Stories from our life as restauranteurs from 2014-2018. All of the details from building a restaurant from an empty shell to learning how to run it from customer service to management. Aroha closed in late 2018 due to the Woolsey Fire that tore through Westlake Village and the surrounding area.
It's been over a year since I wrote a blog on here. It's amazing how fast time moves by. I'm not even sure what I'm planning to write about right now. Part of that may be because I'm sick with a cold and have brain fog, but I think part of it is that there …
Continue reading Go. Go. Go. (Because No Matter What, You Have to Try)
To say these last five years have been a journey would be a tremendous understatement. Never in my life have I had a time that has been filled with so much love, change, determination, stress and joy. Today, it is five years since I married the love of my life, Gwithyen Thomas. In the years …
Continue reading Our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary and Aroha’s 2 Year Anniversary!
It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we began putting together our plans and searching for the location for our very first restaurant, Aroha. Ever since that moment, we have learned a lot. About customer service, about management, about life in general. To say it's been easy would be a lie. Some …
I can't believe in just a few weeks 2015 will be coming to a close! This past year has been such a life changing experience for both my husband and I and I truly can't believe how far we have come. We are so thankful for the amazing customers we've had so far at Aroha. …
Continue reading Aroha’s New Years Eve Menu & Our Special Announcement!
It's hard to believe it's been a year since our restaurant's grand opening! So much has happened in these last 12 months and we have learned so much about operating a business, customer service, and most importantly, ourselves. Saying it's been an easy ride thus far would a lie. It hasn't been. It's been hard, …
Continue reading Aroha Restaurant: Our One Year Anniversary, Year in Review, and Meeting Lorde!
Since we opened Aroha last September, our main goal was to build our customer base gradually while we learned the ropes of running a restaurant and made connections locally with the various newspapers. It was a tough experience to originally open so close to the winter months with little advertising when most people aren't in …
Continue reading Our Aroha Summer & What’s New on the Home Front!
Hi everyone! It's been a while. For those of you who don't know, my husband and I are expecting our very first child this October - a baby boy!!! We are beyond excited...this also explains why I've been so absent from the blog these past few months. Pregnancy is a wild ride! Today, I felt …
As the weeks countdown, I am getting more and more excited for Valentine's Day at Aroha. It's strange because I'm normally such a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays, and I partially expect myself to feel bummed out that I don't get to have my own romantic dinner with my hubby. However, reservations are …
I'm not going to lie - Saturday night was amazing in a lot of ways but today, I'm still feeling an endless amount of anxiety. The truth is, nobody and nothing you do is ever perfect. And especially not on the first try. That night was definitely one of those examples. Things didn't run as …
We're two months in. Two weeks ago, during the World Series, I was feeling incredibly down because of the lack of customers. We knew it was because of the games but after only a month and a half of being open, you can't help but worry when you have slow nights! When this past week …
Life in Stepping Stones 