Sunday, December 30th 2018
Just a few days shy of the New Year, still drained, still exhausted. But, we are blessed, we are building a great team, we are in the freaking MALL!!
Any who, we had a Bridal Party of 6 scheduled today, one of our Interns/Makeup Artist stayed at the studio so we could knock out the bridal party, which by the way was the easiest bridal party we've had to date.
The ladies were so sweet, and their request was simple. Natural looks for everybody. This was our first Bridal Party where we didn't have to do the bride but just did the bridal party, and I have to say, not having the pressure of the Bride on our hands was kind of refreshing!
So, we finished this bridal party within 3 hours and headed back to the mall to unpack and get ready for any walk in appointments. But...we were starving like never before. So we decided to do our usual after each wedding, splurge on a job well done at Longhorn Steakhouse. (Literally our fav)
Which if you've never been, you have to order the Firecracker wraps appetizer. THEY ARE AMAZING!!
Any who, our appetite was BIG, so we put in a to go order for Firecracker wraps (of course), Rib Eye Steak, and their Parm Crusted Chicken (Which is also freaking amazing!), with our sides and our salads, we were for sure looking at about a 100.00 tab if not more. Once we get back to the mall, we make the executive decision to close down 2 hours early, no judging here guys!!
So we decide for old time takes to sit at the bar and just eat our to go order there, why not. Wine down and enjoy a sit down meal for the first time in 60 days.
We sit and there's a gentleman sitting next to us making simple small talk at first. Seemed like he had several glasses of wine, but he was nice none the less.
Talked a little about football but nothing major. All of a sudden the waitress brings over card, the card said "Sofia's Angels" with handwritten on the bottom "Chef Lou, Boston MA" She proceeds to tell us that our entire meal was paid for by the guy we were having small talk with...
like seriously?! Such a kind gesture.
But of course, because he had the title Chef next to his name we had to inquire. Turns out Chef Lou had owned several restaurants in his day. Two Steakhouses and a Thai restaurant with his now passed on wife. Been on several PBS television shows and radio shows and also an Author.
And here he was, sitting at the bar with us, 71 years old, recently came down here to retire, and paying for not only our meal, but the couple next to us, and giving the waitress a tip so large she almost refused it!! He said to be sure to pay it forward, and We definitely plan to.
So after eating our completely paid for meal, and at this point nibbling and reflecting, he asked us how business was going, and we had a great conversation with him just talking about where we've been and where we plan to go with everything. Oh! And we also found out that he was a Virgo (of course he was)!
But he said something that really hit home.. After telling him how we started 5 years going on 6 years ago, and grew the business from a small space to being in the mall, he empathized with us in saying, "Starting a small business is one thing, but to expand and grow....is another" And that just really hit me, because he's so right!
Starting our business 5 or 6 years ago was the easy part, like all this time I thought we were being entrepreneurs and bosses! Those past few years were NOTHING compared to what we are encountering now! Shit is completely different, it's a different world for us right now! But while we are stressed out and tired, we are completely in the know that there is something out there for us, too many people have come up to us in the last month with not just nice kind words but groundbreaking shit they're telling us.
So, we thank Chef Lou, for his advice & wisdom, and for being at the bar at the same time we were there. That one gesture inspired me for life.