Author Archives: lifewithlilred

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About lifewithlilred

Just your average gal blogging an average blog!

Hats Off: Peter Grimm Edition

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Hats Off: Peter Grimm Edition

Yo! Aside from shoes, which we all know are one of Lil Red’s major vices, I am definitely a hat girl. This gene was single handedly passed down from my grandma (my mom’s mom), who owned over one hundred hats. I began my own collection when I was fifteen or so with a deep purple cloche number, and it has expanded from there. In fact, quite a few of the hats in my collection are from my beloved grandma, so I know that she’s happy up in heaven that this love for her favorite accessory was passed down to one of her granddaughters. So, I’m positive that she’ll be pleased with my latest headwear purchase – I know I am! Take a look:

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I scored this Peter Grimm beauty from TJMaxx for seventeen bucks and, when I looked on the website for Peter Grimm, it was sixty! It was a total steal for such a cool hat, especially since I don’t own any in the camel coloring. I don’t know why I used to associate tan with being boring, because the color of this hat made my red locks POP. So, major shout out to Mister Peter Grimm for helping me to adjust that major character flaw.

What I love about this hat, is that it’s safari inspired with the faux suede rope and adjustable toggle, but it looks so damn chic because it’s attached to a somewhat bowler style hat instead of a traditional safari one. I can picture this Peter Grimm number with a cargo jumpsuit or romper, obviously. But, because it’s so neutral, it can be worn with literally anything to add some unexpected spice to an outfit. For example, I can totally see myself pairing it with my Fervour skeleton jumpsuit just because for a look that’s quirky cool – my specialty!

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

Five Below Find

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Five Below Find

Howdy! Something that I’ve grown very fond of as of late are discount stores. Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Five Below – you name it, and I like it. Ballin on a budget is my lifestyle choice and these stores live by my motto of “why pay more if you don’t have to”. From office supplies and snacks to holiday decor for a dollar, sometimes I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot when I stop into a discount shop. Just the other day at Five Below, for example, I walked away with this darling hair bow for three bucks and I’m sure it would have costed at least ten at Claire’s! Take a look:

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This beautiful black bow with the long streamers ties in perfectly with my sweet goth aesthetic and I cannot wait to wear it. My hair definitely needs to grow out a bit more and, once it does, I will be pairing it with half up and messy bun styles ASAFP. The beauty of discount stores is that no one needs to know the price that you paid for a good find. For three bucks, I found a new accessory that would have costed me triple the price elsewhere and you just can’t beat that!

What is your favorite discount store to shop at? What is one of your best discount store finds? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Five Below

Tips For Dealing With The Stress Of Losing Your Job

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Tips For Dealing With The Stress Of Losing Your Job

No one wants to go through the experience of getting fired, but these things happen in life for whatever reason. When this happens to you, it’s important that you pick yourself up and try to get back to normal as soon as possible. But doing that and dealing with the stress of losing your job isn’t easy. Here are some tips and advice to help you deal with that and come out of this experience in a stronger position:

Don’t Let it Destroy Your Confidence:

When you lose your job, it’s easy to feel down about it and lose sight of your long-term goals. That’s definitely the wrong way to deal with a job loss, though. You can’t allow one setback such as this to completely destroy your confidence and stop you from going on to do the things that you want to do in your career. Brush yourself off and know that there are still lots of successes to be had.

Start Looking for Other Opportunities Right Away:

There are always opportunities out there for you to explore and you should start looking for them right away when you lose your job. Rather than being down and out, look at it as a chance to find another role that will ultimately be even better for you. One job loss doesn’t signal the end of your career or anything like it. In the long-term, you might look back at this as a positive turning point for you.

If it Was Wrongful, Consider Taking Action:

Losing your job is one thing, but being fired for an illegitimate reason is even worse. You should get in touch with a wrongful termination attorney if you suspect that you’ve been sacked for a reason that’s not justifiable in the eyes of the law. You can fight the case, win it, and get your job back or at least some sort of compensation for the experience.

Learn Lessons From the Experience:

Every negative experience in your career and life can be learned from in one way or another. There’s always something that you can take away from the hardship so that you can try to do better in the future. It could help you to avoid failures or mistakes in other jobs and roles that you take on further down the line.

Change Course if the Career Path Your On Doesn’t Suit You:

It might even be time for you to change course in your career completely. If your career isn’t suiting you, don’t hesitate to change it and pursue something completely different. It might be just what you need in order to refresh things and revitalize your career. There’s little point in pursuing a career path that doesn’t suit you. Services like Executive Outplacement can be most helpful in easing the transition of a new career path and can be a great tool if the stress of this change is getting to you.

