What’s crooked nose, teeth and cute all over? If you haven’t heard about Cletus, you will. This adorable shelter dog captivated me, and I think he will charm you, too.
Cletus is a Chihuahua mix with an extreme overbite, a crooked nose and fused joints, causing him to shuffle more than he walks. Found wandering on the streets of Los Angeles, Cletus was taken in by Best Friends Pet Adoption/Spay Neuter Center in Los Angeles from a kill shelter and, very quickly, made his mark as a spry guy with a big personality. Unfazed by his uniqueness or his disabilities, Cletus imparts some great life lessons for us humans. Fitting in is overrated.
He loves making friends and playing with toys, so who has time to worry about disabilities?!
It’s the differences that make us special
Cletus has tackled more challenges in his two years of life than many of us tackle in a lifetime. But, once he got over a pretty virulent respiratory infection, fostering really helped the little guy get ready for his forever home. Kudos to Angela Rovetto, administrative coordinator for Best Friends–Los Angeles for stepping in and up for Cletus.
As it turned out, Cletus’ disabilities didn’t affect his day to day living all that much. Aside from making minor modifications to his diet (Cletus has an easier time ingesting small, dry kibble) and keeping him separated from Angela’s big dog when she wasn’t around, Angela says fostering Cletus was the same as fostering any dog.
“People tend to see dogs like Cletus and immediately want to baby them,” says Angela. “But just because he’s not everyone’s idea of normal doesn’t mean he’s suffering. If anything, Cletus is happy being who he is.”
Enter the couple looking for different
Mark Enrietto and his girlfriend, Summer Esslinger, were looking for a dog to welcome into their home. They hadn’t found the right match until Summer saw Cletus’ photo on Instagram. It’s incredible how many people have found their canine significant other on Instagram. Our most recent rescue, Sofie, came into our lives via a new friend on IG, who’d seen her languishing in a kill shelter nearby. Summer knew she wanted a dog who was like no other, and Cletus certainly fit that bill.
“I think I found the one,” she told Mark.
Best Friends’ shared this meeting better than I could: That day, Mark paid a visit to the center to meet Cletus. The little dog was shy at first, but when Mark sat down on the ground, Cletus shuffled over to him, tail wagging, and made himself comfortable on Mark’s lap. It was clear: Cletus was indeed the one.
“Everything felt comfortable,” says Angela, who was there that day and helped with the adoption. “I could tell Cletus was going to a great home.”
And he so did. Today Cletus is a happy dog in a home where his differences are celebrated. “He’s showing us all his amazing abilities,” says Mark about Cletus, whose full name is Cletus Spuckler, after The Simpsons’ character who, like Mark, hails from Springfield, Illinois. Here’s Cletus Spuckler. There’s some resemblance there, you think? Kudos to Mark and Summer for opening their hearts and home to Cletus.
Cletus is gaining strength in his legs, dexterity in his limbs and getting braver every day, thanks to regular outings. Recently, Mark and Summer learned that Cletus is quite the little athlete, regularly sprinting and even leaping in the air at the dog park.
And, we also love Cletus because he has fashion sense, from his little green sweater or brash, burgundy scarf to his very own giraffe outfit.
The best part is that Cletus is happy in his new family just being a dog, albeit a very quirky and cute one.
“He’s a little stubborn, he’s the class clown, you can take him anywhere, and, like me, he loves his mom,” says Mark. Even though he looks quite different on the outside, Mark says, “He’s a dog in every way.” Smiling, yet? We so are.
Here’s a great little video intro of Cletus I loved and hope you will. too. What about you? Do you have a favorite shelter dog story to share?
A fashion-loving New Yorker who is passionate about rescuing dogs. You think that’s why I connected with Dogs Have Angels Too, the irrepressible book from my friend, Sarah Cavallaro? If you said yes, you’d be right, but there’s more. I love smart, quirky people and characters, and Sarah’s book is chock full. Described as “A heart-warming comedy of errors for dog lovers of the twenty-first century,” I thoroughly enjoyed this read. From the fabulous star and voice of the story, Miss Pink (can you tell which is her favorite color?) to the cross-section of New Yorkers we meet through her eyes, this is not your typical book about rescue.
The test of a good writer is this: Can they make you care about their characters? As the unread pages dwindled and the story was coming to a close, I felt sad. I did care and I wanted my sequel! LOL. Fashion and rescue…does it get any better?
