Archives for 2015

Finding the Right Lipstick Color

We go through a lot of lipstick around here. When you have to dress up like a drag queen for TV every day, it’s easy to go through makeup like water! One thing that Brooke and I both love to change every day is our lipstick. It is an easy way to spice up any outfit. We are always trying to find the perfect color with the perfect texture.

Trestique just came out with a new lip crayon that has gloss on the other end – genius! Plus, the whole thing is magnetic. Our favorite colors are “Nammos Pink” and “Nantucket Nude”. I like to do the crayon first and then put gloss on top, but if you like to have a more sheer finish, you can apply the gloss first. I have never really understood people who loved nude lip color, that is until I tried “Nantucket Nude”. I wore it for my birthday dinner because it made me feel sophisticated and summery.

Trestique makes crayons for all different types of makeup: eyeliner, blush, and even foundation. We loved all of them because they are compact and you can easily throw them in your purse without damaging them. I just get so excited when makeup companies come up with something new! What lipsticks have you loved lately?

{cheesy birthday date selfie}

Soulstice Retreat

Sunshine, mountain air, fitness classes, yummy food and women from around the world… sign me up! We were so excited to be invited to spend some time at Soulstice Retreat in Deer Valley at the Stein Ericksen lodge. We are lucky enough to know Albion Fit founder Liz Findlay and the amazing ladies behind Awaken Retreats. Needless to say, we were pumped to find out we won a one night stay at Soulstice Retreat! They know how to throw a party!

The retreat included group fitness sessions running all day long. We took HIGH Fitness, Reformer Pilates, Aerial Yoga, HIIT and Core-X. Oh my gosh are we sore today!

Liz also organized a book club; we read The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. It was a fascinating read and I really enjoyed the overarching theme of overcoming challenges and what it means to truly love. It’s a page turner that really makes you think. There were also several inspiring speakers and of course the backdrop of stunning Deer Valley.

We expected we would have a great time, but we didn’t realize we would make friends from all around the world. Whether it was chatting at breakfast or having a hot tub party Saturday night, we felt so lucky to spend time with such fun girls!

{beautiful artwork by Hem Creative. they handmade all of the paper flowers}

{we went to our first HIGH Fitness class and absolutely loved it! The Six Sisters joined us for the fun, they are all so cute!}

We took a break from workout classes to hang at the pool with some friends. The perks of the pool at Stein: they pass out sunscreen so you don’t have to bring your own, cold water bottles whenever you want and they give you chilled watermelon pops! We were in heaven. It was such an amazing weekend! Huge thanks to Albion Fit & Soulstice Retreat for letting us come hang out!

ALT Summit Stars You Need To Know About

We were so thrilled to be invited to host a round table discussion at Alt Summit. If you don’t know about Alt, it is a 4 day conference, held in Salt Lake City, where creatives from around the world come together to learn. {As well as party hard together in some of the most insanely gorgeous set ups you have ever seen.} Britt and I spoke on creating a relationship with the media and how to make the most of your opportunities. We were overwhelmed by the caliber of women that were asking US for help! It was intimidating but so gratifying. Women working together to help one another achieve goals feels so good. As we met with attendees we found some new gals that made us wish everyday was ALT Summit. They are inspiring, funny, creative, and well just nice.

#1 Rachel Ryle: She was named the top Instagrammer to follow by Buzzfeed. She is a creative genius and her stop motion videos are just so dang CUTE! She was one of the Keynote speakers and was able to share her story of success. Come to find out she is a wonderful person who has stayed incredibly humble despite her catapult to success. Thanks to her popularity she is moving to New York City and opening her own studio! We loved interviewing her.

#2 Danielle Kryssa: Homegirl is the best. She has worked with Oprah among other big names, yet she still had time to chat with us. She lives in a picturesque town in Canada where she runs the website The Jealous Curator. She is an art expert and curates her favorite contemporary art and then shares it with the world. {Little does she know that we are planning a trip to stay with her ASAP…jk, but not really.} Up next she is releasing her second book. We miss you already Danielle!

#3 Reachel Bagley: Rachel is a Phoenix fashion stylist. She is as sweet as pie and so fun to chat with. If you have a fashion question – she’s your girl! She has helped thousands of women across America find their sense of style. It was fun to have Rachel do the color test on us, we’re hoping she returns to Utah soon!

#4 Nancy Soriano: (the one is glasses below) Nancy is author of “The Jewelry Recipe Book“. She is a true New Yorker and is incredibly refined. We were lucky enough to be at the same dinner as her and delighted to hear about her life in the city. Her book is full of SO many fun projects. We will just be making our own necklaces for the next 24 hours nbd.

