Author Archives: lifewithlilred

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About lifewithlilred

Just your average gal blogging an average blog!
Mar17

Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color Swatch In Moonstone

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Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color Swatch In Moonstone

Hi! At the bridal expo my bestie and I attended they had so many damn vendors I thought we were never going to get through them all. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a bridal expo without your friendly neighborhood Mary Kay representative breathing down your throat. But, they had freebies! In their little goody bags, there was the lip gloss sample you saw yesterday and a single use eyeshadow application that we’ll look more closely at today:

moonmoon1moon2

Let me start off by saying, that I have never seen an eyeshadow sample like Mary Kay’s before. The makeup was protected by a thin sheet of plastic and, once peeled off, you could help yourself to the eyeshadow underneath. I thought this was so clever and it’s a great way to test a color out without committing to the purchase. And, god forbid you end up not liking the color you buy!

Having said that, this eyeshadow sucked lol. At first glance, it looks like this pretty pale yellow mixed with fairy dust. Then, on application, it just looked white with a ton of shimmer and I would never wear anything like that… Even when I was a teenager I didn’t wear anything like that! It also wiped off completely with one gentle swipe of a dry paper towel, so do with that info what you will.

Although I wouldn’t wear this as an eyeshadow, I thought it might make for a pretty highlighter. But, that’s what buying a highlighter is for! I give this Mary Kay Mineral Eye Color in Moonstone a big fat WHOMP WHOMP and I can guarantee you that you would have better luck with makeup from the dollar store.

Which brand of makeup do you find overrated? How do you rock a shimmery MOTD? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar16

Mary Kay Nourishine Plus Lip Gloss Swatch In Fancy Nancy

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Mary Kay Nourishine Plus Lip Gloss Swatch In Fancy Nancy

Hello! My best friend, Lea, will be tying the knot in October and I am so honored to be a part of her special day as one of her bridesmaids. From a DIY wine and paint night and bridesmaid dress shopping to attending a bridal expo with Lea and her family, it feels good to bond even closer to my bestie and become friends with the rest of her wedding party.

I didn’t write about the bridal expo we attended but, I’ve gotta tell you, it was really something. Lol and by something I mean it was totally overwhelming. The IX Center in Cleveland was completely packed by vendors and brides to be and it was major sensory overload for me. But, the bagful of free goodies I ended up with from visiting the different vendors made being packed in like sardines somewhat worth it!

I walked away with a reusable tote bag full of candies, chapsticks, BBQ sauce of all things, and some makeup samples including the following by Mary Kay:

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My first and only experience with Mary Kay makeup left much to be desired so I wasn’t particularly excited to try out the Nourishine Plus Lip Gloss in Fancy Nancy. However, the rose gold hue shining through the package looked pretty and I was interested in seeing it more closely.

I am not a big lip gloss girl and much prefer smooth matte lipstick over a sticky gloss any day. The Nourishine formula wasn’t “I spilled juice and forgot to clean it up” level sticky but halfway between that and a chapstick. In my opinion, it was still too much for me but it definitely applied smoother than the other glosses I’ve tried.

Despite not loving the texture, I absolutely adore the color and would be willing to try it in a lipstick, for sure. The over the top glitter gives a fresh, summery tangerine shine in the light and I think that it would look so charming for rooftop drinks with the girls come the hot weather. Would I go out of my way to order the Mary Kay brand? No. But I will definitely be keeping my eye out for something similar!

How do you feel about Mary Kay? Have you ever been part of a wedding party? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar15

Selling Your Space: Services You Need To Find A Buyer Faster

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Selling Your Space: Services You Need To Find A Buyer Faster

There is much money to be made in the real estate industry. Buying from developers and selling to budding homeowners, when done with acute timing, can rake in a multi-million profit. However, this is one of those trades that sounds easier said than done. While it’s a lucrative business for the flipper, people will always be wary about where to spend their hard-earned cash on. Thus, you have to make your property as attractive as possible. How do you close that sale and make millions in a jiffy? Here are some services you can use:

It’s all about the angles:

Showcasing all of the best features of your property requires expertise. Make sure to hire both a professional photographer and an expert photo-editing company so that the ending photos look exquisite.

To make sure all of the shots present spick and span angles, clean the property from top to bottom a day before. Remove all clutter from the floor to clearly show open walking spaces. Rearrange furniture so that all rooms seem larger. Every wide shot should include at least half of the room or two adjacent walls and a clear view of the floor to ceiling. Let as much light in by turning on lights and opening windows. Accessorize flat elevated areas like dining tables and nightstands for added dimension.

