Life Archives - Page 8 of 11

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 🙂

FullSizeRender 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!

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!

How to Stop Fighting With Your Spouse in Bed

We both pretty much scored the jackpot when it comes to husbands. We have some pretty crazy sleep habits and they are the kind hearted people that have to deal with them.

Here are a couple of things we have learned since getting married and learning how to share a bed:

1. Make it comfortable. We grew up sleeping in twin beds til college, so anything bigger than that always feels huge. This is not the same for our husbands, who are both pretty tall. One thing they both agree on is the fewer pillows the better and comfy sheets are critical. We were both given bamboo sheets recently. They are a GAME CHANGER! So soft, yet silky and breathable all at the same time. Our girlfriends have been telling us about them for a while, we were a little skeptical because we didn’t understand the magic of bamboo. Now that Spring is here they are seriously perfect for warmer nights. They actually stay cool the entire night so you never wake up sweating, it’s gross but true! Ours are from Cariloha and we are obsessed.

2. Watch out for sleep walkers! Britt and I have been sleep walkers since we were young, crazy I know. Instead of growing out of it, we still sleep walk regularly. It usually involves getting in the shower, doing our hair & makeup, or eating breakfast in the middle of the night. It is extremely odd but a little bit hilarious too. I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled our husbands were to first find us eating breakfast at 2am or changing into our work clothes shortly after midnight 🙂 Over the years we have found that stress and sleep deprivation are the main triggers. Now we try to control both of those things to avoid sleep walking in middle of the night and scaring our husbands to death.

3. Snoring=the sad realization that we are turning into our parents! A little nudge or in desperate times plugging each other’s noses work like a charm.

4. Cold feet. This is the number one reason to get married, so that you have someone to warm you up ha! I sometimes am guilty of putting my cold feet on Parker’s warm legs. Oops. He is a good sport and always warms me up, but I do need to reach for some socks more often!

5. Make the bed. We have a rule that whoever gets out of the bed last makes the bed. Since we are both more of early risers than our husbands – it works out perfectly.

What are the tips and tricks you use for staying happy in bed?

Girls Staycation at Hotel Monaco

This weekend we took a little breather from real life and gathered up a bunch of our best friends for a night together in SLC. The best thing about this group of girls is that they are all from different phases and places in our life, which made for some really fun conversations! We started our night at Settebello with some gelato (dessert first of course) and then had the delish pizza. Hotel Monaco was our destination of choice. The boutique hotel is gorgeous and right in middle of town. We had way too much fun and because there is way too much to write about I have bulleted out the highlights!

We got to stay in the penthouse suite on the 14th floor!!!
Monaco set us up with the most adorable Italian soda bar in our suite, aka best party idea ever, they were soooo yummy.
We were given our first selfie stick, oh my goodness bad idea! Hours of entertainment.
They have complimentary bikes at the hotel. Awesome! You can jet around downtown without having to worry about finding a parking spot.
All pets are welcome with no extra fees. If you don’t have one, they let you “rent” a goldfish for the night. So fun! (they gave us two that were twins!)
There is a complete yoga mat set in every room that is complimentary. Love this, especially because Parker and I have started doing yoga together once a week!
We stayed up way later than 10:30 pm which was impressive.
Students in interior design stop at the hotel frequently for field trips because the rooms are incredible, i.e. fur throws, geometric carpet prints, etc.
The hotel gave each of us girls a lush lip balm and cute nail polish, plus we all loved wearing the amazing animal print robes that come in every room!
We honestly laughed until we cried and our cheeks hurt. Girl’s nights are so good for the soul, thanks to all of our lovely friends for coming and making it such a fun night!

Huge thank you to the Hotel Monaco for showing us such an incredible time! Yay for a successful girls night! xo

Salt Lake Magazine Feature

We are so flattered to be featured in the latest edition of Salt Lake magazine. We were legitimately surprised they wanted to talk to us, but it turned out to be such a fun experience! We met the reporter at the Rose Establishment in downtown Salt Lake City and did something we’re very good at… chatted about ourselves for a good hour. He somehow turned all of our mumbo jumbo into a really nice article. Then, we did a photo shoot at the station. Of course we’re wearing sparkles and sitting on the anchor desk… that just seemed like the right thing to do. Thanks to everyone at Salt Lake magazine for thinking of us, it really means a lot!

