Happy Hump Day gang! This post is brought to you by my hangover! Now you may be asking yourself “who gets drunk on a Tuesday night?” The answer to that question is: Myself…and this guy:
^^^^ So clever I could die!…Wait that’s just my pounding headache.
This post is just a friendly hello to all of you fabulous people. It also serves as a friendly reminder to check out lifewithlilred tonight for my review of the new episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show! Keep in mind that my gofundme account is still a thing, and can be seen here: gofund.me/jy27gc Thanks in advance for checking that bad boy out!!! I wish you all a glorious Hump Day full of shenanigans AND tom foolery! (Which happens to be two of my favorite things!) It’s a frigid fifteen degrees here in the good old A-K-Rowdy (Akron, Ohio), so if you’re experiencing some winter cold wherever you’re at right now, I sympathize with you!
I wanna know where you guys are at. What’s the weather like? What time is it? I wanna hear all about it, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
PS: SOOO obsessed with this song lately, make sure you check it out!
Funny story about that song: I was at the mall yesterday with my sister (I got a really fabulous snakeskin print sweater from Express for SEVENTEEN BUCKS, but that’s neither here nor there). ANYWAYS, I was at the mall with my sister, and we were in Journey’s and this song was playing. I knew right away that it was Grouplove, because they have a very distinctive sound. I have all of their albums on my iTunes so when I got home I checked if I had this song, and it turns out I’ve had it on my iPod for months and didn’t even know it. *Sigh* I love when that happens! :*)
This past year I’ve discovered a lot about myself. 2014 was a time for learning new things about Lil Red and improving on things that needed worked on. In 2014 I developed a lifestyle that I wouldn’t change for anything which is appropriately titled the “Lil Red Lifestyle”.
Back in the day, I was extremely ashamed of who I am. I was content with just staying in the shadows and only speaking when spoken to. It honestly took me being fed up with myself and my depression to decide to want to change. You can only take so much of being sad and mopey all the time until you finally say enough is enough. After this revelation, I worked extensively and intensively on myself. I found my voice, I found my style, I found what I genuinely like, and just as importantly I found the things that I don’t want in my life any longer. I eliminated the people and the choices I was making that were bringing me down instead of lifting me up. I learned to love myself enough that I didn’t want to cause harm to myself. I can count the slip ups on my self harm and bulimia sobriety on five fingers this past year. That was a vast improvement from my previous occurrences of doing it every day. With this new found inner strength, self control, and will power, I was able to fully enjoy my life and the person who I’ve become.
The Lil Red Lifestyle is all about accepting and loving who you are. I can honestly say that I love who I am for the first time in my life. I love the way I look, which is another first. I love my bright red hair. I love my pasty pale skin. I love my hazel eyes that change color every day. I love my piercings and tattoos. I love my red lipstick and personal style. Most importantly, I love who I am on the inside. I finally believe that I’m beautiful inside and out, which is something I would roll my eyes at before. I am caring. I am understanding. I am empathetic. I am sympathetic. I am hilarious. I am loving. I am strong. I am brave. I am comfortable in my own skin. This new found confidence in myself has truly changed my life for the better. I no longer let people walk all over me and I let my voice be heard, even if I’m not stating the popular opinion of a group. Being outspoken and having self confidence is another major characteristic in the Lil Red Lifestyle, and I am so thankful that it’s finally something that I posses.
Anyone can employ the Lil Red Lifestyle to their own personal way of living. Having self confidence can be used in the Britney Lifestyle. Accepting yourself and other people can be utilized in the Andrew Lifestyle. Loving who you are and treating yourself like a best friend can be employed in anyone’s lifestyle. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m a firm believer in the phrase “fake it till you make it”. This mindset also helped me leaps and bounds in my quest for bettering myself. I would ask myself questions like “how would a girl with confidence speak her mind?” or “How would someone with self control avoid making bad decisions?” I did whatever I thought was true to these questions and eventually they became part of who I am. I am so proud of who I am now, and I never thought that I could say that before. But now that I can say it, here it is one more time: I am proud of who I am….and that is what the Lil Red Lifestyle is all about.
