Twins Take on the Brand: Project 62

We recently mentioned our love of the new Target brand Project 62.  We thought we'd spotlight a few of our favorite items and how we'd style them in our homes.

1.  Loring 3-Drawer Dresser:  We love the sleek and modern style of this dresser.  This would be great in a master bedroom or guest room.

2.  Winnetka Modern Slipper Chair:  This chair comes in some cool colors and prints.  We love this pink scallop color way for a little girl's room.

3.  Gold and Marble Tray:  This tray would be great to serve up some cheese and crackers or just as a display item on your coffee table or an ottoman.

4.  Agate Framed High-Gloss Canvas:  Jess is considering this for a large wall in her kitchen.  What a cool combination of abstract and natural art for any big wall.

5.  Entenza Pendant Ceiling Light:  This pendant light would be an easy and gorgeous upgrade to any basic fixture.  It would be perfect over a dining table or home office space.

6.  Soriano Square Arm Channel Tufted Chair:  The navy velvet is classic yet trendy.  The color goes with anything, but is bright enough to be a statement piece in a neutral room.

Have you checked out this brand at all?  What would you buy for your house?  Let us know in the comments below and happy shopping!

Friday Pick Six: 10/27/17

Here's what we are loving and living for this week!

1.  One of our favorite nail polish shades for fall is blue, especially navy.  In Style has a great round-up of navy nail polish colors to check out for the season.

2.  We're always looking for ponytail holders that are cute and comfortable and don't leave a crease in your hair!  Our favorite lately are Teleties!  These adorable hair ties are modeled after an old-school phone cord and the company was created by two best friends.  They come in great colors and two sizes.  Check them out!

3.  Believe it or not, I still have some apples left from the Orchard!  Thinking about making this Effortless Apple Gallette this weekend and serving it up with a little vanilla ice cream! --J

4.  Opaque tights are one of our favorite looks for fall.  They keep your legs warm and provide an elongating, cohesive look.  We recently found Target's A New Day 80D Super Opaque Tights.  They're super opaque, comfy and what a great price!

5.  One of our favorite bloggers, Deb from Smitten Kitchen, released her second book, Smitten Kitchen Every Day this week.  We've already ordered it and can't wait to try out some recipes.  Would you like a blog feature about it?

6.  Obsessed with this GAP cowlneck dress.  How cozy does that look for winter?

What are you loving or living for this week?  Let us know in the comments below and TGIF!

Twins Take on the Holiday: Halloween

Halloween is one of our favorite family holidays.  As kids, we always trick-or-treated with our cousins and had a big party to celebrate.  Even as adults, we still love getting into the Halloween spirit!  Here are our tips for hosting a fun and memorable holiday!

Set the Scene:  As with most other holidays, decor is the first step to getting in the holiday spirit.  With Halloween, we like to go a little traditional, but avoid anything too scary or too gross. We love adding pumpkins, corn cobs and gourds for a colorful look.  However, you're not stuck with the old school black/orange color scheme.  This year, Jess decided to tweak things a little and tried painting pumpkins for a classy spin on the traditional Halloween look.  If you're looking for an easier way, try to hit up the Target Dollar Spot (our favorite place)!  Just look at all this cuteness!

Feed Your Family and Friends:  Of course, Halloween wouldn't be a holiday without all the candy.  Be sure to buy enough to hand out to trick-or-treaters if your guests snack a little.  You might also want to have some munchies on hand and our Chex Mix is perfect.  On Halloween, our main dish is always something that can simmer for a while and still taste great.  Guests come and go as candy gets handed out or little ones are trick-or-treating.  Two awesome options are our Slow-Cooker Chili and our Aunt Maggie's Tortellini Soup (Look for the recipe coming soon).  Who doesn't want a cozy bowl of soup when you're coming in from a chilly fall evening?

Although you've got plenty of candy, folks might want something else on the sweet side.  Our sugar cookies are perfect with some Halloween shapes and festive sprinkles!

Don't Forget a Signature Cocktail:  If your friends are looking for something else to keep them warm on a chilly fall night, don't forget a little cocktail.  A fall sangria (like this one or this one) is great because it gets better the longer it sits.  For your younger guests, you can warm up a little apple cider with a cinnamon stick and cloves for a holiday drink.

Will you be hosting a Halloween shindig this year?  What are your tips for the best Halloween party ever?  Let us know in the comments below!

Think Pink!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Most of us (ourselves included) have been impacted by having loved ones battling this disease.  This month, you can shop smartly to purchase some great products that also benefit breast cancer research.  We've rounded up a few of our favorites below.

