Mike and I went to one of our new, favorite hangouts this past Saturday: Riverbench Winery. We succumbed to membership back in October...or more like threw our money at them and asked when the first shipment was. This is the only winery that we are members of...and I have been thinking it over as to why this is.
Track back to when we first moved to Santa Barbara: Mike and I decided to go check out some of Santa Barbara County's wineries. We drove up and down the winding path in the middle of nowhere, checking out the scenery and checking out all the tasting rooms. We were almost ready to head back, but I saw a sign for Riverbench and then checked my handy, dandy Foxen Canyon Road winery trail map and noticed that this particular winery wasn't listed. Being a curious person, I told Mike that we needed to go check it out. Riverbench is located towards the end of the wine trail and unfortunately, is not on the map. But just as most things in life, you have to look hard for the worthwhile :)
Fast forward 4-5 months later and we are hooked. We absolutely love going to Riverbench and not because we are wine thirsty, but because of how we are treated when we arrive. The girls behind the counter; Carlin, Jackie and others treat us (US!?) like celebrities when we walk in the door and being that hams (uh, I mean, grown-ups with a capital G) that we are...we bask in the glow of celebrity-ism! I've been rolling these thoughts over and over in my mind the past few days, because we were at Riverbench this past Saturday for their release of their limited edition Rose and I can't stop thinking about their stellar customer service and the experience of just being on their property.
As a business owner myself, this is something that I pay attention to and is important to me as well as my clients. I am always willing to spend more money and time on something if the customer service is above and beyond and my hope is that my brides feel the same way :)
Here a few photos of some of the wines we have sampled from them...I went to take a few shots and ended up having a full fledged photo shoot with the bottles...geez!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend :)
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As I have been patiently waiting for my sunburn to fade away, I realized that I never blogged a few super cool photos of Kari and Nahir from last year! I did their shoot right before Mike and I graduated, got married, went to Europe and moved across the country. Hmm, no wonder I never had a chance! Fortunately, for me, Kari and Nahir are very nice people and have been patiently waiting for their turn!
We did their session at the VanLandingham gardens at UNC Charlotte (where I happily went to school!)....most people don't even know this beautiful area exists on campus! Enjoy!!!
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Well, I would like to think so....! :) Mike and I had some dear friends fly in the for the weekend and we have been busy trying to show them a good time. We have known Kari and Nahir for a few years now and they are definitely in the top ranks of folks that we miss from Charlotte! We took Kari and Nahir around Santa Barbara and checked out the shops on State Street and today, we all went to the beach. Let's just say that my pasty self hasn't seen the light of day since who knows when and I got a tad bit sunburned...OK, just a tad is an understatement....I look like a 5'7 giant lobster! Umm, can we say painful!? I am usually OCD about sunscreen (trying to keep the wrinkles at bay!), but I totally with a capital T forgot to put on sunscreen....ouch, ouch, ouch!
BUT, before Lobsterfest '09, we did a bunch of fun, touristy activities in LA and Hollywood and then wrapped up a great weekend by visiting a few wineries in Santa Barbara County! It was a hazy, semi-cloudy day in LA, but we still had a great time. We also visited Demetria Estate for the first time and this is, by far, my most favorite winery in SBC....it felt as if we were wine tasting in Bordeaux....Bonjour Mes Amis! :)
Dottie Barkman says:
hi Whit...love your pics, as usual. Sounds like a great visit ; tell N. & K. a big hello from us !!! love ya
(03.24.09 @ 01:52 PM)
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I had a wonderful visit with my family in Charlotte and yes, my mom was SUPER surprised :) It was so awesome to be able to see my parents and sisters and brothers-in-law and nephews and grandparents and friends and colleagues...all in one trip :) (whew, I'm exhausted just typing it out)
Jackson lost his VERY FIRST TOOTH! How exciting....so glad I was there to witness it! These are the little things I miss...
And Benjamin, hamming it up for me in front of the camera...he demanded that I take a few photos of him, which I was more than happy to :) I do have a few cute photos of my sisters, BUT I know that if I posted them, unfortunately, they probably wouldn't speak to me for the next week, but know that there are some cute photos of them as well!
On more work related news, I did a shoot while in Charlotte and got to meet a bunch of really awesome photographers...yay for networking! Any photogs checking the blog, be sure to let me know if you're in town or near LA because I would love to meet up!
Here is a sneak peek of a baby shoot that you will be seeing on my children's site/blog once it's finished, but for now, here is baby R....isn't she a cutie? She was so fantastically great in front of the camera and made my job soooo easy!
Hope everyone is having a great Friday the 13th!
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Along with our move to California came a rebranding process for Whitney Elizabeth Photography. After getting colors and my new logo sorted out, I needed someone to turn to for my business cards, letterheads, stationary, etc. At first, it was a bit daunting finding the right person to help me with this new journey, but after some soul (aka google) searching, I came across the perfect company and owner to help me through this process. Becky at Sugar Plum Invitations has been nothing short of amazing!!! After I initially contacted her, within 2 (TWO) days, she mailed me a kit with tons of her yummy letterpress examples...everything from business cards to wedding invitations. Her wedding invitations are so stunning, I turned to Mike and told him that we needed to renew our vows immediately. I absolutely love paper, you could say I have a fetish for sticky notes and stationary, and Becky's creations certainly fulfilled all my paper desires :) I almost attacked the UPS guy the other night when the box was delivered :)
Here is a sneak peek of my marketing materials...
If you are getting married anytime in the near future, or just love letterpress paper products, be sure to check out Becky's website and blog!! Happy Friday everyone!!!!
Catie Ronquillo says:
OOOOOH! you new marketing materials are soooo pretty! :) Awesome!
(03.06.09 @ 11:18 PM)
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love wine and wine tasting! we should go together sometime!!!! (with our spouses)
(03.24.09 @ 12:24 PM)Ooohhh! I haven't been to RiverBench yet.. I'll have to check it out!
(03.26.09 @ 09:29 AM)