So there you have it, the Lil Red Lifestyle in a nutshell. Who are you and what lifestyle characteristic do you stay true to? What’s one thing you did this past year that you were proud of? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great day! -Sarah
Happy happy Thanksgiving!!!! My sister, mother, and I have taken a break from our preparations of our Thanksgiving dinner, so I figured now would be a good time to send some holiday wishes to all of you! There are so many things that I’m thankful for that I’d like to share with you. In my list and explanations I didn’t include my family and friends, because those are the obvious ones! My close circle of immediate family and a whopping two friends (sad but true) will always be my number one, so no explanation is needed:) #enoughsaid
Here’s some of the things that I’m thankful for this holiday season and every day!
My education: I’ve been feeling an overwhelming sensation of pride in myself lately for finally getting myself back to school. I always thought that college wasn’t going to be for me, but now that I finished my first semester I wish that I would have started school sooner! I’m so thankful that my parents have been helping me occasionally with my tuition and text books. But shockingly, I’m also thankful for being able to pay most of my college expenses on my own. Which leads me to my second thing on my list….
My job: As soon as I ended my four year stint at PacSun, I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. I was so nervous for my future. I was so scared that I wouldn’t find another job right away. Getting that call with a job offer from Next was the biggest relief I’ve experienced in a long time. If it wasn’t for that call, there’s no way that I could afford paying for my education almost completely on my own, as well as keeping up with my car payment for the Little Red Love Machine. I’m so appreciative to have a job period, let alone a job that I really enjoy. My coworkers and clientele are just fantastic, so it makes going into work a joy.
My blog: This might sound dumb to some people, but I really am thankful for starting http://www.lifewithlilred.com!! I’ve been told that I should make a blog countless times before, so a little over two months ago I figured “why not?”. And I am so glad that I did! I forgot how much I enjoyed writing and expressing my feelings until I started trying to make a blog post or two daily. I’m so thankful for all of my readers and followers who have shown me so much love and support! Lifewithlilred is always going to be a thing, and I’m really hoping that as the hype continues to build that I’ll be able to make some kind of moolah for my work. But that’s thinking way far in advance! It’s good to dream though:)
Myself: Sarah: I am so thankful for the person who you’ve become. It feels so good to finally say that I love who I am after years of depression, self harm, and eating disorders. I love the way I look, which I never thought I would say. I love that I’m open and accepting to everyone. I love that I have a bright and bubbly personality. I love that I think for myself, which is so very important. Most of all, I’m thankful that I’m finally able to recognize all of these amazing qualities about myself. I’m thankful that I’m no longer in a zombie like state of depression. I’m finally thankful to be alive.
So there you have it – the other things that I’m thankful for besides my family and friends! I hope all of you have an amazing Thanksgiving today. I hope all of you share it with people who you love. Where ever you are in the world – I am so thankful for you! Thank you so much for reading. If you have any questions or concerns: leave me a comment and let’s chat! ALSO: If you partake in Black Friday shopping tonight or tomorrow PLEASE remember to be kind to the retail workers!!! I promise you that they would give anything to not be working amongst all of the craziness that is sure to happen! Send me some good luck vibes as well so I can get through my Black Friday shift! It would be much appreciated 😉 Happy holidays! -Sarah
Not gonna lie, this week has been less than ideal. Work has been filled with not so nice coworkers and rude customers and school has been stressful. Luckily there’s been a few things that have made me feel better, which I’m going to share with you in this edition of Lil Red Recommends!
Getting drunk with your mother: Last night I came home from a particularly shitty day at work to find my family getting ready to have dinner. It was Italian night in my household so naturally that called for some wine! I’m a big wine drinker and with my moms help of barely drinking one glass, I finished the entire bottle. My mom is such a light weight that she claimed that her glass of wine got her drunk, it’s the most precious thing ever. So the evening was spent with gut busting laughter, stumbling around the kitchen, and singing a duet to the song “You Had a Bad Day” while using the empty wine bottle as a microphone. It was an absolute blast. I’ve never gotten drunk with my mom before and I sincerely hope that this happens again every now and then. The straight up ridiculousness of the mother daughter bonding time that happened last night was indescribable! All of the silliness that occurred was the perfect cure to a shitty day!
