I've always been a social butterfly, recharging in my own company but enjoying socialising and being around other people. I always made it a point to host. I loved the planning, buying in all the wine, beer and spirits to make sure people had a good time, the music, the games... the evenings outside in the garden under a setting sun, dancing and talking into the night with a drink in hand and fairy lights giving that all important back ground glow for cute pictures and so we can just about make out faces in conversation.
The worlds of Facebook, TikTok and Instagram have seen me gain and lose friendships over the years, some were not long lasting and I know others will be forever. Unfortunately, you tend not to know a person's intentions until they make them very clear down the line and, as mentioned in previous posts, I have lost what I thought were genuine friends through copying intellectual property and stealing ideas or designs. It makes you wonder if that was the reason they connected to begin with, or if their intentions were good and they just lost sight of that along the way.
Seeing elephants drinking water from natural water pools where people are swimming, giraffes roaming around lodges and lions up close and personal to safari jeeps on TikTok has definitely fuelled this fire a little for sure, but it's somewhere I've always wanted to go for so much more than the animals. I think experiencing the diverse range of authentic African cultures is high up there on reasons why, it would be an amazing learning journey for both Alfie and us adults.
In hindsight it's easy to sit back and see what could, should and would have been done differently but the truth is in the moment you just have to do what you think is best with the information you have at that time... and we can't always get it right.
I've done a lot of self-reflection over the last 18 months especially, had important conversations, and made amends with people along the way, but I know realistically that so many of the relationships I had with people prior to starting Sarah's Creative Kitchen are forever changed, or obliterated completely.
However I look at it, I cannot seem to shake the pride. The number is massive to me. Not only because of its numerical value, which looking at it in writing seems pretty high, but also because of the change those numbers have had on my life.
Overall this has been a very positive experience for Alfie, Michael and I and we can't wait to see where this progresses and the memories we are able to make along the way. One extra park of all of this has been the time I craved so badly with him, and the reason for setting up my own business, has come back to me in spades and we now get all the time in the world together.
The intention for Sarahs Chocolate Kitchen was always to be a place of community and togetherness, and opening up for parties, introducing people to the world of chocolate making, encompasses our ethos perfectly.
I run myself mentally and physically into the ground several years ago! I wanted to end my life at one point, and that is a dark and isolated world to be in. I was drinking lots, I then went onto antidepressants, I started vaping, and I was in menopause, my life felt crap!