another win at our shop!

{mr denny and his wife k. cherry}
mr denny is know for his i.t. experience, expertise and charming wit. he's one of our wine club members and it is our honor to announce one of his career awards:

Mr. Denny Cherry , MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCITP

Primary Profile:Denny Cherry has over a decade of experience managing SQL Server, including MySpace.com’s over 175 million user installation, one of the largest in the world. Denny’s areas of technical expertise include system architecture, performance tuning, replication and troubleshooting. Denny uses these skills on a regular basis in his current role as a Sr. Database Administrator and Architect at Awareness Technologies. Denny currently holds several Microsoft Certifications related to SQL Server as well as being a Microsoft MVP. Denny is a longtime member of PASS and Quest Software’s Association of SQL Server Experts and has written numerous technical articles on SQL Server management.

published article in: SQL Server Magazine

"Planning and Implementing an SQL Server"

December 2008
great job, mr denny!

unofficial vacation!

well lovelies, i apologize that i have been away for a bit. i was just completely caught up with my 9-5pm {not really} career and ending my sales year on a high note!. And so now that my vacation from the 9-5pm has begun,... i know have the time to dedicate to our personal business. imagine that!

so for those of you who wonder how a woman can handle and juggle such a crazy life... all i can say is determination, passion, dedication, and most important, maintaining a spiritual relationship with the man upstairs. ultimately, HE's the only prayer that keep me grounded, when i feel like my world is spinning out of control. He keeps me true to myself, and my core.

when life puts you in the spot light for doing what you love, {wine, food, and entertainment...}there are many people looking at you as either a role model, to crap on you because something in their world has upset them, to simply give you constructive criticism, pass judgement on every move you make {because you mentioned that you believe in JC...BAM!...spotlight, and... SHEEEEWM...microscope},

or just come in to see you as their refuge from it all!

either way, both of my careers are paying huge personal dividends.

so, when in doubt that you can't handle the pressures of what life brings you...come in and we'll make you smile. that our job. right? {wink}

Merry Christmas to All!

So the economy has plummeted at a time we decided to open our doors and welcome the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.
Perfect Timing! Is it?
We say, "Absolutely!"
These last 6 months have been the best of times! And our neighbors, customers, and supporters all around us have been such a blessing.
Is this time bittersweet? Yes!
Bitter because, the retail businesses are suffering all around us, and we are in that market, so of course we are affected. However, if we can weather the storm, keep our faith and hope alive, we can only go up from here.
Sweet, because although people are not shopping as they did before, everyone is eating and celebrating the holidays with great dinners and great, affordable wines {that's where we come in...smile}.
There are still blessings to celebrate. We can actually enjoy, through these trying times, the true meaning of Christmas! Not the pressure to give a gift but quality time with spouses, family & friends presence, and not so much pressure to give presents!
So, with that said, from our house to yours, we wish you all a

Merry Christmas!
And, Thank You All For Your Continued Support And Presence!

VIHUELA WINERY

CEJA WINERY

joxeus affair!

joxeus affair was a blast. it is so hard to believe that 12 hrs of my day went to socializing, fellowshiping, networking, and last but not least, creating! it was so much fun.

Kim Caldwell did such an amazing job of host this event at her home in culver city, ca. seriously, this was so well oreganized and just a treat for creative minds. here are some pictures.

a joxeus affair!

i love blogs! especially the one from this group of creative women that have all the same interest i do! it's amazing when brilliant minds think alike because then you end up with a successful gathering of awesome women.

at least that is what i am hoping for this joxeus weekend!

anyway, here a preview of the ornaments i will be swapping the day of this "creative" event!

i am so excited to pass out my wine-inspired creations. hopefully, they'll enjoy them {as much as i liked making them} at my "blog-land" chrismas party.

i am representing us everyone! stand proud...because these ornaments just might end up at the shop for you all to...."purchase".

we'll see the reaction of this creative weekend, and then....whoala! we'll release them!

ttfn...

a bitter sweet farwell!