Spruce up your space:

Once you get inquiries and viewing requests, it’s time to let them see the stylish side of the house. Within the industry, this is called “home staging” or remodeling a real estate property to look its best before being sold. It requires renovating the room without installing permanent or personal furnishings. For this, you might need a professional interior designer or an expert carpenter to do the job for you.

Create a theme for your home and find pieces and colors that adhere to the theme. This includes repainting the house and renovating significant and noticeable furnishings such as lighting fixtures, flooring, kitchen kits, bed components, bathroom vanities, and the like.

De-personalize the space. Remove rugs or carpets from your floor and keep all storage spaces bare.

Get your ears on the ground:

Sometimes, an expert set of eyes and ears is what you need to sell your home quicker. Make sure to scrutinize your potential agent’s background. As you take them around the property for sale, ask about their training, their license or certification, and how many years of experience they have had in selling homes. Ask about the last property they sold – how quick they did it and to whom they sold it to. Request a marketing plan and a comparable market analysis of your property to determine how best to sell it.

Don’t be afraid to assess multiple agents. This is so you can either test their listing prices or compare their proposed commissions.

Get more mileage with social media:

In this day and age, your potential client will probably see your property off social media. Thus, leverage your digital platforms.

If you’re clueless about the best practices, you can ask a seasoned social media manager for help. They can set up your own Facebook page, blog, or even a whole website and build a marketing strategy to drive organic traffic to these sites. Shoot a video tour and post it on YouTube or share it through every possible channel.

You can also join online marketplaces, niche groups, and online real estate listings to give your property more mileage.

Don’t work hard by doing all of this yourself; work smart and know the right kind of help you need. Do these things correctly, and you’re on your way to making money off of your property!

Mar15

Spring Has Sprung Guest Bloggers Wanted

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Spring Has Sprung Guest Bloggers Wanted

Hello everyone! After what felt like a never ending winter, spring is definitely starting to… Well, spring, in my neck of the woods. Finally! An increase in temperature means reading outside, walks in the park with the pups, and day trips to the zoo. Warmer weather also brings us beautiful blooms, floral dresses, and soft, fresh makeup. I don’t know about all of ya’ll, but I am so there for it!

If you are too, then how about guest blogging a spring themed post on lifewithlilred? Your article topic is up to you as long as it has something to do with the new season at hand. Spring cleaning tips, perhaps? Or maybe how to host a flower planting party with your friends? And, let’s not forget about all of the gorgeous spring OOTDs and MOTDs!

If you are interested, please shoot me an email at: sarah.mush6794@gmail.com

Can’t wait to see what you come up with! xx

Mar14

Groovy Movies: Five Below Edition

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Groovy Movies: Five Below Edition

Hello! I am an avid movie lover and my favorite date nights with my boyfriend are when we go out to see something in theaters. But, I also love movie nights in where we throw on a DVD or a Netflix original. So, needless to say, discount DVD bins are my weakness! If I find a movie that I like for five bucks or under, I almost always buy it. I consider an evening of entertainment well worth the purchase, which justified snagging these two flicks during a trip to Five Below with a client:

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I was so tickled to find Elf and The Theory Of Everything at Five Below because Elf is my absolute favorite Christmas movies and The Theory Of Everything is one of my favorite movies in general. Every year for Christmas, my family ends up watching Elf one time at the very least and, now that I’m moved out, I no longer have my own copy. Son of a nutcracker! So, obviously, I needed this to bring me some holiday cheer for Christmas In July and many Christmases to come.

If you have seen The Theory Of Everything, then I am sure you can understand why I needed to purchase it. Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking was easily one of the best performances of the decade and I was completely mesmerized the first time I saw it. And I still am. And I never won’t be.

2014 was an excellent year for films because it gave me two of my favorite movies: The Theory Of Everything and The Imitation Game starring the incomparable Benedict Cumberbatch as mathematician, Alan Turing. The Imitation Game is an amazing true story and definitely the next one on my “must buy” list!

What is your favorite movie? Who are your favorite movie stars? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar13

Blart Side Of The Mall

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Blart Side Of The Mall

Hi! Once upon a time, I was SO close to falling asleep when my boyfriend shook me out of my tired haze to inform me of something he deemed highly important. So, can you imagine my annoyance when he told me that Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 syncs up perfectly to Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side Of The Moon”?! Then, he showed me an example clip in the style of Wizard Of Oz syncing up to the album but with Paul Blart and my annoyance dissipated immediately:

^^^ And, as always, I have no rights to these songs or videos!

