Phenomenal earth day visit to the gardens. It's a peaceful way to experience the naturalness of…read moreOjai. We met so many pleasant workers, visitors, and resident artists along the way.

Taft Garden and Nature Preserve is one of the most beautiful places I've visited in my long life…read more The peace and beauty is enhanced by the limited number of daily visitors. It is possible move about the multiple trails at your own pace self guided, or join tours (when offered) to learn about the Plants, Birds, Geology, and Art. The garden is tucked away, and for me getting there and back to Ojai proper was a big part of the magic of the visit. Thank you to all who created and maintain Taft Garden and Nature Preserve.

Joey the DJ is the one you want with you on your big day, hands down. Seriously, stop your search,…read morebecause this guy is IT. Everything you want: fun, prepared, goes above & beyond, sincere, professional, ENERGETIC...it's all with Joey! Joey was the DJ for my sister's wedding last year, and he truly made the night! We had few issues with the DJ at our own wedding years back, so we are no stranger to the importance of a DJ that truly meshes with the group and is additive to the overall experience. For example, our own wedding DJ pronounced our NAME WRONG when announcing us "for the very first time!" That is the kind of nonsense you will never find at a Joey the DJ wedding, because Joey truly cares about his couples and their people. As the maid of honor, Joey spent a few moments with me before the reception to talk to me, ask what kind of music I liked, and chat about the couple. When it came time for him to announce me for my MOH speech, he had thoughtful and personal details to include, which I was so impressed by, since we had only just met. It made me feel more comfortable going up to speak, and I appreciated it so much. At a wedding, your DJ isn't just spinning tunes for the dance floor. They are also the emcee who will control the flow of the day. Joey wears this hat and performs his duties gracefully & seamlessly, helping transition large groups from ceremony to reception to dance floor with ease. I have gotten to see Joey work again at another wedding, and I can confirm that he brings the same fun, class, energy, and "anything for the couple" spirit to each event that he works. I've seen Joey help carry heavy bottles of wine, assist elderly folks walking on uneven ground, and even jump into the pool with the couple at the end of the night. He takes time to talk with the parents of the bride/groom before they speak, so he can put them at ease, and so he has a personal note to touch on when introducing them. The music will be a beautiful reflection of the diversity of the crowd, because Joey does his homework and asks in advance, and because he has a deep knowledge and love of all music. Joey is truly the dream DJ for any wedding. He is an embodiment of the vibrant energy plus experienced professionalism that you want behind you on your big day.

My husband and I got married to express our love and commitment... but we had a wedding to have the…read moredance party of our dreams. And thanks to Joey, we had one so epic we're still getting compliments about it months later. Almost everyone who attended our wedding loves music and dancing, and among us we have a varied and sometimes eclectic taste in music. Aside from the usual basic logistics (i.e. guest comfort and good food), having an exceptional dance party was our most important singular entity. Yes, of course we wanted a stellar emcee for the whole day, but we also wanted a DJ who could actually mix songs from different genres in real-time, read the crowd, and make artistic decisions on the fly. Joey did all that and more (and was reasonably-priced to boot). So after interviewing several potential DJs who were more in the "emcees-who-press-play" category (which is perfectly fine, but not what we were looking for), Joey stood out as someone who also has experience DJing at nightclubs and making music himself, enthusiastically answering my many questions on his approach to mixing music both live and in advance. Joey was involved and flexible from the very start, and his excitement for incorporating whatever off-the-wall request we could throw at him made the whole process even more fun. He was also more than game for our not-so-traditional bouquet toss, an all-out brawl meticulously timed to specific parts of a song. But it wasn't just the dance party that I recommend him for. For the whole day, Joey went above and beyond - he did an amazing job with the ceremony, including dealing with last-minute changes so seamlessly that nobody was the wiser. During cocktail hour and dinner, he did a great job of mixing classic "wedding music" our older guests would enjoy with higher energy beats tailored to our friends. And throughout the reception, he kept the guests enthusiastically engaged, somehow getting to know our family and friends all while keeping the music flowing and adapting to schedule changes on the fly. After the party was the after party, and he kept the dance floor FULL from the moment dinner ended to the wee hours of the morning. And that was when we found out he also knew exactly when to switch from bespoke dance club vibes to early aughts, middle-school-dance-party hits in the final hour, something we didn't even know we needed until some familiar hits activated us like sleeper agents. By the end of the night, our friends were chanting his name like we were seeing our favorite artist performing live. But you don't just have to take my word for it - months later we're still getting compliments about the dance party across all age ranges. And the unanimous feedback is not just that it was great, but that it was the best wedding dance party they've ever been to. The fact that he provided this experience for such a competitive price still feels like a dream. So in sum, if you're looking for a true master of ceremony who can also make it feel like you're at a dance club specifically tailored to the tastes of you and your friends, I strongly recommend hiring an actual DJ who happens to also be tremendous at emceeing weddings. And specifically, I recommend Joey.