1.  GAP Breast Cancer Research Foundation gFast High Rise Leggings
2.  Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer
3.  Estee Lauder Pink Ribbon Eye Makeup Kit
4.  Lilly Pulitzer Lilly Loves Pink Luxletic Kai Tank
5.  GAP Breast Cancer Research Foundation Sleep Set
6. Clinique Pink with a Purpose Cheek Pop Blush

Will you be purchasing any pink items this month?  Let us know in the comments below!

Friday Pick-Six: 10/20/17

Here's what we're loving and living for this week!

1.  Our favorite store, Target, has a great new home line called Project 62.  These furniture and decor items have a mid-century modern vibe and an affordable price point.  We love this chair and nightstand for a gorgeous bedroom!

2.  After spotting this sweater on one of our favorite bloggers, Liz from Sequins and Stripes, we both wanted this sweater!  We can't wait until the weather actually get a little chilly so we can layer up with this baby!

3.  Last week, Ry surprised me with a sweet gift of a necklace from The Giving Keys.  This company creates cool necklaces and bracelets with inspirational words on them.  Also, with every purchase, the company supports homeless individuals.  Great jewelry with a social conscious!  Yes! --J

4.  As always, we are obsessed with the Royal Family!  Kensington Palace confirmed this week that the Duchess is expecting a prince or princess in April 2018!  But will it be a boy or a girl?  We can't wait to find out!

5.  How pretty is this ruffle dress at JCrew?  I just ordered it to wear to work after spotting it on a coworker!--R

6.  After over-purchasing mushrooms for a class science experiment about mushroom spores, I've got a lot of extra mushrooms.  I think we'll be making this delicious looking wild rice and mushroom soup this weekend!--J

What are you loving and living for this week?  Let us know in the comments below and have a great weekend!

Twins Take on the DIY: Painted Pumpkins

Hi friends, it's me, Jess!  This year, I was looking for a way to change up our traditional Halloween decor, which is usually just a few orange pumpkins.  I thought that using craft paint would be an easy way to jazz up some little pumpkins and also change up the color scheme a little.  Finally, I thought this would be a fun activity that I could do alongside my kiddo.

First things first, we gathered our materials:

• Acrylic craft paint (Available at Target or any craft store)
• Small pumpkins (I couldn't find white ones, which would obviously be easier to paint.  Get them if you can, or just plan on doing more coats of paint)
• Foam brushes 
• Newspaper or tarp (to cover your table)
• Paper plates

We decided to choose a color scheme for a more cohesive vintage look.  I chose a copper, shimmery white and a grey-green color.  Our procedure was pretty simple.  We used the paper plates as pallettes and then dipped our brushes in and painted.  We found that it was easier to start with thinner coats and then layer on more paint after a short drying time to get better coverage.  I started off drying to direct my preschooler to adhere to the color scheme, but her mixture of colors looked cool, so I just let her rock and roll.  

After they dried overnight, we displayed them in a little fall decor scene.

There ya have it!  Easy, cheap, fast and festive!  

Would you try painting pumpkins?  Let us know how it goes in the comments below and Happy Halloween!

Apple Bread with Walnut Streusel

Hi pals, it's Jess.  After a recent outing to the apple orchard with the fam (Hi, Fall Bucket List), we found ourselves with more apples than we knew what to do with!  I decided to make some apple bread, since the kiddo loves to have baked goods for breakfast.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and enlisted my sous chef and got to work!

First things first, we gathered our ingredients.

The most tedious part of this process was peeling, coring and shredding the apples.  I also realized that my kid was eating the apples as I peeled them, so I had to do more than I needed.

We combined our dry ingredients.  My secret ingredient change was to substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice for half of the cinnamon.

Then we creamed together the butter and sugar in our mixer.  We added vanilla, milk and eggs to the wet ingredients.  Finally, we added in the shredded apples.  This might look gross but stay with me!

We assembled the streusel topping in a small bowl.  I wasn't really able to mix the cold butter into the flour/sugar mixture, so I actually melted my butter first.  I also doubled the flour-sugar-butter to have more topping to cover more of the bread.

We spread this out over the top of the apple bread mixture in a greased loaf pan.  Then it was into the oven for 60 minutes.

After an hour and some change to cool off--we were ready to dig in!  This bread was the perfect snack on a cool fall day and a great way to use up those extra apples.

Give this apple bread a try and let us know what you think in the comments.  Happy Fall!

Friday Pick-Six: 10/6/17

Here's what we are loving and living for this week.

1.  We started off the week with yet another heartbreaking tragedy with the shooting in Las Vegas.  Here's an article with ways you can help and if you're like us and wish there was something else to do to prevent gun violence, check out Everytown with some ways you can take action.

2.  Essie released their preview of the Winter Collection this week and our girl Kindra at Essie Envy has the details.  These look pretty great for the holiday season!

