Feeding Firefighters

Two La Jolla firefighters, enjoying an Alphonso Mango and a Blood Orange sample

Two La Jolla firefighters, enjoying an Alphonso Mango and a Blood Orange sample

The West Coast Bella Girls have identified another pattern that we’d like to share with you, involving the brave men and women who serve in fire departments in towns up and down the California coast.

We’ve had the honor to serve 4 or 5 different groups of firefighters so far on this tour, and each time, they’ve been some of our favorite customers of the day!

Today’s firefighters fit into our pattern perfectly.  First one or maybe two members of the crew show up for a sample.  They walk off with their samples, and then, later, maybe 2 minutes, maybe 10, the rest of the crew arrives for their treat!  One day, a truck left with only the driver as the solo sampler…but they drove right back about 5 minutes later and the whole gang piled out.  For being willing to bring his buds back when they realized what they were missing, we gave him a second flavor!

Sometimes the firefighters have the time to eat their samples standing outside their truck.  Today’s fellows enjoyed their cool treats inside their truck, but were kind enough to let me snap their pic before heading out on a call.

It’s a really great feeling to do something nice for the men and women who work so hard to keep us all safe!

A Gorgeous Saturday in Maryland.

 

This is Bella. She got really excited when she saw our truck. We had to get a picture!

This is Bella. She got really excited when she saw our truck. We had to get a picture!

Today was our first day in Maryland. It was the perfect day. The sun was shining all day and the temperature was just right.  We started the day off at Harris Teeter in Bethesda. It was a great Saturday morning. We were able to bring gelato happiness to several families. I had one man give us pointers on sights to see in Boston while we are there. (We leave for Boston on Tuesday). One of the highlights for me today was meeting a family from South Carolina. I really enjoy running into fellow South Carolinians when I’m traveling. It’s almost like I have a little piece of home with me.

 

Lauren and I had thought we had our last Harris Teeter wrap when we were in Raleigh, but it turns out we were able to have one more today!

After leaving Harris Teeter, we went to Magruder’s on Frederick Rd in Rockville. The event this afternoon was probably one of our busiest events yet. We had a blast. A lot of people at the event today had never heard of Ciao Bella, and those who had, did not know Magruder’s sells it. We love to meet people who have heard of Ciao Bella because we love to hear about their favorite flavors and how they discovered us. Even more than that, we love introducing the product to new people. We get to see their reaction to the flavors and we get to become a part of their discovery.

Another highlight of our day was finally meeting Mickey Parsons and Eric Mendzela. These guys have been great. They have helped Lauren and me find stores and schedule events. It was great to finally be able to put a name with a face, and to thank them for everything they do. We’ve had a lot of great people help us out along the way so far and I know we will encounter many more.

We will be in Ellicott City tomorrow at two Safeway locations so make sure you and your friends come discover what flavor you want to fall in love with!

Back to Blogging!

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Violet sure likes her mango sample!

The West Coast Bella Girls are excited to make our return to the blog today!

You may have noticed we went missing for about a week.  It was a busy 6 days for us.  Here’s what we’ve been up to:

1. Tori (I) had to make a surprise trip back to San Francisco to help my hubby with an unexpected issue for about a week.
2. Tiff took the GRE she’d been studying for during our breaks/days off/at night, and did pretty darn well!
3. Tiff had a birthday!

All the commotion didn’t stop the tour – like a champ, Tiff was able to handle the events I had to miss on her own!  But she’s not much of a blogger, so that was the one thing put on pause in my absence.

It’s good to be back together again, bringing smiles to the west coast, and sharing our stories as we do so.  Like this one about the family pictured above: Violet is the little doll with the precious red ringlets. This shot was snapped early in her mango sample – by the end of the cup, she had a yellow ring around her smile, and had shared tastes with her cute dress as well! She was also thoroughly enjoying our music, swaying her little hips and shaking her arms like a pro!

Come out and join us tomorrow – we hope you’ll enjoy your visit as much as Violet did hers!  We’ll be in La Jolla tomorrow for our second to last day in San Diego.  Come see us at Vons at 7544 Girard Ave. from 11 am – 2 pm or at Whole Foods at 8825 Villa La Jolla Dr. from 4 – 7 pm!