You can read the full article HERE (We love that the title of the article is “Stunt Double”

(Brooke’s outfit: top & skirt from Anthropologie Brittany’s outfit: top from Anthropologie, skirt from Mindy Mae’s Market)

What Happened When My Husband Dressed Me

Have you ever asked yourself the question, what would happen if I let my husband pick out my outfit? We loved the recent feature Summer Bellessa did titled, “My Toddler Dressed Me”, where she let her toddler pick out her clothes for a week. We decided to put a spin on it and see what would happen if we left the decision making to our husbands! They are always saying they could pick out great outfits for us, so we decided to put them to the test. The Outlets at Traverse Mountain were nice enough to give each of the boys $150 to spend at any store they wished. We knew we were in a safe place because the Outlets have our top 3 faves: J Crew, Loft, and H&M! Photographer extraordinaire Travis Richardson joined us for the adventure. It helps that our husbands both think he is awesome and that he makes them feel comfortable in front of the camera! If we are being honest, Britt thought she would end up in a button-down shirt and cardigan, while Brooke was pretty sure Parker would go for a full Nike sweatsuit look.

Luckily, their choices weren’t quite that extreme but we did learn a few things about our husbands:

They do not like pointy stilettos.
They prefer more casual looks.
Instead of the newest trends in denim, the boys love the classic colors and cuts.
They do not go for lace, embroidery, embellishments, or sparkle.
Sensible flats are the name of the game.

Overall, it was a really fun experience to see their perspective and learn what they prefer to see us in. Once we made it clear Victoria’s Secret was not an option the guys had a lot of fun. We didn’t correct any of their choices and truly just let them pick things they liked… it was kind of hard to hold our tongues! (Like when I was trying on furry scarves and leather pants). However, we think this definitely calls for a Part 2… “This is what happened when my wife dressed me.”… to be continued!

Here are our BEFORE looks. Typical work outfits for both of us: Brooke in a dress and me in patterned pants, fitted jacket, and heels.

Nothing more confusing than trying to find a pair of cute women’s shoes! I saw this look on his face quite a bit during our shopping adventure…

Parker went straight for the flats, no high heels in sight.

This is my face thinking about the last time I wore faux leather pants in 7th grade. One word comes to mind: sticky

Cute on him maybe? In a snowstorm? Maybe just Antarctica?

This is me realizing these leather pants would actually be perfect for a Sandy from Grease Halloween costume.

Another moment of enlightenment, Parker loves Duchess Kate Middleton’s style, striped tee-shirts, Keds and fitted trench coats! His taste could be much worse so I didn’t mind!

This is a capture of Parker looking on Pinterest for some last minute fashion inspiration… jk he was checking ESPN.

Our outfit details: Brooke is wearing a striped shirt from J Crew, her new favorite dark wash jeans from Loft, a trench coat from H&M and shoes from H&M. Britt is wearing a floral top from J Crew, jeans from H&M and silver flats from H&M.

Huge thanks to the Outlets at Traverse Mountain for letting us do this experiment on their turf! If you want to do the same thing with your husband, post using the hashtag #MyHusbandDressedMe so we can feature some of our favorites!

What Celebrities are REALLY like (Grammys Edition)

Since we have been asked by almost everyone we know this past week who we interviewed and what they were really like, we decided to make a handy dandy list! So here they are… all of our deepest, darkest Grammys awards 2015 secrets!

1. Taylor Swift: Everyone loves her for a reason. I literally came within inches of running into her on the red carpet and she was still nice. I turned around and was like, “OMG! It’s Taylor!” So I said “Hi” and she was so nice. She is stunningly beautiful in person. She has a huge troop of publicists/managers/people that keep her under a very watchful eye, but she still manages to make everyone feel like she genuinely wants to talk to you.

2. Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman: They will always be some of our favorites to interview. They are so nice and friendly. Keith’s accent makes him so cute and Nicole is striking in person. This year his crazy publicist went on a rant when we asked for an interview, so he apologized and only stopped for a second.

