Tag Archives: #Friendship

“In Los Angeles everyone is a star…”*

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IMG_1211Can I have your attention please?

Just in case you missed the not-so-formal announcement, or care for that matter, I moved to LA.

 

In two short months, I naturally refer to main thoroughfares as THE 101, THE 5, etc., mentally roll my eyes when someone advises me that they’re “in the industry”, am slowly coming to grips with the fact that no one shows up when they say they’re going to and know that people who live in the Valley are “over the hill.”

IMG_1810I FREAKIN’ love this city.

A lifetime could be spent in this town, let alone this state, and one could never fully experience everything it has to offer. But I’m not finally writing a blog post after an eight-month hiatus to inundate you with my favorite places to dine,drink, hike and dance; I just need to have a cathartic moment to give the people who live here a shout-out.

Opinions + Judgement = Fail

Many IMG_2449friends and strangers advised me that LA is, “cold, calculating, superficial and lonely”, among other negative adjectives and diatribes. My response; show me a city that doesn’t have any of these attributes.

I’ve met some fake people, sure. However, they do not define my experience when meeting people in LA in the least bit…. A happenstance run-in with a local has led to my being introduce to the sounds of very talented house music DJs and to a very nice tight-knit Armenian family and their friends. PS There is a huge community of Armenians here in LA. Read up on the culture and the country’s history, PEOPLE and stop giving them a bad rap…Well, most of them!

From striking up a random conversation with someone at the bar only to find out they’re an agent to one of my best friend’s brothers and forcing friendship onto the Abb-ster and the talented songstress, Poeina, to attending a small intimate screening of a small independent flick in a new friend’s home in the hills – people have been welcoming.

IMG_2286My Long Story + Its Moral 

Every experience, whether it’s meeting new people in a new town or having a mini-momentary-heartbreak, is affected directly by how one approaches it and what they make of it. So, I’m grabbing the proverbial bull by the horns and if I fall off the ride/bike, I am going to dust the knees off and hop back on, as I continue on this new adventure of making LA my home… Ideally, forever.

And while I’ve no aspirations of being an “industry” star, I’m going to shine like one anyway.

 

*D. Washington

Resolute in Resolve

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re·solve  (r-zlv)

v. re·solved, re·solv·ing, re·solves

With 2013 just a few hours away, rest assured I will be joining the ranks of the many people making New Years resolutions. This yearly tradition will not see my committing to a new gym membership to “tame the bulge” because – happily – I am not overweight.  However, it will see a renewed committment to friends, family + self. And maybe self might make up most of my resolution, but when Tammi’s happy everything else in her peripheral is happy too. Or at least that’s what I will keep telling myself… 

1. To change or convert
My affinity for the f-word, even if it’s around my closest friends, is not cool. This love for this particular word and others with similar flare may add color to my storytelling, but it doesn’t add flavor. I’m trading color for flavor this year. We will see how that goes!
 
2. To remove or dispel
My 30s have seen some weeding of my metaphorical garden. Acquaintances in my life are many. True friends are few.  Friendship, like family, is a give-and-take relationship. I will no longer serve as an enabler of addiction to negativity.  When people come into your life and all they do is take and harm, one must reassess.  I’ve used the last few months to do just that. 
 
I am going into this New Year surrounded by wonderful and quirky friends who continually bless me with their patience, love, friendship and,often much-needed, brutal and transparent honesty.  I resolve to the knowledge that sometimes I may be a weak friend. I resolve in knowing that sometimes my friends will be weak. I resolve to reflect on and improve my shortcomings, mourn our losses and celebrate our victories together.  My friends are my family that I chose. Thank you for choosing to join me on this ride. I will do my damndest to not disappoint. (DAGGER – I used a colorful word again!)
 
3. To find a solution to; solve.
My children are growing into a young man and young woman. UGH, I typed it which makes it even more true. Though I can’t “solve” this biological phenomena, I can jump on this wild roller coaster of the teen years, ride it, find the moments of beauty and grow from the experience. 
 
I resolve to breathe and reflect on what they are feeling before I respond to a door being slammed out of teenage angst.  I resolve to stop and listen to their woes, even if I don’t have the “time.” I resolve to hugging them more, despite their thinking they don’t want or need it. 
 
My unconditional love for them is resolute, even if they think at that very moment they don’t like me.
 
4. To make a firm decision about.
 Baltimore Marathon – here I come baby!  My 2012 running year was an awesome one. My goals included: running an entire year injury-free and breaking my personal record/best in a 5k and the 1/2 marathon. Check, check and check. My ahhhhhh-mazing running buddy and great friend, Lila, and I have committed to doing our very 1st marathon together next fall.  I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather take this journey with other than her.
  
2013  
  It’s going to be fun.  
         It’s going to be hard.  
                  It’s going to be monumental.
 
 

A Friend in Review

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Stop…  

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a restaurant review, or anything for that matter. I have a multitude of reasons why and I won’t bore you with any of them. Despite my lack of posts, dining and attempting to live my life to its fullest has been at the top of the daily to-do list… Or at least I was under the impression that the latter was.

For those of you who remember or care, I had promised – on multiple occasions – that a review from me and a group of my friends of Mr. Rain’s Funhouse was on its way.  Did we dine there? Yes.   Did most of us find the food mediocre but the service exceptional? Yes.   Mediocre food and all, the evening was perfect. And in hindsight it was friendship that made it so.

A wonderful friend of ours had invited a small group of us together to catch up and grab a bite. We dined. We sampled one another’s dishes. We laughed at old follies and shared future plans. We hugged and kissed our good byes that evening. It was beautiful.

Breathe…  

Weeks passed by and the friend who planned the evening messaged me with: “when are you reviewing the restaurant?”, “I can’t wait to read what you thought.” & “I really enjoy your blog, Tammi…”

He meant ever word. He’s that friend who wouldn’t have said it, if he didn’t legitimately mean it. As I type that last sentence, I am reminded that now I have to refer to him in the past tense. Sadly, my friend has passed away.

Reflect…

I got TOO b u s y. Too busy to write something as simple as a blog review so that he could read it and comment. Too busy to insist that he RSVP immediately & promise to attend my holiday party so I could see him and his rosey faced smile. Too busy to give him a better and tighter hug that last time I saw him.  Too busy to tell him that I was too busy for a friend.

Embrace…

I am a believer in finding beauty in the spirit of those who pass away. My friend was one of the most reflective individuals I’ve ever known. That evening that we dined out I remember that he looked really happy. He laughed and shared random tid-bits of knowledge about things only he would know. He gave me a wonderful hug and shared that he had a great evening and thanked us for coming. He meant that.

As I reflect upon that evening and who he was as a person, his life inspires me to truly live my life to the fullest, stop allowing “too busy” to define me and do what he did so well in life:

Stop…               Breathe…               Reflect...               Embrace…

That’s my review Bill. I hope you would have enjoyed it.