[UPDATE: SFist interviews KitTea co-founder Courtney Hatt.]

This isn't a joke. You're not dreaming. It's real, and it's mew-tacular. A tea cafe featuring a bevy of therapeutic, adorable cats is set to open in San Francisco this year. Christened KitTea, founders Courtney Hatt and David Braginsky describe their venture as "part 'gourmet tea house' and part 'cat and human oasis.'"

The goal is to provide homeless cats a place to call home. Also, to bring humans and cats together in perfect harmony. According to the website, the cafe plans on opening this Spring. What's important to note is that, as of now, it's all in the preliminary planning stages. Permits and the like are still very much pending. But here's how it would work:

Patrons will partake of all the enjoyment and therapy that cats provide, while enjoying healthy blends of exotic teas that are ecologically sourced from around the world. Our cats will enjoy a high-quality, elegant home constructed expressly for their pleasure.

Here's how the (brilliant) idea came to fruition:

[...] Courtney, immersed in the stressful world of tech and startups, was working in a bustling cafe one day. She stumbled upon an article about a cafe for cats in Japan. City dwellers in Japan retire to the cafe after their long, demanding jobs and take refuge in the cafe, which looks and feels like a welcoming living room, but with several resident cats roaming free.

[...]

As Courtney looked around the cafe, she became overwhelmed with its buzzing and frenetic energy. Though everyone was sitting in close quarters, there were no spontaneous interactions with others and it lacked comfort, relaxation and socialization.

That's when it hit her that a cat cafe would be a natural addition to the eclectic culture of San Francisco. That is where Asana Software Engineer David Braginsky came into the picture. He shared the same vision of a space where people could relax with a cup of tea and interact with cats and other cat enthusiasts. The two are now making this dream a reality and looking forward to opening KitTea's doors to the San Francisco community in 2014. ​

Following the guidelines and standards of care from the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, no more than 10 cats will be in the cafe at one time. Felines will be adopted from local rescue shelters. When tired of the humans patrons at the cafe, the felines would be able to go to a "cats-only" room or, better yet, saunter over to an entire wall for climbing or an entire wall for scratching.

As for the space itself, no location has been determined so far. "We are still in the process of scouting and negotiating potential spaces in desirable neighborhoods," says KitTea. "We are hoping to lease a minimum of 1,600 square feet, this would allow 30-35 people in the cat space at a time, the space will never be crowded, or chaotic."

This could very well be the best thing to happen to San Francisco since sourdough bread, that bridge, and gay people. We'll update as soon as we know more.

And now, a slew of videos featuring cats drinking tea:

[via Laughing Squid, @CzarVolberding]

From the ride-sharing service that brought you on-demand ice cream and app-available Tamale Lady comes a new, even more sinister temptation: on-demand kitten snuggles. Apparently today is National Cat Day (although any cat would tell you that every day is National Cat Day), and Uber has teamed up with irrelevant meme machine Cheezburger to shuttle kittens to world-weary urbanites in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle. Between the hours of 11am and 4pm, $20 gets your 15 minutes of snuggle time and "designer cupcakes," and 100% of proceeds will go to a local shelter partner in each city to help animals find homes.

"It may take multiple tries to find available kittens. Please be patient! We’ll be working all day to deliver as many kitten snuggles as possible," assures the company's blog, which is also helping to facilitate adoptions. Is it a calculated marketing move for the SF-based company? Most assuredly, and we feel kind of manipul--but KITTENS! Fluffy squirmy kittens! Kittens and cupcakes and snuggles!

Well played, Uber, well played.

[Uber]

While we don't often find ourselves wishing we had a daily commute down the Peninsula, this adorable news we just can't even deal with: A mother fox and her adorable litter of pups have made their home between the buildings of Facebook's Menlo Park campus. It's almost enough to make us want to stow away on the next shuttle bus down 280, and steal them for ourselves.

Foxes have been spotted roaming the campus of the social networking behemoth since last year, but much more recently a mother fox — who Peninsula hackers have lovingly named "Firefox" — and a male mate made a den under a deck next to a zen garden between the product and sales buildings. Alexis Smith, who created the FB Fox Facebook page for employees to share sightings, tells the Wall Street Journal the company is talking to local wildlife services to make sure company employees properly respects the fox family's nonexistent privacy settings.

Naturally, with so many Facebook-connected people around there are plenty of photos being shared on the FB Fox page. So far it has racked up more than twice as many likes as there are Facebook employees and Zuckerberg himself is among the fans. Luckily for everyone involved, there is some over-the-top adorable footage:

D'aaaaawwww

Anyway, good to see that Boo the dog is no longer the cutest thing around Facebook.

Three little meerkat rapscallions who are clearly up to no good -- named Ayo, Rufaro, and Nandi -- joined the Oakland Zoo meerkat mob. And just look at them. LOOK AT THEM! They're too much and already in so much trouble.

At nearly six weeks old, the trio brings the size of the zoo's meerkat mob to a solid eight.

"It has been wonderful watching the mob raise the pups," zoological manager Victor Alm explained to The Chronicle. "It has truly been a collective effort and all the adults are taking their turns caring for and teaching the new pups their different roles and jobs needed to be a productive meerkat."

The meerkat pups' inclusion has been considered a noteworthy success by the zoo because, as The Chronicle goes on to point out, "They live in social groups called mobs led by a dominant male and female, and the dominant pair will generally not tolerate pregnancies and births by other members of the mob."

Check out the pups and their mob family at the Oakland Zoo (9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland, CA).

All good things must come to an end, so until the first California gay divorce happens, here is your last same-sex wedding post. (Probably.) And it's only natural that the final post should involve Tila Tequila (nee Thien Thanh Thi Nguyen) and her tireless, tenacious crusade against human rights abuses.

Regarding her MTV reality show "Shot At Love" and how it jump started gay marriage, this harrowing excuse for a human being told Access Hollywood last week (yeah, yeah, it's on old quote, but a timeless one at that):

It is because of me. I definitely think (my show) has helped the movement ... [b]efore it came out, everyone was still a little apprehensive about (same sex relationships) ... [t]hen they realized, ‘Wow, everyone is really into this stuff, and it is fine.’ The next thing you know, (gay marriage) is legal.

Tequila then went on to say “I am going to Africa...I think maybe I will fall in love in Africa."

Jesus.

(Via SF Weekly)