Author Archives: lifewithlilred

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About lifewithlilred

Just your average gal blogging an average blog!
Dec19

Christmas Surprise

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Christmas Surprise

Helloooo!! Last week, my beloved, darling, beautiful best friend Kate from Ankhor You sent me over an early Christmas Surprise and I am so beside myself in all of the feels. Aside from bonding over being former skater girls, Kate and I both share a passionate love for Harry Potter. We’ve texted throughout entire HP movies on ABC and spent every evening of our Bloggers Conference tucking into a Harry Potter Weekend flick before bed. Needless to say, we’re obsessed.

Returning home from work to see any type of mail that isn’t bills is always a treat, but it was even more special coming home to something from Kate. I was expecting a holiday card and nothing more from my friend, but ended up with this beautiful Alex And Ani bracelet, instead. AND A CARD!!!!!

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This gorgeous Hogwarts crest Alex And Ani bracelet is so special to me, because it is something that I would never buy for myself. I have ogled over A&A jewelry for some time now, but I ball on a budget so it was always lusting over it from afar. Kate picked out the literal perfect Christmas gift to treat me with and I have worn it every day since it arrived in the mail.

With Kate in New York and me in Ohio, I don’t get to give Kate a huge hug every time we hang out on FaceTime or text, and this bracelet is like a hug from one of my dearest friends. I love it SO much and I can’t wait for my present to Kate to arrive in the Big Apple ASAP!!

How do you treat your friends to a Christmas Surprise? How do you stay close to far away friends? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec18

Home And Garden: Protect Your Property

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Home And Garden: Protect Your Property

If you need some help with protecting your home and garden this year, you might want to check out some of these clever gadgets, which can be the perfect remedy for your home security problems:

Ring Video Doorbell: The Ring Video Doorbell is no ordinary doorbell, it allows you to answer the door without opening it. There are motion sensors on the doorbell, and you can download an app on your phone so that when someone rings the bell, you will get a notification from the app and you can see who is at the door. It also allows you to talk through the doorbell to whoever it is. This is ideal for if you have a parcel coming and you don’t want it given to the neighbor or if you have a friend coming over but you are running a bit late.

Yale Smart Home Alarm: Arm and disarm your alarm from your smartphone. You can also add a power switch to all of your appliances as well as on your front door, so that if you leave the house and panic that you haven’t locked the door or turned off the oven, you can do it from your phone! This is a high end item, and you can review a ton of different security systems at Homesecuritysystem.co if you are unsure of which one to pick for your price range and needs.

Nest Cam Indoor: Place the nest cam in your home in a certain place and you will be able to see a 24/7 live stream of anything going on in that part of the house. If there is any odd activity or weird noises, your phone will notify you so that you can see what’s happening.

Dummy Camera: If you don’t feel like shelling out the dough to kit your home out with full CCTV, you can bluff by hanging up a fake camera outside of your home. It is far cheaper and any potential thieves won’t be able to tell the difference, meaning that you are much less likely to have your home intruded by anyone.

Fake TV Light: If you are ever out of the house but you would like to mimic occupancy to deter anyone from coming near the home, you can use this gadget to make it look like the TV is on. The TV light mimics the color changes of a TV, and you can pre-set the light to come on at certain times.

Cam Safe: If you’ve ever seen on Pinterest those secret compartments behind a light switch, then you may like this gadget. The idea is to take every day objects in the home and make them into secret compartments to store your valuables. It could be as random as a can of Coke or a packet of chips. It will allow you to keep your valuables in the home, in a place where no criminal is ever going to look for them. You can even keep it in the fridge if you want to make it even more convincing.

Stay safe and secure this holiday season with the above gadgets!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Dec18

Monday Update: Christmas Excitement Edition

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Monday Update: Christmas Excitement Edition

Hey everyone and happy Monday! As of today, there are only SEVEN DAYS left till Christmas! That’s one week and that’s one very happy Sarah!

SEVEN DAYS OMGGGGGGG!!!

It’s so crazy, because it feels like Thanksgiving just happened and now Christmas is a single digits amount away? Where in the world has the time gone?! That’s okay, though, because I don’t know about you guys – but I’m ready for a cozy morning with my family opening presents and cooking a great big dinner.

I’ve always loved Christmas. The food, the gifts, the family time. I am so lucky to say that all of my holiday memories have been fond and happy. And, despite a lot of setbacks this year, I know that the big day next week is going to be filled with tons of good cheer and fun.

