Twin Tested

Before and After pics from Brooke’s living room makeover!

Parker has been hard at work over the last few months working on some of our bigger house projects. We have now officially lived in our house for one year and it has gone by so fast! The home was built in the 1950’s and definitely needed some TLC. When we first walked through the house we made a mental list of big projects that we wanted to do and the fireplace was near the top of the list. We knew that the outdated red painted brick had to go! Along with the wallpaper. I am so happy that the previous owner only did a statement wall in wallpaper because that stuff is so stubborn and takes forever to get off. (Many thanks to my mom and brother for helping me peel it off piece by piece!) It has been a long process to do the fireplace and the rest of the living room flooring and walls but I am so happy with how it turned out! Here are just a few of the things that were done during the process:

wallpaper removed and wall painted gray
brown carpet removed and wood flooring put in
old baseboards taken out and new ones put in and painted
demo of the fireplace and rebuilding the entire wall and shape of the space with cement and drywall
building the actual wood mantel and painting it white
tiling the surround with Carrera marble

We are still working on a few furniture and art pieces for the walls but I love how it turned out! The most amazing part of the transformation is that Parker did it without a blueprint or plan! He knew what he wanted it to look like and made it happen which is something I really admire. Some advice I have if you are thinking of doing a living room remodel:

Be patient: every house project takes 2-3 times longer than you expect and there will always be unexpected bumps along the way.
Test multiple paint colors in various areas of the room. I am so glad we did this. Also, do not be scared to have them specially mix two different colors together so that you can get the perfect shade – it is free!
Decorate slowly with furniture, art, and accessories. It is really hard to know what things will look like in a space before it is finished.

Happy remodeling! Now we are moving on to start working on the nursery. 3 months to go, updates to come!

Pregnancy Survival Guide {first half}

{photo via @edeneats my fave pregnant lady/food lover to follow on Instagram}

Both Brooke and I have learned a lot in the first half of our pregnancies. Surprisingly enough, they have been very different. I had pretty bad morning sickness for the first trimester, while Brooke felt good for the most part. We thought it would be fun to put together a list of things that helped us survive so far.

DEALING WITH MORNING SICKNESS:

Trader Joe’s Ginger EVERYTHING

They have ginger mints, ginger snaps, ginger thins, ginger ale, etc. All of them are helpful in calming queasy stomachs. Having never been a huge fan of drinking ginger ale before pregnancy, it was the one thing that tasted good and settled my stomach. I’ve had friends say La Croix has a similar effect!

Vitamin B6

I started taking these vitamins after my doctor recommended them for my nausea and throwing up. It really seemed to help and I could tell a difference when I missed a day.

Overall, both of us were very lucky when it came to feeling sick. We know there are women who have it SO much worse. We were also so grateful to both feel good towards the beginning of the 2nd trimester.

BEAUTY:

Skin

This has been one of the toughest parts of pregnancy. Both Brooke and I have noticed major changes in our skin – more oily and a lot more breakouts while pregnant. This is probably due to the fact that both of us had been taking either birth control pills or other medication to deal with acne. In pregnancy, you really can’t do much to help with skin issues. It also isn’t helpful when there is a camera getting close-ups of your face every day 🙂 This has made skincare an even bigger priority. We have had to find things that are very gentle, but still cleanse the skin. We have stuck to the brands that our dermatologist suggests – mostly Cetaphil products. I have also used Phytoceane cleansers that are super gentle and smell amazing. Good to remember this part won’t last forever!

Makeup

Thank heavens for makeup! We’ve said it before and we will say it again. When you are not feeling pretty, a little makeup can go a long way. The only big makeup change we’ve made is to use less oil based makeup and more powders. Our favorite new finishing powder is Too Faced Primed & Poreless – it just gives your face a nice matte (but not too matte) finish.

Lash Extensions

I think every pregnant woman should try these. When nothing else is working out, you can still have great lashes! Not only do they save time, but they make me feel good even if I have no makeup on. I’ve been getting mine done by Melissa at Salon Lydia for a long time. I can easily go 5-6 weeks in between fills, so it is a very worthwhile splurge in my life.

CLOTHING:

It’s normal to sit in front of your closet and cry after you break the zipper on your favorite skirt because it no longer fits, right? Well, I sure hope so! Ha. My changing body has been very humbling. I can no longer fit into most of my clothes that I love and it’s kind of sad. BUT! Then I remember that it’s because I’m growing a beautiful human being and my stomach is supposed to be getting bigger, so things are exactly as they should be. All of that being said, there are a few pieces of clothing that I would highly recommend.

