Since you are reading this, I must assume you enjoyed our origin story Part I (thank you!).
If you missed it, please click here
The Early Years
After our newlywed years in Northern CA, and after many trips to the Napa/Sonoma wine country (and Lake Tahoe for amazing ski weekends!), we decided it was time to start our family.
In December 1993 our daughter Chloe was born, followed by Steven in October 1995. Our days were filled with work, raising our kids, visiting family back east and making friends with other parents in the same boat. We were focused on trying to be the best parents while juggling our careers, and finding time to enjoy raising our kids. Spending time with other parents and their kids was a huge relief to trade parenting tips, playdates and dinners where us parents could talk about challenges and joys. We are still friends now 30+ years later with a handful of these families (Allison & Scott, Kate, Sara I’m talking about you!).
However the missing piece was proximity to grandparents and our siblings, almost all still living in NJ/PA. We spent many vacations travelling back east to keep in touch with them. On our 10 year anniversary, we flew from CA to NJ, dropped our kids at Nonna and Nonno’s and vacationed in Aruba, safe in the knowledge they would not only be well cared for but also spoiled (in a good way!) while we enjoyed a week of sun and fun, and sleeping late.
Back to our Jersey Roots
In 1999, when Chloe was ready to start kindergarten, we made the life choice to relocate back to NJ, in no small part to raise them closer to family and enjoy the public education that served us both well in a state where high taxes translate to excellent schools. At John’s parents’ house, quintessential Italians who always put family first, is where we spent most Sundays for dinner (an Italian feast with homemade and homegrown everything!). On a typical Sunday John’s 2 brothers and their kids sat at the dinner table (in the basement-ask any NJ Italians) as well as more relatives and friends popping in for coffee or glass of homemade wine.
My sister and her family (2 daughters same ages as our kids) lived 2 hours away near Philapdelphia and we saw them on various weekends and holidays as well and my mom who would visit from her home in Sedona, AZ.
Despite our wonderful life in NJ, we missed the west coast life, full of great weather, great food and great wine, lots of culture, though we didn’t regret the move and the strengthened connections with family.
Fast forward to the high school years, and Chloe, who remembered fondly her California childhood, was hell bent on heading west for college. She decided on Reed College in Portland which turned out be the right place for her, a super small school full of super smart, creative kids where she made great friends, excelled at English and honed her writing skills. After college and stint at a buddhist monastery to recharge and learned about astrology. She stayed in Portland and is a soon to be published author and full time astrologer.
Steven stayed in NJ for college at Rowan University and his love for geography led him to study GIS (Geography Information Science), and after an internship, landed an urban planner position at civil engineering firm Jacobs Engineering in NJ. We miss him and hope he follows us to Portland someday!
Return to West Coast and Pivot to Portland
Once our kids were “off the payroll” and the pandemic hit we re-evaluated our lives continuing our careers (me as a sales rep for a chemical distributor in the personal care sector and John as a entrepreneur running his own shear sharpening and sales business) or pivoting to an industry we are passionate about back on the west coast. As I’m sure you have guessed by now, that industry was wine, and after investigating a return to our wine roots in Napa/Sonoma, John suggested we look at the Willamette Valley-closer to our daughter-and its small but mighty wine industry. Before we moved I studied to be a Certified Specialist of Wine expecting to find a job at a tasting room, but John found a wine touring business for sale and here we are finishing up our fourth season as proud owners of Triangle Wine Country Tours!
The Pandemic Take Away-Why Wait?
What I learned from the pandemic is that life is too short, don’t wait for the “right time” to come along for a career change, special vacation or to reconnect with family. Stop scrolling on social media and marvelling at someone else’s life, plan it now!
What a wild ride its been-growing the business every year, making amazing friends in the wine business, and building our reputation as wine tour guides. We earned our 3rd straight Trip Advisor Travelers Choice Award in 2025 and truly enjoy showing guests around the Valley to showcase the wines, the scenery and the passionate people who make the wine, own the wineries and host our guests.
We are so grateful to all of you who have given us the privilege of touring with you, your friends and your families and writing such heart-felt reviews! Special thanks to our return guests and referrals and hotel partners who entrust us to show their guests the best of the Willamette Valley. Please visit us in the Willamette Valley soon and enjoy all that Oregon has to offer! Cheers and Happy Holidays!
12/19/25
Photo above of our family the day we picked up our first Bernese Mountain Dog: Sierra Liberty in Princeton, NJ on September 22, 2001, just 11 days after 9/11 which was also Steven’s first day of kindergarten. Whew, a story for another day…