As you guys know, I completed all of my shopping very early this year, because it was a possibility that a loved one was not going to be home in the holidays. So, I’ve been sitting with boxes full of prezzies in my room, ticking off the days till the 25th like a madwoman! I love buying and presenting my family and friends with presents and all I’ve wanted to do since mid-November is to shove gifts into everyone’s hands and make them open it! But, self control has gotten the best of me, and there will be presents (That have been waiting over a month to be opened!) under the tree for all!

Although the family Christmas tree has been up all year, the Christmas Excitement is so real! How do you celebrate during the holiday season? What is on your holiday wish list? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec17

Holiday Q & A

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Holiday Q & A

Hi everyone and happy holiday season! Today, I thought that it would be fun to do a little Holiday Q & A to get in the spirit of Christmas. Feel free to copy these questions onto your page and answer them to share in the festivities!

What is on your Christmas wish list? Shoes, shoes, shoes, Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara, shoes, some facial scrubs, and a few more pairs of shoes.

What is winter weather like in your area? In Akron, Ohio it’s pretty snowy at the moment. But, earlier in the month we had obscenely warm weather for December.

Favorite holiday treat? Peppermint Mocha drinks from Starbucks! I always treat myself to one or two during the holiday season.

Are you easy or hard to shop for? I get told that I am both. For people that know me really well, I’m sure they would say that I’m easy to shop for. But acquaintances would probably say I’m more difficult, because of my distinctive style and personality.

Favorite holiday movie? I don’t really have one, actually. Although, my family normally watches Step Brothers during the holiday season at some point or another lolol.

Do you prefer a White Christmas? I don’t really care… hahaha I guess not though. I don’t like the snow all that much.

Favorite cold weather activity? Going ice skating at my favorite outdoor rink in Akron!

Favorite holiday memory? I love watching people open their presents from me – it never gets old!

So there you have it, my Holiday Q & A! How would you answer some of my questions? What are some of your own holiday themed Q & A’s? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec16

Unsung Wardrobe Heroes: Jack Trench Coat Edition

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Unsung Wardrobe Heroes: Jack Trench Coat Edition

Hey hey and welcome to a new edition of Unsung Wardrobe Heroes! One thing that I love is reading through fashion magazines. Vogue, Allure, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar – I’m a fan of it all. The ads, the articles, the fashion stories, it all has me hooked. When I was about fifteen, I remember thumbing through one of my beloved fashion bibles and seeing a fashion story about trench coats – it was literally called “The Allure Of The Trench” and I think that I would pinpoint that moment as when I got interested in fashion.

In this story, the photos featured a gorgeous, smokey eyed model with long, black hair in a smart and classic trench coat paired with black tights and heels. She looked stunning. But she also looked effortless – it was truly a piece about timeless beauty and that is the trench coat. I wanted to look like that model. I wanted to be that model. In fact, I still have the pictures hanging up in my room:

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^^^ Isn’t that beautiful?

You can probably see why I became obsessed with getting my own trench coat after seeing that picture. And shortly thereafter, I did. When I was younger, PacSun was my favorite store to shop at, and I ended up working there for four years. While shopping one day with my mother, I saw the most beautiful Jack trench coat on the planet. I was fifteen and it screamed “fashion” at me. It was perfect.

In the moment of seeing my trench and trying it on, I could see why the fashion story was called “The Allure Of The Trench”. I felt grown up, elegant, and devastatingly chic at fifteen years old and I knew that that was how the model in the pictures felt, too. I had to have it. And, over eight years later, I still wear my beloved trench often – as seen below:

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The pictures seen above are an ode to that wonderful fashion story that introduced me to the trench coat. It’s an ode to the moment where I fell in love with fashion, and an ode to still being inspired by an almost decade old fashion magazine story to this day. I wish that I could remember what magazine it was featured in, but I will always remember “The Allure Of The Trench” just the same.

What is your first memory of falling in love with fashion? Does anyone have a story similar to mine about a loved trench coat or another wardrobe hero? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec15

It’s Time You Learned To Relax!

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It’s Time You Learned To Relax!

Life can be stressful. That’s probably not going to be the most controversial statement that you read all day, but it’s certainly true. Most people end up feeling incredibly stressed out and tense, simply because that seems to be the standard mode of operation for people in the modern world. Between work, family, chores, hobbies, and trying to maintain some kind of social life, most of us have so much that we’re trying to do that it can be overwhelming. With that in mind, it’s that you learned how to relax! Here are just a few ideas for how you can finally start to kick back and let the troubles of the world roll off your back:

Take Time For Yourself:

Most people have a lot of responsibilities that they have to honor throughout the day, and many of those can consist of doing things for other people. Helping others and being there for the people in your life is incredibly important and is something everyone should try to do as much as possible. However, if you’re helping other people so much that you lack time to focus on yourself, then you’re going to end up exhausted. Every once in awhile, get the kids and your partner out of the house, put your phone on silent, check out some of the best dry herb vapes at DopeBoo, and just spend some time focusing on yourself.