H&M Maternity Pants Why fight the zipper anymore? I can’t find the ones I have online, but these are similar.

Why fight the zipper anymore? I can’t find the ones I have online, but these are similar. The plain black ones are game changers. So comfortable and they look like real pants, while they feel like you are wearing pajama leggings. I wear them a few times a week.

Pink Blush Dresses

This dress company is great at making dresses that flatter and fit a pregnant body. My personal favorite and most worn item is this super comfy Black Hi Low Midi Dress.

SLEEP

Get a humidifier! One of the odd side effects of pregnancy is feeling extra congested (at least for me). My mom recommended getting a humidifier and I don’t know why I didn’t buy one sooner. Having the humidifier on while I sleep has made a big difference in feeling like I can breathe easier.

Boppy Pregnancy Wedge $13 it’s the perfect size to sleep with in between your legs or underneath one side.

Body Pillow although it feels like there is a third person in bed, it’s worth it! So comfy.

EMOTIONS

Oh wow. They are up and down and up and down and I started crying when Sam asked me if I wanted a milkshake 🙂 I think one of the things that helped me the most is to actually stop researching and reading. I have found it just stresses me out and I end up feeling overwhelmed. I normally love to read, but when it comes to maternity and pregnancy books, I have decided to set them aside for the next little while. Right now I am trying to enjoy these moments as a family of two before everything changes.

Thank you for all of the kind words and advice. I would love to hear what helped you survive the second half of your pregnancy! Any tips and tricks?

It’s a…

We are so thrilled to announce we are both having girls! Brooke has thought all along she was having a girl, while Sam and I were pretty sure we were having a boy. Surprise! Both girls. Of course, this just means we can start shopping 🙂 The moment when you find out during the ultrasound is pretty special. There were a lot of happy tears shed. Eventually, the ultrasound tech asked if we needed tissues and double checked to make sure we were crying because we were happy, not sad. It was a rush of emotions and happiness I’ve never felt before. Everything seems to be much more real now. Truly the most important part of the appointment was knowing that our baby is healthy and we were so happy to hear that she is doing great.

Our parents keep saying they are thrilled to be having twin girls again. Our dad loved to buy us matching clothes when we were growing up, so we can only guess he will do the same with our little babes. We both had little gender reveal parties with our close friends and families after we found out. Brooke and Parker had everyone pop black balloons and pink confetti popped out, it was really cute! Sam really wanted to involve golf somehow (of course) so he found exploding golf balls on Ebay and luckily it worked. He wanted me to hit one as well, but I chose not to embarrass myself 🙂 I posted the video below, if you want to watch.

Brooke and I have been so overwhelmed with the kindness of others. Thank you so much for all of the sweet calls, texts, messages and gifts! We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives. Everyone is making this whole pregnancy thing a lot more fun.

Neither of us have bought anything for baby yet, so we need your advice! What are your must-haves? Anything we should start buying right now? We are both making plans for our nurseries right now. Brooke is thrilled she will be able to go with the girly ideas she already had and I am going a little more neutral. All ideas and advice welcome! Thanks for coming on this fun journey with us!

Surprise! Baby Haslam & Baby Hackett coming soon!!!

Surprise!!! Baby Haslam is coming in August and Baby Hackett is coming in September! We couldn’t be more excited. We have been keeping this secret in for what seems like an eternity. We wanted to answer a few common questions we have gotten recently.

Q: Did you guys plan this?!

A: Actually quite the opposite, we were trying not to have babies at the same time so that we would not have to take time off from the show at the same time. However, the big guy upstairs definitely had other plans!! It was a shock at first but we both could not be more excited for ourselves and for each other.

Q: When are you due?

A: Britt is end of August, Brooke is beginning of September.

Q: Do you know the genders?

A: Not yet, we both find out in the next couple of weeks and we will be sure to announce it. Britt is leaning towards boy, Brooke is leaning towards girl. We are both probably wrong!

Q: Are you still going to host your show?

A: Yes! We absolutely love our jobs and plan on returning full time after we take some time off on maternity leave. Our search for a nanny has officially begun! Let us know if you know of anyone that loves babies! We will both be paying them so that should be a helpful incentive 🙂

Q: Will you be going natural, breastfeeding, eating your own placenta, etc.?

A: We have no idea. Honestly. Neither of us has taken any classes or anything at this point so time will tell.

We are just so excited that this news is out in public now and we no longer have to try and hide our growing bellies. We have many more pregnancy posts coming your way and would absolutely love to hear any advice from all you moms out there!