The stress that comes with losing your job is never easy, but it’s not the end of the world. There are always other opportunities out there for you to pursue, and they might turn out to be better for you than the job that you’ve been doing up until now. So get back on the horse and work towards success!

Featured Image By: Flickr

Happy Halloween!

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Happy Halloween!

Greetings everyone and a very Happy Halloween to all of you! I hope that all of you who celebrate enjoy a day of tricks and treats and, to those of you who don’t partake in the festivities, have a great normal day! Here is a friendly reminder of my angry dog in her minion costume last year wishing everyone a wonderful day:

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Gem says…

Happy Halloween!!

Making Time For Me

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Making Time For Me

Hello! I know the title of this post might seem a bit extra to some, considering I just recently was on vacation. But, oh my goodness is it necessary. Upon returning home from my trip, my work days were absolutely insane. We’re talking rising at seven to get ready and going, going, going nonstop until my arrival home after nine at night. Ah, the joys of playing catch up when you work for yourself and don’t get PTO!

With all of that craziness in mind, it was so important for me to make time for myself to go skating in between clients this past week. Despite a forty-five minute drive there and back to the rink, just one hour on the ice made me feel much better. The cold air, the challenge, and the exercise was more than enough to clear my head half way through the week and gave me the drive to push through until my weekend days off.

Sometimes, I have a really hard time making time for myself. I will work myself so hard to the point that, when I do have free time, I just want to veg out and do nothing. And, believe me, I was feeling this way last week like no other. But, I pushed myself to get to skating practice, even though I was riding the struggle bus, and it was well worth it. Not only did I feel proud of myself for having a good skate, but it left me feeling invigorated and ready for work, which I had to be at shortly after practice.

Making time for yourself doesn’t mean that you need to take an entire mental health day. Although, sometimes, that’s good too! Rather, I took under three hours of my day to do something that I really enjoy and the pay off was grand. Over the past few months, I have experienced the effects of feeling burnt out, and it is no walk in the park. But, I know that if I keep carving out time for myself during my work week, that my mental health will continue to improve and my determination to finish the week strong instead of idly passing through it will keep me on top in all aspects of my life.

How do you make time for you during your working hours? What do you do for yourself when you start to feel burnt out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Scary Good OOTD

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Scary Good OOTD

Hi everyone! With Halloween coming in hot, I thought that it would be fun to style a Scary Good OOTD. The spooky, dark atmosphere that comes with this time of year is something that I revel in, so I wanted to create an outfit that would invoke that while still looking chic. I had a blast making this elegant goth OOTD and had even more fun clowning around with Michael Myers and my ladybug pumpkin seen below:

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Who? What? Wear?

The first thing that came to mind when I began styling this outfit was breaking out my never been worn cape blazer by Nine West. There is nothing more spooky chic to me than a cape when it comes to actual clothing and not a costume, especially when its jet black! This Nine West number summons the brisk, chilly vibes of a late October night and also Harry Potter so, yes, this was a must for my OOTD.

I wanted the rest of the clothing in this look to be simple, because what makes this outfit pop is the movement of the cape and the bright red shoes. So, I went with my velvet pants from Loft to add some texture and my go to layering sweater from TJMaxx for underneath the cape. The velvet skinnies contrasted really nicely against the faux suede booties and these textures paired well with the tuxedo fabric of the Nine West piece on top. Playing with textures is a great way to add visual interest to the look, because it makes the eyes dance. So, pairing different textures on the shoes, pants, and top created a lot of breakup but still looked cohesive because of the minimal color palette. Very cool!

And, now, accessories! I wanted a pop of color in this OOTD, because it would add a little something something to every aspect of this project. The super pointed toe of the shoe gave witchy vibes without being black. And, the bright red looked striking against the black clothes and the bleak weather, as you can tell in the pictures. For some more spooky sweetness, I attached a huge black bow to my pulled back hair. This was also a nice touch, because the bow has long streamers, which looked beautiful against my bright red locks and also mirrored the contrast with my black pants and red shoes. This was very intentional and added even more cohesiveness to the finished outfit.

For jewelry, I added dangly crosses to both of my ear piercings and a ring on each finger. A necklace was a necessity, too, and I wanted something that was creepy but didn’t look campy. So, I went with my bronze Pinocchio necklace because, from far away, it looks like a little body. It’s only up close that you realize that it really is a beloved Disney character!

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Once I was looking my best for a hang out session with my good friend Michael, snapping some silly pictures was a must. But, I’ve gotta tell you guys, I felt really uneasy exploring the grounds after our photo shoot. I swear, it felt like something was following me and trying to grab me with their hands!