3. Josh Duhamel: So handsome and friendly. He brought both of us back to our junior high giggly school crush days. He is very charismatic and was so kind. He acted like he had plenty of time to talk and hung around for about 5 minutes (which is a lifetime in red carpet interview time)

4. Usher: Brooke has had the biggest crush on him since she was about 12 and he fit everything we’ve thought about him. He is an obviously happy go lucky guy that is constantly smiling and saying hi to everyone as he walks down the red carpet. He was a little bit shorter than we though… he’s about 5’8″ so we were taller than him!

5. Haim Sisters: We were so excited to meet them because they are also a band of sisters that have created a career together. They have a very eclectic style and seemed thrilled to be at the Grammys. We asked how they liked working together and they said the same thing Brooke and I do.. it’s so nice to have someone you can share all of the experiences with that knows you so well. We are definitely new fans.

6. Dierks Bentley: sweetie pie. He’s shorter than we thought, but has gone through the best transformation ever… He seemed genuinely surprised and happy with his success.

7. Sam Smith: adorable. Just so fun to watch someone like him win so many awards. It’s a brand new world to him and he was thrilled to be a part of it. Basically everyone at the Grammys wanted a picture with him. The main reason we love him– he celebrated his win with a meal at In’n’Out burger! He said he’s been drinking lots of “green juice” to get ready for the awards.

8. Miranda Lambert: She is always a pleasure to talk to because she seems 100% genuine and real. She said she really wanted a cocktail after performing and winning her award. She still seems to be a humble country girl. When we asked if she would ever do a rock album she said, “No way! Even if I tried to do rock it would sound country because I’m from East Texas!”.

That’s all for now! If you have specific questions about a celeb or are wondering if we talked to your favorite, message us!

Valentine’s Flowers on Every Budget

We have been dying to collaborate with one of our best friends and florist extraordinaire,Rachel Osguthorpe, for quite some time now. We decided Valentine’s week was the perfect time to do it! Whether Rachel is working with a budget of $10 or $100, she makes every project beautiful and personalized. In case you don’t believe us we have photographic evidence thanks to Emmy Lowe Photo! Together Emmy and Rachel create some of the most beautiful photos together. You can go here, here, and here to look at some of our favorites. We challenged her to come up with several different floral arrangements that cost $10, $40 and $75. All clothes worn in the photos are from Jolley’s Gift & Floral. They have the cutest clothes and shoes! Even though we are both super excited for Valentine’s this year, we definitely remember being heartbroken and lonely in years past. One thing our Dad did for us growing up was to get us each a simple flower for Valentine’s Day. It was so nice to feel loved, even if it was from someone who is kind of forced to love us 🙂 This year we are going to try and brighten someone else’s day who is not be thrilled about the holiday this year. It’s amazing what a bunch of cute flowers can do for your mood!

{you can get these gorgeous blooms for $10!}
{Rach can do anything you want, but she has an amazing eye for design and is always introducing us to flowers and plants we’ve never seen before, this is the mid range $40}

{how excited would you be to get this gorgeous arrangment?! this is the $75 and it’s stunning} {how cute is this little pup and its red collar?} {if you’ve never had the sour heart gummies from Jolley’s run now, they are so good!} {this is the mid range bouquet that is so gorgeous! It runs about $40}

We love supporting local businesses and Jolley’s is definitely one of our favorites! They also carry Treats & Trends cookies, which come in flavors like Diet Coke & Cookies and Cream. They are beyond. You can find Jolley’s at 1676 E 1300 S in Sugar House. Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you! We are so grateful to have you following along with us and we truly LOVE you!

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Being on the Red Carpet

Being on the red carpet is kind of like being in an alternate universe. We want to share a few things you probably didn’t know.

1. It’s an all day thing: we have to be on the red carpet by 11:30am and are standing on our interview platform from 11:30am-5:00pm. We’ve learned to bring mints, water bottles, and flats.

2. For every “star” there are at least 10 managers/publicists/agents/people. The red carpet is very crowded, but it is mostly filled with publicists and 99% of them wear black, walk around with a clipboard, and are kind of scary.

3. Paris Hilton is a chain smoker. She comes to the Grammys every single year and we still aren’t sure why. Remember in 2013 when she asked me to fix her dress in the bathroom? Well, this year we were walking off the carpet right behind her and not even two seconds after we got outside she started smoking and complaining about how many people wanted to take a picture with her.