If you watched any of the example clip, you will see that the legend is true and Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 and Dark Side Of The Moon go together like peanut butter and jelly. Within a week, my boyfriend and I watched the album synced up to the movie in its entirety and I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. In fact, I spent half of the time wiping the tears from my eyes from the constant laugh attack that the experience gave me.

So, I have decided to share the wealth. Not only am I informing all of you that it’s hilarious but I am also sharing this discovery with the vinyl record club that I take one of my clients to. As luck would have it, I found a Mall Cop collection in the discount DVD bin at Walmart for three dollars and seventy-four cents (lol) and I realized that this had to be my choice for when I bring in my album.

Is it stupid? Abso-freaking-lutely. Is it one of my favorite things in the world? Abso-freaking-lutely. I am so excited to introduce my friends at record club to this spectacle and, even if no one appreciates it as much as I do, at least they get to hear Dark Side Of The Moon, right? 😉

What other movies does Dark Side Of The Moon sync up to? What is something stupid that you find hilarious? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Film School Rejects

Mar12

Creating A Business From Home

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Creating A Business From Home

Being able to create a business from home is something we’d all probably aspire to do if we had the opportunity. However, it’s more possible now than ever to create a business from scratch and run it from your own home. You just need to have the knowledge and drive to be able to do it. Here are some tips if you want to do just that:

Have An Investment Budget:

An investment budget is something any business will need to some degree, even if you’re going to be working from home. When you’re creating a business from scratch, there are certain things that are going to need to be paid for. From the furniture and equipment you’ll need to access the internet and to do your communications to the stock you’ll need to create in order to package and send out products that you might be selling online.

There’s a lot to think about, regardless of what you do as a business, so the best place to start is to create an investment budget. Start with what you need in terms of a ballpark figure and then begin saving to achieve that amount.

Create Your Business Plan:

When creating a business plan, you want to make sure that everything has been thought of because it all matters in making sure you have everything laid out in preparation for your business to begin. Think of any objectives and goals you’d like to achieve over the first quarter of your business and don’t be afraid to set some long-term goals because everyone who starts a business has hopes of it lasting for more than just a few months. It’ll hopefully also give you the motivation you need to push through the hard times that you might endure.

As you create your business plan, think of what is important to its structure to maximize success. This includes outweighing the pros and cons of different options like exploring some disadvantages of structuring your business as an S corp or if you want to incorporate work from home hours to your model. The business plan is your roadmap to a thriving business so create it carefully.

Start Seeking Out Suppliers:

Depending on your business, you might have items that you wish to sell, and so it’s good to look into suppliers that are suitable for what you’re after. Whether it’s tumblers in bulk that you’re after or a wholesale provider who can offer clothing that you might be planning on printing on. There are lots of places out there to take advantage of so think about all of the different options that are available before making a selection.

Prepare To Work Hard:

It’s important to know that it’s going to be a lot of hard work that goes into running your own business. Some days will go great, some days will be bad, and others will be worse. It’s important to take the highs with the lows and to enjoy the experiences and challenges that come with owning a business from home.

When creating a business, it’s not something that’s easy, otherwise, everyone would be doing it. Stay focused, believe in yourself, trust your instincts, and work hard.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Mar12

March 2020 Funky Time Jams

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March 2020 Funky Time Jams

Howdy! One of my clients at work absolutely loves oldies style music. This has definitely opened a whole new genre to me and I am actually pretty obsessed. I find myself humming the catchy, poppy tunes constantly and feel like I always have an earworm in my head of songs from the 1950s. Before, I was a-okay with just hearing this music for fifteen hours of my work week but I’ll be goddamned if I say that I’m not listening to it all the time now! Especially some of the following:

^^^ And, as always, I have no rights to these songs or videos!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love music of all kinds. I dabble in all genres and I always enjoy hearing things that I haven’t heard before. But, after being exposed to this golden era of music, I can honestly understand why people say “they don’t make music like this anymore” because it’s one hundred and fifty percent true.

I just love the talent behind all of these short and sweet songs. The big band instrumentals, the amazing vocals, and the way I want to get up and dance to each song is something that I don’t hear or feel on the radio today. Hearing modern remakes of all of these classics would be cool but nothing will ever beat the real thing.

