Camo joggers & a cute button-back top from Silva Collection. Helloooooo springtime!

There are many places you can go for free tax preparation assistance in Santa Clara County, including getting assistance in other languages. Visit VITA for a list of their locations & times: http://www.211scc.org/vita/

To expedite processing at your VITA site, you have the option of completing the VITA intake sheet in advance and bringing it with you! Please refer to this handy Companion Guide if you need help completing certain sections of the intake sheet.

A message from Nicole Martin, owner of Ma's Green Living: "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, my family and Ma's Green Living these past three years. I have enjoyed every minute of providing the community with the resources and knowledge of how to live a life with less waste. Unfortunately it was just not enough to keep the business thriving as it needed to. So Ma's will be closing its doors on April 30, 2016.

"Starting now we are working to liquidate all of our inventory and eventually all of our fixtures and displays. If you are needing refills please stop by soon as we will no longer be restocking our supply. Lots of items are already on sale from 20-80% off! Along with liquidating the store inventory I am also still working on raising funds to support my stepdad's continuing battle with brain cancer. My mom (Linda) still has a lot of art, crystals and vintage items in the store and the purchase of those will go directly to supporting her and my stepdad. Her items are currently 20% off.

"I will continue with my doTERRA essential oil part of my business as it is providing me a great resource to be able to continue to share my passion of teaching people how to support their health with natural solutions as well as make their own body care and cleaning products, which in turn helps to reduce the amount of toxins in our life and also to reduce our waste. I will continue to host my education classes and all my social media pages so please continue to follow me as I continue to educate through these avenues. We appreciate all the support you have given us over the years."

Carpets and Floors, Inc. invites you to come by and see our new look! We have transformed our showroom into a much more user friendly (dare we say chic) venue in which to spend time browsing for flooring. Those of you who have recently gone through the remodeling process know that it takes a lot of time and energy to pick and choose, move everything out, clean, install paint, and move back in.

Carpets and Floors has so many people to thank for their hard work, including everyone on their staff. Special thanks go to Tammi Wildes and Karastan whose help was invaluable as well as to Sal Hernandez. We also want to give shout-outs to Amanda Baker, Darryl Dawson, and Marilyn Uribe of the sales staff and to installers Josh Doss, James Holland, John Huston, and Steve Smith plus the behind-the-scenes staff, Ray and Gary Ritter.

A few weeks ago, the Rendezvous Wine Bar abruptly closed and immediately began remodeling. We got email from people asking, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

Well, here it is from the horse's mouth. The Rendezvous didn't exactly go away. It just changed a bit. It's now going to be known as The Vesper, an American craft cocktail bar focused on artisan cocktails and delicious food. If you have gift certificates from the Rendezvous, they'll be good at The Vesper.

Do you want to take your photography to the next level? Are you a new photographer looking to save yourself years of trial and error? The Lighthouse District's own Manuel Ortega, of Manuel Ortega Photography, is now offering one-on-one mentoring sessions to photographers from outside the area! The goal of the one-on-one mentoring session is to answer specific questions or provide answers to specific challenges you are facing as a photographer.

Possible topics to cover include aspects of flash and digital photography such as: camera and flash essentials, exposure metering, basic lighting, lighting formals (for wedding photographers), outdoor ambient lighting (including off camera flash for dramatic photos that make a statement). Other possible topics include: basic camera operations and settings, workflow, taking better photos through better composition, Lightroom and Photoshop, and album design.

Charge is $1000 for a full day (about 7 hours). Manuel Ortega will also travel at his full day price of $1000 plus travel cost.

Photographers are encouraged to bring in images (either on a USB drive or on a laptop) that might provide insight into their needs. Manuel is committed to critiquing your work in a positive way. Having this information will also allow him to personalize the tutoring session to make the most of the time available.