The reality is, that if you can’t take care of yourself, then you’re never going to be able to take care of anyone else, either! Pencil in time for relaxation and self care. It could be as little as a five minute meditation or perhaps something like booking an afternoon at a spa. To find the best places to pamper, simply enter a search for “swedish massage in North Wales, PA” (or your local area) and you will be ready to unwind!

Learn To Say No:

When there are people in your life, whether it’s at work or at home, asking you to do things, it can be tough to tell them no. In fact, most of us are trained from a pretty early age to never turn someone down if they ask us to do something. You end up feeling as though your friends will be angry with you if you don’t help them or that you’re going to pay for it at work if you don’t take on every single task that your boss asks you to. But the truth is that you’re well within your rights to say no to things if you don’t feel like you can handle them. As long as you’re polite and you explain yourself properly, no one can get angry at you for not taking on more than you can properly deal with.

Stay On Top Of Tasks:

One of the most stressful things in the world is knowing that there’s something hanging over your head all of the time that you haven’t yet dealt with. It can make it so that even the time you spend trying to relax is nearly impossible because you’re just thinking about all of the things that you’ve yet to do. That’s why staying on top of all of the tasks that you need to do is so important. Rather than putting things off, make sure that everything, from bills that need paying to DIY jobs that need finishing, or work tasks that need to be completed, is dealt with right away without putting it off. Otherwise, you’re just going to end up swimming is unfinished tasks and you’ll never be able to relax.

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Organizers are a great help!

Reach Out For Support:

It’s okay to need help from time to time. This is something that a lot of people seem to have completely forgotten. Sure, there’s something nice about being able to say that you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps and never needed anyone’s help, but the truth is that you’re going to be much happier if you let the people around you lend a helping hand. Reaching out to friends, family, your partner, and even your employer for some support can take huge amounts of pressure off of you and make your life much more pleasant and simpler to deal with. Sure, you don’t want to be dumping everything on other people, but if you try and handle it all on your own, then you’re almost certainly going to end up feeling incredibly stressed out and you could even be at risk of burning out.

Take a deep breath, take some time for you, and walk back into your life feeling totally recharged and able to take on the day!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec15

Naked Cosmetics Mother Nature Swatch

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Naked Cosmetics Mother Nature Swatch

Howdy! The best part about having a beauty guru for a sister is that I get all of her reject makeup products that she doesn’t want anymore. Last week, she bestowed me with a Naked Cosmetics eyeshadow called Mother Nature, and after doing the swatch both wet and dry, I can totally see why! Take a look and let’s discuss:

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^^^ The first heart is dry, the second is wet.

So when I originally looked at this eyeshadow, I didn’t really realize that there was a dark, glittery green sprinkled into the bronzey-brown color. It was actually until I took a wet swatch and a picture of the container with the flash on that I was able to see the green. Imagine my surprise when I did! I thought that this shade was just going to be another brown shadow to add to my collection, but I was so wrong. The green is a really fun surprise and it’s so cool that you can wear one eyeshadow two different ways depending on if it’s wet or dry.

I actually have yet to wear this Naked Cosmetics color because I’ve been sick but, when I do, I plan on wearing it wet as an eyeliner. The dry, brown color is just too light for my liking and there is nothing like a green eyeliner to make hazel eyes pop! I’m really excited to try it out! 😀

What is the most flattering eyeshadow/liner color for your eyes? Which other eyeshadows look totally different when wet or dry? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec14

How To Make Your Winter Garden Look Fantastic

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How To Make Your Winter Garden Look Fantastic

America is in the midst of a gardening boom: one in three households grows food at home or in a co-op garden. Even millennials are joining in with gardening and the economic downturn doesn’t discourage people, either. Those with green thumbs are sure to dread the winter months. While your hard work is shining bright in the spring and summer, during the winter your pride and joy can sometimes be buried under a layer of frost and dead leaves. However, if you’re willing to change your perception a little, winter can actually be a great time for your garden. Here’s why, and a few tips on how to make your winter garden look fantastic:

Benefits of winter for your garden:

It turns out that gardens that experience winter may have some advantages over their warmer cousins. According to research from the University of Minnesota, many pests which are harmful to gardens hibernate when the weather gets cold. In addition, weeds grow more slowly and thanks to low light and less evaporation, plants often require less water in the winter. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Choose winter friendly veggies and crops:

Although you might have to give up on your tomatoes and most other fruiting crops during the winter months, there are many tasty and cold-hardy vegetables you can try to grow, instead. Top choices are Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, onions, and some types of spinach. Look for vegetables with leaves, stems, and roots, that mature more and more slowly as the weather cools and the days shorten. As an added bonus, some of these vegetables sweeten as the weather gets colder!

