Happy Friday and cheers to the start of the weekend! One of our favorite ways to spend Friday evening is to turn the lights down, the sound up, and cuddle tight while watching a new movie. And that brings us to this week’s Friday Favorites.
Friday Favorites – Date Night – Cuddling and a movie:
As the sun starts to set a little earlier and the air begins to dip into the 40’s and 50’s in the evenings, there is nothing better than renting a movie from Redbox (We have 3 within walking distance to our house!!! Ok we may be a little spoiled living in the city), squeezing each other tight under our cozy Pottery Barn blanket, and enjoying a relaxing evening on the couch. I prefer action movies but Liz usually wins out with the latest romantic comedy, even though she always falls asleep on my arm within the first 10 minutes! Hey, a happy wife = a happy life!
To celebrate another great week of an AMAZING life, we will be giving away a gift card to Redbox to help you have your very own date night! Just tell us your favorite movie below and be sure to like us on Facebook. We will randomly choose a winner next Monday! Have a great weekend!
Good Afternoon! We hope you all have been having an AMAZING week! Last week we started off our mini series on Dream Storms by discussing ways to find your inspirational space. If you haven’t had a chance to find a space that truly fires you up, be sure to check out the post here to learn more.
For part two of our series on Dream Storms we will be discussing “A Storm of Big Ideas” and ways to improve how you set goals, brainstorm, and come up with Big Ideas!!!
You might be thinking, how hard is it to brainstorm, or come up with a list of goals and ideas? Well, when was the last time you really took the time to sit down and do just that? When was the last time you really forced yourself to focus on your dreams and let your mind freely flow? This brings us to the first step for creating a storm of big ideas.
1. Make Dreaming a Priority
For the past year, we have had a standing appointment on our calendar each month titled “Big and Big Dreams Planning Session.” The sole purpose of this meeting is to Dream Big. We go to our inspirational space and let our minds wander. In fact, we take this portion of running our business and our lives so seriously that we don’t just schedule an hour or so of time but instead we block off an entire morning or afternoon and sometimes longer. Knowing that all we have to do for that day is to dream big allows us to forget about our mile long to do list, or the laundry that still needs put away, and instead lets us focus on dreaming.
Make your dreams a priority. Open up your calendar and schedule out a block of time this week for at least 3-4 hours to dream.
2. Dream Intentionally
Now that you have made your dreams a priority, it’s time to dream intentionally. During the first portion of our Big and Big Things meetings, we always start by reviewing where we have been and what we have accomplished in the past month. This not only allows us to see how many of our dreams and goals we’ve accomplished but it also sets the stage for us to begin dreaming even bigger. Dreams and goals don’t have to be permanent. If we worked on a project or tried to accomplish a goal and it just wasn’t fulfilling to us then we remove it from our list and replace it with an even bigger and better dream.
In addition to reflecting on where we have been, we also take time to fill our minds with inspiration. The key to this step is to look at many different sources of inspiration. During our Big and Big Things meetings, we will often take a stack of magazines with us ranging from Vanity Fair to Popular Mechanics to Food and Wine to the latest J. Crew catalog. Sometimes we will even start our sessions by watching a new movie on Netflix or by taking a walk along the harbor. The more sources we can use for inspiration, the more original our ideas will become. If we are simply looking at one source all the time for inspiration, everything we do will end up being based on that single source and what we do will quickly start looking exactly the same.
Once we have reflected on our progress from the previous month, and we have filled our minds with inspiration, it’s time to dream.
To do so, we start by taking 15 minutes to individually write out our dreams and goals. At this point, anything goes. Fill up a notebook, type out the list on your computer or iPad, whatever you do, don’t stop until the 15 minutes are up. Dream about ways to improve your daily work flow, things you can do in the next 30 days to live a more AMAZING life, where you want to be in a year from now, five years from now, etc. Dream about things that you might think are impossible now or ways to impact the world. If it pops into your mind, right it down.