Drunkenretail therapy: So after my mom and I sobered up, we headed to the mall for some retail therapy. I was in desperate need of some new jeans. But here’s the trick, I refuse to wear any denim that isn’t black and super skinny. My purchase will be discussed in the next recommendation! Let me tell you guys, while my mom may have been completely sober after her one wine glass 😉 I was still slightly tipsy from almost a full bottle of wine. And from this experience I learned that there is nothing more fun than wandering around the mall while you have a wine buzz! It took my love for shopping to a new extreme because I combined it with my second favorite thing….getting drunk. I highly recommend public intoxication at least once in your life time, its a real treat! (Only once though…then no more public intoxication, kay?)
Snake skin patterned denim: I found my beloved new jeans at Express, one of my favorite stores. These jeans are drop dead GORGEOUS. They’re jet black with a gunmetal snake skin pattern coating it and are extremely skinny. About two weeks ago while I was shopping there with my sister, I noticed these beauties and was drooling over them the entire time. Unfortunately at eighty eight dollars, they were out of my price range. But I could NOT stop thinking about them. Lucky for me, last night they were having a forty percent off sale at Express and they had one pair of the jeans left in my size. All of the other sizes they had were ginormous. I knew that the denim had to be mine. I slipped into the fitting room, and changed into my new favorite piece of clothing. When I looked into the fitting room mirror they were just as perfect as I hoped they would be. They fit like a glove and were a perfect punk piece to add to my wardrobe. I’ve been looking for a pair of snake skin print jeans for quite some time now. But all of the pairs that I have found have been a snake skin pattern on top of grey or white jeans, and that doesn’t follow my all black everything rule. I thank the fashion gods for this gift of the perfect pair of black snake skin print jeans! Hurray! (Please excuse my mismatched socks in the photo below!) 😉
Read the book Perfect: I started the book Perfect by Rachel Joyce a few days ago. (She also authored one of my favorite books, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry). I’m about one hundred pages in and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. The book revolves around a boy who has witnessed a terrible accident and is doing everything in his power to prevent his mother from finding out…as she’s the one who caused the crime. We are introduced to a unique cast of characters – young Byron who is very protective of his mother Diana who is a forward thinking woman in the 1970’s. She refuses to live the cookie cutter lifestyle of the female house wife which leads to animosity from her peers. There is also sweet OCD ridden Jim, who has been in and out of mental institutions his entire life. I have yet to find out how the paths of Byron and his mother will cross with Jim’s, but I’m excited to find out. Rachel Joyce does an amazing job of creating a feeling of empathy for each of her characters… I love them all so much already! Reading Perfect has been the perfect distraction from a below average week.
Listen to Tapes ‘n Tapes: I’ve been listening to A LOT of Tapes ‘n Tapes lately. I think that their music is just fantastic. I’ve enjoyed playing all of their albums on shuffle as I’ve been driving around to where ever I needed to be this past week. They really are the perfect Indie rock band. Each of their three albums The Loon, Outside, and Walk It Off give a solid combination of upbeat tunes, amazing instrumentals, and sentimental ballads. My favorite album between the three is definitely their debut album The Loon. Each song off of that one is a slam dunk. But there are also many crowd pleasers on their second and third efforts as well! Tapes ‘n Tapes is great driving music and just hanging around the house doing nothing music. The music video below is for their song “Freak Out” from their second album Outside. It’s super catchy!