Making your garden look great:

There are many ways to brighten up a barren winter garden. Focal points such as an outdoor wall mounted fountain, a sculpture, or boulder can draw interest all year round. Water features such as ponds can look stunning in winter, becoming the center of attention in contrast to their plainer surroundings.

Thanks to the lack of weeds, winter-hardy plants, and the potential for dramatic winter views, winter gardening is a lot nicer than you might think. So grab your gloves and your shovel and join America’s gardening boom. 

Dec14

Top Cat: Keep Your Feline Feelin’ Fine

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Top Cat: Keep Your Feline Feelin’ Fine

A lot of people choose cats as pets because they are independent and don’t require as much direct care and attention as dogs. But there is plenty that you can do to ensure that your feline friend stays at their healthiest. Getting into good daily habits with your cat is important, just as it is for your own health. So, let’s talk about a few of the ways that you can help your cat to live a happy and healthy life.

Brush Them Every Day: Brushing or combing your cat on a daily basis will help to cut down on the number of hairballs that develop in their digestive tracts. If you find it difficult to get your cat to cooperate with the brushing process, you should try combing them before a meal so that they will always associate it with a treat. Get into a regular routine and your cat should begin to accept brushing rather than fighting against it!

Don’t Give Them Too Much Dry Food: Cats rely on meat as the foundation of their diets and this should always be included in their main meal of the day. Dry food which contains a lot of carbohydrates is not usually good in large quantities as it can lead to them becoming obese and increasing their odds of developing conditions like type-2 diabetes.

Remember: Cats DO Get Thirsty: While cats may not have the same level of thirst as dogs, you still need to be aware of when they need liquids. Cats tend to get a big percentage of their fluid supply from their food, but you should always ensure that they have access to fresh water so they can drink whenever they need to. Elderly and nursing cats tend to need more water than others, and you should watch out for symptoms including lethargy, sunken eyes, and panting.

Keep Them Flea-Free: If your cat is scratching, chewing their skin, or seems restless, chances are that they have fleas. Watch for any signs of movement in their fur to make sure. There are plenty of products out there that you can use yourself if you think that your cat has fleas – visit this website for some of them. Make sure to de-flea your home as well to prevent a full-blown infestation.

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Prettyyy

Train Them to Use a Scratching Post: To protect your cat’s nails and your furniture, train them to use a scratching post. You can’t expect to put one in your home and your cat will know what to do instantly, so put it in the center of your room and try balancing some treats on the top. Once your cat is used to it, you can then move it to a less obvious position.

Choose a Feline-Friendly Vet: Developing a lasting relationship with your vet is important for your cat’s health, so make sure that you choose one who is experienced in dealing with cats rather than one who specializes in dogs.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Dec14

Oh, Christmas Tree

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Oh, Christmas Tree

Hello everyone and happy holiday season! My family is…eccentric to say the least. We have our quirks and distinctive personalities and I’m confident that people would pay to hear our daily banter. One of our infamous “parlor tricks” is leaving our Christmas tree up for just a little bit longer every year. First it was March, then June, then July…you get the drift. And now, our tree has just been up all year because, apparently, we like it too much to take it down. Take a look:

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My family, especially my father, loves ornaments. On vacations, I normally treat my dad to a new one as a special surprise from our travel destination. Our tree is filled to the brim with lights and baubles and it has become such a statement piece in our home that no one really questions it anymore.

Not only has our tree been up for a year now, but we decided to decorate it for the different holidays, as you can see by our Easter bunnies and eggs that are still up. We revel in our ornaments from organizations that we donate to, and we can’t pass up a good bargain. For example, the speaker that you see by the figure skater ornament (Compliments of when I competed in New York!), is attached to a four dollar strand of Rudolph themed ornaments that sing holiday carols. We were all pretty pleased with that one!

The never taken down tree in our living room has truly become a Mushenheim staple and I think that it’s hilarious. Much like a collector of coins or stamps, we take pride in our ornament collection and have it proudly displayed for the world to see…all year round. Lololol. #ohchristmastree

What is one of the quirks that you and your family share? What is the longest that you left your Christmas tree up? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah