't go out in to he world unprepared. I can hear my Mother's voice telling me to always look my best, wear clean underwear, and always have 2 dollars in my pocket so I won't get picked up for vagrancy.
(and she was serious about the vagrancy part)

I have a whole new appreciation for charity organizers,
Seriously it's like herding cats.
It does feel good to help others who need it, don't get me wrong..... the harder my own life gets, the more I value the generosity of others.
Our event was a success, we have not tallied the donation totals, but the fact businesses got together and did something that might help others is really amazing and I am proud of myself and my neighbors for following through.
Sometimes I think we are completely oblivious to how our actions can affect others and how even the smallest act of kindness can make a difference.

As far as the vibrating mascara goes, well it's kind of amazing. I don't wear much makeup, although one of my alter egos does, and she is to blame for most of the unused makeup sitting in my drawer.....I bought mine at the drug store $9.99
HELLO.... instant sexy eye.

if you so feel compelled to watch my news clip......
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=7417102

sometimes i think we are crazy

as if we didn't have enough going on, W and I decided to make the store bigger............

with a really tiny budget we transformed our office, into 600 feet of more amazing Mercado.
W is somewhat of a creative genius and literally out of discards and found objects she made 6 shelves, 6 racks, a dressing room,
and some amazing lights.

May 1, we launch our Designer Market, featuring a group of designers to benefit local charities.
The first charity is the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic.

can't afford a vacation?

me either.......

but I can stare at Francis J. Spitta's fabulous pillows and remind myself of the great big beautiful world thats out there......

Mercado LOVE"S FJS pillows beacuse.....

a. Each side of the pillows bears an original statement print. It's like getting two pillows in one.

b. they are all lovingly sewn and hand printed in Los Angeles

c. they are machine washable

d. Francis is a real nice guy.

All pillows are 22" x 22" and come with a feather/down insert and are machine washable for easy care.

$120.00 retail price

these are quite possibly the ugliest shoes I have ever seen.................

NO WAIT... These are

pantone color #1837

also known as tiffany blue.

one of the best colors ever mixed. If all those damn brides would stop using it though it would feel more precious. or so i think.

anyway, i'm a sucker for cherry blossoms, real or fake..... I put fake ones in the window this year....

I'm pretty sure when you drive by a 45 mph they seem totally real.

I am also a sucker for twinkle lights, baby animals, fluffy clouds, cake, paper flowers, anything made out of tule and pom poms.......

poodle break

I can't help myself.....

ass clown vs. douche bag

We sell a lot of cards at Mercado, it's kind of amazing.

W and I joke all the time that we should have opened a 300 sq. foot store of just cards, candles and jewelry, instead of the behemoth lifestyle store ( anyway that's a whole post in it's self, for another day)

When we first got these cards in (by Ella Studio), they all flew off the shelves...

except for "Douche Bag". I thought "uh oh"...I pushed the envelope too far. No one is ever gonna buy a card that says "Douche Bag" on it.

Then I sold one.
I asked the lady buying it, "who are you giving this card to?"

lady: "my husband, we had a fight this morning, it's perfect"
me: "hehe, will he think it's funny or will it perpetuate the fight?"
lady: "(chuckle) no, he'll think it's funny!"
me: "cool" $6.59 please........"

( yes, fancy hand made letterpress cards that say 'Douche Bag" cost 6 bucks)

W and I use the term "Douche Bag" a lot these days. It seems fitting for most politicians, drunk celebrities, reality TV stars, CNN news reporters, some of the corporate minions I meet at my other job, men that hang out in hotel bars, but not staying at said hotel......


wikipedia says:
Douchebag, or simply douche, is considered to be a pejorative term. The slang usage of the term dates back to the 1960s.[6] The term refers to a person with a variety of negative qualities, specifically arrogance and engaging in obnoxious and/or irritating actions without malicious intent.

There are a few hundred postings regarding "Douche Bag" on Google, here are some of my favorites;

Douche Bag Continuum-
The force in the universe that generates and sustains all the douche bags that have or ever will exist.
"Spencer from the Hills ran into Chris Angel today and it tore a hole in the douche bag continuum." - Conan O'Brian


Douche Bag in Training -
An adolescent or child who either exhibits douche bag behaviors, or is being raised by a certifiable douche bag.


Douche Bag of the Loot Whore -
A trinket held by one person in World of Warcraft on Laughing Skull. This trinket makes you obsess out loot in game so bad that you make those around you want to stab them in the eye. Steer clear of the person holding this trinket and mute on vent to save yourself from hearing his banshee like cries for loot.

huh?
(apparently gaming nerds in their spare time create lists dedicated to urban slang.)

Needless to say, we eventually sold out of "Douche Bag", which prompted me to re-order......

and unable to resist pushing the envelope....

I ordered a half dozen "Ass Clown".

Take that Hallmark.

Hmm.... it's January 2010, my how time flies when you are having fun ( or maybe not really so much fun, honestly I can't tell anymore).....

I signed up for this blog last April. I thought I would have great ideas to write down, I would be funny & witty, the best new blog of 2009, and then I didn't write a thing. I got blogger's block.

What if someone actually read Mercado's new fabulous blog?

Then comments on it....(ugh the horror of public opinion). What if I forget to spell check ? (like I always do) and someone calls me out on it, ( oh wait, that already happened after a Mercado email blast, I misspelled complimentary ... I would like to think the customer thought she was being "helpful", of course it was just annoying, especially when she offered her editing services for a hefty fee....(sigh) I had spelling shame for months, constantly checking my spelling..running the spellcheck 3 even 4 times, just to make sure I would never get anonymously shamed again)

But ultimately I'm a bad speller..... I have accepted this character defect as well as many others and moved on.

Fact; 2009 kind of sucked.

People in retail, I believe don't even have the proper vernacular to talk about it. It was interesting to say the least.......Lot's of stores closed. Not too many new stores opened. Not a lot of new products on the market. Everyone was scaling back..etc.

This experience, like so many other times in my life is filled with great stories, and of course revelations. So what am I waiting for?

Almost every month of 2009, was filled with huge amounts of anxiety and dread, while simultaneously also filled with triumphs, fearlessness, and good times.

(Sigh)

This is, I recently realized and spelled correctly is ..............LIFE.

welcome to mercado's new blog!

I have no idea what we are going to write about but I'm sure it wil be fun!!!