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And when I turned around, this is what was looking back at me. Boo!

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Happy Halloween!

How would you style a Scary Good OOTD? What is your favorite scary movie? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

October 2018 Finishes

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October 2018 Finishes

Helloooo! With October drawing to a close quicker than anticipated, it’s time to discuss which beauty products I finished up this month. What was nice about this month’s empties is that half of them were totally free, which saved me at least twenty dollars. The Clean & Clear cleanser came from a Walgreen’s goodie bag, the Bath & Body Works body wash was free, and the body wash from The Body Shop was a gift. Sweet!

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Would I Use Again?

  • Lubriderm lotion: YES
  • The Body Shop Satsuma body butter: YES
  • The Body Shop Almond Milk & Honey shower cream: NO
  • Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar shower gel: YES
  • Clean & Clear Acne Triple Clear cleanser: MAYBE
  • ArganiCare moisturizer: YES!!

Why/Why Not?

Lubriderm Lotion: Good ol’ Lubriderm is my go to brand to use upon getting a new tattoo and, as I get new ones fairly frequently, I always keep a bottle of lotion handy. I’ve had this bottle for about six months, which is pretty good considering I use it multiple times a day for a handful of weeks when a new tattoo is healing. I will definitely continue using this lotion and, at six dollars a bottle, a dollar per month cost per use is something that I can totally get behind!

TBS Body Butter: This jumbo sized body butter is compliments of TJMaxx for ten bucks, which sure beats the in store price of thirty! Satsuma is easily one of my favorite scents from TBS and I would have hundreds of these body butters in my arsenal if I could. I got at least ten full body uses out of the jumbo sized butter and hope that I can find more at TJ’s to help with dry winter skin in the approaching months.

TBS Shower Cream: Although I love, love, love the Almond Milk & Honey scent from TBS, this shower cream was a major whomp whomp. It didn’t lather at all, making it really hard to feel clean while taking a shower. Because it didn’t lather, I tried to compensate by using more of it per use, which resulted in me finishing the bottle in three weeks. I would recommend a gel over a shower cream any day, because the gel from TBS lasts me at least five weeks, which is a money saver.

B&BW Shower Gel: On the opposite end of the body wash spectrum is the Warm Vanilla Sugar shower gel from Bath & Body Works. I had this travel sized bottle for over three weeks, which should tell you everything you need to know about the one from TBS. It lathered well, smelled amazing, and I would definitely use it again.

Clean & Clear Cleanser: It took me about three weeks to finish this mini cleanser and, if given the opportunity, I would use it again. But, with a normal skin type, acne is something that I don’t really worry about so I would prefer something that is designed for normal skin. However, this cleanser made my skin feel squeaky clean and that is always a plus!

ArganiCare Moisturizer: I LOVED this moisturizer and it was absolutely the MVP of this month’s finishes. I got my ArganiCare moisturizer from TJMaxx for six dollars and it lasted me for over a month and a half. A little bit of this product sure went a long way and, although a small amount was used, my skin was always left feeling supple and hydrated. I would love to use this moisturizer again and would definitely recommend it.

Overall, it was a really successful month for finishes and I would recommend almost all of the products discussed above. And when fifty percent of them were free, it makes this month’s empties even sweeter!

Have you used any of the products above? What were your thoughts on them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

 

NC Photography

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NC Photography

Howdy and welcome to the weekend! Thank you all so much for letting me dish about my family vacation to Hendersonville, North Carolina this past week. It has been so nice to relive such wonderful memories, even though they just happened, and I am already itching to travel off to somewhere new! Ah yes, the travel bug is strong since I took two trips this month but, for now, all I can do is reminisce with some final photos from vacation taken by my father who planned the entire trip! Take a look:

 

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For as long as I can remember, my dad has always found joy in planning family vacations. From Florida and Vermont to New Hampshire and North Carolina, my dad loves conducting research and will spend at least a year planning for a big summer or fall trip. It is simply the best and we are so thankful that he spends such extensive time making sure that our vacation is perfect. And, it really is a win win, because my dad enjoys it so much and we just get to sit back and experience the spoils. This year’s vacation was one of the best that we have had in a long time and I am so appreciative to my dad and family for making it all possible!

Where was your last family vaca? Where is your dream travel destination? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

NC OOTD

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NC OOTD

Hi everyone and TGIF! While on vacation in North Carolina, my family did a lot of hiking so styling outfits that slay wasn’t high on my priority list. But, on our last day of the trip, we bummed around downtown Hendersonville for the afternoon, no muddy trails required. So, trust and believe that I took this opportunity very seriously and created an edgy look that was a far cry from Southern Charm! Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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Who? What? Wear?

