LA LIFE: Black Lives Matter, Summer Sessions, Blue Man Dog, Paint Night, Herb Garden
I can’t say it enough Tomatoes, “I Love Los Angeles!” This past Sunday, our beautifully diverse community with over 20,000 Angelinos marched to tell the world that #Black Lives Matter. We want to express solidarity with everyone fighting racial injustice so I’m sharing some ways that Tomatoes can help. Summer Sessions is a virtual series showcasing LA’s favorite artists and performers. I’ll tell you why I adore Blue Man Dog Rescue. LA Paint would love Tomatoes to join them. There’s a great article about the uses of herbs in your garden and check out the Heart Health Panel at the Virtual Three Tomatoes Renewal Summit. I was so proud to be a part of it.
Black Lives Matter
If you want to express solidarity with everyone fighting injustice and help make a difference, there are many organizations you can donate to and you can also help by supporting black owned restaurants and businesses in LA, Tomatoes.
I have to give credit where credit is due, so I thank Time Out LA and So Cal Pulse for their great suggestions to guide us. Check out Time Out’s great List of Nonprofits that could use your help and So Cal Pulse’s terrific list of black-owned businesses and restaurants that could use your support. I was happy to see one of my local restaurants in Chatsworth Les Sisters’ Southern Kitchen & Barbecue on the list because their cuisine (Cajun, Barbecue and Soul food) served by the female owned restaurant is amazing! They are considered the valley’s best New Orleans and Southern Style Cooking since they opened in 1986. And I love the owners’ (Clare Huling, Roda Hadi and Willie Stanford) story and you will too.
Union Station Summer Sessions
Union Station launched the month-long virtual series, Summer Sessions, to showcase of some of LA’s most talented entertainers performing throughout this iconic LA landmark. Wow! How Cool is that Tomatoes!
Pretty dang cool I’d say. June 18th you have the Dance Battle Showcase featuring 3 of LA’s top hip hop dancers, on June 25th you got Clocktower Comedy will showcase one of most popular and critically acclaimed international comedy ensembles in the country, and on July 2, the final performance, there’s a live concert from Union Station’s Ticketing Hall which is the perfect place for a concert, Tomatoes. Enjoy!
Blue Man Dog
A huge congratulations is due to moi and my family. Six days ago, we became the lucky parents of this 7-year-old sweet, gentle, precious and soulful doggie, Stella. And our precious 11-year-old doggie, Zoey, is happy as well. I have to thank the amazing Mia Gyzander, founder and owner of the incredible Blue Man Dog Rescue, for allowing us to adopt Stella.
Stella has added a new spark of life and healing to our lives as she begins her new journey with us. I can’t give Mia and her Blue Man Dog Rescue enough praise. I can’t say enough about Mia who is not only an awesome LA Tomato but a remarkable lady and awesome professional dog trainer. She is like a female dog whisperer. She and Blue Man Dog go beyond what many other organizations do. They are committed to helping dog owners and their adopted dogs to make more adoptions a long-term success. For over a decade, they’ve worked tirelessly in dog rescue, including temperament evaluations, and fostering, helping hundreds of dogs and adopters. As I said, Blue Man Dog was founded by Mia and was set up to support adopters and their dogs by building on her decades of experience in dog training and rescue.
Blue Man Dog provides information, training, and consultations for people needing help with their dogs or looking to adopt a dog. They also have dogs rescued from shelters in their own, dedicated foster homes. The group is named after a senior pit bull – Blue Man – whom Mia rescued in 2015, but who recently passed away. Trust me, Tomatoes, adopting Stella from Mia and Blue Man Dog was an amazing experience and we have learned so much and have our eyes opened as to mistakes we have made with our other dogs in the past. If you are a Tomato looking to foster, adopt, need training or just want to donate, check out Blue Man Dog Rescue.
June 13-June 27. LA Paint Night
How about a different type of Cocktail Online Session, Tomatoes? Well, if you have a hankerin’ to “Sip ‘n Paint” while imbibing and creating a piece of art then LA Paint Night is for you on Google Meet.
Grant Conboy is your instructor and he will guide you through your Paint Night which includes approximately two hours of instruction with some basic painting techniques for a fun and relaxing experience for all ages. Just make sure you sign up and have all the supplies need ready to go, Tomatoes.
Getty Villa Herb Garden
The Getty Villa Herb Garden is blooming and though it may be closed to the public still, their blog “The Iris: Behind the Scenes at the Getty” is still there for all to read and they have a great guide to ancient herbs in the present day, Tomatoes.
The piece is full of terrific info and wondrous photos of the herbs and their flowers in the Getty Villa Garden. You can almost smell the scents of the herbs in full bloom. The herb garden at the Villa features plants that were staples in gardens of ancient Roman homes and grown for their religious significance, use in cooking, and for medicine. And even some very unique uses during that time. Are you curious now, Tomatoes?
The Three Tomatoes LA Life editor, Debbie Zipp is your friendly guide to the best of everything in LA with a tomato style perspective. Debbie is an actor, producer, and writer. She is best known for her recurring role as Donna on the CBS series "Murder She Wrote" starring Angela Lansbury. She has had many other TV and stage roles and has starred in over 300 national TV commercials. As head of In The Trenches Productions, Debbie produced, directed, acted in many short films for her company. Her book, The Aspiring Actor's Handbook: What Seasoned Actors Wish They Had Known was recently published.
Buy her book: The Aspiring Actor's Handbook: What Seasoned Actors Wish They Had Known
