31/12/2020
First of all, we want to say thank you! Thank you so so much! For the love… the support…for everything! Knowing we have so many people in our corner, cheering us on, is the greatest feeling ever! We’re blessed beyond measure to have friends like you… and that’s a massive understatement! We wish we could repay every single one of you… and I hope at some point…. we’ll get an opportunity to do just that. But until then…. Please know we mean it from the bottom of our hearts when we say thank you!
So, our original plan was to post the Oakstreet Girls’ “story” as our first blog post on our website. Well, that sounded really good…. But websites are hard. And considering that ours is still “under construction” …... we thought we might as well work with what we have!
So here we are!!!! I am by no means a writer, so bear with me!
I can’t tell you how many times Brooke and I have sat down together and tried to write “our story” …. I mean really…. how do you sum up 22 years of friendship in one blog post?
You don’t. It’s impossible. It would take an entire novel to lay out the story of our friendship and that’s long before we ever moved on to any other business-related subject. So, once again... hang with me…I’m going to do my best. Sit back, get comfy, and let me take you back to where it all started………..
Brooke and I met for the first time on Oak Street…... in the small town of Stamps Arkansas. We were 5 years old… hadn’t even started Kindergarten yet.
All I know is that there weren’t many kids living on Oak Street when I moved in… as a matter of fact there were 0 kids living on Oak Street at the time. Don’t get me wrong, it still wasn’t a terrible street to live on by any means! Mrs. Peggy in the blue house made some MEAN ass cinnamon rolls and Brooke’s cousin Nesie had the coolest collectible Barbie collection I had ever seen (even if you couldn’t touch them)! But they still weren’t kids… and when you’re the only kid on the street…not even a cinnamon roll the size of Texas can replace having a friend your own age.
With that being said, you can imagine how excited I was when Mrs. Bright, Brooke’s Mimi…. Told me that her granddaughter (who was my age) was moving in down the street! Ya’ll. I WAS PUMPED! I didn’t know exactly when she was coming…. Hell… I was 5... so it wouldn’t have mattered if she had... I had no concept of time. But I do remember that I cleaned my room every damn day…. Just in case (couldn’t have my new friend thinking I had a dirty room…. I had seen her Mimi’s house…. I had to get it together)!
So, one random day during the summer of 1998, On Oak Street, in Stamps Arkansas…. I met my best friend Brooke.
Here we are….. 22 years later…. Starting a business together…Just trying to make our childhood dreams come true!
At this point you’ve likely gathered that Oakstreet Girls is a small “catering and events” business.
What you don’t know is that it’s so much more than that.
You see, there’s a reason it took so long for this to come together. This wasn’t some spur of the moment “hey, we’re best friends… so let’s start a business together” type of thing (not that I’m doggin’ those types of businesses….. I’ve definitely seen some serious success stories begin that way)!
That’s just not “our story.” Our story goes deeper… it goes back to our roots.
Brooke and I have been friends for over 20 years…we grew up together……we’ve been through it all! And, as I’m sure you know… as you get older you tend to do quite a bit of reflecting. Reflecting on life and love and loss and pain…….you know…life things. The things that made you who you are today.
We’ve been there. We’ve talked about our childhoods…..adolescence…teenage drama… college years… early adulthood. We’ve been through every stage of life together and have encountered every single one of the emotions that came along with them. You probably wouldn’t believe most of our stories even if we told you! Just know that we both have had some pretty interesting experiences over the course our lives. We’ve gone through stages of being angry… confused…scared…sad…happy…pissed…SUPER pissed…sad again….and happy again! And somewhere along the way…… we grew up.
You know, at some point….I guess you just have to learn to embrace it all. You have to stop playing victim to your experiences and realize that you’re in control. And once you learn how to do that….you really get to start livin’! If somewhere along the way…… you’re able to sit with pure gratitude for every card life has dealt you…You’re winning. So learn to love it: the good, the bad, the ugly, all of it… Do it with full awareness that more: good, bad, and ugly has yet to come. Eventually… you have to change your perspective and simply embrace it all… because without it… well….you wouldn’t be… you.
When you really think about it…. we’re all just big ole puzzles. Those real complicated jigsaw puzzles! The ones your grandma dabbles around with….. Yes! THOSE!
But seriously…..think about it….Every experience in our lives creates a new little piece of our puzzle. Each piece is different! Some pieces are bright, some dark…..they’re different shapes and sizes and each one is intricately formed to fit another. And once you finally put them all together… it’s beautiful. Yes, it was hard. Yes it took a really long time. And yes, it was hella complicated. But in the end…..every piece fit together perfectly…just as it was supposed to! And ya know…. It wouldn’t be beautiful… wouldn’t be complete…. could never be whole…. If you woulda left out those dark pieces.
Brooke and I talk about things like that all the time…… about life… where we are, how we got here, and where we’re going. If you’re still reading… I preciate’ ya and I promise that if you continue
to follow us, all of my crazy blabber is going to make perfect sense. Just stick with us…. Follow us… see where it goes!
Really….all you need to know is that Brooke and I have had some extremely fabulous role models in our lifetime…. They made us the Oakstreet Girls. We are simply the product of the strong, influential, women that came before us. We would be nothing without them.
AND GUESS WHAT?!?! You’re going to meet these women along the way… and I can 100% promise you that you’re in for a treat!!
In the meantime, If you have an event coming up… birthday? Small get together? Shindig at the Whitehouse? Even if you just waited around till the last minute and can’t show up empty handed to your Nanny’s house on Thanksgiving (been there). Let us know…. We’ve got you covered! There’s no such thing as too big or too small as far as we’re concerned…… We’re in the business of getting to know you! So, show us your vision via Pinterest board….tell us why you’d rather slam your whole body in a car door than see a macaroon on your dessert table…or just tell us to handle it! Anything goes!
Tell us like it is… and we’ll give ya what you want!
We sure do love ya’ll. Mean it. Thanks again!
Until next time………
-The Oakstreet Girls
P.S. Feel free to share❤️ It helps us grow!!! Thank Y’all so much 😘😘
