Los Gatos Weekly-Times
Business
Creating romance in a Monterey hotel room, or by mail in hatbox
By Sue Cristallo
A CANDLELIGHT MASSAGE may be what's missing in your relationship, or a scented bath a deux. Heidi and Brian Borgia want to help. Their Romantic Room Designs is a month-old business devoted to enhancing romance by decorating hotel rooms for occasions such as couple retreats, anniversaries and birthdays.
The Borgias--he's a class of 1986 graduate of Los Gatos High School--owned a Monterey County hotel reservation service for some years. A native Los Gatan, Brian is not new to the idea of romance. He wrote a travel book on romantic things to do in 1995 titled, Northern California Guide for Fun, Excitement and Romance. He says the idea for romance in room décor struck him because people so often would ask for fanciful rooms.
A good example was the man who wanted to appease and woo his angry wife. He insisted they decorate a room in a sensuous fashion for them. "So I made a late-night trip to Target and got rose petals, candles and wine," Brian laughs. It was the first step in a business that has expanded beyond hotel rooms to places like the beach.
Brian says he helped one love-struck fellow prepare for a proposal of marriage by writing the big question on parchment paper, stuffing it in a bottle and burying the bottle in a designated spot on the beach. That night, the couple strolled the beach, happened on the buried bottle, which the man handed to the woman, and the rest, after her tears and acceptance, is family history.
"We're helping people out, and it makes us feel good," Brian says. If requests are for décor beyond Monterey where their business is based, the Borgias will ship Romance Inside a Box to home, hotel or hideaway with instructions. It's a hatbox filled with such erotic goodies as a Kama Sutra kit, tulle fabric, chocolate kisses, teddy bears and heart-shaped candles. A "Do Not Disturb" sign is an added, thoughtful touch. Packages can be custom-designed and range from $69 to the deluxe $399 box that includes bathroom décor and body lotions. Call the Borgias at 831.601.1650 or visit romanticroomde
signs.com.
A VANFUL OF ART AND IDEAS now can travel to your door. Cindy's Van Go, the brainchild of Los Gaton Cynthia Bouchard, will travel to any point between Hollister and San Francisco carrying hundreds of samples of frames and mats for the art so many of us have intended for years to put on the wall. She'll help customers select what's right for their home and budget and get the results back to them in two weeks.
Bouchard started in Palo Alto with her own framing store and art gallery, but the economic slump quieted things down. She decided instead to leave the fuss and headache of a storefront and, in 2004, went on the road. Her large customer base plus the contacts she garnered through networking and referral groups such as eWomen and Business Network International, gave her the clientele she needed to start. "They either use me or refer me," she says of the groups. "I get lots of work through them." She also does art consulting involving slides and photos of artists' work or catalogs of art put out by art printers. She trusts her good instincts about people to guide her through blind house calls. "If someone sounds weird on the phone, I may decline to visit them," she jokes. But her experiences have been good ones. "Each time I go out, it's an adventure." Call Cindy at 408.529.6107 or visit cindysvango.net.
WORKOUT WITH YOUR DOG, save time and have fun. It's possible through Bow Wow Bootcamp. The new local program is veterinarian approved, and most human physicians would probably applaud. Here's how it will work: On Oct. 2, a local vet will join Los Gatos fitness expert Michelle Van Otten of Ultimate Outdoor Fitness to supervise up to 25 dogs and their owners in a guided workout along Los Gatos Creek Trail.
First comes the warm-up--a fast walk or run--with dogs on leashes and a trainer in front and rear. Then, while poochie sits and stays, the owner does squats and so on through a variety of exercises, punctuated with short jogs, wagging tails and dog training tips.
Van Otten's partner in the Bow Wow Bootcamp venture is Kelly O'Neil, a strategic business and marketing coach for entrepreneurs--a local business she calls UpLevel Strategies. O'Neil, Los Gatos High class of '91, says the two met when Van Otten called for help with starting her business, "and I needed a fitness trainer." The pairing of their business backgrounds was perfect for Bow Wow Bootcamp, an idea born when O'Neill brought her three pooches along on a workout.
The partners also sell CD programs for doggies and owners that can be popped in a player or an iPod for solo trail workouts. Also note: Bow Wow Bootcamp is partnering with pet store Bow Wowzer on Oct. 1 for a canine health and fitness fair partially benefiting the Santa Clara Humane Society. It will feature Los Gatos vet Kevin Sheehy. Call Van Otten at 408.910.8684 or O'Neill at 866.615.8150.
NEW FACES: Akeena Solar has named David "Lad" Wallace its chief financial officer. The company, which went public in August, designs and installs solar systems.
Community Hospital of Los Gatos appointed Eugene Riegle administrator of the Rehabilitation Center, a 30-bed acute care facility that includes patients in the Parkinson's and movement disorder program.
Tip about an interesting business in town? Call Sue Cristallo at 408.354.8353.