Come with me into the world of a down-on-her-luck, still cheeky, ever stylish borderline senior named Miss Pink who, unbeknownst to her at the story’s start, will find herself deep in need of a reinvention. That she finds it in an overcrowded animal shelter, amongst those with whom she never thought she’d fraternize, is just the beginning. As Sarah says, these characters “…are all ripe for recruitment in Miss Pink’s master plan – which she’s devising on the fly, by the seat of her favorite pink pants!” Hang on…here we goooo…….!
And, it’s a giveaway! Read on to find out how to enter!
Meet Miss Pink
First class travel, designer clothes, Fortune 500 masters of the universe; this was Miss Pink’s world, as an ad sales executive at a major fashion magazine. That is, until the company was purchased by a behemoth, downsized and she was unceremoniously dumped at the top of her game. And, her 401K was wiped out by Bernie Madoff. A rude awakening for a 57 year old, used to wielding influence and the finer things in life. What now?
Eventually homeless and living via her wits in shelters, hostels, even hidden bushes in Central Park, Miss Pink gets a part-time, volunteer job at New York’s Animal Care & Control, the high kill shelter from which we adopted Jasper. She has to overcome a childhood fear of dogs, but applies her signature can do, practical attitude, with the perfect dollop of impatient audacity. A dreary place, at best, Miss Pink finds she actually has an affinity for dogs, and she and shelter manager, Sheila, do their best to make life better for the animals there. Sheila, who’s taken a liking to Miss Pink, is affectionate. Miss Pink doesn’t like hugs.
Trying to help those who might be chosen for euthanasia that day, Miss Pink takes them to the park, asking strangers if they’d like to take a dog home today. And, she meets the darndest people: a man in a tutu and skates, two 11 year old skateboarders, one of whom, Lorne, will play a significant role in the story, and Mary, a hardened, cynical woman who believes rescuing shelter animals is a waste of time when there are people hurting, people like her.
When Miss Pink returns to the shelter after closing one day and is forced to take the dogs home, she gets kicked out of the rooming house. What seems at the time like yet another setback in a series, becomes something good. Find out who Leroy Brown is and why he makes Miss Pink’s life manageable. Who is the woman constantly mistaken for Ruth Madoff and what part will she play in helping Miss Pink realize her master plan? Who are Sally and Barbara and how will they impact Miss Pink’s life in a big way?
Dogs Have Angels Too combines adventure, activism, surprises and derring do, all wrapped up in a big heart. It’s the winner of the Indie Reader Discovery Award.
I highly recommend reading this book! There’s a little Miss Pink in all of us animal lovers, and for some (me, too), I aspire to have even more.
A bit about Sarah Cavallaro
I met Sarah in another lifetime and have known her for 30 years. Sarah is a very smart and talented lady. She’s married to renowned artist Cosimo Cavallaro. Sarah produces all of his art installations and they are pretty cool. Check him out. She is the former founder and president of award-winning Emerald Films in New York City, and is a published poet whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies. I’m honored to call her friend.
Noah, feeling the almighty, powerful rock star he is
Do you have a blind dog or know someone who does? What about a blind shelter dog? It’s Love Your Pet Day and, if ever there was one, this is a great gift of love for a blind dog. I wrote about Muffin’s Halo a year and a half ago, after discovering the product at an industry conference. It’s inventor, Silvie Bordeaux, created the product out of love for her at that time 13 1/2 year old toy poodle Muffin, who went blind due to cataracts. “I was devastated, since he kept bumping into walls and falling down the stairs. He became very depressed and was afraid to move around. I could not let him out of my sight and carried him around everywhere.”
Muffin in his Muffin’s Halo
She searched the internet but couldn’t find anything suitable for Muffin. That’s when she realized that there was a great need for a product to assist blind/visually impaired dogs, and she set to work.
A Muffin’s Halo is a harness plus, made from lightweight copper tubing, fabric and velcro. The covered tubing provides a barrier around the dog’s head that helps guide it around obstacles. So, instead of walking into a wall, the Halo alerts the dog a few inches from the wall, that it’s there, allowing the pup to navigate around it. Silvie added padded angel’s wings to the halo-like bumper design to represent blind dogs being guided by their angels. They’re manufactured right here in the U.S. in Silvie’s factory in California.