#5 Gabrielle Blair: (bleach blonde next to Brooke) Gabrielle is known in the blogging and writing world as Design Mom, she is also the brains and beauty behind ALT Summit. She has created something truly amazing, it’s in it’s 11th year! She recently came out with her own book called “Design Mom”. We got a copy and spent every spare minute reading it. The book is full of fun tips and tricks and appeals to pretty much every person on the planet. It’s fun to read about Gabrielle’s life in the Bay area. We want to send out a special thank you to Gabrielle for inviting us to be speakers. We had the best time!

Below we have posted a few more fun moments from the summit! xo

Baby Shower

One of our very best friends Mary is expecting. She currently lives in Omaha, but somehow we got her to come out to Salt Lake so we could throw her a little party. Mar has known us since junior high. She is exactly the type of friend everyone needs in their corner — someone totally and completely supportive and loving, while also being the person who will ugly cry with you from laughing so hard! We cannot wait to meet little Rose Olivia soon!! We held the party at our friend Melanie’s gorgeous new home in Heber. It’s seriously perfect and she designed the entire thing! It was such a fun day of celebrating with the best of friends.

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Maui Wowie

Our striped maxi dresses are from Island Company. So soft & comfy! If you’ve been searching for a maxi dress that looks cute, but feels like pajamas, this is it!

Britt loved wearing the Albion Catalina Pin up top and cute ruffle bottoms… just enough coverage to feel fine about eating dessert, but still getting a great tan 🙂 I’m wearing the flattering-on-everyone Albion Venice Beach one piece.

We were lucky enough to spend a week in Maui with one of our favorite couples in the entire world. Britt and I met Erin while attending BYU and going through the Broadcast Journalism program. While there we were able to watch Erin meet Cole, fall in love, and eventually get married. They are one of those all around amazing couples that make you want to be better. Right now they live in California so we jumped at the chance to be able to spend 7 uninterrupted days with them in Hawaii. Erin is the type of friend that goes above and beyond to make everyone feel comfortable and have fun. Not to mention they have the worlds cutest baby who did not cry the entire trip! We love them dearly and are so grateful they introduced us to such a pretty piece of paradise! We stayed at their condo on Kaanapali Beach and tried to pack in as much as possible.

Our top 5 favorite things we did were:

1. Swimming with turtles at Napili Beach. They are ginormous and so cool to see in their element.

2. Bamboo Forest Hike. This is along the road to Hana and was a definite highlight. Although I fell so many times I stopped counting. It gets a little muddy 🙂 You pass countless waterfalls and the scenery can’t be beat.

3. Jumping off Black Rock. Every night a local man jumps from the rock at sunset as part of an island tradition. We decided to give it a try and it was extremely fun!

4. Hula Pie, anywhere and anytime. We fell in love with this dessert and most definitely ate waaaaay too much of it while we there. We loved all of the restaurants we tried on the island. Some favorites included: Leilani’s, Hula Grill, and Cheeseburger in Paradise.

5. Paddle boarding along Kaanapali Beach. Paddle boarding is always fun and the water is the perfect temperature so it doesn’t matter if you fall in!

We can’t thank Erin and Cole enough. The trip was fabulous and we hope they become our permanent travel buddies!

Big Announcement

We are so excited to announce that we have accepted positions as hosts of Fox 13’s new lifestyle show! We never thought this opportunity would come up in our lives where we would be able to work on something we are both extremely passionate about – and do it together! We feel extremely blessed and could not be more excited to get the show going! We are so grateful to all of our family, friends, and mentors who have been so supportive all along the way. We look forward to working with some fun, new faces. We will be posting details about the show as the launch gets closer. Wish us luck!

Twin Travels: Montage Staycation

We were lucky enough to get little taste of winter this weekend at the Montage. They invited us to bring our husbands up to Park City for a one night stay! The non-stop rain in the valleys made for snow capped mountains in Deer Valley. It honestly felt a little like Christmas. We loved getting the chance to relax and unwind. If you haven’t been to the Montage before here are some fun facts:

Free s’mores every night from 4:30-5:30 around the fire on the patio. These are no ordinary s’mores of course – they make flavored marshmallows daily like peppermint and cinnamon. I loved the delicious hot cocoa that goes with it.
Each guest is greeted by the Montage dogs in the reception area {adorable!}
Thanks to their partnership with Mercedes, guests can drive a Mercedes for a scenic drive or to get around town.
The outdoor pool and hot tubs are open 24/7.
The game room is decked out with a bowling alley, dartboards, shuffleboard, and countless arcade games. We spent a good amount of time in there. Who knew shuffleboard was so fun?

We loved every minute of our stay. When we tried to pin point why we liked it so much we decided it’s because the Montage feels like a big, cozy, beautiful home. Our suite was gorgeous and we are hoping to go back soon! Thanks to everyone at the Deer Valley Montage for such a fun weekend!