We like to pride ourselves on small boutique wineries, that are award-winning, yet off the beaten path. That’s what we like, exclusive brands to share with our clients. But, being that this our 6 month open, we are very sad to know that one of our fav wines…has moved….mainstream!
It was a bit frustrating to hear the news, but what can you say and, or do. We just wished that we could house the product longer, before it was sold mainstream, but it is what it is! Were we upset that our reps company sold it to our {quasi} competitor, of course. It was a disappointment.
So the answer to the question we get all the time, “do you carry,….?”
Nope, we don’t. but we congratulate it’s success:

NEW AGE
{with a twist of lime}

Everyone has a goal of making their debut, and becoming a star! So she made it to the big time! {clap,clap,clap}
For now, we like the underdogs that don’t sell us out! That is just my opinion.
so the goodbye is bitter sweet, but we still had to pay our respects.
So, peace to you all and to all a goodnight!

priscilla...are you and victor swingers?

hahahaha! funny people!
for those of you that don't know what i'm talking about... i created a post on our gold club members that were grandfathered into the gold club. and in the post i reference one of my fav love stories, "Brokeback Mountain" when i was explaining how we grandfathered out gold club members into the club. {rhetorical...i know!}
any ways, we women have a good time making fun of our husbands going on trips like fishing, riding motorcycles...etc.
well, i know rudy is just going to be beside himself when he reads this, because, i thought it was self explanatory, however, i was approached by one of my readers.
and the questions came up about the post, and why i would put my husband out there on blast!
and then she asked me as if to tell me a secret, "..hay, do you guys swing with those 2 couples?"
what?
"well, why would you write that?"
wait. what? are you crazy?
i was almost offended and then realized that there are just some people out there that may not know my personality and understand my jokes. and that's ok! but, ....wow! was that a reality check.
so i kindly answered, no.
and then proceeded to read her the entry in my voice...with my emphasis on different parts, inflected different areas, etc., etc.
hence, here we are explaining myself, my intention and justification for me being an @$$ sometimes, and allowing my humor to amuse some people...not all....i understand that, now.

so the answer is a big fat bold...

H. E., double hockey sticks.....

NO! {arrrgh!}

Life's lessons in numbers!

I can sit here and reflect back on the night leading up to the movie "TWILIGHT", and it was such a great fun, group of people! What we understood about this movie is minimal for us adults. all we knew about this film is that this series was to be a "pop" culture phenomenon. my daughter {soon 2 b 13} and all her friends are reading this series, or have read this series. soooo, being that i am this biggest fan of halloween, it would be appropriate to entertain the idea of a "vampire love story" with a wine event. why not? we have blood orange mimosa's, and vampire wines that did well during october's festivities. so, i felt it was appropriate to entertain our guest...with a tasting and a chance to see the movie that everyone was talking about!


i negotiated a private screening room with our local theatre. i had do the ground work, such as contact the GM and ask what we {winestyles}could do as local residents {of the same strip mall}to ensure we get our guest into the movie after a night of celebratory vampire activities. i had assured him {the GM} that we were grown adults...that enjoy wine, and not the "typical" sports bar crew that obnoxiously overstays their welcome!, in order to convince the {client} GM, that the winestyles group deserves to enjoy this movie at midnight. right? and, not have to stand in line at 7pm in order to get good seats at 12am. well, this took awhile to do.


the GM wants to meet his bottom line (ie. $$$, roi, revenue, etc). and i, of course, just want our clients to feel important, that they do not have to wait in line for a "pop" culture film, that chances are, if it wasn't for this event, they wouldn't have known about the film at all. I mean, let's face it... the buzz about this film...well......there wouldn't have been a buzz, except in the homes of some of these"parents" {like I} with tweens, teens, and the others talking, again, about this "Eduard", on and on and on. {tangent...bring it back pris...bring it back}


well, he wanted me to sell out this theatre of 89 people, in 3 days. was that going to be possible?hmm...in my mind, anything is possible and sky is the limit! {attitude}. however, that being said, i do know that no! is no...until after i have exhausted every possible scenario {objections is what we call it in sales!}.


well, the e.mail blast went out and that's when the actions started. now because we have a lag on our e.mail system, those of you that i have phone numbers for...know that you received a frantic text message to come out and support the efforts! well, let's just say{....during a time such as this, sometimes you realize just how important you are in some of your phone pals reach...}that, we received very few responses! {again, these are your phone pals so again...you would think that if they are in your top 5...they are a part of your team! right?} WRONG!


we had 5 family members...and the rest of the 40 tickets, went to total strangers, that were pounding pavement for us to meet our goal!