Don’t be an asshole: Pardon my French, but I’ve come across a lot of not so nice people this week. From awful customers to the most incompatible  coworkers ever I’m almost at my breaking point. I genuinely don’t understand the people who are mean to others just for the sake of being mean. And let me tell you, I’ve encountered a lot of people like that this week. Being around stand offish people really is enough to ruin my day. For some people it’s easy to just shake things like that off, but not me. I wish I didn’t take so much offense to it, but I do. It’s just the way I am I suppose, but I don’t think it’s out of reason to be upset by people who act like assholes to you for no good reason. So here I am freaking pleading all of you guys (myself included) to be courteous and respectful to others. You never know what the person you give a dirty look to might be going through that day. #enoughsaid
Watch Step Brothers: If there’s one thing that always makes me feel better, it’s watching my favorite Will Ferrell movie: Step Brothers. I watched this with my sister and mom a few days ago and it’s still funny to me no matter how many times I watch it! I’ve seen Step Brothers enough that I can quote the entire movie along with the actors (much to my family’s annoyance!). Sometimes you really just need to pop in your favorite stupid movie and veg out for a few hours. I don’t know about you, but I always feel better after two hours straight of laughing! “SO MANY ACTIVITIES!!!”
Be thankful: With Thanksgiving coming up, this is a no brainer. But it felt right to mention it anyways. Tell your family members and friends that you love them, compliment a stranger, apologize to those you have done wrong to. You know the drill. It only takes one small act of kindness to transform yours and somebody else’s day completely!
So there you have it, my Lil Red recommends for the week! What are some things that you do to make yourself feel better after a rough week? What’s your favorite quote from Step Brothers? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday! -Sarah
So as you guys know, I LOVE me a good craft – specifically canvas art! My best friend Lea and I just completed a super fun, cute, and easy craft that I thought I would share! Take a look:
What you’ll need:
Canvas board
Spray paint in multiple colors
Durable tape that you can spray paint over
How we did it:
As I mentioned above, this craft was easy peasy lemon squeezey. But here’s my step by step guide, just in case you can’t figure it out by yourself! 😉
Step one: On your canvas place your tape in any location and pattern of your choosing. I kept my design fairly simple, while Lea incorporated the wore “Smile” onto hers. You have my permission to go crazy with your canvas taping until you reach your desired pattern. Not gonna lie, it took Lea and I a LONG ass time to lay out our pattern because we’re both such perfectionists. If she wasn’t there making me laugh the entire time, I would have gotten up and left. Mama was getting frustrated!!! (Leave it to me to not be able to make a triangle made out of tape for my arrows. #fml)
Step two: Take your newly taped canvas outside along with the spray paint colors that you picked out. The colors that were used by Lea and I were purchased with the intent to make another craft that didn’t turn out too hot. Since we’re ballin on a budget we figured we could just use the same colors for this new craft and it ended up looking great! The metallic silver and gold along with the blue complimented each other a lot better than I thought. Anywho, once you have your color scheme figured out, go ahead and spray paint to your hearts content. Fair warning that some of the paint will more than likely leak through the tape. But fear not – because in my opinion the dripping paint gives the canvas character! Rub some dirt on it and it will be fine…or whatever.
Step three: Leave your canvas outside or in a well ventilated room to dry. (Spoiler alert – the spray paint smells like butt!) Once your canvas is dry, you can remove your tape and reveal your masterpiece!!!
So there you have it, a quick and easy craft that cost a little over ten dollars to make. Not bad for some super cute new wall art! If anyone has some fun holiday craft suggestions pleeeease let me know! And if you for some reason have any questions on this project, leave me a comment and let’s chat. Have a great night! -Sarah
So things have been not so great lately, but I’m getting by. Not gonna lie, this past week has been a major pain in the ass. I got broken up with. I’m not going to go into any detail about the relationship because it’s something I don’t want to discuss right now. Maybe later. Maybe not. But it happened – and it sucked. I was left feeling like a complete idiot after the said “break up” took place. And the worst part about it was that I didn’t even get the final word in the conversation because the dude ended our chat like a little biotch. Not saying that if I got the final “fuck you” in the conversation that the disappointment I’m feeling right now wouldn’t still exist. But it would sure make me feel better to end the talk on my terms instead of him peacing out halfway through. #BYE. I haven’t experienced a break up for years, because I’m not really one for relationships. This gent and I weren’t even “official” but we were seeing each other for quite a while. Then, surprise! He gets a new “Facebook official” girlfriend and I’m left feeling like a moron. However, I can imagine this is what a break up in an actual relationship feels like. Spoiler Alert: It sucks ass. Whatever.
