As an up-and-coming social media influencer, Sadie Dwyer has had enough of the expectations thrust upon her and is finally ready to start living life on her own terms. Goodbye cushy corporate finance job, goodbye Los Angeles, and hello fresh start...
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The past couple weeks of hard work all culminated into one simple moment as my eyes glazed over the backend of the website I'd created one final time, ensuring there were no formatting issues or silly mistakes. When I was sure it was ready to go, I hovered my mouse over the top right corner of the screen, paused for a few moments, and then clicked the button to push the website live.
It was done.
Though as one weight lifted off my chest, it was replaced with another as the homepage loaded for the first time, advertising the Vet Appreciation Night to the masses. It was real, and having come up with the idea, I now felt the responsibility to make the night the best it could be—firstly, to show that I could do it, and secondly, for Rhett. Something like this had only ever been a passing thought to him before, but now that it was happening, it had to surpass expectations.
Which meant getting the word out around town every way possible.
Once the online ticketing was set up, along with the voluntary donation link, I pushed out a handful of advertisements across various social platforms that would hopefully draw in clicks and lead to ticket sales, while also emailing a handful of support groups for veterans in the city to put the word out. I designed five different versions of a flyer—with slight differentiations in fonts and images—ordering samples of each of them to be ready for pick up later that afternoon, as well as sample packs of coasters with the event name and date artfully scrawled across the cork.
I could do this, I told myself, mentally psyching myself up as I started on a list of all the other things I needed to do to make this event a success.
Figure out how to run bingo. Create/buy bingo cards. Coordinate prizing. Ensure there's a working microphone. Figure out decorations. Make sure Finn and Rhett have the menu planned. Get attention of the local press.
That last one, while not required, as the night was about celebrating the veterans in the city and not advertising the good deed, would hopefully be a way to bring more positive attention to Dawson's overall.
Sitting back and scanning the list as a whole though had me suddenly worried. I had no idea where to start with half of the things on there, but instead of spiraling into a full-blown panic attack, I stepped away. With any luck, the fresh air I'd get from picking up the sample flyers and coasters would calm me down.
And for the most part, it did.
It was a sunny spring day, the wind blowing lightly through the streets of Seattle, making it easy for some of the tension in my body to dissipate on the four-block walk. Plus, once I had the samples in my hands, I felt accomplished. Yes, there were a myriad of things left to do, but as I scanned them over, I felt the same pride I'd felt when Rhett had first seen the website mock-up for the event, and I knew I wanted to show these to both him and Finn before I ordered a full run to put up around town.
Thanking the clerk who'd printed them for me, I headed back down the familiar roads home, though instead of turning into the alley, I pulled open the front door of Dawson's and stepped inside. Only to be met with a full pub—nearly every table occupied as groups of people got ready to bring in the weekend. I was even forced to take a few steps to the side as two more people funneled into the pub after me, heading for a table near the back that waved them down.