Girls Trip to Arizona

Believe it or not, we have never been on a trip with just our mom, sister and sister-in-law. We’ve talked about doing a girl’s trip for a very long time, but it just never came together. Well, we decided 2017 is the year! We coordinated everyone’s schedules and decided on a location – Phoenix! We came to the conclusion that all we really wanted to do was relax, eat great food and shop. Phoenix is the perfect place for that! So instead of giving you a full minute by minute breakdown of the trip, I’m just going to share some of our favorite spots!

Where to SHOP:

LAST CHANCE: if you haven’t heard about the legend that is Last Chance, well you’ve got to visit in person. I would compare it to a much rougher version of TJ Maxx. The thing is, you can find absolutely amazing designer clothing and shoes deeply discounted. Brooke bought two dresses that are amazing and they were each $20. Just beware, long lines and you have to do some digging.
BILTMORE OUTDOOR MALL: this is just a beautiful outdoor mall that is fun to browse and wander through. We loved all of the gorgeous flowers.

Where to EAT:

SNOOZE: if we could adequately describe our love for Snooze, I think you would be scared. Let’s just say this – we happily went there for brunch two days in a row. It’s just that good. Plus, we all tried something different each day and I truly don’t think you can order anything bad. Favorites: Eggs Benedict, French Toast and any and all of the pancakes!
The STAND: Goooooood burgers and fries. A total hole in the wall that knows what it’s good at. Deliciously seasoned fries and Stand sauce (or fry sauce as we call it here in good old Utah). The best part may have been the Dulche de Leche milkshake. Never in a million years would I order that flavor, but we tried it and it blew our minds!
PIZZERIA BIANCO: Travel + Leisure just named Phoenix the best city for pizza! It’s largely thanks to this restaurant and its chef. They make incredible pizza in fun and different combos. Jimmy Kimmel is a huge fan and has even had them on his show before.

Where to STAY:

KIMPTON HOTEL PALOMAR in downtown Phoenix. It was beautiful and was in the heart of the city. The rooftop pool was the major selling point and we spent several glorious hours there basking in the sunshine. I think our pasty white skin might have burned a couple eyeballs, but it was worth it! We also got to do a fun workout together because your stay automatically includes a membership to the huge gym next door.

Now we want to hear your Phoenix faves because we can hardly wait to plan a trip back to the sunny desert!

{the most heavenly peanut butter chocolate pancake ever}
{i love nothing more than a good eggs benedict}
{quite possibly the prettiest Pottery Barn ever}{thank you Linds for convincing us all to order Dulche de Leche shakes at The STAND}{perfection in a burger at The STAND}{tell the truth, have you licked your screen yet?}{photo courtesy of Phoenix New Times cuz mine did not do Pizzeria Bianca justice}
{slumber parties are the best. we laughed A LOT}

The Week of Extreme Nice

Hi friends! We’ve told you before, but we are huge fans of author Gretchen Rubin. Many of you have probably read her book, “The Happiness Project”. Well, we picked the book for our book club on The PLACE for the month of November. For those of you that haven’t read it, Gretchen created a year-long Happiness Project for herself. She creates a theme for each month and then comes up with a few concrete goals to work on. This time re-reading the book, I loved the February chapter focused on marriage. One of Gretchen’s goals is to do a week of extreme nice – meaning that she picks one person to be extremely nice to for one week. She picked her husband and she made the goal to not criticize him, nag him, or snap at him. I decided to try it. Oh my gosh! What a great week! The trick is that you don’t tell the other person you are going to do it. I have since challenged all of my friends and even my poor Sunday school kids to try it out. Here are a couple of observations:

When I wasn’t immediately trying to get my way in every situation, I was able to see Sam’s side much more clearly. For example, we were buying decorations for our Christmas tree and I thought I really wanted white lights. Well, it was the week of extreme nice, so I let Sam pick. He went with rainbow colored lights. This probably would have bugged me a few weeks ago, but after coming home and putting them on the tree, I love them! It also made ME happy to see something make Sam so happy.
Attitude is everything: when I began each day with a positive attitude towards my spouse, the little stuff (like forgetting to cap the toothpaste) didn’t bug me as much.
Looking at things from your spouse’s point of view is healthy – I realized that Sam and I are so different and look at many things differently, but that is why we are so good for each other. Many times Sam is a lot more logical than I am and in most cases, he has thought through decisions much more extensively than I have, so it’s good to give him a chance to share his ideas (because they tend to make more sense in the long run).
I loved Sam so much more by the end of the week. I was able to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. I am so lucky to have a loving husband who truly bends over backward to make me happy.
We had more fun! I realized I can be very bossy and stubborn, especially when it comes to our evening plans. When I let Sam choose what we were doing, we had tons of fun!
I give my kindness to everyone before I give it to Sam. I spend all day trying to be kind to friends and co-workers and by the time I am spending time with Sam, he often gets the tired and grumpy version of myself. Putting him first in my happiness expenditures really made a big difference in my happiness. He is the center of my world and it felt good to make the effort to make him realize that.
I tried to come up with one kind thing to do for him each day. Most days this just meant that I made the bed or cleaned the kitchen. He didn’t notice everything, but I could tell our lives ran smoother when I consciously thought of something kind to do for him each day. This was a lightbulb moment for me because these simple acts usually take under 2 minutes and I am normally so slow to do them.
Sam never asked why I was being so nice. Ha! I think this is a good thing. Hopefully, it means I am not a terrible person because he didn’t notice a huge change. He was pleasantly surprised to hear about it when I told him I got the idea from Gretchen’s book.

