Well, it’s about time I sit down and officially say: welcome to the re-brand and official launch of The Breakfast Social – Digital Marketing and Editorial! This is near and dear to my heart – a passion I’ve poured my soul into.
Much of my life I’ve felt as if I were watching from the sidelines – attempting to put circles into squares and creating a never-ending song of “what am I supposed to be doing?” that played again and again in my head – taunting me to have it all figured it all out linearly.
Life isn’t linear – it’s not even close. It’s an abstract drawing of the innermost workings of each 24-hour day that passes. It’s the specs that fly off a dandelion when you blow on it – sometimes all of the little seeds fly off and sometimes, some of them won’t lett go of where they came from. This is how the last few years of my life have felt. As time passes and I shed off the feelings and emotions of what has happened in the past, there’s always been a part of myself that clings to it as a safety net; like the past is my childhood blanket that provides me comfort and protection of what once was and will never be again, with no rationality behind it. How is it possible to live in the present while being stuck in the past?
I’ve thought about this a lot. Just like there’s no one way to do life, there’s no one way to shed the past from your present. Life is merely a fleeting moment in time, and the number of days we have left to enjoy it are hidden from our understanding. This thought alone allows me to move forward – forward in myself, in my career, in my relationships, and the world. It gives me a renewed sense of self to let go of those past versions of me – especially the version where I felt I had no understanding of my own visions and goals.
Figuring those things out comes with simply wanting to figure them out – and allowing for uncomfortable soul-searching to take place while you allow God to hold you steady. The Breakfast Social is a collaboration of my interests, dreams, and talents, as well as a culmination of all of my failures put into a basket that I wove myself. Of all the things that I can feel, proud of what I’ve accomplished in the last year is probably that the top of that list. Creating The Breakfast Social came from not accepting my current state of happiness, career, or set of goals. It forced me to make changes that reflected my true vision and kicked me in the behind to set boundaries and take charge of my professional life. I was told at a very low point last year that I would come out of it “like a bat out of hell,” and boy did that stick with me. I saw no other alternative than to get what I want – and no one was going to do this for me. If I wanted to create something, I was going to do it from the ground up – alone – with only the support of those that love. The rest of the people are pretty easy to drown out – background noise becomes silent after a certain point.
In the coming days, weeks, and months, The Breakfast Social is planning and collaborating on many projects, one of which will be launching this weekend – The Wealthy Street Wedding Walk – a collaboration of small, local businesses to kick off wedding season and connect businesses to other businesses and consumers in the market for all things wedding. The umbrella for weddings is so huge that you could think any of business, and more than likely find a way to connect that back to a wedding. Amethyst x Emerald Wedding Planning and Coordination is a local, woman owned business that is coordinating this pop-up with Fox Naturals Apothecary – other local owned business. With over twenty businesses involved in this street-wide collaboration, The Breakfast Social was involved in planning and facilitating communications between businesses, assisted in coordinating back-end procedures including marketing, content creating, copywriting, and day-of materials and timelines. This is something we are all so excited for and have all planned for months – if you’re in Grand Rapids this weekend, check it out! We’ll be on Wealthy Street all day for this event!
The Breakfast Social assisted Amethyst x Emerald in their stylized shoot over the last weekend – setting up displays, taking behind-the scene-content videos, and then creating and editing reels with the content. It takes a village to make something like this happen, and being part of a collaboration with so many creative women was an awesome experience. We hope to assist in many more of these shoots.
What We’re Loving in April
As the end of April is nearing, The Breakfast Social would like to share our mid-spring obsessions, and of course we’re going to start with wine.
I’m pretty notorious for my love of skin-contact wine, and this year is no exception. My boyfriend and I were recently at a local store called Martha’s Vineyard (you need to check this out if you’ve never been) and were stalking their wine section like a feral animals in need of something to hunt. We were approached by one of their Somms, and he graciously recommended a couple Lebanese skin-contact wines that were truly life-changing. The one we’re going to talk about is from Heya Wines.
Heya Wines is a woman-owned and operated wine producer out of Lebanon – two mothers running their homes as well as their business. Claudine and Michelle’s love for natural and ancestral winemaking techniques are so clearly evident in every sip of their wines, and they run their operations from A-Z…they are both part of every step in the process, all the way to the labels on the bottles, who by the way are photos of women working in the fields – which brings a more organic and genuine tone to their wine and operations. “Heya” means “She” in Arabic and is the representation of all of the hardworking women is this male dominated industry to produce something they truly love and care about. We had the pleasure of trying the “Farha Still” – a co-ferment of 80% Merwah and 20% Red Delicious Apples….I’ve truly never tried anything like it. I love a sparkling cider, but a wine that is also fermented with apples is something I’ve never tried. It was funky, acidic and dry, with the apples really coming through every sip. We paired it with a beautiful ribeye and chimichurri, but the wine alone was a true masterpiece. You need to try this.
Speaking of steak, my new goal in life after being vegetarian for the better part of a decade is to become a master of cooking and grilling it. I recently got my first cast iron pan and the crust I’ve been getting on the steaks has been incredible. With a good steak, you need good accompaniment. Since it’s the end of April….RAMPS are in season. Gorgeous, leafy, and aromatic, wild ramps are a what we all go crazy for in the restaurant-industry, especially when you know someone who grows them locally. I can’t take credit for how I used the ramps – Justine Snacks is one of my favorite social media chefs to follow and she is all about no-waste cooking. I used her recipe of ramp oil and ramp butter for a no waste recipe – I’ll link it below!
I will say, the ramp oil didn’t yield as much as I thought it would, but the flavor is unmatched. the Butter is still in my fridge and will be a tasty addition to any sandwich or dish…did I mention they’re both green? I folded the ramp butter and oil into my mashed potatoes and the green-hue of the ramps coming through on the plate was the perfect vibe for spring. You should get ramps from your local farm-to-table market while they’re still in season.
Well…..I think that’s it for now. Keep up with our instagram and website for all events, projects and happenings here at The Breakfast Social. Be sure to consider us for all of your marketing needs! See you next time!
Xoxo,
Alyssa
Owner of The Breakfast Social
The Breakfast Social 