I'm so ama-cing {amazing}!
"Say it"......"Vampire"....."Are you scared?''....."No".............

well, the freaks came out last night to enjoy a night out with us and the vamps! yahoo! we had a great time as always with our peeps.


long story short...out of all the people you know {and here's the point of this entry}...in my experience inviting people to major events, you will get a 1% response. without having to follow up. hands down! with follow up, you may push that event to 10% but don't count on 15% without follow up. {...and this is how Team Obama made it happen! ouch!} and this my friends, is a prime example of seeing this life through different capitalist eyes. life is absolutely a numbers game! prime example...in my phone book i have 500 phone numbers, and in our database we have approx. 5000 contacts. in 2 days...without follow up...we got what we should have expected! see...told you! {btw-i think these are very conservative expectations..my worse case scenario's.}


so this, in a nut shell is how i plan my events...because i know that without a "follow up team", for 5500 contacts, the bare minimum, is what i can expect. and that my friends, was a golden nugget in sales 101, right? good.


at least your learning from an old sales pro! {toot, toot}


meet more people...because {bad news travel fast, duh!} 10% of who you meet...will not like you, so enjoy the other 90% that do!

"TWILIGHT" WINE TASTING EVENT!!!

LET'S PACK THE HOUSE FOR THIS PRIVATE SCREENING!

WE NEED TO FILL60 SEATS....CAN WE DO IT BY THURSDAY!!!

LET'S GET LOST IN THE "TWILIGHT"

THURSDAY NIGHT FROM 9:15PM-11PM SPECIAL WINETASTING $7

& THEN OFF TO THE EASTVALE REGAL THEATRE WE GO FOR OUR

"WINESTYLES" PRIVATE SCREENING!

CLICK HERE

IN ORDER TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT FOR THIS

PRIVATE MIDNIGHT SCREENING OF:

R. U. IN?

THE MADHATTER'S TEA PARTY!

"CERDA'S IN WINE-DERLAND"

here is our yearly tradition! because halloween is my favorite holiday...i like to incorporate it into our holiday christmas cards. i'm not to sure if the family likes it, especially mr.ian! but...it has proven to be a hit with my clients, and now we can share it with you all! technically, we shouldn't be celebrating this secular holiday, but...i am a witch at heart.

a good witch..."gaaaa-linda"

i do believe that this picture says it all in our family. we are definitely under a matriarchal roof, victor's always messing with ian...just messing around period!

and miss savannah is definitely always by my side in her own lil' world!

ian will look you in the face and tell you like it is...whether ya' like it or not! he's the moody one...but he loves dressing up just like i do...so that's why he's just in the best of moods in this pic!

hope you all enjoy it as much as we had fun doing it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Love it when a plan comes together!

Friday, November 14, 2008

10 wines for $10/non-wineclub members or

$7/ wineclub members

OUT OF THESE 10 WINES...YOU CAN PICK THE BEST @:
6 FOR $60
AGAIN, {say it with me}...now that's a deal!

---

Saturday, November 15, 2008

LIVE JAZZ THIS SATURDAY! Yahoo!

JOIN US & THE REPRESENTATIVES OF FALCONE WINERY

AT THIS SPECIAL RELEASE CELEBRATION. FALCONE WILL BE
BRINGING OUT ONE OF THEIR BEST WINES FOR YOU TO TRY

THIS WINE SHOULD PAIR GREAT WITH THIS YEARS THANKSGIVING
DINNER!

---

HERE'S WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE TO SAY:

The 2005 version is a very complete wine, beginning with a
beauty of a very open nose, with lavender, blackberry, blueberry and a whiff of
barrel toast integrated into the proceedings. Enchantingly rich in the mouth,
the wine is not, however, over powering or overly alcoholic. Quite concentrated
with flavors of mulberry, boysenberry, blackberry, blueberry and loganberry, it
all comes together with the intensity of a Knott’s Berry Farm jam. Aged sixteen
months in French oak (46% new) and unfiltered, it shows a smooth, warm, mouth
caressing texture and finely grained tannins. You could age it three to five
years but it’s very inviting right now. A textbook primer on how to make an
accessible and user friendly Syrah.

