Invitation to our Holiday “Open Farm” on December 10th!
November 17, 2011 Written by LaurenJ
All of our newsletter subscribers have been invited to our Holiday “Open Farm” on Saturday, December 10th! If you did not receive the email invitation, that means you are not subscribed! But it’s not too late… you can still subscribe here to have the invitation with all event details emailed to you.
What new to expect at our Holiday “Open Farm” this year!
November 15, 2011 Written by LaurenJ
We know many of you have loyally attended our Holiday “Open Farm” for up to 5 years in a row. First off, thank you for your support – it means the world! And secondly, we want you to know that we are always thinking of ways to make each year a little different so that you have something new to look forward to. Here’s what’s new this year…
(1) The shopping and food will be moved into the house, so there will be no potential hiccups with the weather. So, come rain or shine!
(2) We have 9 new animals on the farm: Lola (our newest puppy), Bacon (our infamous tea-cup pig) and 6 chickens.
(3) There will be FIVE new vendors: Lina’s Pottery, Healthy Surprise vegan snacks, Michelle Caplan mixed media arts, Kady’s creative welding & Aliun’s Senegalian baskets.
(4) Brandy and JoAnn will be helping at the Chivas table, which means Donna and Lauren will have more quality time to spend with each of you.
(5) We’ve made a number of improvements to the property that we’re excited to show you including red-painted barn, local-rock-pilaster gate, local-rock entrance to new porch doors and more.
Have any other ideas on how we can make this the best year yet? You can make suggestions on our Facebook page.
Photos from our Holiday Open House
December 14, 2010 Written by LaurenJ
Below are our favorite photos from the Holiday Open House that we hosted on December 5, 2010. You can also view the entire Flickr album here. If you did not received an invitation this year and want to be invited next year, simply sign-up for the invite list here. NOTE: If you took any photos at the event and would like to share them with us, please email us at info@chivasskincare.com
Donna leading a tour of the Chivas goat farm
Donna feeding Piggles carrots with the tour group. Piggles was the hit of the party 
Young boy feeding our goat, “Charmette”
Tour of the Chivas soap workshop. A big thanks to our neighbors and the Fillmore community at large for coming out to support us!
Lauren using iPad to process payments – also a big hit! You can see our soap display in the background before we had to quickly move everything inside when it started to sprinkle.
Relaxing with homemade food and drinks by the outdoor fireplace.
Karen Keltner of Soma Get Fit leads a yoga class on our front lawn. A good way to burn off all of the goat cheese and rhubarb tarts we ate
*** A special thanks to Karen Keltner of Soma Get Fit for shooting and sharing all of these pictures ***
More about Karen: Born and raised in New York City, Karen developed an early passion for environmental, mind, body and soul well-being and sustainability. Karen is a lifetime athlete, outdoor adventurer, and yogi who enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, paddle boarding, sailing, SCUBA diving, hiking, rock climbing, tennis, beach volleyball, pilates and yoga. Through her adventuresome spirit she has dedicated her passions to integrate personal, educational, and professional interests to create inner and outer renewal, strength, empowerment, and inspiration retreats and healing for individuals, communities, and businesses. Having trained with a wide variety of professionals, athletes, scientists, environmentalists, gurus, monks, and yogis, Karen offers a unique approach of being a life, mind, body and environmental coach for creating and stepping into a life you love powerfully!
Karen is certified in neuro-linguistics life coaching, Hatha yoga, Wilderness Medical Associates First Aid and First Responder, SCUBA, rock climbing and ropes course instructor and emergency safety, low and high elements team challenges, and American Sailing Association kayak and sailboat instructor. Karen teaches fitness and well being of the body at the Santa Barbara Athletic Club and is the director of the Ambassadors of the Environment nature outdoor, sustainability education programs for Jean-Michel Cousteau around the world in California, Alaska, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Brazil, Greece, and France. At home in Santa Barbara, Karen combines all her passions for retreat, growth, renewal, and empowerment with SOMA Get Fit.
Visit our NEW Farm this Sunday for our Holiday Open “Farm”
November 29, 2010 Written by LaurenJ
Ever wanted to visit the Chivas Farm? Please RSVP here: http://event.pingg.com/ChivasOpenFarm
You’re Invited to Chivas’ Holiday “Open Farm”
Here’s what to expect this year:
- Holiday Shopping with Chivas Skin Care (goat milk soaps), QHandmade (organic baby clothes) & *new* Midi Queen (unique handbags).
