Twin Tested

We test the latest beauty, fashion & lifestyle trends so you don't have to!

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Twin Tested
    • Do’s and Don’ts for Family Photos
  • Food
    • Recipe for the BEST Banana Pudding of all time!
  • Beauty
    • Makeup must-haves from our group course
  • Life
    • Hazel & Lila are ONE!
  • Privacy Policy

Archives for May 2019

Our favorite SUMMER treat

We had a barbeque with some friends last week and everyone was so excited when we pulled out Creamies for dessert.

Childhood Memories

I don’t know about you, but they immediately take me back to my childhood. I remember celebrating so many fun family milestones and parties with Creamies. I recently found out it’s a local Utah company, which makes me love them even more! You know I love supporting local businesses. 

I also didn’t know they had been around for more than 60 years!

Here’s how things got started: 

In the late 1950s, an ice cream company was asked by a Cache Valley, Utah grade school principal to make a nutritional frozen treat with milk instead of sugar water. The principal wanted a treat that would be healthy for the students and would be enjoyed by the whole family.

He went to work and soon developed a delicious ice cream bar made with real fruit and other natural flavorings. Thus, the originals were born–chocolate, orange, and banana. That original Creamie is still made today in Cache, Valley, Utah. The Creamie is a rich, smooth, healthy, and refreshing treat that is enjoyed by all.

picture of a strawberry creamie

Since the 3 original flavors were introduced, other flavors have been developed and added: Strawberry, Cookies and Creamies, Root Beer Float, Mint Chocolate Dipped, Cherry Chocolate Dipped, and Vanilla Chocolate Dipped. In addition, three probiotic yogurt Creamies were created: Peach, Chocolate and Raspberry. 

So, if you want a guilt-free frozen treat this summer, reach for a Creamie! 

Where can you buy them? 

You can find the store nearest you here. 

May 21, 2019 Leave a Comment

How to survive on no sleep as a parent

I have one piece of parenting advice that I always share with friends and family. It’s to ignore all of the parenting advice you are given and do whatever works for you! Ha. Profound, I know. But, there is one thing I want to share that has truly saved my sanity in the almost two years since having Hazel. I need to preface it by saying I know I am extremely lucky to have this as an option. I also know this is not possible for everyone, but maybe it will help a tired mom out there somewhere. 

Hazel is not a great sleeper and hasn’t been since the day she was born. We’ve done all of the sleep training methods and she gets into a good routine and then usually out of it really quick. Most nights for the first 18 months of her life, she would be up at least 2-3 times. I really think sleep deprivation is torture because it affects absolutely every aspect of your life negatively. 

Sam and I are both the kind of people who function best when we get 8 hours of sleep. Doesn’t everyone though? The first few weeks of parenting threw us into a tired frenzy. This is all familiar to most parents, but we decided we both just couldn’t do it. So, we came up with a little arrangement. It’s called “Vacation Suite”. We have a guest bedroom in our basement and we decided to start using it. Every other night, we would switch off sleeping down there. It’s soundproof, which means even though the baby was waking up multiple times a night, you cannot hear it when you’re in the vacation suite. After the first night down there, I knew it was going to make a world of difference. 

Waking up refreshed, I was able to get through the day and be a more patient, loving, level-headed person. So, if you need a one night vacation that will change your life, start using that guest bedroom or sleeping on the couch with noise-canceling headphones, or whatever it takes to get some rest! I’m so glad we have been using a room in our house that otherwise sat ignored 99% of the time. 

We have not done this for 20 months straight. We did do it quite a bit in the first 6 months of Hazel’s life, but she would get into good stretches where she would sleep pretty well and Sam and I could sleep in the same bed 🙂 After that, we would just do it when she was having a rough week and not sleeping well. It was also really great if one of us had something important the next day, we could sleep in the vacation suite. 

Right before Hazel was born, I decided to decorate the vacation suite and make it cozy and comfortable. I just added a side table, candle and art and pillows that I loved. Little did I know, I would be spending a lot of time in there! It’s nice to have a space that feels very calming and quiet when you’re a new parent. 

I know there are people thinking, wait how did you do this while breastfeeding? Well, if it was within a 6-hour stretch that the baby woke up, Sam would feed her milk that I had previously pumped or formula. Then, he would bring her down to me in the morning for feeding before taking her back upstairs again. This worked really well for us until I stopped breastfeeding at 9 months. Then, feedings were simplified because it was just formula. 

Sam is a very involved parent and we knew to go into this parenting thing that we both wanted to give 100%. It has made a world of difference. We both LOVE our sleep and do not take it for granted. I’m happy to report we are currently in a great stage where Hazel is sleeping from about 7:30PM-6:30AM, so we rarely use the vacation suite. 

I would love to hear what has worked for you when it comes to surviving on little sleep as a parent!

