They did an episode of House Hunters International about us – and it airs TONIGHT!

It’s a long story, that started 2 years ago. And we can finally, finally tell you all about it!

When we moved [back] to Uppsala from Asheville two years ago, someone at HGTV’s (Home & Garden Television) popular show House Hunters International (HHI)  stumbled upon this blog of mine and contacted me via email.

The email basically said that HHI would love to do an episode on me + Lina… they thought our story was great and really wanted to film an episode in Uppsala. WHAT?! Of course, we weren’t sure that this email was legit, so I replied back to basically ask if this was true – because it was too good to be true! I mean, we looooove HGTV and HHI.

image from here

For those of you who may not know, House Hunters International is an American tv program that “takes viewers behind the international scenes of what may be the biggest financial and emotional purchase of a person’s life. From touring houses to making offers, each half-hour episode highlights the experiences of finding and purchasing a new home in countries outside the United States.”

Anyway, it turns out that it was a serious offer. Oh. My. God.

The thing is, at that time we were not buying a home anytime soon, so we decided that we would just stay in touch until the day came that we would be ready to buy something in Uppsala – and hope that they would still want us whenever we were ready. So. Agreed. And fingers crossed.

We sent emails back and forth with HHI every now and then, just to keep up with each other throughout the year.

Suddenly, Lina and I found out that we had to move out of the apartment that we were renting and we decided it was time to buy.

So, we shot off an email to HHI and informed them that we were on the hunt for something, and asked if they were still interested. They totally were! We got the paperwork, sent in a casting video (that was still part of the process even though they asked us to be in an episode), signed contracts, and were officially in the planning stages of buying a home + working with HGTV. Talk about crazy!

Wanna see the casting video we sent it?! Watch it right here (from our Youtube channel)

Time flew by and it was soon time to begin filming the show. After 5 days of filming in the US and in Sweden this past summer/autumn, and a few months of anxiously + excitedly waiting, we got word that the episode was done. We’ve had a few updates from the producer/director, and she has sounded really excited about our show… so we shall see! We have no idea what’s included, what got cut out, or anything about anything. But, tonight is the night that we will find out!

Inside I’m freaking out a little bit. Hehe.

 

photo taken in Asheville this past summer as we headed out the door for our very first filming day

This week, we’ve also gotten a little press about the upcoming episode, which is super cool. A couple of newspapers in Asheville wrote up some short articles announcing our episode. You can read them here (from the Asheville Citizen Times) and here (from the Mountain Xpress).

One of the local papers in Uppsala (UNT) also contacted us and did an interview, but we don’t know when (or if) an article will be published. Just have to wait and see.

So, how can you watch it?

Unfortunately,  House Hunters International only airs on HGTV in the US, so any of us (yes, even us) who live outside of the US won’t be able to see it. But, all of you Americans sure will!

// Americans:

Tune in tonight, Thursday, February 2 at 10:30 PM (eastern time) on HGTV (whatever channel that is for you). The name of our episode is Swinging Back to Sweden. It also airs at 1:30 am on Friday, just in case you can’t sleep or need a rerun. Hehe. You can also watch it online live → here. (I think you can watch it online at the same link on Friday as well).

// Swedes (and anyone traveling to Sweden to see us):

HGTV is sending us a DVD, so Lina and I are planning a Viewing/Housewarming party! We will be sure to keep you posted on when + where that just might happen. Exciting, huh?!

// Everyone else:

Lina and I have tons of footage from our days of filming. Photos + videos. We will be posting behind-the-scenes photos + stories here and behind-the-scenes videos + stories on our YouTube channel which you can find → here. Head on over to our channel, Liz+Lina (just like our podcast) and click “subscribe” so you will get all of the videos as we release them. Stay tuned!

Feel free to click on the photo below to head over to the HGTV website to read about the episode or watch it live online (still only Americans can access it).

Actually, Lina and I are planning on waking up at 4:30 am (we’re 6 hours ahead) tonight, Face-Timing with my parents and watching it on their tv. Can’t wait! But, uhhh… it’s also so freaking scary and weird and crazy.

So, there you go. It was most definitely an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience… or was it?! Who knows where things will go from here. I can definitely say, though, that this experience has inspired us in ways that we could have never imagined. We met amazing people, learned tons of new things, and created a whole new plan for Liz+Lina. And it was all so. much. fun.

 

xoxo. liz.