Anyways, there is some good news I can share with you! School is going fantastic 🙂 I got registered for my spring semester classes today and it made me very happy. I’m taking ten credit hours which is one hour less than being considered a full time student. I had originally only registered for two classes for the spring time but then I decided about an hour later that I should push myself a little harder. I then registered for third course. I’m getting all of my general classes out of the way now so in the spring time I’ll be taking a math, English, and psychology course. Then once the fall semester rolls around I’ll be well on my way to taking all of the fun classes in my Associate of Arts degree program. Yay! I had mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn’t feeling too happy at my new job, and thankfully that feeling has subsided. Things at Next are going great! The thing that I love the most about this job is that it’s a small business chain so our holiday season isn’t going to be anywhere close to the extent of what goes on in the mall. I’m really looking forward to working a Black Friday that’s going to be relatively calm, cool, and collected. It’s definitely going to be a nice change of pace from working four Black Friday’s in a row at the mall. I don’t know about you guys, but a lot of the malls in Ohio are opening at six o’clock in the evening on Thanksgiving day – which is absolutely absurd. There might as well not even be a holiday at this point. -____- I feel very thankful that at my store we’re more than likely going to be opening at our normal time of eleven o’clock the day after Thanksgiving. This is going to be my first Thanksgiving in a long time that I’m going to genuinely be able to enjoy. As opposed to years prior where all I did was spend my holiday dreading the midnight openings at the mall rather than enjoying time with my family. Hurray for work, school, and CHANGE.
When I take the time to write everything out, it makes me realize that this stupid break up with a stupid boy is just a bump in the road of all of the great things that I have going on. I feel energized, refreshed, and a whole lot better.
Does anyone have any tips on how to make a break up less suckish? If so, pleeease leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great Thursday! -Sarah
Hello all and happy Friday!!!! It’s time for the annual Lil Red Recommends post for the week, so here we go!
Read Before I Go To Sleep: Seriously. Do it. This book is honestly so much better than Gone Girl. In this novel we follow Christine, a forty-seven year old woman with severe amnesia. Her case is unique though, because her memory disappears as soon as she wakes up from a nights sleep. We join her in her quest to regain her memory and learn about her dark and troubled past. This book is such a page turner. I’m more than halfway through and I still can’t draw any conclusions on how the ending will turn out. I’m particularly excited to finish the book so I can see the movie which is out in theaters with my mom. The fabulous Nicole Kidman plays Christine and the DREAM BOAT Colin Firth plays her husband, Ben. If you liked reading Gone Girl, you’re going to LOVE Before I Go To Sleep.
Listen to Courtney Barnett: I absolutely ADORE this chick. We played a few of her songs at PacSun and I had always semi enjoyed them but it was once I started playing her outside of work that I fell in love. Her lyrics are so quirky and cool, IE: “The yard is full of hard rubbish it’s a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab” from Avant Gardener. There’s so many times when I’m listening through her charming EP “A Sea Of Split Peas” where I laugh to myself and think “what did she just say?!” Her sound is extremely unique as well, it’s fairly folksy but it’s her voice that really does it for me. She has this ability to make her voice sound like it’s droning on for eternity which sounds unpleasant but it’s actually quite amazing. Her monotonous vocals allow you to hear every aspect of the story she’s trying to tell in each of her songs.
Make a to do list: I’ve grown SO fond of making to do lists since I started college. Usually I prepare my lists for each day the night before, so it’s nice to have everything you need to accomplish that day planned out for you. And let me tell you, there’s nothing better than checking off each thing you’ve completed from your list. It’s so damn fulfilling! My to do lists have taught me how to prioritize and learn better time management skills which is going to be so important once I start delving deeper into my college career. A daily to do list is simple but effective and I can’t recommend making them enough!
