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When Courtney Gustafson moved into Tucson’s Poets Square neighborhood, she couldn’t have guessed that she’d soon care for 30 feral cats.
In those early days, she started to document the cats online. When she made a tiny Thanksgiving feast for the cats in 2021, the TikTok went viral. She now has 1 million followers on the platform.
Now years later, she continues to care for the cats outside her door — and many more throughout Tucson. She traps the cats safely, takes them to get spayed or neutered, then returns them to their communities.
Online, Courtney tells us all about the cats she meets. And last year, she published a book — what she calls a memoir in 30 cats — that is now a New York Times bestseller.
Tucson is a better place because of Courtney and everyone like her. She loves the art in Tucson and she loves that there are spaces for every niche hobby to exist, but more than that, she loves the community. (And she definitely does not love the hot weather.)
And oddly enough, cat colonies might actually be hubs for localism.
“The cats are great tour guides,” she says. “There are probably entire neighborhoods that I would’ve never ended up in (if it weren’t for) the cats. And then you see a taco truck and you’re like, ‘I’ll try that while I’m here.’”
I asked Courtney how she would spend her dream day in Tucson — if she only had one day here, where would she go? While the cats may not have pointed her in the direction of all these spots, these are her favorites.
Stop 1: Time Market
If she really wanted to, Courtney could spend her entire day at Time Market, 444 E. University Blvd. It’s the first stop on her list and she’s ordering a coffee and ricotta avocado toast. If she did stay the entirety of the day, she’d get the BLT for lunch and pizza for dinner.
“I especially love Time Market because I’m originally from New England and the architecture is just so different,” Courtney says. “It’s not that often in Tucson that you get to be in a nice old building with a creaky floor. It reminds me a little bit of small town New England.”
Stop 2: Stacks Book Club
Like many of us, Courtney loves Stacks Book Club’s first location in Oro Valley. But she lives in midtown and the new location, 2920 E. Broadway Blvd., is just two minutes away.
“The space is so gorgeous and there’s a great book selection. I absolutely love it,” Courtney says. “I’m imagining writing my next book there.”
In her dream day, she’d stop in to read, buy books and get her second coffee of the day.
“I love memoir, I love nonfiction, I love books of essays, but I do dabble in fiction. I just read the new book from Paige Lewis called ‘Canon’ which I bought at the Stacks soft opening. It’s a 400-page book (and I finished it in a couple days),” Courtney says. “I have to be careful how many books I’m sitting down with because I will truly just lose a whole day to reading. I would probably stop at Stacks and try to read for an hour and accidentally the whole day would be gone.”
Stop 3: Midtown Mercantile Merchants
Just one street over is Midtown Mercantile Merchants, 3330 E. Speedway Blvd., which has rows upon rows of antiques, novelty items, collectibles and art.
“Any time I’m like, ‘What should I do with my day?’ I always end up at Midtown Mercantile,” Courtney says. “I go there way too often, but their stock changes so frequently. Probably at least half the things in my house are from there.”
Naturally, she loves a vintage haunted-looking cat trinket.
“You could do several laps around that store and find something new each time,” she says.
Stop 4: Zayna Mediterranean
If Courtney is hungry for lunch at this point, Zayna Mediterranean, 1138 N. Belvedere Ave., is her pick. Her favorite is the falafel sandwich.
“There are so many food places — where does one even begin with restaurants?” Courtney says. “My go-to recently has been Zayna Mediterranean. If I gotta stop for lunch somewhere, that’s where it would be.”
Stop 5: ReArt
Next time you’re at art thrift store ReArt, 2434 N. Pantano Rd., turn to your left at the checkout counter. You’ll see a tiny rocking chair sitting right next to an even tinier replica of Courtney’s book.
Even when Courtney isn’t working on a craft project, she loves to visit ReArt, sifting through the containers and drawers of art supplies.
“I started going there over a year ago now and they’re all so wonderful,” Courtney says. “I was working on a little craft-themed party when I started going there so I was collecting a lot of odds and ends and ReArt was so perfect for that instead of going to Michaels and buying a bunch of stuff new. But in the year since, they’ve been doing little community craft nights and they’re turning into more of a community space which is really cool.”
Stop 6: Warm Shape
In a true dream day, Courtney would own a teleportation device to take her from ReArt on Tucson’s east side to Warm Shape on Tucson’s west side. The store is tucked into the MSA Annex, 267 S. Avenida del Convento — which Courtney also loves — and features local art, some of which is weird and absurd in all the best ways.
“I just love everything they have (at Warm Shape). It’s the coolest mix of local art and weird stuff and I feel like it’s so Tucson,” she says. “If I have someone visiting from out of town and they’re like, ‘I like weird art,’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I know the place.’ It encapsulates Tucson. And sometimes there’s a dog there and that’s always great.”
Stop 7: The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures
Each of those spots could easily fill up an entire day, but an honorable mention for Courtney is The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, 4455 E. Camp Lowell Dr..
“I lived here for years kind of knowing the museum existed but I never went. I had a friend in town maybe a year ago who really wanted to go, so I went with her to be a good sport and I was like, ‘Oh, this is amazing. This is actually incredible,’” Courtney says. “I got really into miniatures from that. Love visiting the museum. They’ve got cool new exhibits all the time and then they also do a miniatures sale where people donate miniature stuff. That’s my Christmas. That’s my Black Friday.”
Stop 8: Tucson Hop Shop
Most of Courtney’s nights are spent trapping cats — but in this hypothetical dream day, maybe she’s taking a break from the cat life. If that’s the case, she’s probably at Tucson Hop Shop, 3230 N. Dodge Blvd., with friends. (And Tucson Hop Shop is also next door to Ciao Down for pizza and Treat for sweets.)
“Love Tucson Hop Shop. They do a lot of great community events so I love to support,” Courtney says. “That’s my go-to spot with friends.”
🐈 Keep up with Courtney on Instagram. Keep up with Poets Square Cats on TikTok and Instagram. Buy Courtney’s book! 🐈⬛
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