Here’s a video of how it works:
“Muffin’s Halo changed his life, as well as mine,” Silvie shared. “He knew his home again and could travel with me to any hotel or friend’s house and familiarize himself with any new surroundings, quickly. Most importantly, I could leave him at home for hours and know that he is safe.”
Mia even has her own blinged out version
And, they’re stylish, too! Muffin’s Halos come in white, red, pink and blue, in colorful butterfly wings, a My Blind Dog proclamation one and, for football fans, the quarterback Halo. Coming soon, a Muffin’s Halo for cats. I’m sure they’ll be super cute! But, more important than cute, is the incredible power this product is providing blind dogs around the world. Please share this with any parents of blind dogs or shelters in your neighborhood. What a blessing to give a blind dog a new lease on life!
Sadly, at 15, Muffin recently passed over the Rainbow Bridge. But, he leaves a very powerful paw print. Muffin’s Halo is now all over the world and has helped countless blind dogs feel empowered. It’s twice-patented, and won Best Dog Product in 2015 at SuperZoo, an influential pet industry conference. And, it is highly recommended by Animal Ophthalmologists and Veterinarians worldwide.
America’s favorite vet, Dr. Marty Becker, had this to say, “I was recently sent a review product called ‘Muffin’s Halo’ to try, and it blew me away enough that it became one of my Top new products of the year. These wings and halo help my blind dog ‘see’.”
Sylvie went on to create Second Chances for Blind Dogs to provide Halos free to blind dogs in shelters. I asked Silvie to share a powerful story about how a Muffin’s Halo helped a rescue, and here’s what she told me. It took a village of very special ladies to save Noah. Here’s his tale.
Noah’s Story
Backyard breeders. We’ve read about them; heard how awful they are. Yet, people still buy from them, because everyone isn’t yet educated on what terrible conditions these dogs can live under and how interbreeding, common with backyard breeders, can create horrorshow dogs, deformed and sickly, some never making it out of puppyhood. Pet stores, Craig’s List, there are many channels through which backyard breeders sell their commodities…puppies.
Noah at rescue
Noah, post grooming, one day after being rescued
Noah came from such a place in California. Born without eyes and no knees, causing him to waddle like a duck, inbreeding started Noah’s life in major deficit. Just look at the poor little guy.
He was one of four Cockapoo pups – Mary and Abby are his sisters. All have leg deformities and a fourth, brother Romeo, died from malnourishment, before he ever got to really experience life. Because Noah was born without eyes, his sisters ate his food. All the dogs were so malnourished, that by the time Noah was 5 1/2 months old, he only weighed 2.5 lbs. Lucky for Noah and his sisters, a lady named Jasmin Gabay Kimball, entered their lives.
Bobby Kimball & Jasmin Gabay Kimball
Jasmin is an animal savior. Married to Bobby Kimball, former lead singer of Grammy Award-winning rock band, Toto (remember “Hold the Line”?), Jasmin and Bobby have devoted their lives to locating dogs in need, providing them a safe haven and helping to place them around the country in forever homes. They founded Saving K9 Lives Plus, a 501(c)3 charity for that purpose. She and Silvie know each other from the California rescue network.
I asked her how she got into saving animals five years ago. “Our friend wanted a dog similar to our Maltese,” she explained.”I helped her. This was the first time I was ever in an animal shelter. I became aware of the animals there. I helped by doing blankets drives, fostering…later staring our own rescue, Saving K9 Lives Plus.”
Jasmin was made aware of the triplets through her friend, a vet, brought in to try to save their dying brother. She came with a team to wrest these hapless puppies from the clueless backyard breeder, who thought she was doing good by them. Can you imagine? Jasmin took in Noah and his sisters for the first 3 weeks of their journey.
“Saving the triplet puppies was a challenge and a learning experience,” Jasmin explained. “We set out to help them, never realizing they would bring awareness to special needs animals!”
Rosie
Jasmin reached out to foster mom, Cinnamon Muhlbauer. Cinnamon’s specialty is victims of inbreeding and other special needs dogs. She has a Facebook page named after her baby, Everything Rosie, which boasts close to 200,000 fans and is a go to place for people looking to adopt a special needs dog. Rosie was the victim of a backyard breeder/hoarder, a Chihuahua born on Valentine’s Day 2010 with congenital deformities of the face, jaw, spine, and legs. Her life was short-lived; Rosie passed before she was three. But, it was filled with love, once Cinnamon adopted her and Rosie has helped draw attention to this horrible, greedy, cruel practice. People like Cinnamon, Jasmin, Silvie and Lisa Marie, who you’ll soon meet, are true angels. Cinnamon fostered Noah, Mary and Abby for two months. Now, enter Lisa Marie Edge.