Get cozy: So if you read my OOTD: College Kid Edition post, you’ll know that I ended up wearing sweat pants to class and it was life changing. So I encourage all of you to get comfy cozy for the day and do work! Wear your favorite comfort piece and flaunt it like the hot tamale that you are. This could be anything – from your hoodie that you sleep in almost every night to your worn in Hawthorne Heights t-shirt that you still have from high school. Anything is fair game. My college sweat pants experience taught me that there’s nothing wrong with “bummin it” every so often. So I guess I’ll be breaking out my Hawthorne Heights tee pretty soon 😉
^^^ JUDGE ME FOR IT!!!
Stock up on cold weather accessories: I LOVE fall and winter time accessories so very much. I’m talking cute boots, knit scarves, stylish hats, and my personal favorite: fingerless gloves. All of these accessories are the epitome of treating yourself. Nothing adds a little extra oomph to your outfit than a fun new fashion statement. I’m really hoping that I can go to TJMaxx soon to pick out some new cold weather gear. As a matter of fact, my favorite all time pair of fingerless gloves came from TJ’s! There’s a really adorable store in a mall that I like going to called Charming Charlie and they’re full of gorgeous winter accessories. If you don’t have one in your area, here’s their website so you can check them out online! http://www.charmingcharlie.com/
Have a dinner date with a girlfriend: This week I had the most delightful time going out to dinner with my best friend Kate. We went to the Cheesecake Factory which is our favorite place to eat at together. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the atmosphere and the yummy food amongst great company. Enjoying a meal where you don’t have to think about anything but shoving more cheesecake down your throat is my definition of a good time. My recommendation is to incorporate a shopping trip into the dinner date as well! Kate and I usually hit up one of the higher end malls in the Akron/Cleveland, Ohio area which makes for a lovely afternoon trip. And nothing says girl time like a shopping day followed by a dinner date – so fun!
^^ Some of the many delicious desserts offered at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m gaining weight just looking at it!
Listen to Hamilton Leithauser: I’ve been really enjoying listening to this young man’s album “Black Hours” as of late. His voice is just intoxicating to me. It’s the perfect combination of folk and rock and roll. His music was played fairly frequently at PacSun and the song that always stuck out to me every time we played it was “Alexandra”. The opening lyrics of “I don’t have to, I don’t need to – but I’m always thinking of you” are so sweet! It makes me wish that I was this Alexandra that Hamilton is singing about!!! HUBBA HUBBA. 😉
So there you have it! My Lil Red Recommendations for the week! What are you guys up to this weekend? Whatever you’re plans are, I hope you have a great time doing them! And if you have any questions or concerns, leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah
I never EVER thought I’d say this….but I love Mondays. I do, I do. Monday is the day I get all of my assignments in for my online classes at Tri-C and it just so happens that my schedule at Next usually allows for me to be off on Mondays, since I work all weekend. So for me, Monday turns into a day of sleeping in until whenever I want, lounging in sweats, wearing no makeup, and working on college assignments in bed. It’s the BEST. All of the assignments I get on Monday morning usually aren’t due until Sunday night, but because I’m off all day I try to get as much done as possible. I did a buttload of reading today, I’m talking over 100 pages in a textbook buttload. It sucked. But my diligence in completing the chapters and taking notes then going back through and highlighting them paid off. I got a 100 on my quiz for the week! My first perfect score of my college career! I was so freaking proud. I may be attending school in an unconventional way but I’m still just as much of a student as the kids attending school on campus. Getting that score proved this to me, and for the first time I really do feel like a college student. After about six hours of nonstop reading and note taking, I called it quits. Now I only have an essay to complete which isn’t due until the 16th – which is awesome considering I have NO clue what to write about. We have to write an essay explaining a concept to the reader. I’ve been racking my brains all day for a good concept to write about and I’m drawing a blank. Everything that there is to write about is just so broad and I’m having a really hard time narrowing stuff down to just one general idea. If any of you guys have any topics that you think might work for a college composition class, please let me know!