I had been in touch with Krista a few days before who came across as friendly & concerned about…read morefinding a good home as I was for the lab I was interested in adopting.As there is no cellphone connectivity in Wheeler Gorge I called a half an hour in advance to the facility to confirm my appointment.The phone was answered by the most disinterested & clueless employee who knew nothing about my appt but would "email" Krista.After that I called back miss Clueless & asked if there was anyone there that knew of my appointment because it was long drive.She then said Krista would meet me & she would "email" her.I went ahead to the facility when I recieved a voicemail from Krista stating that I had called several times & that we would discuss my "issues"when I arrived. I show up in my late model 20/20 custom Ranger truck I step out the vehicle and I see this official type woman start sizing me up and immediately without even saying hello stated, "I don't think you'd be a good fit", (for the dog I presume). Then she asked me what happened. I said I did not call several times like some psycho I'm just the schmuck trying to confirm an appointment and the secretary being the one with "issues" and attitude. She then asked me to fill out some paperwork.I asked to see the dog first and she refused going into this whole thing about that they have paperwork to fill out and files to keep and we're not just an open etc.etc. I then looked at her and said you know the sad thing is the dog is going to suffer which I meant by not finding a home. Well she just goes off yelling that the dogs not suffering! I said if I've got to deal with s*** like this I'm out of here,jumped in my truck & left. The official looking lady Krista just kinda stood there kind of stupefied. I was really prepared to give this dog a great home by the beach where I live as I have for all my dogs which have all been long-term and I have the references to back it up. All I can figure is I probably interrupted some chick who was probably more interested in doing her nails than answering the phones and badmouths customers to her enabling supervisors which is pretty common these days I guess.Oh well,good luck with that ladies.

One of our dogs was selected to join this program and we were pretty excited. At first, we had no…read moreidea what he'd be doing or anything about the facility or trainers. I don't think their website was even up yet, but idk for sure. Anyway, we got a call from one of the trainers and was able to come up and visit the facility which is located way out in the boonies north of Santa Paula. I just figured it a couple of old buildings or used trailers in the middle of nowhere with part time trainers. As we drove up into the driveway, I was dead wrong! It's got a beautiful entrance gate and welcoming feel to the place. It's a park-like setting with trees and some grassy areas, picnic tables, and lots of park park benches that are memorialized to dogs, trainers, firemen, and handlers. As we drove up to the main building we drove by a concrete rubble pile which simulated a collapsed building and ended up under a huge permanent open tent structure with a variety of agility structures ranging from beginning to advanced. They gave us a full on tour of the facility in progress and showed us all the training areas that were in the planning stages, construction stages and some ideas of things to come. There's a huge pile of pallets, the concrete pile already mentioned, several busted up trailers, the wilderness area and others to simulate real life scenarios that the dogs will be up against. Then there's the indoor training and care facilities - the kennels, the dog runs, the medical or maintenance building where the vets and caretakers watch and care over the dogs, trainer classrooms and so on. It was really a lot to take in considering what I was expecting. There's over 100 acres of land that can be used for a variety of purposes. I was just in awe and was happy to have a very small part of the organization - the donation of our dog. I'm not sure if the facility is open to the public, but I'd call and see if you can get a tour sometime. It's really an eye opener to what goes on in the training of these beautiful and very intelligent animals we sometimes hear of on TV.

I didn't adopt a cat here, but I wanted to write a review because my daughter is a girl scout and…read morewe came here for a field trip. What an amazing place that I honestly didn't even know existed! The people working here are so knowledgeable and good to the cats. The girls had the best time playing with the cats as well! They have small rooms to go in where you can hangout with the cats in an enclosed, safe environment. I can definitely tell that the cats here are really loved and cared for! This is such a loving place for these cats. Also, shoutout to ASAP for being so good with the girl scouts who visited them as well!

Amazing experience with adopting my new baby cat. Application filled out and accepted within…read moreminutes, and i found my new family member , so thankful of the sweet lady who was working alone the 28th she made sure we were able to take our baby home .

I found the staff extremely knowledgeable and very helpful . There is an interesting selection of…read moreNatives and succulents that are hard to find elsewhere and you are supporting a wonderful Community non-profit . They're open one Saturday a month to the public otherwise it is wholesale . If you check their website you can see which Saturday they are open they accept cash check and credit cards

This is an amazing place- the work they do in the community is so important and their events are so…read moremuch fun! You have to check them out!