---

SEE YA THERE! {wink,wink}

A SOMMELIER CLASS THAT LESS THAN $100!

SOMMELIER CLASSES WITH ELIZABETH SCHWEITZER'S

Elizabeth Schweitzer is currently the only Master Sommelier teaching in Los Angeles County and the only female Master Sommelier in Southern California. There are presently only fifteen women to have received this prestigious title in the world. We are honored to have her teach for us. She writes the monthly newsletter for The Original Wine of Month Club (http://www.womclub.com/) with over 15,000 members reading her wine reviews each month. Her company, Wine, Wisdom and Wit™ keeps her working full-time in the hospitality industry throughout the country.
Elizabeth's forte is education. She teaches classes, hosts dinners and consults at several restaurants along the Foothills and the Inland Empire of Southern California. She maintains an active profile in the wine community donating time for events and fund-raising. She is co-founder of the Chronicle Wine Cellar, and serves as a wine judge for numerous competitions. Elizabeth was voted Best Sommelier in California by the California Restaurant Writers Association. When asked how she knows so much about wine she simply states, “I open a lot of books and a lot of bottles."Her approach to wine is a mix of old-fashioned common sense and modern economics; “If you like the wine, then it is good wine. You should not have to pay a lot to enjoy a good glass of wine.”
“WINE SENSES 101”
NOVEMBER 13, 2008
6-9PM
$50 PER PERSON*
$80 PER COUPLE*

{snacks and other goodies will be provided}
TICKETS MUST BE PAID FOR BY NOVEMBER 11, 2008 IN ORDER TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT FOR THE EVENT.
*NO GOLDCLUB MEMBER SPECIAL PRICING FOR THIS EVENT. TICKET SOLD HAVE TO BE PAID IN CHECK OR CASH. EVENT IS NON-REFUNDABLE NOR TRANSFERABLE TO ANY ANOTHER EVENT OR NEXT SERIES OF CLASSES
Miss Elizabeth Schweitzer is a Master Sommelier who began her professional life as a chanteuse. After finishing school at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she moved to California for a change of weather as well as career. She was was Sommelier at The Chronicle Bar & Grill, overseeing an 80,000-bottle collection. This is where she forged her friendship with Gus, Lud and Michael. She spent four years at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena and formerly the Director of Wine & Spirits at the Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows. Elizabeth has also worked in wine retail stores and has sold wine from the wholesale side as well. She was voted Best Sommelier in California, has traveled extensively, been a wine judge for the Los Angeles County Fair and the Expo du Vin. She was first runner-up in the Mondial Sommelier Competition. She also does cellar consulting, speaks at wine dinners, has recently begun writing and is looking forward to having her own television wine show. When asked how she learned so much about wine, she simply states, "I open a lot of books and a lot of bottles." Her approach to wine is a mix of old-fashioned common sense and modern economics; "If you like wine, the it s good wine." Her future plans will include more traveling and writing. The message she emphasizes is that wine not be taken too seriously. Elizabeth brings unpretentious and contagious enthusiasm, passion, humor and a vast array of knowledge to the wine industry.

A SOMMELEIER CLASS FOR UNDER $100
THAT'S A DEAL!

EASTVALE GIRLZ CLUB

and just as i promised...

i am sharing the professional business cards and postcards that the girlz are distributing to help promote themselves in order to make a little cash for themselves!

as well as promote their start up company.

the girlz do accompany one another so you should feel safe that you will always get 2 girlz helping one another.

what team work, right?

after their babysitting excursions, they girlz write about what they learned and give a synopsis of what they did!

check it out.