Today was full of educating and beautifying myself. After I wrapped up all of my school work, it was time for some pampering. My eyebrows were in desperate need of a good pluckin’ and thankfully my sister is the queen of the tweezers. That girl can shape up eyebrows like nobody’s business. After my brows were shaped to perfection, it was time to dye my hair. I like to dye my hair every month to keep my red nice and vibrant. As I’ve mentioned before, I use the Runway Red coloring in Vidal Sassoon’s London Luxe collection.
This stuff is seriously MAGIC. It’s a must for any redhead that’s looking for bright, bold, “look at me” hair. I’m not lying or exaggerating when I say that my hair turns out identical to the color example on the box. This is also the color that I paid a lot of money to get month after month in a salon. You can’t beat five dollars a month for a box of color and salon quality results! Today I also began using Biore’s Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser.
I must say that this stuff is FABULOUS. A sample of this cleanser was available in a magazine I was reading, so I ripped it out and gave it a try. I kid you not, that after one use almost all of my blackheads were eliminated. I knew that I had to have this cleanser in my arsenal of skin care products, so the next day I went to Target and purchased it. I have four piercings on my nose, two on each nostril and that’s where I tend to get a lot of blackheads. After I used the cleanser tonight, I took a look in the mirror and all of the blemishes around my piercings were gone. The charcoal in this product attracts all the dirt and grime like a magnet and leaves your skin invigorated with a rush of an icy chill. I can’t recommend this cleanser enough.
I forgot to mention the comfy cozy feeling I’ve had all day in my new sweats from Aerie.
I’ve been snuggled up in these bad boys all day while working and pampering. I’ve been in desperate need of new sweat pants, as I haven’t bought a new pair in over two years since I don’t really feel the need. Especially when my sister’s vast collection of Victoria’s Secret yoga pants is right down the hall! But finally I purchased these sweats in the heather grey and in tan when I made my way to the mall a few nights ago. Both colors of the sweats were marked down 60% off, so I got both of them for about twenty-four dollars! You can’t beat that! If you go on http://www.aerie.com you can find these sweats and a bunch of other cute fall sale items for a crazy good deal! You may have noticed that I have a new book I’ve started reading in my sweat pant picture. I started Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson last night which was a big mistake because I couldn’t put it down! I’m about forty pages in, so I’m not far enough to give you guys a good synopsis of what’s going on, but expect an article by the time I’m half way through it!
So there you have it, my Monday Funday! Make sure you guys check in for my review of Dancing With The Stars tonight since it’s Middle Aged Monday. And if you have a good topic to write about for a concept essay, leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a good night! -Sarah
Happy Halloween! I hope all of you guys had a fantastically fun Halloween weekend! I know I did. You guys are gonna laugh when I tell you that I didn’t go out at all for Halloween. I stayed home and watched The Conjuring with my parents and hit the hay. I’ve been working nonstop these past few days at Next on top of my school work and to top it off, I’ve been a bit under the weather. So I opted to stay home. My parents and I had a blast watching The Conjuring together. It was so appropriately playing on HBO on Halloween night! I saw this movie when it came out in theaters with my sister and we were both scared senseless, but my parents had never seen it before since they’re not big scary movie fans. They were in for a treat! My mom screamed so many times during the flick it was ridiculous – but then again when I first saw the movie, I was that girl in the theater screaming my ass off! There were so many times when we were watching that I jumped along with the rents at the scary parts even though I had already seen the movie! I just couldn’t help myself!! Now when I mentioned earlier that my parents aren’t big scary movie fans, I was putting it lightly. They hate them. So it was funny to me that both my mom and dad really enjoyed the movie! The cool thing about The Conjuring is that it’s not just a stupid slasher film – there’s an actual story behind all of the scary stuff. I think that’s why myself and my parents enjoyed the movie. And can I just say, the girl who plays April in that movie is the cutest little thing in the whole world! Such a doll. Before movie night started with my parents, my sister needed help getting in costume for the Halloween party she was attending with her boyfriend, Ramon. Kristen dressed up as Link from The Legend of Zelda and looked SO FREAKING CUTE! While Ramon opted for being a ninja. The entire time Kristen was primping and preparing, Ramon and I kept laughing about how easy guys have it in life. All Ramon had to do was throw on a black hoodie and pants and he had a costume! Kristen spent at least an hour getting picture perfect, it probably took Ramon ten minutes! Lucky! They both looked great though, as you can see in the pictures below!