Lisa Marie went looking for a dog…
Before Noah was born, Lisa Marie had been looking to add to their canine family. A medical assistant and teacher for underprivileged kids in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, Lisa Marie and her husband, Rob, are angels in the army of special needs pet parents. They already had experience with blind dogs, dogs debilitated by stroke, dogs without all of their legs.
Over the course of a year, Lisa Marie filled out application after application online for dogs around the country. Whether she didn’t receive a call back or the rescue didn’t want to cross state lines with the dog, Lisa Marie was becoming frustrated.
Simultaneously, Cinnamon’s Everything Rosie Facebook page started promoting the triplets and the word spread. People came out of the woodwork to adopt, especially for Noah, who had the greatest challenges. Jasmin held onto the applications for six weeks, until the puppies were further along in their recovery. Lisa Marie seemed a good fit, and she finally got her first call back. Isn’t it funny how the universe works? We don’t always understand it in the moment, but as it unfolds, things become clearer.
Jasmin gives Noah one last hug before taking him to the airport Photo credit: Rhoda Goodman
In that conversation, Jasmin advised Lisa Marie to talk to Cinnamon. This dog will need a LOT of rehab; it’ll be three months before he’s even ready to go home, she shared. Lisa Marie and Rob weren’t deterred.
Noah ready to go to the airport to fly to his new family Photo credit: Rhoda Goodman
Jasmin is meticulous about placements. Home checks of Lisa Marie and Rob’s were organized. Shelters and rescuers work together in a big network around the country, so Jasmin reached out to Shelly Lampe, from United Yorkie Rescue, a local shelter near Lisa Marie. Shelly thought Lisa Marie and Rob were a great fit for Noah!
Lisa Marie and Noah
Three months later and exactly one year ago today, Noah was flown home, where loving parents, five other special needs siblings, a Mangos on a Mission-donated wheelchair and, yes, a Silvie-donated Muffin’s Halo awaited him. In less than two months, Noah outgrew his Muffin’s Halo, his wheelchair and gained almost six pounds! “He was so hungry,” Lisa Marie shared. Today, Noah weighs 12 pounds. Look how gorgeous he looks!
Look how empowered Noah is with his Muffin’s Halo. The boy even skis!
How do these people do it? We all love animals, yet it takes a special kind of person to seek out and care for those with special needs. “When you look different, you are just as important as any purebred dog,” Lisa Marie declared.
Noah’s Legacy
The Rockstar that is Noah
Just like Muffin’s life mattered to so many, Noah is empowering others through his. Noah has his own Facebook page, Noah’s Legacy: I’m a Blind Rock Star, This is How I Roll. It’s filled with wonderful photos and videos of Noah and his siblings, Lexi, a blind mill dog rescue, Tater Tot, a puppy mill dog, Gracie, a mill bred Maltese who chewed off her own leg to escape from being wrapped in wire and left to die, and Nicky, a 15-year old, blind cutie pie.
Noah and Nicky in their Muffins Halos
Noah’s days are busy. “We go into schools and talk to kids about everyone’s differences outwardly, but inside, we’re all the same,” Lisa Marie explained. “I remember this Goth boy in one school. By the time I was done sharing Noah’s puppy pictures and what puppy mills are really like, I looked up in the bleachers and saw this kid’s hand over his face and his make up smeared. It’s a powerful thing.”
Noah working in the schools
Lisa Marie and Noah raise money to buy books focused on bullying to take into schools. “Not long after getting Noah, we received our first $50.00 donation and went to the back, so Noah could open his own bank account.
Noah opening his bank account at Farmer’s Savings Bank
Noah and Lisa Marie have added nursing home visits into their mission, also to talk about bullying. “My goal is if Noah can make them take their minds off of their problems for two minutes, we’ve made a difference,” Lisa Marie said. “People are going into chemo with Noah’s picture.”
Noah with one of his ladies in the SiennaCrest Dementia Home
The Giveaway!
Are you inspired? There are so many powerful stories about dogs making huge differences in people’s lives. Muffin and Noah are great examples of legacies that will long outlive them.
Now, who wants to win a special, limited edition Muffin’s Halo calendar?!
