High-Low 12/2/13: Birthday Bliss & A Boy Named Paul I Used To Know…

This week was a reminder in how precious life is, how much we should celebrate our life & health every day…and how quickly it can be taken away.

HIGH

My high would have to be my birthday on Saturday.

Midnight cake, champagne & wishes. The best birthdays always begin at midnight. And so it begins...

 

It was a day filled with friends, food and fun! It started with a morning hike at Runyon Canyon…

A morning hike at Runyon Canyon to make me feel all 36 years alive!

 

Then there was a brunch with good friends & bottomless mimosas (the perfect marriage if you ask me) at Chic Wine Bar in my hood…

First, second and third apparent rules of bdays? 1) You must brunch with good friends and, well, 2) there must be bottomless mimosas and, of course, 3) you MUST wear sequins. Yep. It's a thing.

A manicure & pedicure at Polish Couture…

Now, THIS is what I call a birthday mani

And dinner and dancing with friends at The Village Idiot followed by Fubar.

Nothin' better than dinner & dancing with friends on your birthday!

 

LOW

Low: Remembering Paul...

As I was getting ready to leave for my birthday evening out on the town, I heard about the death of Paul Walker. I knew Paul Walker. He was one of the first people I met in Los Angeles and he dated my first roommate out here for years. I hadn’t seen him or talked to him in over a decade but those memories of that first year in LA came flooding back to me. Two Texas girls in the big city of LA ready to take on the world. And there was Paul Walker…a moviestar being a frequent face in our apartment on Holt. Eating pizza with us on our red couch. So this was LA.

I remember Paul hanging things in our new apartment when we first moved in and my mom making a joke that “If that acting thing doesn’t work out, you could be a handyman.” I wanted to die. At this point, Paul had been in Varsity Blues and had The Fast and The Furious franchise going on. This “acting thing” was workin’ out just fine for him. My mom knew this and thought it was good to keep people down to earth.

But Paul didn’t need that reminder. He was a born-and-bred Cali boy with a beautiful little daughter named Meadow who used to play at our apartment. I remember starting a diet on a Sunday and him telling me to eat some chinese food because “No one starts a diet on a Sunday. Everyone knows you start on a Monday.” I remember that I would get super annoyed that he wouldn’t buy toilet paper when he was basically living with us.  I remember that he had a very cool car – and I had no idea what it was, of course – and people used to stop in front our yellow 4-plex to look at it. Cars were a passion of his. So it seems even more tragic that they led to his premature demise.

Whenever someone passes, I always say that you feel an absence whether you really knew them or not. I would never profess that Paul was a good friend or anything like that. But Paul was basically my 3rd roommate my first year in LA and I feel the loss of that memory. He was a presence in that new chapter I started in LA all those years ago and I am so sad that his story has ended much too early. My thoughts, prayers and love go out to Meadow, his family and my former roommate who loved him very much for a chapter in her life. I’m happy he was a small part of mine for the brief time he was.

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: What was your High-Low this week? 

High-Low 9/9/13: Neighbor-Family & New Scars

It has been faaaaaar too long since I shared a High-Low with you and, well, it’s time. These past few months have been such a wonderful, whimsical whirlwind – filled with travel, friends, family, rich opportunities, closing old chapters and – more importantly  – starting new ones. I have been to Texas and back, Nashville and back (more on that in another post), thought I was moving, found out I didn’t have to move, met new people, said goodbye to friends, hosted events and started becoming more involved in some philanthropic organizations that I care about deeply. But there’s no way, I can share all of the highs with you so we’ll just concentrate on the High-Low from the past week. Hope you enjoy! And I can’t wait to share more with you on a more regular basis, again.

HIGH: Neighbor-Family

After almost having to move out of my beloved home in July, I appreciate my neighbor-family now more than ever. Whether it be morning coffee with Hope across the street, laughing with Jenn as we organize my kitchen, Matty keeping me company with a glass of rosé and conversation while I frost cupcakes on a Saturday afternoon, having dinner at our neighborhood wine bar, Chic, with my old friend Sarah or Nora and Lucy bringing their laughter-filled light into my room as I get ready for a night out on the town, I am overwhelmed by the sense of family these friends give me.

So much so that they are not just friends anymore, they are my sister-neighbors and brother-neighbors…my neighbor family. And I love them to bits! Every morning I get to look out my window and say hello to these beautiful people. And every night, I get to see at least one of them before I turn in. It feels a bit like college and a bit like a small, southern town and it adds up to the warmest community I have ever lived in. I am so grateful for every second I get with them.

High: My Neighbor-Family

 

LOW: A New Scar

I have always wished I was more graceful. When I say this to people, they think I’m being modest, “But you are such a graceful and gracious lady”, I am told. Au contraire, my friends. While I am lucky that it doesn’t happen every day – or even every month – my life has been filled with its share of pratfalls and Three Stooges-style tripping accidents. So I wasn’t surprised at all when I was in a hurry at The Grove last Tuesday and totally bit it as I made my way up the stairs at The Apple store. Ugh. I gashed my knee pretty hideously. First, I was mortified…and then, I thought I might have to get stitches. I had no time for stitches! I had a manicure…and a meeting! Bless my heart.

Sorry for the graphic nature, folks...

Turns out I was okay. More or less. So why was I in such a hurry? Because there are lots of new beginnings on my horizon right now. New, fun, exciting and delicious things that I can’t wait to wake up to every morning. And, at the same time, there are also old chapters being closed. So, when I was asked by a doctor if I wanted plastic surgery, I said, “No, I think I’m gonna let this be a scar.” Scars are excellent reminders for us as humans. In this case, I feel like this scar will remind me that for new things to begin, we often have to get hurt, let ourselves heal and scab over before we can begin anew again. So while this is a low, it’s also an excellent jumping off point into the great unknown. And I am ready for all it has to bring.

 

xoxo,
BF

 

BF Asks: What was your High-Low this week? 

*So what exactly is a High-Low, you ask? High-Low is the BEST & WORST part of your day, week, month, etc. I started this tradition with friends & family after I discovered it through a movie decades ago. Not only is it useful for reflection sake but it is also an excellent way to communicate with your spouse, kids or friends over the dinner table. By introducing this tradition to folks, parents have told me that their kids have opened up more and friends have told me that their spouses have become more communicative. Try it for yourself and let me know what your experience is!