Kristen and Ramon are seriously the cutest couple ever. I love them both so much. The best thing about them is that they never make me feel like I’m the third wheel when we’re all hanging out together. We always end up having a blast! They were so sweet, the entire time Kristen was getting ready they both tried to get me to go with them to the party, but I politely declined. It’s hard going out and going to parties when you’re only twenty, because at some point or another everyone ends up going to the bars, and I can’t go. Maybe I should just get a fake ID like McLovin in Superbad! 😉 I already knew that’s what was going to happen on Halloween night, because my sister had previously mentioned that that was the game plan. But when I’m twenty-one next year, look out!! All in all, it was a super fun Halloween night. I had a ball hanging out with my sister and her man candy until they left and I had some great quality time with my parents as well!
What did everyone do for Halloween? What did you dress up as? How drunk did you get? 😉 Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday! -Sarah
Earlier this week I mentioned to my parents that I would like to start a map tracker of where all of my lovely blog readers are located around the world. My dad promptly went down into our scary basement and returned with a huge map of the world. I finished all of my homework super early today (pat on the back for me!) so I thought tonight would be a great time to get to work on my project, and here’s the final result: (All of the European countries are basically stacked onto each other because my post it notes were too big! Sorry! But I can assure all of you that I labeled every single country that I have a reader from with care 🙂 )
This evening I printed out my list of countries that have viewed http://www.lifewithlilred.com, laid my map out onto the hallway, and got to work. It was SO fun labeling all of the different locations, because it was like a scavenger hunt to find all of the home lands while the map text was in such a small print! I almost needed a magnifying glass for some of the itty bitty ones! It made it even better that my dad helped me find all of the places that I had trouble locating. I was honestly blown away by how knowledgeable my dad was about geography. There were so many times this evening when I would holler “DAD! Where is (insert country name here)?!” and without thinking my dad could give me an exact location of what I needed. My father loved traveling back in the day. He’s been all over Europe and lived in Thailand for about a year when he served in the Navy. Remembering these things about my old man made me appreciate our time together making this project even more. I felt like he enjoyed it just as much as I did, and that was really special to me. Every day my dad makes it a point to ask me where I have readers from, and it really touches my heart. The fact that he shows interest in my blogging which I enjoy so much really means a lot to me. Unplanned daddy daughter time tonight was a definite success!
I want to thank everyone who takes the time out of their day to read my blog. Please consider my mapping project tonight as a tiny gift from me to you. I thought about all of you guys when I was labeling my map. What you were up to, what the weather was like, what time of day is it in your home land. When I was working on this map, it was a weirdly warm October night. The sky in Akron, Ohio gets dark so quickly now so it looked like it was way later into the evening than just seven o’clock. I thought about the sun setting and rising in different areas of the world, and I felt so connected with all of you, and it was really amazing. Every day I look forward to reading all of your fantastic thoughts in your articles, and I hope the feeling is just as mutual for mine! Have a lovely Tuesday night, and know that someone in A-k-Rowdy, Ohio is sending some good vibes your way.
As a friendly reminder, it’s Hump Day tomorrow and you know what that means…AMERICAN HORROR STORY!!!!!!! It’s one of my favorite things in the world to write my weekly episode reviews, so make sure you check back in with me tomorrow for my thoughts on episode four! Goodnight! -Sarah
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