For our book club on the show, we got to interview Gretchen a few weeks ago. It was so great – except for the dozens of technical difficulties that came up. Many parts of her book are about maximizing your time, being responsible, etc. – I felt the opposite of that explaining that we were having issues with a brand new audio board. I shouldn’t have worried because Gretchen was so kind and understanding. She was a joy to talk to. It was fascinating to hear from her perspective what sticks out to people most from her book. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest you do! Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

We don’t need to be perfect, but we can all try to be a little better! If you try the week of extreme nice, let us know how it goes!

A few before & after pictures from Brooke’s house

Now that Parker and I have been in our house for 8 months I thought it would be fun to share some before and after pictures. We are far from finished, but I wanted to show you some of the progress that has been made. To prep for our projects, I curated a Pinterest board to zero in on the styles that we liked. This helped immensely, instead of just showing up at Home Depot to look through all of their options. To describe the house when we bought it I would say it was just blah. An older gentleman owned the home and it had brown carpet, different shades of paint on the walls, and was desperate for some new energy. We decided to go for clean and crisp aesthetic that made people feel welcome. Here is a peek at some of our recent before and afters!

Flooring: We ripped out the flooring throughout the entire house. We started in the living room. You can see there was brown carpet there leading into brownish tile in the kitchen. We replaced it with dark wood flooring throughout the main living area and kitchen and new carpet in the bedrooms. What a difference a new floor makes! Also, people are not kidding when they say taking down wallpaper is the absolute worst. I feel lucky that we only had one wall. The previous owner was a painter and many of the walls were different colors throughout the house. I wanted to make all of the areas flow nicely together so we chose a pale gray to cover all areas. We had Home Depot mix a few different colors together for us, I would be happy to share the paint “recipe” if you are interested. Parker is laying out his plans for our new fireplace and mantle now, I think it will make the room feel very cozy!

Kitchen Backsplash Before & After. As you can see there was an 80’s Southwest theme going on in the kitchen. We opted for some white subway tile and light gray grout. I love how it turned out, it feels so much cleaner! Not to brag but Parker did a GREAT job with the backsplash! My brother helped him start the project and they were able to knock it out in a few days. So glad I married a (willing) handyman. Our next project in the kitchen is to paint the cabinets – please send over your tips and tricks!

Before and After of our front door. Missing from the before photo is the metal storm door that weighed about a million pounds. I am so happy that we went with our white craftsman door. It’s cheery and really changes the entire look of the front porch. The casing still needs to be painted but we have to wait until spring time when the temperatures get a little warmer to do that. Now I look forward to putting a different wreath up for every season! We feel so lucky to have our home and we are enjoying all of the extra space for now. Our main goal was to make our home a place where people felt welcome and comfortable. I will keep you posted on our other updates as we go along!

A Christmas Tree Story

Happy Holidays! This is such a fun time of year. This is our first Christmas in our new home and we were SO excited to go pick out a real Christmas tree. I grew up with a fake tree, but Sam is 100% all about the real trees. His family has been going to the same tree lot for years. They invite me to come every year and I have to admit going to the tree lot and picking one out is so fun. We measured our ceiling before we left on our tree hunt. We thought about bringing a tape measure, but thought Sam’s arm height was more reliable 🙂 We tied it on our car, carried it inside and… it was about a FOOT too tall for our little ceiling!!! Once we got the tree stand up, it was way too tall. Well, we just about died laughing (hello Clark Griswold! it’s like we learned nothing from Christmas Vacation). We decided to pull out the weed whackers and trim our tree. We cut about a foot off of the top and after we covered it with ornaments and a star, I don’t think you can really tell. I also decided to keep the top of the tree in a little vase on our kitchen table so we can laugh every time we look at it! Sam and I don’t have a ton of ornaments, so we decided to start a new tradition where we will buy one that makes us think of the other person each year. Can’t wait to see what it will look like in 30 years! I thought I wouldn’t really like decorating an entire house for Christmas, but I think it’s turned out quite the opposite!