- Soma Get Fit will be offering complimentary chair massages, yoga classes and *new* mini facials (using Chivas new spa line)
- Tour of our *new* farm & soap workshop
- Donna’s farm-fresh food & drinks including lemon herb goat cheese, strawberry rhubarb pie and *new* wild chamomile tea (view recipes here, more coming soon)
- Make it a day trip? Cosidered “the last best small town in Southern California”, Fillmore offers unique attractions such as the Giessinger Winery, antique stores, Western Railway Co. & nearby Enzo’s at Glen Tavern Inn.
RSVP at http://event.pingg.com/ChivasOpenFarm
Making connections at Star Lee’s “Celebrating Women” event
March 24, 2010 Written by LaurenJ
Yesterday Chivas Skin Care was a vendor at Star Lee Magazine’s “Celebrating Women” event at the Westlake Village Inn. This event was the culmination of Star’s (above) long-standing dream to build a community of heart-centered female entrepreneurs. The idea was for women to share in their struggles to balance work and life, network to build their brand, and shop to support local businesses (like Chivas). We had a really nice time and I wanted to share some of the connections we made (a) to promote each of these women and their businesses and (b) to show how effective events like this can be for networking.
One of the vendors next to us was Devin Krista of Devin Krista fine custom handmade jewelry. We really liked her designs and are adding her to our list of potential vendors for our annual holiday boutique. I also really liked the way she incorporated nature not only in her designs, but also in her display. Above is a picture of her rings in a bowl of rice (so smart!)
We also got to finally meet Dawn Mena in person, who not only works with Star Lee Magazine, but also runs her own social media business called “Digital Dawn“. She “helps business owners and entrepreneurs develop clear strategies for social media in order to increase profit, raise visibility and form authentic relationships”. And she also offers a free “social media made easy” newsletter, which I just signed up for. I know I need help figuring out how to better utilize our Chivas Facebook page (vs. my personal page…or really how to sync them). What social media advice to you need?
We also met Diane Carter of Lavender Gatherings, who has an organic lavender farm right here in Malibu. We think there might be ways for us to work together as our Chivas product line grows.
And I was so happy to finally meet Nancy Leader of Skin in Motion. She heard about Chivas through a local friend and had called us about a month ago to set-up a visit to our farm. Because we are in the process of moving our goat herd and goat milk soap production from Santa Rosa Valley to Fillmore, I told Nancy that we have put visits on hold. Nancy, I can’t wait to have you visit the new farm in June/July (and perhaps you can visit our current location sooner so you can see the whole product line and if it will be a good fit for Skin in Motion).
Plus, here are a few fun pictures of my Mom and I at the event…
If you haven’t read the Star Lee Magazine, free subscriptions are still available (limited time) at www.starleemagazine.com/free.html.
We’re also excited to see all the fun pictures and videos from the event, which I believe will be available on the Star Lee Magazine Facebook page soon.
Photo Credit for all photos above: Lauren Johanson
Upcoming Event: Our 4th Annual Chivas Holiday Boutique
November 23, 2009 Written by LaurenJ
| Date & Time: | December 6th, 2009, 12pm – 4:30pm |
| Location: | Our home (RSVP for address) |
| Hosted By: | Donna & Lauren Johanson, founders of Chivas Skin Care |
| RSVP: | Please RSVP by email to rsvp@chivasskincare.com to receive exact address. (And so that we can be sure to have enough food and drinks for everyone). Also, feel free to spread the word to your family and friends by forwarding this email, as well as sharing on Facebook & Twitter. |
| Shop: | Chivas Skin Care, The Nomad Foundation, Doie Designs, Pierce Jeans, Ecstatic Circles cards, Bogini Jewelry and Tanzeas Baby |
| WORKSHOPS: | DIY skin care (Chivas Skin Care), green living 101 (Creative Green), mat pilates (kristen 4 pilates) and Gray’s functional movement (Soma Get Fit) |
| ACTIVITIES: | Eco-gift wrap, milk goats, Chivas factory tour, raffle and massage (Soma Get Fit) |
| DONATE: | The Nomad Foundation benefiting the nomadic Tuareg tribe of Niger |
| FOOD & DRINKS: | Donna’s homemade goat milk goodies, Laloo’s goat milk ice cream, Fat Toad Farm goat milk cajeta (caramel) and holiday beverages |
Photos from our Holiday Boutique Party
December 20, 2008 Written by LaurenJ
The boutique was held in our backyard – you can see the 8 different vendors, as well as the goats in the bottom left corner.
Pierce Jeans – hot, designer, organic denim!
Homemade goodies made with goat milk & fruits from our farm.
Our Chivas Skin Care display with Julie and Lauren in the background
Beautiful and quirky pottery
Photo Credit: Tracy Hepler