So much snow! We seriously could have gone skiing if the lifts were open.

Idiot photographers 🙂

Of course we had a snowball fight and hot cocoa to go with the amazing s’mores

Just reading fancy old leather bound books in the coolest little library

And yes, comfiest beds ever!

Quick Treat: Smores Rice Krispie Treats

After making these 3 times in the last week I decided this recipe was worth sharing. Britt and I are no experts in the field of baking… BUT we are obsessed with treats and like to share recipes when we think they could be beneficial to someone else. There are a few things that make me instantly love this recipe.

1. It takes under 10 minutes to make.

2. You can take it, share it, eat it… or all of the above.

3. No turning on the oven.

I have seen a number of different recipes for these online but just decided to do my own because I am more of a “fly by the seat of my pants” type of baker. They are ridiculously simple, yet a crowd pleaser. My husband regularly requests them as his favorite treat. I took them to a youth group activity and a dozen, hungry teenagers devoured them in minutes. These are especially yummy fresh out of the oven when the marshmallows are lightly browned and ooey gooey!

Smores Rice Krispies

1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 bag of chocolate chips
2 cups of rice krispie cereal
2 cups of Golden Graham’s
4 TBS of butter

Melt butter in pot on medium heat. Slowly add in 3/4 bag of marshmallows. Stir continually until well blended and melted. Take off heat and add rice krispies and Golden Graham’s until desired thickness. Last add 1.5 cups of chocolate chips. Quickly pour into pan. Cover the top with remaining marshmallows and a sprinkle of chocolate chips. Broil in oven for 2 minutes. Voila! You are done!

Interview with ‘A Beautiful Mess’ sisters

Britt and I were lucky enough to interview bombshell sisters Emma & Elsie of ‘A Beautiful Mess’ while they were in Utah for the SNAP Conference. What started out as a bakery and vintage clothes shop for the sisters has turned into a hugely successful company and brand. The two could not have been sweeter. And they don’t try to… but they just ooze cool vibes.

Here is our quick interview with them:

Q: Why are you guys in Utah?

Elsie: We are in town speaking at the Snap Conference about being creative

Q: If you go online and see a new trend, you guys are the trendsetters and probably started it. What do you guys think is next?

Elsie: My favorite trend is the color blush. It is what I want to buy for my clothing, paint my walls, just everything.

Emma: I do a lot of cooking and recipe development at our site so I am really excited about different flavors for spring like lavender, lately I have been putting lavender in everything. Drinks, brownies, everything.

Q: You guys are sisters, we are sisters. How do you guys get along?

Elsie: It’s really bad. No (laughing) we love each other. We are normal people so we have little fights and stuff but we have really open communication and also, I mean – we’re best friends.

Emma: We have different strengths and weaknesses, you guys might be the same I don’t know, so we try to kind of focus in on “oh Elsie is really good in this area so I’m going to let her make the decision” and not try to be the leader all the time. I think that helps us kind of come together and make projects happen.

Q: For the people that are not familiar with your website you guys also have 2 great books. What can people expect to find in those?

Elsie: The first one is called “A Beautiful Mess: Photo Idea Book”. That is where we give tips for photography and it is just kind of a kickstarter for creativity.

Emma: And the second one is called “A Beautiful Mess: Happy, Handmade Home”. We have a thing for long titles, right? (laughs) That one is all about home decor and how to make your space feel more like you, adding personality and color all over your home. And we share our houses in the book.

Britt: Which are so beautiful!

After the interview the sisters told us they are tentatively working towards a TV show and may release a new app soon. Over achievers! We loved meeting them and look forward to following all their adventures.

The 3 Caribbean Islands You Should Visit

Parker and I were lucky enough to go on a Caribbean cruise with the entire Hackett clan. My mother-in-law Linda was nice enough to give us the trip for Christmas, so we have anxiously been waiting since then! The islands we visited were all so beautiful – yet so different from one another. Although I absolutely loved every minute, I had a few favorites along the way that I wanted to share.

Puerto Rico: It was my second time in Puerto Rico and the more time I spend there, the more I love it. The city of Old San Juan has colorful buildings and tiny cobblestone streets with a European feel. We spent a day exploring the old fort and finding the most divine burger place that puts mini fries ON your burger!

Dominica: A tiny, non-commercialized island. We made a surprise stop there and it might have been my favorite place. The island has waterfalls, hot springs, and volcanoes so there is a ton to see! It’s incredible to be walking through the jungle and feel like you are in Jurassic Park.

St. Maarten: I loved the Dutch and French influences on the island. This was definitely the most developed and affluent island. The shopping is great with little cafes that offer gelato and crepes. We spent most of our time at Maho Beach where planes land right behind you. Perfect photo op!

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