www.eastvalegirlzclub.blogspot.com

{If you, the affiliate, decide to hire the girlz for their services of babysitting, dog walking, or any other services, you, the affiliate agrees to hold WineStyles harmless from and against any and all losses, claims, expenses, suits, damages, costs, demands or liabilities, joint or several, of whatever kind or nature which EastvaleGirlzClub.blogspot.com may become subject arising out of or relating in any way to the use of the services provided under EastvaleGirlzClub.blogspot.com's agreement, including, without limitation, in each case attorneys' fees, costs and expenses actually incurred in defending against or enforcing any such losses, claims, expenses, suits, damages or liabilities. WineStyles is not responsible for any of EastvaleGirlzClub.blogspot.com or its' representatives claims. EastvaleGirlzClub.blogspot.com is it's own entity and is not affiliated with Frank and Humphrey Co. DBA WineStyles}

grandfathered into...

gold member status

john and patty zamora

they were friends to us before they became our lovers....{scary scream} hahahahha! they are the first of our immediate good friends to sign up and support our business. we met john and patty when we were all new to a little area of our beloved eastvale community. i thought i had lost my dog "belle". i was walking through the community, upset and crying because the winds had kicked open my wooden gate and my girl got out. {darn i.e. winds!} here comes miss patty in her big 'o' suv, and she kindly asked me if i needed help with something. and that's when it all started...

John's affair with Victor....{The Eastvale "Brokeback Mountain" saga began...an endearing term of "Bro-mances"!}

it's now...5 years ago this month {november}

patty helps us with all of our pre-marketing, and planned our first house event before we could open our doors! even when we opened our doors, she planned the first private event and began the private event hosting program. The list goes on, and on, and on...with what she has done to allow us to open our doors!

patty is our motto...."because everyday is an occasion!"

to know her is to love her. and if you've had the pleasure to meet her...there is never a time that you don't leave laughing your @$$ off, because she is a funny, fun-loving woman, that embraces you with her kindness.

veronica and rudy

they allowed us to use their salon next door to host a pre-marketing event for their grand opening. veronica approached us with the idea of pouring wine at her grand opening to her friends and family, to get our name out their and to potentially sign up some wine club members.it was a generous gesture, and one we did not want to pass up. these 2 have been a pleasure to know, ever since.This might be Eastvale "Brokeback Mountain" Affair #2 {another "Bro-mance"}

hehehehe...i couldn't resist rudy!

"...hang on rudy...rudy hang on...!"

{for those CRAZY-@$$ people out there....no we don't swing, and no our husbands are not dating! weirdo's! }

..take a joke...

ann and daniel

from the pura salon grand opening event...we met veronica's partner anne. it was friend at first sight. she was just a genuine personality and hit it off the night of the grand opening. and that's when anne and daniel signed up for wineclub membership. they are not big wine drinkers...well...{tangant....bring it back pris...}
but they were great enough to support our start up business.
"Grrrr-ape" beginnings.and then there's...

eddie and heather.

good friends to rudy and veronica, that signed up...because of victor and patty's infectious personalities

{i don't think they know what they got themselves into...hehehe}

and we had our first non-circle wine club members that came through to support veronica and anne's pura salon, and grandfathered into our winestyles family. say hi when you see them! cecilia and jr.

they are our very 1st wineclub members. ever!

even before the shop was built, before the concept was explained, before anything...even the architectural design were finished, jr and cecilia signed up, gave us their credit card information at one of our neighbors home wine tasting event...and allowed us the confidence and joy of our first win!

they believed in us.

we are forever grateful to their generosity and kindness, and stay very close to our hearts.

halloween came and went...

and here are the pictures to prove just how much fun we had!

lights,

camera,

we have speed...

and action!

it's halloween time!

i am just the biggest fan of halloween! i'm not sure if it's my theatre background, but i love the fact that we can be that character for the day, or week! i love entertaining, decorating, dressing up for the special occasions, and the invitation preparations. all of it...but!
the only but that i have.....is a big fat hairy but, and that is....i am terrified of it at the same time. {scream}
i scare myself with some of our decorations. it's almost as if, i psyche myself out! it is so dumb. i even know that our decorations are fake...but i still get scared walking through the house at night with our fake decorations! {hehehehehe}

i may just be

the cowardly lion

"I do believe in spooks. I do believe in spooks. I do, I do, I do, I do, I *do* believe in spooks,"

"Put 'em up, put 'em up! Which one of you first? I can fight you both together if you want. I can fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I can fight you standing on one foot. I can fight you with my eyes closed. Oh, pull an axe on me, eh? Sneaking up on me, eh? Why, I'll... Ruff! "
but when it's all said and done...it is by far my favorite time of the year and i can't wait for you all to see the pictures of some of the events we went to, or hosted.

it truly has been a halloween time to remember!

