It is Ryan’s Birthday! Wahoooo! This is such a magical day!
Today is a big day! This is not just any other birthday. Today, Ryan turns the big 3-0! Wowzers! ;) haha! It is so funny, I feel like when we were younger, 30 seemed like this crazy age when you had to grow up and actually become an adult. When Ryan and I were younger and dreamed of what 30 would look like, I am pretty confident both he and I would say that it looks WAY different than we had ever imagined! Life has taken us through a crazy ride and I am pretty sure we could have never imagined where it would lead us.
I am super blessed to have Ryan by my side every single day to enjoy this crazy ride right along with me! Ryan holds me together when I seem to be falling apart. He makes me laugh when I am taking life a little too seriously. He lights up my heart like nothing I have ever experienced before. Ryan warms me up when I am cold. He challenges me and makes me a better person every single day!
I am incredibly grateful for Ryan and all of the love he has shared with me over the past 12 years!! (Whoa… soon Ryan and I will be able to say we have been together more of our lives than we have been apart! ;) That is so fun to think about!)
Today, I am so super excited to celebrate Ryan! The BIG 3-0… reflecting on the 30 years of crazy life adventures he has been on and dreaming of what could come in the next 30+! ;) But most importantly, celebrating the here and now and this AMAZING man I am lucky enough to call my husband, friend, lover, dream partner, business partner and love of my life!
I would absolutely love your help in making this the best birthday ever for Ryan! Leave him some birthday love! I know it will make him smile BIG!
There is something incredibly magical about sitting on the floor of our living room and looking around at a super full room of AMAZING couples who have filled our hearts with joy! I have shared about the idea of our Liz and Ryan family many times, but it is in moments like Wednesday night at our 2nd Annual Cookies and Ornament Exchange Date Night when everything becomes super real.
We went around the room and shared our favorite holiday traditions. The first one that came to my mind was that tradition right then and there. For the second year in a row, we have squeezed into our living room and found ourselves surrounded by a lot of love during this holiday date night. The second tradition that came to my mind was one that oddly resembles that same moment! It is on Christmas Eve at my MeMe’s house when the whole family plus family friends squeeze into the living room singing Christmas Carols and reading T’was the Night Before Christmas in anticipation for Santa to arrive. And then he does! ;) It is magical. But I think what I love about it most is gathering in the living room full of love where literally every single inch of floor space is completely covered. Sitting on the floor in order to squeeze as many people in is something we would never even think twice about! ;)
It is a room full of love that makes our hearts smile so incredibly big! We are so grateful for our AMAZING couples in our lives who have filled & continue to fill our hearts with so much joy! We are blessed to be surrounded by them!
Huge thanks to everyone who came out to join in the fun! It is such a crazy time of year and we know that you all have ten million other things you could be doing! For all of those near and far who could not make it… we LOVE you all and you definitely added to the love in that room in a special way! Thinking of you always! XOXO!
You may remember this SUPER sweet couple from their AMAZING surprise DC proposal that we had the honor of photographing last February! I am excited to say that we get to share Jen and Kevin’s AMAZINGNESS with you again for this super fun Old Town Alexandria Engagement Session and then again for their DC wedding in just a few months! ;) They certainly bring smiles to our faces, and we know they will do the same for you!
Jen and Kevin absolutely love Old Town Alexandria! They spent many fun dates just hanging out, escaping the hustle and bustle of DC for a bit, and enjoying brunch at Chadwicks. Now that they live a few hours away in Jersey, any excuse to get back and visit is a bonus! Especially when it involves Old Town Alexandria during the holidays! Christmas in Old Town brings out even more charm than it has during the rest of the year! (And THAT is definitely difficult to do! ;) ).