To enter:
If you aren’t already a member of the Bark & Swagger Family, join our email list.
All photos of Noah credited to Lisa Marie Edge, except those of Jasmin Gabay Kimball with Noah and Noah packed and ready to go; those credited to Rhoda Goodman.
All photos of Muffins Halos on dogs, except Noah, credited to Muffin’s Halo.
Do you know a blind dog a Muffin’s Halo could help? Pass this along!
There’s Annie & Gracie, who adopter Kevin couldn’t live without. And Trusty, abandoned at the shelter for barking too much before he was trained and adopted by the shelter itself. And Lucy and Flash, who became best friends at Pet Orphans and were adopted together into their forever home. There are as many great shelter dog stories as there are shelter dogs. So, do you have a rescue, and what’s their story? Two great destinations to discover and share rescue and shelter dog stories are Positively Woof, a new YouTube channel created by Larry Kay, of the super popular Facebook page of the same name, and Project Blue Collar, an organization celebrating the rescue dog. It’s holiday time, a time of giving, and Bark & Swagger is in the holiday spirit! We have a great giveaway for you, starting today! Here’s the scoop.
The Positively Woof YouTube channel is an awesome destination for shelter dog stories that will make you smile. These dogs come from Pet Orphans of Southern California, a wonderful shelter that implements positive reinforcement training into their program for the dogs, so they have a much better chance of getting adopted and staying in their adoptive home. The P-Woof YouTube Channel films these dogs, creating stories around them that helps them get adopted, too! Subscribe for entry to the giveaway!
Project Blue Collar® (PBC) is a great organization bringing together all of us who care about rescues. It was started when founders, Carole Feeny and Kristin Waters, realized there’s no way to identify rescue dogs or hear their stories. They thought, “What if there was something dogs could wear to identify that they were adopted. We humans wear wristbands to identify our causes; what if adopted rescue dogs could wear collars for theirs?” So, Project Blue Collar – Support the Underdog® was born. Carole and Kristin encourage us to show our rescue pride and tell their stories, and they have some wonderful ones on their site. And, they give back to rescue groups, so those organizations can continue to do the great work they’re doing. We love all that, right?
The collaboration between these two entities made sense. “Positively Woof’s YouTube Channel films have raised more than $10,000 for shelter dogs in 2015,” enthused Kay. “P-Woof celebrates how awesome, funny and brilliant shelter dogs are. We’re dedicated to training and filming shelter dogs so that they get forever homes. Thank you, Project Blue Collar, for celebrating and raising funds with many good groups and dog lovers.”
PBC added: “When we set out to create and build Project Blue Collar, our intention was for it to be a collective effort, a grassroots movement with one goal in mind: To save the lives of healthy adoptable dogs,” explained Feeny. “So, we love collaborating with organizations who are philosophically aligned with us like Positively Woof. We’ve always believed that the idea of wanting to save a dog is universal, and by finding partners who share our vision, there is no end to amplifying our message and uniting people who care about dogs in need.”
Show your support of both of these thoughtful and conscious companies by subscribing and entering! Now, on to the details of another great Bark & Swagger giveaway! 🙂
The dogs love Larry: Shelter dogs showing their support of P-Woof! photo by Lisa Bevis
The Giveaway
Positively Woof and Project Blue Collar have reached down into their cool product kitty (not cats, folks) for this holiday season giveaway. P-Woof has these delicious treats your dog may just swoon over. They’re called Positively Pumpkin, perfect for this time of year, and they’re made with pumpkin, apple, chia seed, and love. They’re corn-free, soy-free, wheat-free, have no chemicals or preservatives, and are made right here in the U.S.A. And, 100% of all profits fund shelter dogs. The winner will be getting a package of these babies! Look how happy that dog is just standing next to them.
There’s more. Have your pup pop his or her collar with either this eye-catching Coming Out Collection or Call to Action collar and leash set from PBC and show your support or rescue dogs. Now, we can’t let just your pooch strut in solidarity and style; you’ll want a cute and cozy something, too, right? PBC is including a soft and toasty thermal top that shows you care about shelter dogs and rescues. Wearing them is a conversation starter, like the P-Woof videos, about shelter dogs and rescues. And, I saw Carole with one of these on at a conference, recently, and it looks great! They also make a great gift for someone you care about, including any men in your life, as they come in all sizes.