Upon ordering my Fervour jumpsuit from ModCloth earlier this month, I have been chomping at the bit to wear it. I thought that breaking it out on vaca would be the perfect time to do so, because it traveled well in my suitcase, it’s insanely comfortable, and it’s an easy outfit because you don’t have to pair it with anything. I have been on the prowl for a cool jumpsuit for years now, and it doesn’t get much better for me than this one. It fits well (Unlike every single one that I’ve ever tried on) and it’s goth with just the perfect amount of sweetness to it thanks to the embroidered heart. In other words, it’s basically me in a nutshell.

Because the jumpsuit is a built in outfit, all that’s left to do is accessorize when wearing one. Since I was away, I didn’t have all of my options handy so I did the best that I could with what I did have. A moto jacket was a must with the jumpsuit, though, because my Nasty Gal one is tighter fitting, which complimented the bagginess of the suit well. I also went with heeled boots that would fit over the leggings to create length, which is important when something is oversized. To finish things off, I toted along my It Brit purse, white sunnies, and my signature red lip for a head turning OOTD in the streets of NC.

I love this look and I felt insanely confident in it, but I’m excited to style another OOTD now that I’m back and my wardrobe is accessible. I can picture this jumpsuit in a really sporty sense, so I’m thinking of wearing a loose fitting crop top over it, a flannel tied at the waist to cinch things in, and some cute little Nike’s for a look that Sporty Spice would be proud of!

Where do you shop for the best jumpsuits? How would you style my skeleton chic suit? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

3 Mistakes That Are Damaging Your Health

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3 Mistakes That Are Damaging Your Health

Taking care of your health is difficult because there is so much conflicting information out there. Everybody seems to have their own idea about how best to look after yourself and it’s hard to know who you should listen to. Some of that advice is backed up by solid evidence while some of it isn’t quite so clear cut. But even though it’s hard to work out what you should be doing, it’s a lot easier to work out what you shouldn’t be doing. These are the biggest health mistakes that you need to avoid:

Going To The Wrong Doctor:

Finding a good doctor is tough and there are a lot of things to consider. A lot of people end up going with the doctor that is the most convenient location wise, which is an important factor, but it’s not the only thing that you need to think about. You need to find a doctor that suits your needs and knows their practice well. People think that all doctors are great and, while most of them are, there are still some out there that aren’t. Before making an appointment with a new doctor, we highly recommend seeking recommendations from friends and family. It is also most helpful to look online by entering a search for “Doctors whakatane” (or your local area). If there are several bad or lackluster reviews, trust them. The risk to your health is not worth it!

If you end up with a bad doctor, there is always the chance that they might make some dangerous medical mistakes (if you’ve been in this situation already, you should visit https://www.levininjuryfirm.com/philadelphia-medical-malpractice-lawyer/ to find out more about making a claim against them). Always look around when you’re trying to find a doctor and take time to make your decision. Asking friends and family who they’re with is a good place to start.

Not Keeping Track Of Your Health:

Most people go to the doctor when there’s something wrong, but you shouldn’t wait until you start seeing symptoms before you look after your health. Catching problems early on is the best way to stay healthy, so make sure that you’re keeping track of your health at all times, not just when there’s a problem. Things like watching your weight and diet and exercising regularly are all good ways to keep track of your health.

Ignoring Symptoms:

If you’re in a massive amount of pain, you’re going to go to the doctor and get it checked out. But what about if you’ve just got a little pain that comes and goes from time to time? Most people end up just ignoring it if it goes away after a few days. That’s never a good idea, though. Most problems start out with small issues like that but, over time, it’ll get worse and worse until you’re eventually forced to go to the doctor. By this point, treatment is going to be a lot harder and you’re putting your health at risk. It’s far better to just go to the doctor and get yourself checked out sooner rather than later. People sometimes worry about wasting their doctor’s time by going in with a small problem, but if you can get a simple treatment now rather than an extensive one a few months down the line, you’re actually saving them time.

Of course, it’s understandable that an appointment for a minor symptom can feel like an inconvenience in a busy schedule. That’s why the medical team at Linbury Doctors (or a similar practice in your local area) offers at home visits as well as off hours care. Having the option for a doctor to come to your doorstep removes the commute, provides privacy, and can be scheduled to fit the best time for you. Remember, taking care of your health is the most important thing but the convenience of home visits certainly helps!

You can spend the rest of your life trying to work out what you should be doing to look after your health, but it’s a lot easier to work out what you shouldn’t be doing with the above tips.

Featured Image By: Pixabay