The Invitation We Didn't Expect
We got the invitation from Uptrendly for their Creators Honour event - and for a moment, we just stared at it.
We had been creating content for a while now, quietly, consistently, mostly just focused on the work. So when the invite came in, it felt surreal. Someone had noticed. Someone had thought of us. That alone meant more than we knew how to express.
"Someone had noticed. Someone had thought of us."
The Nerves Were Real
January 31, 2024. We got ready, we showed up - and we were nervous. Genuinely nervous.
It wasn't the kind of event we had done before. This wasn't a restaurant collaboration where we knew the drill. This was a room full of creators, industry people, and energy we hadn't been in before. We didn't know what to expect, how to carry ourselves, or who we'd end up talking to. We were excited and terrified in equal measure.
"Excited and terrified in equal measure - that's exactly how we walked in."
The Room Full of Creators
And then the event began - and everything settled.
There were so many fellow creators in that room. People who were doing the same thing we were doing, building something from scratch, figuring it out as they went. We started talking, and the conversations came easily. We made connections that night that felt genuine - not transactional, not forced. Just people who understood what this life looks like.
"The conversations came easily. Everyone in that room just got it."
The T-Shirt With Our Name On It
One of the moments we keep coming back to - we received a t-shirt with our name printed on it.
It sounds simple. But there's something about seeing your name on something physical, something made for you, that hits differently. It made it all feel real. Like we had earned our place in that room, even if we were still figuring everything out.
"Seeing your name on something physical hits differently. It made it all feel real."
Nominated - And That Was Enough
We were nominated for an award that evening. And we'll be honest - we wanted to win. Of course we did.
We didn't. Someone else took it home, and they deserved it. But sitting in that room, being called out as a nominee, hearing our name spoken in that context - that was its own kind of win. We hadn't expected to be nominated at all. The fact that we were told us something about how far we'd come without even realising it.
"Hearing our name spoken in that context - that was its own kind of win."
What We Actually Won
No trophy. No award. But we left that night with something harder to put on a shelf.
New friendships. A sense of belonging in a space we had always watched from the outside. The confidence that what we're building is real, and that people are paying attention. And honestly - one of the best memories we've made since starting Foodelicious NP.
Some nights just stay with you. January 31 is one of them.
"Some nights just stay with you. January 31 is one of them."