Hotel Greatness - El Encanto

I can't say enough wonderful things about this week in Santa Barbara. Just as in my previous post, I could have written extensively about the wonderful things about the Gilbert House. I just wrote about the pie safe. This is because it is a part of that experience that I want to take with me and emulate. I haven't even spent the night here at El Encanto. I checked in about noon and spent most of the day elsewhere. Already I am in awe of this hotel.

It has dawned on me that it is all in the details. The more you spend on accommodations the more details you get. As I carry one sleeping child and the other groggily follows. We enter the room at 10:00 pm. I realize it is not how I left it. It has been turned down. The room had been tidied; towels replaced. Fireplace on. Bed turned down. Hidden secret attached to the headboard reading lights out and illuminated. Water bottles and glasses by the bed (the latter currently being used for whiskey (something out of a modern country song about drinking $15 whiskey in a $600 room)). A caramel left on the bed with a card indicating tomorrow's weather forecast. A pair of slippers left on each side of the bed. I had previously experienced turn down service on the train. This makes sense this this hotel is owned by the Orient Express. 

I can't wait to see what details tomorrow brings. There are many wonderful things we are doing these next five days, but I hope I do get to just chill in this room a bit. 

I realize that I still have to post some notes about the first wedding I did, but second things first. I am in beautiful Santa Barbara. I am currently staying in beautiful very large victorian house. There are many things I could say about the house, but I am stuck on the smart pantry in the kitchen. I am also stuck on my desire to emulate it in my house. Here it is. 

It looks old. The front is old. Open it up.

 There is spice and small bottle shelving in the door. Nice deep shelves in the middle...

The middle shelves each swing out to reveal larger deeper shelves! For those familiar with my house. I am thinking of doing this to the cabinet next to the fridge.

I did it! I figured out how to create an html version of my calendar that would work on the blog. Not bad for an old guy!  look to the left-------------->

36 Parties in 2 years.

Thanks to the generous support of my network of friends and family and their friends. I am now working on getting wedding gigs lined up for the next two years. I have about 7 parties lined up in the next several months so far. Please help me spread the word about what I am doing. Let folks know what I am doing. Let them know my services are available and free!  

I am going to start using this blog site to discuss how this working out. What music I used, what I think worked well. What I can work on. In addition I will figure out how to post a version of my calendar here so that folks can see the dates that are booked. In the meantime, I am feverishly working on slogging through 225gb of music making playlists and getting to know the Traktor S4. 

Speaking of the Traktor Kontrol S4. It is a phenomenal mixer/controller package. It is a little disappointing in its ability to control vinyl alongside digital. This is mostly in that the turntable sound is really low. With that said, I am thinking that vinyl will mostly be at home. With 225gb and climbing of music. There are very few things that I have on vinyl that I don't have in a digital format. This will make me much more portable. I will only have to carry the S4, Laptop, and headphones (and PA if necessary).