Ryan Cooks: Strawberry Shortcake Pie and a Strawberry Cocktail

Entertaining  //  21st June 2013

What do you do with 18 pounds of strawberries? Try out some tasty new strawberry shortcake and strawberry drink recipes! :) We’ve been making all sorts of tasty strawberry treats this week. The results of two of our favorites from Food & Wine are shown below.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE PIE

Liz and I are huge strawberry shortcake fans. Normally we pull out the recipe from Liz’s grandmother but with 18 pounds of strawberries we had to try something new.  This Strawberry Shortcake Pie recipe from Food and Wine was the perfect choice.  Plus we learned how to make our own whipped cream, which is surprisingly much easier than you might expect. Check out the full recipe here and then enjoy a few photos from our creation below.

STRAWBERRY REDHEAD IN BED DRINK RECIPE

Tasty beverages in bed are definitely the way to go.  Especially if the drink is part of a tasty breakfast in bed with someone you love! So when we saw a strawberry drink recipe with “In Bed” in the title, we had to give it a try.  The results were the perfect summer brunch drink to replace the traditional Mimosa or Bloody Mary.  Just blend up a few strawberries, add vodka and a splash of white wine for a refreshing treat. Check out the full recipe we used from Food and Wine here.

Happy first day of Summer and have an AMAZING Weekend!!!

Summer Bucket List Update

Celebrating the Everyday  //  12th June 2013

Technically it is not even summer yet and we are checking things off our Summer Bucket List! ;) Wahoo! We have made our way out to Michigan to visit my brother, went sailing on an incredibly beautiful sailboat (Endeavor) in Nantucket, and we spent a day running around like little kids at Busch Gardens! ;) These adventures have been a blast and have started this summer off in an AMAZING way! 

I must say that being a part of the Summer Bucket List Challenge almost provides an “excuse” to do the fun! ;) We should not need an excuse to do fun- but in the middle of our crazy wedding season when the to do list is overflowing… we somehow feel better about taking some time for fun knowing it is a part of our list! ;)

It is not too late to create your list of fun for the Summer Bucket List Challenge (Like we said- summer hasn’t even started yet!!)! YAY! Definitely go do it… we all could use an extra excuse to do the fun! ;)

 

Just a few of our favorite iPhone photos from our adventures! ;)

Ryan could not wait to ride The LochNess Monster! ;) It was his FAVORITE from his Busch Gardens trip when he was about 10 years old! ;) I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous to ride the loopy coaster because of the of way he talked it up… but then I realized he was 10 and loved it! ;) I think I could handle it… and indeed I did! ;)

It was so much fun to visit Ben in Michigan! It has literally been about 5 years since he moved into his “new” home and this was the first time we got to see it! Plus we got to see Ben in action coaching his HS baseball team and we even got to see his chemistry classroom! ;) SO fun!!!

Sailing… Ahhh. Sailing! It is pretty magical! Ryan helped put up the throat of the mast while I enjoyed the view with my wine and chocolate! ;) It was perfect. ;)

 

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the summer! ;) And in the meantime- let us know what you are checking off your list! ;)

 

 

Liz and Ryan’s Nantucket Adventure

Celebrating the Everyday, Travel  //  24th May 2013

Happy Friday Everyone!  We officially kick off our 2013 wedding season this weekend with Kait and Adam’s weekend celebration in Rehoboth Beach, DE. WAHOOO! We are so excited to get our season started with such an AMAZING group of people… Kait and Adam’s friends and family are truly incredible! (We have officially made them our adopted family! ;) ).

After a few days of rest, relaxation, and exploration in Nantucket, we are officially well rested and ready to kick our busy season into high gear! Before doing so, we had to share a few photos from our Nantucket Adventure!

We can officially cross off “Go Sailing” from our summer bucket list! :)

A trip to New England would not be complete without a Lobster Roll!

Ryan decided to go fly a kite! :)

HUGE thanks and so much love to these AMAZING friends that we adventured along with to celebrate Mary’s birthday celebration!! We ate so many incredibly delicious meals, we drank some of the tastiest drinks ever, we laughed, cried, and everything in between! It was such a great getaway and we could not be more grateful for these friends! HAPPY 1-day after your birthday Mary! Can’t wait to see what this “why not” year has in store for you!

Have an AMAZING (extra long) weekend everyone! ;)

 

 

Give yourself permission to let go

Celebrating the Everyday  //  22nd May 2013

Give yourself permission to let go.  That is definitely easier said then done especially if you are at all like us.  I love feeling in control of our own destiny, having control of the decisions in our lives, and believing that our successes are entirely our own doing.  Unfortunately, this often results in a lot of anxiety and stress for no reason.

We sat around the table last night at dinner with some close friends.  The lights were dim and the environment was perfect: warn brick walls, bench sitting, the flicker of candle lights, and plenty of good food and conversation.  The conversation eventually came to the point of how we’ve (the entire group respectively) have gotten to the current places in our lives that we are today.  I thought about it for a moment, and realized that although we try to plan for the future, we are the type of people that create 1, 2, 5 and 10 year goals for our lives and try to check off the boxes in half that time. It has often been when “we let go and let God” that we have found ourselves the most fulfilled, the most happy, in the best places, and the most successful in life.

The conversation from dinner spilled out the doors and down the street. As we slowly pushed our way through the thick Nantucket fog, I reflected further upon how we have gotten to this moment in life.  It is crazy to think sometimes how many single decisions could have been made that would have changed our lives entirely.  What would we be doing if I had actually accepted the first job offer I had to work at GE in Erie, PA?  Where would we be if I had decided to go attend Purdue (my second choice college) over Bucknell?  What would I be doing if I never picked up a camera and continued pursuing a career as an electrical engineer? Where would we be if Liz and I never started dating in high school? These are just a few of the decisions that immediately come to mind.  In all of these moments, we didn’t analyze all the possible outcomes of life, or where we would be 10 years into our future.  Instead, we gave ourselves permission to let go, follow our hearts, and let God do the rest.

If you are struggling to find purpose today, take a moment to think about where you currently are in your life, business, relationships, and then give yourself permission to let go.  The freeing power this gives you will give you a new clarity in life to see what’s next, and somehow, although you may not be sure in this moment, you will find a way if you “let go and let God”

Think about where you are currently in life, is it where you thought you would be 5 or 10 years ago? Is it where you want to be? Have you given yourself permission to let go?

 

Filling the Calendar with FUN!

Celebrating the Everyday  //  17th May 2013

As I was looking at the calendar, I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. The start of our wedding season is just around the corner and of course the days of summer are filling rapidly with everything in between. It is always a struggle for me to add anything else to the calendar because I crave those days (that are few and far between) where they are open white boxes!

Yesterday, I was adding something super duper fun to our schedule, but it required a lot of time and commitment, and I was nervous with every single date I added. I mentioned it to Ryan and he reminded me that this “thing” is FUN for us! It is not technically work… it is all about learning something new. If I go into it thinking it is work, it is going to be work. If I think of it as an opportunity that will be fun and be a creative outlet for us, then it will be exactly that! It is AMAZING what a little attitude check can do for me! ;)

This “thing” that we have signed ourselves up for is the Stillmotion Take Action Challenge. We could not be more excited to have the opportunity to learn from some of the most talented filmmakers in the world! We know we are about to embark on a crazy challenging adventure, but we have no doubt it is going to be a FUN one! ;) We can’t wait!