Steal or Splurge: Lip Liner

{I’m wearing Urban Decay on the left, Palladio on the right}

We are 100% in love with lip liner lately. We realized if you cover your entire lip with liner and then either – a) leave it plain b) put gloss over top or c) apply lipstick over – it lasts all day long! It just stays on really well and defines the lip. So, after trying lots and lots of different kinds – we wanted to compare cheap vs. expensive.

We tried out very similar lip liner – the only difference is the price.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil $20

Palladio Waterproof Lip Liner $4.99 (certain colors are $2.99)

Our final takeaway – they work the same! Both stayed on all day and held their color. So for this one, we say definitely go for the steal!

You can watch the video below for the full story – just click expand to make it full screen.

10 things you can only do in Japan

Parker and I just returned from a 9 day trip to Japan. Our main reason for going was to visit our brother and sister in law and their adorable 1 yr old baby. They are currently living in the center of Tokyo and were incredible hosts and tour guides! I had heard great things about Japan but prepared for how much I would love it. The city is spotless, no graffiti or trash anywhere. The people are kind and considerate, even when the subway is jam packed there is no yelling or shoving. I felt very safe the entire trip. The women have incredible style, always looking feminine and demure. And the food is incredible! I loved absolutely everything that we did, but to simplify things I decided to put together a list of my favorite 10 things that we did that you can only find in Japan.

ONSEN or JAPANESE BATH HOUSE: Being naked with strangers may sound terrifying but it was actually very spa-like and relaxing. I was hesitant when I first arrived at the bathhouse but after the initial shock wore off it was great. Men and women are split up into different bath areas. It was surprising to see moms and daughters together as well as little babies enjoying the water. At the onsen we enjoyed sushi and also got crazy fish foot massages – I was absolutely dying because my feet are so ticklish! Definitely a fun, cultural experience.
CONVEYOR BELT SUSHI: The sushi in Japan did not disappoint! If you find a restaurant with a conveyor belt it makes it really easy to pick and choose what you want to try. I personally loved the salmon and tuna rolls.
DISNEY SEA: We made a last minute decision to go to Disney Sea. I had no idea what to expect. The park is built on the coast and incorporates water into everything, even to the extent of building a Meditteranean looking village with gondola’s! I loved it and would definitely go again.
RAMEN: The only ramen I had ever eaten before Japan was the 50 cent version. We were lucky enough to try quite a few different variations with udon noodles and different meats. All of them just made you want to cozy up in a sweater and relax. Although I am still working on my chopsticks skills…
HARAJUKU: This is a fun little shopping district in Tokyo where you see some of the anime fashion. Bright colored hair, big platform shoes and a lot of My Little Pony. They also have photo booths that photoshop you to look like Barbie, not the best look for Parker 🙂
GYOZA: Better known here as pot stickers, gyoza is very popular in Japan. We went to a restaurant entirely dedicated to different forms of gyoza. Then on our trek into the mountains of Hakone we happened upon a tiny little hillside restaurant with a Japanese grandma at the head of the kitchen that made gyoza from scratch. They were heavenly!
TOKYO DOME: This is where all of the baseball games happen, but there is also an amusement park outside of the dome that is a blast! If you go after 5 pm it is around $25 for a pass to go on all the rides as many times as you would like. My favorite happened to be the roller coaster called Thunder Dolphin that took you high above all the skyscrapers and then dropped you straight down, even zooming through a building at one point.
SHIBUYA: This is one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. Insider tip – go to the 2nd floor of the Starbucks on the corner so that you can get an overhead view of the chaos. Perfect location to record a time-lapse. You can see my husband’s here.
HAKONE: They call this the Switzerland of Japan. It took a couple of hours by train to get there. In Hakone we saw an active volcano, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, and a shrine that was in the water.
HIGH TECH TOILETS: The toilet seats are heated and spotless – even in places like 7-11! The Japanese people are so clean and tidy that I never once came across a bathroom resembling what you would find in America. The toilets are capable of doing so many crazy things (i.e. bidet?!). I now feel like I need to buy one for my house. In the winter time a warm toilet seat can’t be beat!

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{photo via @edeneats my fave pregnant lady/food lover to follow on Instagram}

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