4. What’s up with everyone asking the same questions? The reason lots of reporters ask people what they are wearing and who they are excited to see is because they actually don’t know who they are interviewing or anything about them. Those are definitely the two most popular questions that we try to avoid.

5. Madonna looks scary in person and flashed everyone on the red carpet. As in lifted up her skirt to show off her black thong. Pretty sure shock will always be the name of her game. Miranda Lambert however, has flawless hair and makeup in person. It is super fascinating see celebrities up close. All of them have professional hair and makeup, so it’s interesting to see how it all compares. Sam Smith is much thinner in person than he looks in photos and videos. Like, a normal size 22-year-old guy.

6. The oldies get upset if you don’t recognize them immediately. Do not take this the wrong way, but there are a lot of old musicians at the Grammys. Sometimes it can be hard to keep track. We got most of them right this year, but when it took me longer than 5 seconds to recognize Tom Jones he gave me the side eye. On the other hand, one of the Bee Gees, Barry Gibb, was a sweetheart who seemed thrilled to be there.

7. No food or drink is allowed on the carpet, which means everyone is ravenous by the time they get inside! Thankfully, reporters are provided with a dinner in the media room backstage at the Staples Center.

8. They spend hours vacuuming the red carpet the day before. It is pretty crazy to see the work that goes into preparing the red carpet area. There are bleachers set up, red carpet rolled out, and chandeliers hung. One thing we loved seeing was how the E! News 360 Glam Cam was set up. There are about 50 cameras in a circle all taking photos of you at the same time and luckily the crew was nice enough to let us try it out.

9. The Grammys have a no excessive skin rule, which nobody really broke this year…except of course, Madonna!

10. It’s fun to see how tall all our fave performers are. Taylor is so tall! Josh Duhamel is a sweetheart, total babe, and is about as tall as both of our husbands (between 6’3″ & 6’4″). We asked him about his adorable little guy Axl and he says he is talking and can sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” now. He came without Fergie to present one of the awards. He said she was in the studio recording. We will be posting our full interview with him later this week. And yes, he totally qualifies for his #SexiestManAlive title!

Hawaii Must-Haves

I look forward to our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with Sam’s family every January. It’s the perfect way to get over my post Christmas blues. I’m sharing some of my favorite moments from this year’s trip and a my top five things I can’t live without on a beach vacation!

1. Sun Hat: I bough my black and white one at Walmart in Hawaii for $14.99! I always find gems there. I’ve entered that phase of life where I realize how dumb I was trying to get tan as a teenager and now I slather on SPF 50 every morning!

2. Spray Tan: This is directly related to #1. I always feel so much better putting on a bathing suit in January when I have a spray tan. It also takes away the pressure to come home super tan or for me red as a tomato because of a sunburn.

3. Kindle: I love to read, but rarely get the chance to read books straight through unless I’m on vacation. I read a few this trip, but my favorite was “What Alice Forgot”. It is the perfect beach read and has a great ending!

4. Dresses: I brought 3 dresses instead of jeans or shorts and was very happy with my decision. I wore them all multiple times and they were so easy and breezy. Lots of people have asked where the yellow floral dress is from, I actually got it at Primark this summer in London even though it looks totally Hawaiian!

5. Alterna Bamboo Beach Summer Sunshine Spray: this stuff smells like a tropical vacation in a bottle. It also protects your hair & scalp from the sun, while making it nice and shiny. By the end of the trip, I was seriously spraying it on everyone’s hair every morning.

I have the best in-laws! They make this trip so much fun. We especially loved our whale watching boat tour, snorkeling in clear water and standup paddle boarding this trip. We also learned how to play a hilariously bad version of ultimate frisbee on the beach every night at sunset. So many fun memories, but I am already looking forward to next year!

What Happened When My Husband Dressed Me

Luckily, their choices weren’t quite that extreme but we did learn a few things about our husbands:

They do not like pointy stilettos.

They prefer more casual looks.

Instead of the newest trends in denim, the boys love the classic colors and cuts.

They do not go for lace, embroidery, embellishments, or sparkle.

Sensible flats are the name of the game.