Coming Out Collar & Leash Set
Call to Action Collar & Leash Set
How To Enter
Entering is easy. If you’re not part of the Bark & Swagger Family yet, please join our email list to get the fresh news first. Then, subscribe to the very cool Positively Woof YouTube Channel and discover the newest shelter dog films first. And, Like us, Project Blue Collar and Positively Woof on Facebook. That’s it! There are other things you can do for extra points, too.
What are you waiting for? Some great stuff and two really great brands that are making waves supporting the underdog.
Do you have a great rescue story? Share it with us!
Who doesn’t love hopeful shelter dog stories and ones with happy endings? Fellow pet-loving pal, Larry Kay of Positively Woof, his Facebook page with 1.6 million fans (that’s right!), started telling these wonderful shelter dog stories in in a web video series, in collaboration with Pet Orphans of Southern California. They showcase the shelter’s dogs up for adoption and what makes them so special. I love them, and will be sharing one a month, so we can help these pups out by spreading the word about their fabulousness!
I learned how powerful sharing about shelter animals could be first hand recently, when I created a flyer for two Chihuahua babies I fell in love with at a local shelter, where I volunteer. After putting my flyer up on a Chihuahua Facebook group page, it was shared by quite a few people and, before I knew it, the calls started coming in from all over the country with potential adoptees. It was the most wonderful thing ever!
The Positively Woof video series is sponsored by TheAnimalRescueSite.com. You can see all of the animals up for adoption at www.PetOrphans.org.
Jazz’s Story
It’s Adopt A Shelter Dog Month and we’ll be linking this post up to the BlogPaws BlogHop in honor of celebrating shelter dogs and encouraging us all to be heroes for them. Jazz is a six year old German Shepherd beauty. She’s one of the oldest dogs at Pet Orphans, but also one of the coolest. Jazz has a very sweet personality. She’s playful and possesses the calm of a senior dog, which is really nice when you don’t want to be chasing a puppy around the house. She’s trained to walk beautifully on leash and knows all the basic commands.
That’s one of the wonderful things about Pet Orphans. They consider training a top priority. It’s all positive reinforcement-based and has been a powerful tool in helping to get dogs adopted. Oftentimes, it’s lack of training that lands these pooches in the shelter in the first place. They don’t know, yet they suffer.
Here’s what Larry Kay had to say about this project very close to his heart: “We’re making these films with three goals in mind: to help those dogs we film get adopted into great homes; to support Pet Orphans with awareness and fundraising; to show how awesome shelter dogs everywhere are. The single biggest reason that shelter dogs don’t get adopted is training. As we make these short films, we train the dogs. Since we launched the project, dozens of dogs have been filmed and gotten adopted. We’re making new videos with new dogs every week. It’s one of the most rewarding filmmaking experiences I’ve had in my 20-year career.”
Pet Orphans also has a campus that features indoor kennels for shelter dogs and cottages for shelter cats and kittens. There is a low-cost veterinary clinic, full-service dog training facility, retail shop, and spaces for pet photography and filmmaking. It’s a cool place!
Here’s the video Positively Woof created to showcase Jazz. Pass it around and be a hero for shelter dogs!
Andrew & Emma walking Ren in NYC Photo credit: Splash News
Andrew Garfield is seemingly indestructible as Spider-Man in the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but Garfield gushes when he talks about real-life girlfriend and co-star, Emma Stone. After two plus years of dating, they are definitely America’s sweethearts, and they’re also superheroes for dogs. They’re both dog lovers, so it made sense after more than a year of dating, they wanted to expand their family to include a pup. They searched for their perfect dog for awhile, but in a trip to Spot! Los Angeles rescue, they met a two-year old Golden Retriever, couldn’t stop thinking about him and decided to foster him. Fostering didn’t really work out. They were too much in love! Andrew and Emma adopted the baby boy Christmas of 2012 and named him Ren. What a lovely present to give each other!
On when they met…
The actors met on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man movie, in 2011, and Andrew’s reaction when Emma walked into the room is the stuff of great love stories…in the movies. In a Teen Vogue interview, he said : “She was the last person to screen-test, and I was so bored of it by then. And then she came in, and it was like diving into whitewater rapids and having no desire to hang on to the side. Throughout shooting, it was wild and exciting. I couldn’t help but try to stay with her, keep pace with her and not let her get away. [Laughs.] Like an animal preying on a smaller animal, but a wily smaller animal.” He summed it up by adding, “It was like I woke up when she came in.” Wow.