3.  After a recent trip to the Apple Orchard, I'm looking for some ways to use up our apples!   I think I might be trying this crockpot applesauce this weekend.  --J

4.  We'll be tailgating this weekend and came across these S'mores Shooters.  Who is the genius who decided make a drink that tastes like s'more?  These would be perfect for a tailgate or bonfire night!

5.  Our fave show Scandal came back last night!  We are so excited about the final season.

6.  Our favorite workout these days is the new Pure Barre Empower!  It combines everything we love about traditional Pure Barre with a cardio circuit component.  We went last weekend and we were sooooo sweaty!

What are you loving and living for this week?  Let us know in the comments below.

Twins Take on the Brand: Winc

If you’re anything like us, two things are true- 1) You enjoy wine and 2) You do not enjoy going to the grocery store.  Well, we have the solution for you!  It’s called Winc- a personalized wine club that selects wines for you and delivers them right to your door!*  

How does it work?  First, you complete a short quiz about your preferences and then Winc recommends wines based on your responses.  (The questions are about your tastes in general, like “how do you like your coffee?” or “do you like citrus flavors?” and you also tell them you preference of white vs. red).   Then, you review their recommendations and read a short description of each wine.  If you don’t like what they selected, you can also browse the current selections and make up your own box. 

The PROS:

1.  The wines!  They have over 100 styles, from Rose to Cabernet.  Every one we tried was delicious!  In our first box, we received these beauties:

Ry served two of these at a recent happy hour with our friend Beth and they were a hit!

We are a sucker for a great bottle of wine, and we actually subscribe to the "if you like the label, you'll probably like the wine" theory.  Check out this baby!  You know it was one of our immediate favorites.

2.  Delivery!   Yes, that’s right.  They deliver a box full of wine right to your door!   There is no catch, my friends. Shipping is free (if you order 4 bottles) and only $9 if you order 3 or less.

3.  No obligations!  Unlike some subscription services that automatically ship, you can cancel any month or the full subscription at any time, free of charge.

The CONS:

1.  Delivery logistics.  Someone who is 21 must sign for the package.  If you aren’t home the day they attempt delivery, you will have to reschedule it.  The good news is you can arrange to have the box held at your local FedEx store and pick it up at your convenience.  You can also set up text alerts so that you know where your package is and try to get home in time to meet it at the door.

2.  Price point (for some of the wines).  We generally average $10-15 a bottle, and there were plenty of options in that price range.  However, they range between $14-35, so some of the options seemed a bit steep for us.

If this sounds up your alley, we would love for you to give it a try!  Just click here (to use our offer code), follow the short and easy steps to delicious wine.  If you use the link above to sign up with our code, you will earn $20 off your order!

Let us know what your favorite Winc wines and we’ll be sure to include them in our next order!  

Here's our latest shipment... jealous yet? 

*Note: this is NOT a sponsored post, just a personal recommendation for a product we actually use and enjoy.

Would you give Winc a try?  Let us know what you think in the comments!

Twins Take on the Season: Fall Bucket List

As much as we love the other seasons, fall is truly our favorite.  Football, cooler weather and pumpkin spice everything!  What's not to love?  Here's what we're looking forward to doing this fantastic fall!

The Twins Take On Fall Bucket List!

• Enjoy Pumpkiny Treats:  We love the classics like Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but we also like to try new recipes, too.  We may have to try this Pumpkin Pie Puppy Chow, this Pumpkin Pie Smoothie or Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones.

• Pick Apples:  This year, we want to try to get out and pick some fresh apples.  Last year, Jess and the family put this off too late in the year and most of the apples had been picked.  Lucky for us, our local orchard also makes delicious donuts, so it wasn't a total loss!  This year, Jess is hoping to pick enough apples to make some homemade applesauce and a pie or two!

• Hit the Cider Mill:  We love visiting our local cider mill for fresh cider and donuts.  (If you're noticing a theme that much of our Bucket List features donuts, you aren't wrong!)

• Rock our Fall Wardrobes:  Fall is our favorite fashion season by far.  We are obsessed with plaid, knitwear and boots! We'll be featuring our faves in some posts yet to come!

• Tailgate Like Champions:  We spend almost every fall Saturday consumed by football.  We usually set aside at least one home game and plan a killer tailgate.  This year is no exception--look for an upcoming post with our Tailgate Tips. 

• Kick Our Fitness Plans into Gear:  Usually, we're more motivated to keep working out hard in the summer (Hello, beach vacation).  However, between Jess's Back of School and Ryan's commute, it's been challenging to get our workouts in lately.  This fall, we want to hit the reset button on our fitness routines.  We hope to get serious and see some awesome results by the holiday season.  

What's on your Bucket List this fall?  Let us know in the comments and Happy Fall, ya'll!