3. +1 your Dreams
Once your 15 minutes are up, it’s time to look at your list and +1 your dreams. Often when we start our lists, we write out things like “exercise more” or “get to bed by 10pm.” Both are good ideas and great things to dream about, but these are not BIG Dreams. We call it a Storm of Big Ideas for one simple reason, at the end of your Dream Storm, you should have a list of ideas that rock your world and once accomplished and turned into a reality will have changed the lives of others. This is what Chris Guillebeau calls your “Legacy Project.” Check out his manifesto “The Tower” for more details on creating Legacy Projects.
One by one, look at your list of dreams and goals. Take a few seconds and think about each goal. For each item on your list, ask yourself, does this seem possible? Would turning this dream into a reality be fulfilling and result in a more AMAZING life? Would this dream make the world a better place? Highlight each item on your list that forces you to pause for a second longer or creates an uneasy feeling in your stomach. We want to identify the dreams on your list that fire you up and seem nearly impossible now. Continue to refine your list until you have narrowed it down to the 3 – 5 biggest, scariest, most amazing dreams. Or what Mary Marantz call’s your bHAGs.
Now, +1 each of those 3-5 dreams. Take 15 minutes for each dream and let your mind wander again. On a blank sheet of paper or in a new document, write out what accomplishing your dreams will look like. Try to describe each dream in as much detail as possible. The more specific you can begin to get will allow you to quickly take the steps to turn your dreams into a reality. At the end of your Dream Storm, you should now have 3 – 5 BIG dreams written out in full detail. Now it’s time to turn your dreams into reality…
Be sure to check back next Thursday for the final installment of our mini series on Dream Storms: Dreams = Reality, taking the first step.
As we sat outside of Campus Grounds and enjoyed some coffee while soaking in the AMAZING fall day, Darcy and Patrick reminisced about their days on campus. They chatted about those days walking to and from their freshman dorms to enjoy every meal with their huge group of friends. Dinner was definitely their favorite because by that time classes were over for the day and they could all just chill. They laughed about the time Darcy played one too many tricks on their friend and he lovingly let her know by smashing an ice cream cone in her face! ;) And they smiled endlessly as they remembered the memories of the beginning of their forever together!
As we walked across the beautiful campus at Wake Forest, Darcy and Patrick relived the days of carefree living and gorgeous surroundings. Being back on campus was the perfect way to take some time together to soak in their lives… to remember the days of falling in love and imagine the days ahead where that feeling comes back with each and every moment together!
We had a blast exploring Wake Forest with Darcy and Patrick. (It may have even taken Ryan and I back to our days at Bucknell! ;) ) LOVED IT! ;) Thank you Darcy and Patrick for such a fun and beautiful couple of hours! You two are amazing and we are so honored to be capturing your love story!
Darcy and Patrick are HUGE Wake Forest Football fans! As season ticket holders, we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to capture some love at the stadium! Since it was dark, we experimented a bit with our lighting and we could not be more excited about the results! ;) Love this image below!
This month, we will be out and about a lot! Life is taking us on an adventure and we could not be more excited to be able to share these adventures with you all!
This past weekend, we found ourselves on a road trip to North Carolina and back, with a detour in Charlottesville, VA. As we made our way to NC, we made the conscious decision not to rush. We always find ourselves with a schedule packed full and when traveling, we always have it in our heads to just get there! As much as we were super excited to get to NC to visit with my cousins on Friday!!!, we realized that life is all about the adventure and sometimes we just need to slow down!
Soon enough we found ourselves in Durham, NC surrounded by some of our favorite people ever! ;) Our cousins (Tony, Mike, and Matt- all three that live in NC!!! WAHOOO!), Brooke (the ever fabulous Brooke of Brooke and Tony! ;) ) and Michael’s super fun girlfriend Jessie! We enjoyed an evening full of southern food… including fried pickles… and cupcakes too! Awesome.