May 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

How To Create A Bucket List

It can be overwhelming to write a bucket list, but let’s all be like Marie Kondo and only put things on our list that bring us joy! It is a really fun family, couple, or personal activity to write down places you want to travel, things you want to do, and people you want to do those things with.

Here are a few of our favorite responses when we asked what people have put on their bucket list:

  • Swim with dolphins
  • Fly in a hot air balloon
  • Eat pasta in Italy
  • Run the Boston Marathon
  • Go to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia 
  • See the Grand Canyon
  • Try snow skiing
  • Kiss at the top of the Eiffel Tower
  • Go skydiving
  • Learn to play the piano
  • Take singing lessons
  • Paint a watercolor in nature
  • Learn a new language
  • Ride an elephant in Thailand
  • Learn to play chess

tips for starting your own bucket list

So, if you’re wanting to start yours, we think it’s helpful to separate everything into four categories. It can be daunting to think of EVERYTHING you want to do in your lifetime. By separating it into four different sections you can be more specific. Here is how we divided ours. 

  1. Travel: Write down three places you would like to see in your lifetime. These could be a National Park, a town where your ancestors are from, or a faraway vacation stop you would love to see. 
  2. Mind: Write down something that you can do to challenge yourself and expand your horizons. It could be learning how to meditate 5 minutes-a-day or reading one book per month. 
  3. Fun: What is the craziest thing you can think of? Write it down here! This is your chance to step OUT of your comfort zone and really go for it. 
  4. Talents: From public speaking to learning how to whip up homemade creme brulee write down something you want to learn. These goals can be more time intensive like learning a new language. 

how to create a bucket list

From there, you can create all sorts of lists and ideas. If you feel like you are stuck, grab your significant other or a trusted friend or relative and ask them what they would put on their list. It can be really fun to bounce ideas off of each other and discover new things about your closest friends and family members.

what to put on your bucket list

The next step is to get one of your items on the calendar and start looking forward to something that you have always wanted to do! There is nothing like the anticipation of a once-in-a-lifetime trip or the chance to learn something new.

what to put on your bucket list

You can see that we kept ours relatively simple and plan to add to them every year. We also created a FAMILY Bucket List. This one is filled with things we would like to do all together. They are not huge things, but rather the memories we want to create. It is such a great reminder that you don’t take anything with you when you die, other than the talents you’ve worked hard to develop and the memories you’ve spent time creating. Remember, our goal this month is to BOOK YOUR BUCKET LIST! That means taking a look at your list and making SOMEDAY A REALITY! 

We have been so inspired by the people around us going for their goals. From the 80-year-old taking piano lessons to my neighbor who just ran her first marathon at 55, it is never too late! I love to think of my life as an evolving bucket list. No matter my age, I will always be capable of learning, growing and trying something new. 

how to plan a bucket list vacation

Please share what adventures are on your list so we can inspire each other! 

May 8, 2019 Leave a Comment

Dying to book your dream vacation? It’s time to BOOK YOUR BUCKET LIST!

 

We are BEYOND excited to announce our May challenge: Book Your Bucket List!

How to book your dream vacation

This is by far our BIGGEST MONTH YET! If you want to catch up on our monthly challenges for 2019 you can see what we have done so far for January: The Get Ready Challenge, February: The Make Your Bed Challenge, March: Move for March Challenge, and April: The Love Where You Live Challenge.

 

Our challenge for April is “Book Your Bucket List” which means we booked the vacation of a lifetime… a 7-day guided tour of GREECE!!!

We are headed to the gorgeous beaches of Greece in 3 weeks and could not be more excited! This month we want to inspire any of you reading this to TAKE THE TRIP!  how to plan a greece trip

Our trip includes stops in Athens to see the Parthenon, in Santorini to see the beautiful Caldera cliffs, and Mykonos to soak up some sun on the beach.

We will be doing everything from learning how to make baklava in a cooking class to taking a yacht to a private island(!!) talk about dreams coming true!

bucket list travel

Many of us put dreams of a lifetime on hold because there is always something holding us back, not enough money, vacation time, babysitters, etc.

Greece travel

 

Throughout the month of May we want you to BUILD your bucket list and then make it happen!

 

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

May 2, 2019 Leave a Comment

Hi! We are identical twins, Brooke & Brittany. We test the latest trends in fashion, beauty, travel and fitness so that you don't have to.

Popular Posts

  • 10 Essential Steps to Take Before Building Your New Home
  • Where’s Waldo Family Costume
  • Fresh Strawberry Pie

Archives

  • April 2025
  • October 2024
  • June 2024
  • January 2024
  • November 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • November 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • February 2012
  • December 2011
  • October 2011
  • August 2011
May 2019
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Apr   Jun »

Copyright © 2025 · Twin Tested A Blog By, Brooke & Brittany