Yesterday we wrote about hosting our 2012 Annual Review. In previous years we would book a hotel room on the Eastern Shore for a few days and host our Liz and Ryan Annual Review. We figured that if other businesses can host their own retreat offsite, why couldn’t we?
This year we did things a little differently. Instead of spending over $500 on a hotel room for a few nights we decided to host our annual retreat at our own personal spa. The only thing is, we didn’t actually have our own personal spa. :) However, we didn’t let that small little detail stop us.
We came up with the idea while we were in New York City visiting Santa at Macy’s for our AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar. While we were there, we walked into a shop near Rockefeller center called Rain Africa. The store had all sorts of AMAZING smelling bath salts, scrubs, candles, and anything else you could possibly want at your own personal spa.
When we got home, we immediately began creating our plan to turn our guest bedroom and bathroom into our own personal spa retreat. Below are a few ideas you can use to create a spa at home.
Step 1: Write out a list of all the things you would typically find at the perfect spa.
Our list included:
White Plush Bath Robes
Slippers
A Cozy Blanket
Bath Salts/Bath Bombs
Bubble Bath
Body Lotion/Cream
Massage oil
Hot tea or coffee
Chocolate
Candles
Soothing Music
Fancy Bottled Water
Air Fresheners
Manicure/Pedicure Supplies
Step 2: Pick up the supplies listed above online.
We ordered Bath Salts and Body Cream from Rain Africa, robes from Pottery Barn, fancy bottled water, air fresheners, and ther-a-Pe candles from Home Goods, and we used our iPhone with Spotify for music. We were able to pick up everything for our own personal spa retreat for less than $300. And the best thing is we get to keep the robes and still have a bunch of leftover items to host many more of our own spa retreats.
Step 3: Check into your guest room.
We have learned how important it is to escape from our everyday routines during our annual review. We still wanted the experience to be an escape, so we took all of our spa retreat supplies and checked into our guest bedroom. Fortunately for us, housekeeping had our room ready when we arrived. :)
The best thing about creating your own personal spa is that you can make it as extravagant or simple as you wish. For some, a candle and soothing music may be all you need to turn your guest room into a relaxing retreat.
Now that you know a few of the things we included in our own personal spa, what one thing will you be including in yours?
“I think we should all get back to building that rocket ship we dreamed of when we thought about what our life would be about” – Bob Goff, Love Does
I remember being young and dreaming about what I would be when I grew up. I loved building things with Legos and K’nex. My first big Lego project I remember was a pirate ship with sails and all. There must have been over 1000 pieces, but I knew that if I worked hard, and asked for help when I needed it, that before I knew it, the pirate ship would be complete.
Shortly after my swashbuckling days were over, I moved onto K’nex. At the time I was growing up, K’nex had just been released as the new must have holiday toy. For Christmas I received a giant orange case of K’nex. The possibilities were endless! Eventually, K’nex came out with a roller coaster set. I saved all my allowances for months and looked under every seat cushion for long forgotten coins. When I finally had enough change, I walked into the toy store with my rolls of nickels and dimes and walked out with a box of K’nex that was nearly bigger than I was. Soon my dreams would come true and I would become a real life roller coaster designer. Being older and more experienced at building things, it only took me a few short days before the entire set was complete. It was this love of building things that eventually lead me to pursue an engineering degree.
At the time, I may not have realized it, but in addition to creating a really cool roller coaster, I was also learning how to dream BIG. When we were little, we had no cares in the world. Building a rollercoaster in real life seemed just as easy as it was to build one out of K’nex or a pirate ship out of Legos.
However, along the journey of life, it seems as though we often forget this simple life lesson. That lesson that no dream is too big and that anything is possible. Instead, we often get bogged down with our to do list and don’t make time to dream…
Four years ago we decided to change that. We stumbled upon a blog post by the AMAZING Chris Guillebeau titled: How to Conduct Your Own Annual Review. After reading the post, we decided that we would conduct our own annual review. That was the year our lives changed… we started our business at our very first Annual Review! Ever since that year, we have been conducting an annual review. Be sure to check out Chris’s post to learn how you can hold your own annual review too.
In our first annual review, we began assessing our lives, and the dreams we had. We were both working well paying “safe” corporate jobs but something was missing. Although we enjoyed what we did, we had a sense that there was something more that we were being called to do. Instead of living our own dreams each day, we were instead just being paid to live out someone else’s dream.
We started our very first annual review by heading to Spoons, our favorite coffee shop, (Check out our promo video that was partially filmed at Spoons here), and wrote down our dreams for the upcoming year. While we sat there, we tried to think back to our days as children with huge imaginations and dreams the size of the universe. It was in that moment, that we dreamed a BIG dream of one day running our own business. Liz had loved photography as a young child, and as an electrical engineer, I really loved the technical aspects of cameras so we decided to start our own photography business. At the moment we didn’t really realize how big this dream could become. But, now four years later, and 75+ weddings photographed, we have realized that our dreams can never be too big.
I am sure by now you have probably heard nearly a thousand times about dreaming BIG dreams and that you can do anything you dream of. Although this is true, just dreaming a BIG dream, doesn’t make it a reality. The next step after dreaming up your BIG dream is going out and actually DOING. And that is what is so amazing about hosting your own annual review. It is the first step of DOING.
We hosted our annual review just before Christmas this year and wanted to share a few things we did to hopefully inspire you to have your very own annual review and get you one step closer to living your own AMAZING Life! In addition to following Chris’s post as our guide, we have started incorporating a few of our own ideas each year.
Step One:Go somewhere new that will stimulate your creativity and separate you from your normal routines.