Recently, we have found ourselves getting super excited about the thought of repurposing old things to make them new again! So, we woke up on Saturday morning and Brooke and Tony took us on an antiques store adventure! Every once in awhile we have found ourselves in antique stores oooing and awwing over the fun little treasures we see. But, to be totally honest with you, most of the time they just overwhelm us! ;) Until Brooke and Tony took us to one of their secret finds in the Raleigh area, Revival Antiques. Before we even stepped foot in the store I was drooling over the piece of furniture I saw through the window. That should have been my first sign to stay outside, right?! ;) But life is all about the adventure! And thinking about how we would get said piece of furniture in our car to take back with us is just a fun challenge among the adventure! ;) Unfortunately, we found way too many things in that store that we wanted to bring home with us…. including a whole warehouse of unfinished old furniture that was just looking for a little TLC! Fortunately though, it did revitalize our faith in antique stores and made us realize that we just have to find the store that fits our rustic chic style!
After a few stops along the way, we made our way to Winston Salem for Darcy and Patrick’s engagement session! More on that goodness to come tomorrow!! ;) But they shared Wake Forest with us and we always love exploring college campuses- especially when they have a resemblance of Bucknell! ;)
On Sunday, we started our day off with a fabulous home-cooked breakfast by Tony and Ryan! As you may have seen on Instagram, I am afraid that I almost lost my role as Ryan’s sous chef! Tony is all about the idea of measuring the pancake batter out to make sure all of the pancakes are the same size and shape!! :( Ugghh… ;) Seriously, I was very close to losing my job! ;) After a super tasty breakfast, and granola bars in hand (thanks Brooke!), we were on the road again. Destination Charlottesville, VA!
Ohh my goodness I had no idea what amazingness was ahead! We actually never made it into Charlottesville itself… but we wandered our way through the back roads stopping at little farms along the way to our final destination Veritas Vineyard & Winery! Our couple, Amanda and Bobby, shared their excitement for this amazing place, but nothing prepared me for it! I seriously think I found my new favorite place ever! It kind of ranks up there with Disney World- and that takes a lot! :)
We will be sharing Amanda and Bobby’s incredible engagement session with you all soon!!! But in the meantime… we just have to share this picture of the chandelier in their special event space. Rustic Chic at its finest! But that is like the thing that I like the least about that place! ;) haha! (Does that tell you anything?!?! IT IS AMAZING!) Lets just say- we walked in and it screams LOVE! I will leave it at that until we share Amanda and Bobby’s Engagement Session! You won’t want to miss it!
In the meantime… if you know anyone who wants to get married at a Vineyard or just wants to have photos taken of a fun adventure at one of the most magical places ever… please call us! We would love any excuse that takes us back to Veritas Vineyard & Winery!
Or on that note… we would love any excuse that takes us on a fabulous journey to explore new fabulous places!!! So grateful for the opportunity! Next up… New England! ;)
This week from the Amazing Life Manifesto we are focusing on Being Spontaneous! Instead of finding an excuse of why not to do something… just do it. Go out and have some fun without even thinking about it!
Sometimes it just makes life easier to say no… to decline an offer that ultimately would make for a really fun and memorable experience. Sometimes the thought of jumping at a “crazy” idea and making it happen is just scary. Fear often is an excuse that keeps us from fulfilling dreams or having fun.
The other day Ryan was feeling antsy and needed to get out of the house. He needed to take a break and asked me if I wanted to go throw the football around. I was in the middle of working on a blog post. However, I had been writing all day so the thought of going outside to take in the fresh air sounded kind of awesome! However, I did think of every excuse to say no. “Have you checked the weather- it looks like it is going to rain.” “I have sweat pants on- I should probably go change.” All of the reasons to say no came to my mind before I said yes!
Eventually I said yes and we found ourselves spontaneously in the park in the middle of the afternoon throwing the football around! Fresh air was exactly what we both needed! We laughed, we flirted like we did in high school, and we had fun. The work was still here when we got back… and in fact, we were more productive when we returned because we had less time to do more. (That always motivates me to crank it out! ;) ).
Being Spontaneous always has a positive outcome! Is there something that you have wanted to do but have found every excuse not to do it? Do it now. We have a pillow on our bed that reminds us of this every day. “Why Not Today?!” Don’t answer this with an excuse… go out and do something fun! In fact, call up a friend and have them join you!