I feel like I’m traveling back in time when I listen to the oldies and from now on you can find me posted up at The Hop! 😀

What are some of your favorite oldies? What genres of music have you been exploring? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar11

Five Rules For The Perfect Game Night

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Five Rules For The Perfect Game Night

If there is one thing that you should be doing at least once a month, it’s hosting a game night. You can switch off with your friends so that you all take turns, but you have to host at least once every single month so that you can enjoy an evening with your friends on your terms. Some people like to make game night an evening thing, with a game of cards and takeout. Others like to make games night one of board game and chips ‘n’ dip.

No matter how you do it, game night needs to be something you’re all going to enjoy and you need to plan it to perfection for that to happen. Game night is all about your friendships, laughter, camaraderie, and total enjoyment of each other’s company. If it’s your turn to host game night, try adhering to the following rules:

Enough Space:

The first thing that you need for game night to go smoothly is the right space. You need enough room for all of you to sit down and if you want to have Pictionary, you need room to be able to get up and draw! Charades requires some moving space, so clear the floor of a room and throw around some beanbags for seating.

Games:

Games night requires games. Break out the board games, pens, and paper for writing things down and a good Word Unscrambler. You need to be able to choose five or six games to play with friends to make your night a successful one.

Snacks & Drinks:

Whether you decide to have your game night outside or inside, you need food and drinks to keep the night flowing. You can choose to make a meal for people to pick at, like a vat of chili and a basket of hot dogs to add, or you can go with the chips ‘n’ dip route. It’s entirely up to you which way you do it. Add drinks – cold and hot, soft and alcoholic – it’s good to have options!

Music:

You need a good playlist for music in the background. You should consider a karaoke machine for when things get a little silly later in the night. You need to think about ensuring that the playlist is a palatable one for all, and keep it low for background music and not blasting through the night.

Prizes:

Not many people do this for game night, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t! You need to think about offering a prize pot for your winners, and you can make it cheap. You can put together prizes from the local dollar stores or you can have a prize pot of cash for the overall winner of the night. If everyone puts in ten dollars, you could have a great prize pot at the end of the night.

Games night: It comes with rules and it’s going to be great!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Mar11

Don’t Be That Dog Owner

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Don’t Be That Dog Owner

If you pay attention to the news of animal-loving organizations such as The Dodo or your local animal shelter, you’re probably aware that some dogs have a hard time with terrible owners. Abandoned, malnourished, chained all day long in the garden, this is not what a dog’s life should be about. Thankfully, the world is full of caring people who go the extra length to bring joy and love into the lives of these dogs. 

As a dog lover, you know that you’ll never be the owner who neglects their pup. You love dogs, and that’s why yours gets plenty of food, a warm shelter, and regular walks. But, before you praise yourself for being the best dog owner in the country, you might want to check that you are, indeed, doing everything right. Sometimes, when we try to do the right thing, we end up doing our pets more harm than good. Don’t be the dog owner who unknowingly puts their pet at risk. 

Don’t let your dog be depressed:

You’ve got long days at work. So, to make sure your beloved Rex doesn’t feel bored or lonely, you’ve bought him a few toys. Here’s the thing, though. Your dog, just like you, needs to socialize to be happy. If you don’t take the time to play with your dog in the evening or to let him play with other dogs, you may be endangering Rex’s mental health. Did you know that dogs that don’t receive enough attention can get depressed? So, also consider how you could fulfill your dog’s social needs day after day. We get it: After a long and hectic day, all you want is to sit on the sofa and chill. But spending quality time with Rex can go a long way! 

Don’t leave your dog unprotected:

Rex doesn’t like fences. He can’t see what’s going on. 

You may not want to block your dog’s view, but you can’t leave Rex in an open garden. Your pup is likely to run away. If you don’t want to spend countless hours every day looking for your dog, you need to put fences up. Additionally, running into a foreign neighborhood could confuse or scare your pet. Cities are loud and filled with terrifying vehicles. A panicked dog could run amok, get injured, or even hurt someone. You don’t need your neighbor to complain about getting bitten by a dog, especially when it’s yours. Scared dogs can become aggressive because they believe they are under attack. 

It’s never just a little snack:

Sharing your snacks with your dog is the most natural thing. As a pet owner, you want to let your dog have something nice too. However, your sweet attention may be affecting your pet’s health. Treats should not become a symbol of your love. Too many dog owners are facilitating obesity when they only hope to be kind to their pups. Make sure to control portion sizes and to choose healthy snack options. 

Dog lovers are often guilty of putting their pets at risk without noticing it. Because you want the best for your pup, you can make the wrong decisions with dramatic consequences. The golden rule, when you are responsible for your pet’s health, is to ask yourself how your choices affect Rex’s mental and physical well being. 

Featured Image By: Pexels