A little woman after my own heart!

PEDIATRIC ENTREPRENEURALISM?

{that's what i call it}

is this what this generation is moving towards?

As you see your children grow, you always wonder, am i a good enough role model for them? am i making the right decisions, for their well-being? did i take the right disciplinary actions, so that they don't make the same mistake twice? and did they learn from their mistakes?
well, i know it's a little early to determine because our daughter is only 12, but, we sure do like the company she has started and the group of girlz she has positioned to make their business a success!
she loves children, and enjoys to have her own little spending money, so she put together a group of girlz and named her business:

THE EASTVALE GIRLZ CLUB

What she did was, put together a team of girls. they all called a number of meeting to set up their rules and regulations. A creed, per say, in order to do babysitting on the weekend for those busy parents, that really do not have family near by, or have exhausted their family resources for the sake of a "date" or "night out".
So what they do is:

*babysitting

&

*dog walking

check out their website:

http://www.eastvalegirlzclub.blogspot.com/

soon they all will be CPR certified, and guess what, they even have their own business cards, uniforms, and flyer's? it was all their idea.

watching the way they deal with "issues", i'm sure we can all get something out of this microcosm.

WINESTYLES EASTVALE PROUDLY PRESENTS:

OUR OFFICIAL GOLD CLUB MEMBERS

WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS TIME AN CONGRATULATE THESE MEMBERS ON A JOB WELL DONE. AND BECAUSE THEY HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN OUR ESTABLISHMENT, THEY ARE LIKE THE JURY.

SOME OF THE BENEFITS ARE:

*FREE TASTINGS

{WHEN FLIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE}

* 2 FOR 1 PRICING FOR SPECIAL EVENTS

{EXCLUDING THE UPCOMING SOMMELIER CLASSES AND SELECT PAIRING EVENTS. DETAILS WILL BE DISCLOSED AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT.}

* WAIVE THE DEPOSIT FEE FOR "PRIVATE PARTIES"

{AS LONG AS THE DATE REQUESTED IS AVAILABLE. GOLD CLUB MEMBER IS STILL RESPONSIBLE FOR SET UP & CLEANING FEE}

*"EXCLUSIVE" GOLD CLUB MEMBER WINE TASTINGS

SALUT!

{prices and specials are subject to change at any time.}

{we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.}

wolfgang puck status!

congratulation to one of our wine club members stella!

her daughter was just promoted in the wolfgang puck corporation.

little by little winestyles is making it mark on the map!

do i hear paring for the holidayz?

it's halloween time!

tickets for the exclusive event

"Wicked winestyles vine-yard halloween party"

on sale october 7, 2008

$24 per person / wineclub

$35 per person / non-wineclub
Tickets will only be available until

October 24, 2008

until then we....

close up the coffin

---

Ticket sold at the door will be:

$40 PER PERSON

FOR BOTH WINECLUB & NON-WINE CLUB MEMBERS

super suppers! was grreeat!

well, we finally have the pictures from the super suppers event that we invited you all to! and boy was it fun!
i was taken back that the food was not plated, and the forks were plastic, but...there is always a first time for everything!
most important...the wine was delicious. victor poured the best wines and they paired great with the dishes that were served. it was a if it was all meant to be! he did a great job of doing research that would allow the recipes to shine, and boy 'o ' boy, was it all shining. everyone left full with 6 entrees served...it was well worth it!
bon appetit everyone!

even on "monday nights" our members are so much fun!