We had such a blast strolling through the cobblestone streets with Jen and Kevin! Their smiles, laughs, and happiness made for one pretty AMAZING afternoon together! We would do it again in a heartbeat! ;)
Jen and Kevin- thank you for taking the adventure to soak in the AMAZINGNESS of Alexandria with us! We loved every minute of the adventure with you! Thank you for adding to the charm of Old Town on Saturday! ;)
Seeing Liz and Ryan in the photo credits of a magazine or publication is such an incredible honor! It is one of those things that when it happens, it just never seems real. It is so much fun to go up to a magazine rack, flip through a magazine and find one of our photos within! Most of the time we are aware that the photo will be in the magazine, however there have definitely been times that we have been flipping through a magazine while standing in line at Whole Foods and found one of our photos without knowing it was going to be in! Haha. That is not always our favorite way of finding out about our photos being published, but it is always a fun surprise and certainly an honor! ;)
Having our photos in a magazine is definitely exciting! However, we learned just recently that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a photo we had taken in the magazine to make us excited! We were asked by our friends over at Southern Weddings to share some marriage advice for a feature they were doing within V6! Wow! What an honor! We were so excited to share any advice that we could give and we couldn’t wait to see what they were working on!! ;)
Fast-forward a few weeks and V6 hit the newsstands! As soon as we heard it was released, we called the local Barnes & Noble to make sure they had it and ran over to pick it up! I literally ran to the magazine rack and flipped through the magazine to find the marriage advice section! However, before even making it that far, I was stopped multiple times by the beauty within!!! I ran back out to the car to share the AMAZINGNESS with Ryan and we just sat there in awe of what they had placed on the pages of that gorgeous publication! They were touching the lives of couples in a special way and we were blessed to be a part of it!
Here is a nationally recognized wedding magazine that values so much more than the wedding! They are setting an example for what is most important and we could not have been more honored, humbled, and excited to be a part of this issue! The excitement we have when we see our photos in a magazine is definitely a one-of-a-kind excitement! However, even without one of our photos within, being a part of Southern Weddings V6 and joining in the celebration of marriage touches our heart in a very special way! We have experienced a new sense of excitement and honor that has our hearts filled with butterflies! ;) Thank you Lara, Lisa, Emily, Nicole, Kristin, and Marissa for creating an incredibly beautiful publication that celebrates marriage in such a special way and for giving us the opportunity to share some advice and hopefully touch the lives of couples everywhere! ;) So grateful for your AMAZING hearts!!
There is our advice… and it is all about kissing! ;) Right next to the advice from Lara and Ari and John and Sherry from Young House Love! How much fun is that?!?! What an honor, right?!?!
THIS! This below is my favorite part of the magazine! How beautiful is that?!?
If you have not already done so… definitely pick up a copy of V6! If they do not sell it in your northern state, you can buy it online! It is more than worth it and such a fun holiday gift for your friends and family too!
Also- today just happens to be the day Southern Weddings launched a beautiful new website! You should definitely check that out too! I just went to check the new site out for the first time and hours later I am back to finish the post! ;) haha! Good stuff over there, friends! ;)
Have an AMAZING weekend! Hopefully you find yourself cozy under a blanket reading the beautiful pages of Southern Weddings V6… ohh and taking our marriage advice and kissing your significant other too!
Hope you all are coming off of a magical Thanksgiving weekend! I think I am still in denial that the weekend has come and gone! Yesterday I spent the day in Jury Duty (thank goodness my number was never even called past the first round! ;) )! The whole time I found myself dreaming of the leftovers and thinking about the magic that took place over the weekend! ;)
This Thanksgiving was definitely one that we will never forget! We hosted 7 of our family and friends for an AMAZINGly tasty dinner (compliments to Chef Ryan and really everyone for pitching in!!)! After we shared our thankfulness around the table (a tradition we started last year and definitely has become a highlight of Thanksgiving for us!), filled our bellies, took an afternoon nap, and watched some football on TV, we made some leftover sandwiches to take with us tailgating!!! We dressed in about 20 layers to keep ourselves warm and made our way over to M&T Bank Stadium for some tailgating with friends and LIVE football fun!
Earlier in the week we surprised our parents with an early Christmas present, tickets to the game! Ryan’s mom had never been to an NFL game and it has been years since my dad and Ryan’s dad had been to a game! We were all so incredibly excited to say the least! It was so much fun to share that AMAZING game (Go Ravens!) and experience with them! We certainly will never forget that special Thanksgiving day! ;)
But most importantly, celebrating the here and now and this AMAZING man I am lucky enough to call my husband, friend, lover, dream partner, business partner and love of my life!