In past years we have gone to the Inn at Perry Cabin on the Eastern shore. We love to sit by the fire quietly to dream BIG. They also serve afternoon tea… a delight we normally don’t take time to enjoy in or normal routine.
This year, we decided to create our own Inn at Perry Cabin experience in our home. We turned our guest bedroom into a spa and checked in as if we were checking into a hotel. We slept in our guest bed, relaxed in the bath in our guest bathroom and made our own afternoon tea to enjoy while conducting our annual review. (Want to create your own spa retreat at home too? Check back tomorrow when we will be sharing some ideas on how to make your guest room a perfect retreat for two).
Step Two: Create an agenda, but leave room for relaxation and spontaneity.
As with most things in life, it helps to have an agenda or rough outline of things you would like to cover during your annual review. However, be sure to leave room to be spontaneous. If you are inspired to watch a movie in bed together, or have an afternoon dance party, then do it. I believe that relaxation and spontaneity are two key factors to dreaming BIG dreams. By letting our minds truly wonder, we will think of ideas that are inspired by the things in which we are truly passionate.
Step Three: Disconnect.
Four years ago when we decided to start our business, we didn’t have iPhones and free Wi-Fi everywhere we went. It was easy then to focus entirely on us, our dreams, and our plans to make those dreams a reality. Having an effective annual review requires intense focus, soul searching, and asking hard questions. Emails, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are distractions. Disconnect from social media, turn off your phones, and focus your attention on your goals and dreams for the next year.
What are you waiting for? it’s time to get back to building your own rocket ships!
Yes, picture me shaking Ryan to wake him up and screaming, “It’s Christmas!” ;) What a magical day!!We are so excited to complete our Amazing Life Holiday Advent Calendar on this 25th day of December by sharing a little video post with you all! Since unfortunately we can’t be in your living room with you today as you celebrate with the rest of your family and friends (because as you know, we consider all of you family by now!) we wanted to share a video with you so it was kind of like we were there! ;)
Basically, we just want you all to know how much you mean to us! Every comment, every page view, every excited email we get makes our hearts smile! As we reflect on the AMAZINGNESS of today and the blessings in our lives- you are all in our hearts!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! for following along with our Amazing Life Holiday Advent Calendar! It has been so much fun to share some of the AMAZINGNESS that makes our holidays so special and we can only hope that it added to your holiday AMAZINGNESS too!
Today, on this last day of our AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar, we invite you to take the time today to think about what Christmas really means to you! Reflect on it… share it with others… and truly be grateful for all of the AMAZINGNESS in your lives!
Wahoo! It’s Christmas Eve! And today is one of our favorite days EVER! We have so many traditions that fill today with magic, joy, and fun… one of our favorites will happen tonight at MeMe’s house when we all gather in the living room to read T’was The Night Before Christmas. On this 24th Day of our AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar, we invite you to gather your loved ones together and read T’was The Night Before Christmas. Magic will definitely fill the air!Picture about 60 people (probably more once you add in the friends that come and go throughout the evening) packed in the living room of a home. Kids running around with their toys, conversations running over each others conversations from across the room, people sitting on each others laps and many people hanging out on the floor! This is the reality of our Christmas Eve and it is everything that we dream of! ;) The best moment is when we gather around to read T’was The Night Before Christmas. The room suddenly gets quiet and the wide-eyed kids start to feel an extra bit of magic! As soon as the story is over, we start singing… and every single year we have been blessed by a visit from Santa!! Santa comes to MeMe’s house and it is pretty much the most magical thing you can ever imagine! Yes, I am no longer a little kid… but that is one of the moments that I look forward to year after year! The wide-eyed kids quickly spread the magic in the air and there is nothing quite like it!Wherever you are today and tonight, take some time to soak in the magic! Read T’was the Night Before Christmas and hug your loved ones tight!
The past few days have definitely felt a lot like winter. Mother nature apparently realized that it’s not really supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny everyday in December. Well, at least not for those of us in the Northeast and Midatlantic. Although we don’t really like the cold all that much, we LOVE LOVE LOVE the snow! I have probably been signing “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” for the past week now. Fortunately you don’t have to be subjected to my extremely off pitch tone. I definitely won’t be signing up for The Voice anytime soon! :)
As we were wrapping up all our Christmas gifts, we took a glance at the weather and to our pleasant surprise, the weatherman was forecasting 1-3 inches of snow on Christmas Eve!!!! We might finally get a white Christmas after all!! Once the first snowflakes begin to fall you can guarantee that Liz and I will be the first ones outside making a snowman! So for Day 23 of our AMAZING Life Holiday Advent Calendar (and for the rest of winter) go play in the snow! Playing in the snow brings out the child in us. Whether I am picking up Liz and running outside while she doesn’t have shoes on like I did in this picture from high school, or if we are sled riding, making snow angels, or snowmen, playing in the snow just makes us laugh and giggle with joy. And that is definitely what life is all about. Laugh out loud, roll around in the snow, and have fun. And for all of you that are lucky enough to have a white Christmas, be sure to take a picture and share it on Facebook or Instagram with us! We’d love to see your smiling faces!
Have a Very Merry White Christmas! :)
Side note, I really wanted this post to be about sending a snowball to someone that doesn’t get snow. Unfortunately we haven’t had any snow as of yet to make a snowball, and although I think my plan of buying 5 lbs of dry ice and a giant Styrofoam cooler are flawless, I let Liz talk me out of it this time. Although if you live in Florida, don’t be surprised if a giant snowball shows up in the mail this February! :)