It so hard to believe that we've now been open 5 mos and already, we have such a great group of club members. pictured below are just a handfull of pictures from our awesome and fun "Monday Nights". and boy o boy was this some fun. we went back in time and had ourselves a dance battle.
sometimes it's nice to know that even professionals can let their hair down and take off their lab coats to enjoy a night of tasting in our establishment. we love you all and thank you for making us your home away from home.

haapy birthday "mary beth"

making the limelight, can be a lemon?

still staying true to the chronicles, i have to walk women through a moment in the life of the lime light.

now don't get me wrong, i'm all about the stage, and lights, camera, action...but, in business. hmmm! there is no class on balancing marriage and business in the "real" world. and the truth of the matter is...you will be tempted and put in some very compromising situations, when the can of whoop ass! isn't plan B anymore. there is nothing more sexy than watching your husband on a stage performing his "manly" duties of "The Provider". it's an awesome act of kindness, self sacrifice, etc.etc. when you have your own business, and you see you hubby working to make a future for your family and your children's future. but here's the deal, ladies...

strength!

a woman with a man in business or any power, or uniform power position...needs so much strength and self confidence, because, other woman who don't have that...want that. and will do anything to hurt your marriage, to to have a day in "your shoes". couple that with childhood insecurities that rear their ugly heads, when the opportunity arise, and when you least expect it, "bam!", your relationship is just put through "the TEST!"

plus, we, woman have to know that if you allow your man off the leash for to long, or turn around, in 1 second all hell can just break loose, if he is not properly trained, i mean that in the kindness way. seriously!.if the leash is to long, he can hang himself, or if you turn around at the wrong time, hungry predators, that come in all shapes and sizes, will try to lure him away...

for a kill.

and the smell of sweet success for another woman is...well, let's be honest...woman are a different breed. right? especially a driven woman. she will not stop, until she knows that she can get what she wants...at all cost!

with that said, i've been approached often about how great my husband is and how comfortable, he makes everyone feel and again, and again, how great he is!! and honestly, "i absolutely know!". also, if you look at the goals we set up prior to opening, customer service was and has always been our #1 priority. mi casa su casa, absolutely! did we want to set our place up to be a home away from home for our clients, you betcha'! but...all the marriage counseling and marriage retreats, would have never prepared a woman in business for what i am about to share:

i was approached by another woman that was pretty forward in asking me if she can invite my husband to her house for a "personal" house party to meet her "hollywood" friends and "by the way" maybe cook dinner. {rabbit+boiling water=?}then says to me, "since i've booked this event on a sunday night, i understand that it wouldn't be taking you {me} away from your kids all day, and you can spend the day with them while he {victor} comes over and enjoys the night with me and my friends, alone. are you ok with that? {looks at me} you wouldn't even have to pay for babysitting since it's on a weekend."

hmmm. i thought to myself, well, he's a grown man, "sure", i said, in the name of a business smile. if he's willing to take you up on the offer, that is entirely up to him. and that is the truth. luckily for me, we've been married long enough for him to know that, that entire scenario lifted "red flags" all over the place. we both laughed that night and said, "dude, is this an indecent proposal?" but, these are the winestyle chronicles, and i am giving you the wins and the loses, and i do have to toss this one up to one of our "wins"!


first of all, because our marriage is being tested and tempted everyday, and we are persevering through it with God in our marriage. and giving Him all the glory because we, as individual humans before, would not have handled these situations the way we do now. we, both, have come a long way. That's why, we both realized that no matter what it takes, we would not sacrifice our family time, nor our marriage for the sake of getting ahead. {greed}

if we are not making profit, money, or budget, we would always make time for those 2 priorities. you have to have faith that as long as we keep focus on God in our family and our marriage...He will allow us that time to glorify Him. our foundation is our family and our marriage, and we just can not rock the foundation that has allowed us to be here and sharing awesome moments with others that are just great people. so know that, even though we are in the limelight, things aren't always what they seem, but strength, faith, and prayer can get you through some crazy moments such as this one. i have to stay grounded knowing that if i would have given in to the temptation, chances are the outcome would have affected me and my family more than just my selfish high of sweeping the floor with this great woman's behind.

so when you ask me how i do it, or how do i stay so composed...remember, i breath and bleed just like everyone else. life is just like "turbo kickboxing", you can't get to comfortable because things can always change.

so with that said, you can not take each other for granted in a marriage, but one thing for sure always sign up for that marriage class, because it will save your relationship and keep you grounded when things get out of hand in your relationships.

no amount of money or fame is worth taking the the place of private quality time with the ones you love!!