For Emma, it was just as exhilarating. “It’s like a dream to work with him,” she gushed. “He’s obviously one of the greatest actors I think we have alive today, and he’s also just a remarkable human being, so I love him very much.”
Andrew & Emma from their Teen Vogue shoot Photo Credit: Josh Olins/Teen Vogue
Andrew has said he’ll write a book about her one day; “…about how I feel about every aspect…She’s a full genius, or she has found her genius and she’s doing it so beautifully. I think everyone who works with her, everyone who brushes shoulders with her or even makes eye contact with her gets a shot of sunshine.”
Emma’s PETA award…
Andrew and Emma have been spotted all around NYC walking Ren during The Amazing Spider-Man 2 filming, both together and separately. They seem to really enjoy Ren and spending time with him. And Emma is doing her part to support animal rights by partnering with Revlon, along with Olivia Wilde. Revlon was one of the first major cosmetics brands to go cruelty-free. PETA gave both actresses a “Kind Choices Award” for helping to highlight the importance of choosing companies that don’t test on animals.
A spokesman for the animal rights group told news organization, WENN: “When Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde chose to partner with Revlon, they were signing on to represent one of the country’s first mainstream cruelty-free cosmetics companies. In 1990, more than 10 years before either Stone or Wilde landed her first acting role, Revlon agreed to PETA’s request to permanently ban all product testing on animals. Emma Stone and Olivia Wilde have both earned a Kind Choices Award from PETA. They will each receive a framed certificate.”
Emma & Olivia with their PETA Kind Choices Awards Photo courtesy of PETA
On Andrew’s man crush on Ryan Gosling…
Garfield is cute. He just is. That English accent of his, the charm and his quirkiness. He also seems to have a thing for Ryan Gosling, but he’ll have to get in line with millions of young women around the world on that one. Here’s how he describes it: “I think about him so often. I’m not joking! I have a proper man crush. Years ago, we did a screen test together, and he was just so inspiring. He reminded me of what I imagined Pacino and De Niro were like back in the day, that kind of truthful, visceral, lived-in acting. I was like, ‘That’s what I want to follow.'”
When opportunity strikes…
Here’s a great tidbit I found. E Online reported how the celebrity couple used a throng of photographers waiting outside their New York City lunch spot to help raise awareness for charity. Once the stars got wind the paparazzi wanted to snap the perfect shot, the duo decided to hold up signs advocating for Gilda’s Club, which supports people living with cancer, and Worldwide Orphans Foundation, which provides health care, mentoring and education to orphaned children.
The couple’s signs read:
“We just found out that there are paparazzi outside the restaurant we were eating in. So…why not take this opportunity to bring attention to organizations that need and deserve it? www.wwo.org www.gildasclubnyc.org. Have a great day!” How cool is that!
Andrew & Emma’s Statement to Paparazzi
For Spider-Man lovers…
Doesn’t matter if you’re 5, 15 or 50, if you love Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man, there’s something related you can enjoy. For kids, the peel and stick giant wall decal is pretty cool, as is the hardcover children’s book, The Amazing Spider-Man and the Flip Out Stunt Buggy with Spider-Man figure. For teens, The Amazing Spider-Man Hero FX Glovehelps you feel like a superhero when you wear it. It looks realistic, like it was cut from the costume that the web-slinging hero uses to hide his identity. It makes web-battling sounds when you move your hand like the Amazing Spider-Man, and rapid-firing sounds when you press the button. Cool! Kids and adults alike can get excited about The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Pack, which features a Digital/HD copy of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), with bonus content from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the end of the film. Additionally, within one hour of your purchase, you will receive a $15 Fandango promo code via email to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters, as well as a $5 discount off the pre-order. Not bad.
The action-packed, hi-tech, thrilling superhero spectacular comes out today. I wouldn’t miss it.
Are you a Spider-Man fan? What about an Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone fan? Tell me about your faves in the Comments below.
(Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Amazon. Please refer to the Disclosure & Disclaimers page on this site for more information. Thanks!)
What does stylish mean to you? I’m passionate about animals, fashion, travel, home decor and rescue, and that's what you'll find here. After a recent move to Fort Lauderdale from NYC, we're loving our new life in the sunshine. Welcome to my world! Grab your favorite beverage, curl up and stay awhile.
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