Category Archives: Beauty

Feb9

Accessory Story: All Gold Everything Edition

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Accessory Story: All Gold Everything Edition

I treasure all of the moments that I shared with my late grandma equally but one thing that I particularly remember about her is her sense of style. My grandma (like me) loved to shop. She loved looking her best and she always wore outfits that were simple but elegant. I remember one time, we went to her favorite store, Talbots, and I helped her pick out a brand new winter wardrobe. Once the bill was tallied all she could do was laugh and say “I went hog wild!”

No outfit is complete without the right accessories, though, and this is something that my grandma was an expert in. She had the most divine jewelry and I kid you not, over one hundred hats!! I have such fond memories of playing dress up in grandma’s closet and jewelry box as a child while she played the piano or baked a delicious meal or sweet treats. After my grandma’s passing, a lot of her pieces of jewelry went to myself, my sister, and my mom (her daughter). Quite a few of her hats and floral maxi skirts also ended up in my collection, as well.

I have to say, I’m not the biggest accessory girl in the world. I literally wear the same earrings and necklace every day. But I am getting more adventurous with accessorizing my outfits after I looked at all of my necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings and realized that all of them were essentially going to waste. That was when I decided to add one of my grandma’s necklaces to an outfit that I was wearing and it became my new favorite:

About a week ago, my outfit consisted of my new Forever 21 cheetah print jersey, Nasty Gal patched moto jacket, Loft velvet black skinny jeans, a backwards baseball cap, and a killer pair of heels. But, it felt like I was missing something. I was trying to go for an urban chic look that day and all I could think about was how fabulous a big, chunky, gold necklace would be to complete the look. Then, I remembered that I already had one!

I snagged the drop dead gorgeous necklace seen above from my dresser and as soon as it was on, it instantly transformed the outfit. I wasn’t just trying to emulate an urban chic vibe, I was urban chic and it felt amazing. It’s funny to think that such a cool, almost tough girl feeling came from a necklace that belonged to my grandma (as seen in the featured image photo), who was the most sweet as pie, beautiful woman that I know. But hey, I think that she would be proud that I was wearing her jewelry in a way that helped enhance my personal style and was thinking of her the entire time that it was around my neck.

Since last week, I think I’ve worn my new favorite outfit at least three times and I still love it just as much as the first time that I wore it. I can’t wait to begin utilizing all of the wonderful accessories that I have from my grandma and the ones that I have accumulated over the years. I am so excited to see which piece of jewelry will transform one of my outfits next and am looking forward to sharing it with all of you!

These silly pictures of me and my sister are from my brother’s rehearsal dinner from his wedding but they give you an idea of what the necklace looks like on:

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So there you have it, my first Accessory Story: All Gold Everything Edition! What is your favorite accessory that you own? What is your favorite kind of accessory to wear? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb9

Bath & Body Works February Freebies

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Bath & Body Works February Freebies

Hi everyone and happy Thursday! Bath & Body Works is back on track with their freebies after taking December off and I couldn’t be happier. This month, I switched things up and went with shower gel instead of lotion since I already have like ten travel sized lotions that accumulated over the months. I went with shower gel because when I make my way to Europe hopefully within the year, it will be nice to have travel approved body washes that I didn’t have to pay a dime for. Hey, every little bit helps!

The shower gels will also be a nice addition to add on to gifts to friends and family when their birthdays come around. Adding in a few mini lotions with their shower gel counterparts brings an extra ten or more dollar value to the prezzie without having to break out the plastic or cold hard cash. That’s such a win in my book! Seriously, nothing is better than having a stock pile of beauty items to turn to when you feel like a gift is kind of blah because of either lack of funds or inspiration. What girl doesn’t love a few extra bath and body care goodies to add to her collection?!

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Today, I got two travel sized shower gels in Beautiful Day and Pretty As A Peach. Both of these scents are equally delicious but that’s not what I want to talk about in this post. Instead, I want to discuss the possibility of doing a giveaway on lifewithlilred soon – the very first one, as a matter of fact! February is all about my Think Spring guest bloggers series but come March, a giveaway with a little bouquet of four or five travel sized lotions or gels could be lots of fun! Like I said, what girl doesn’t love a few extra bath and body care goodies to add to her collection?!

So there you have it, my Bath & Body Works February Freebies! How does everyone feel about a giveaway? Which scents do you think I should include? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb6

TJMaxx Gift Card Purchases

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TJMaxx Gift Card Purchases

Hi everyone and happy Monday! This past week was the Special Olympics games and it was a fantastically fun time. All of my students were very successful in their events and I couldn’t be more proud. At the banquet following the games, one of my students and his family presented me with a late graduation present – a beautiful framed photo of myself and my student from last year’s games and a gift card to my favorite place on earth…TJMAXX!!! I was so thankful for such a thoughtful gift because they seriously hit the nail on the head. I love having my new picture of such a happy memory on my desk and I had a blast doing some shopping with my mom to spend my gift card this past weekend.

The prezzie actually couldn’t have come at a better time because I’ve been wanting to do a major skin care haul so I can have a year’s supply of all of my must have beauty items without the hassle of waiting around for deals all year. Until the price is right at The Body Shop for all of my necessities, I was able to put two new moisturizers (as I was running low on my Vitamin E TBS cream) and one of my favorite cleansers on back stock. Take a look:

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The Haul:

  • Destiny Boutique charcoal cleanser
  • Lanocreme day cream
  • Arad day cream

In case you guys don’t already know, I’m obsessed with Destiny Boutique and I got this cleanser from TJs not too long ago. But, I saw it in the beauty section and thought it would be a great addition to my skin care back stock so into the cart it went. After finding my favorite cleanser, it was time to look for some new moisturizers. When it comes to creams, my skin really isn’t picky at all but I had the hardest time finding them in the TJs beauty aisle. Seriously, all they seemed to have was night creams and masks so I felt lucky that I found two day creams that I think will work just fine.

I’m always excited to try products that isn’t native to the ol’ USA so when I saw that the Lanocreme moisturizer was made in New Zealand, I definitely wanted to give it a go. As far as the Arad cream goes, I have never used any of their products but I have heard good things so I decided to go with that one, too. I’m a little anxious to try both of these out considering I’ve been using The Body Shop’s Vitamin E moisturizer steadily for the past couple of months so we’ll see how it goes. Fingers crossed that I’ll have good things to say about it in an upcoming monthly beauty finishes post!

The last of my gift card was used on restocking the communal TBS body butter and lotion hoard that my mom and I share. A Raspberry body butter for me, Vanilla Chai for her, and a cocoa butter lotion – my favorite! If you love The Body Shop products as much as my mom and myself and you have a TJMaxx near you, then I can’t recommend stopping in and scoping out their beauty aisle enough. You never know what you might find!

So there you have it, my TJMaxx Gift Card Purchases! What is one of your favorite items from The Body Shop? What is one of your favorite scores from TJMaxx? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb4

Mystery Post!

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Mystery Post!

Hi everyone and happy weekend! This week I’ll be working on a very fun post for a super chic company that I am so excited for. I can’t give away all of the details but I’ll give you guys a little hint with the picture below:

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What do you think the balloon says? Can you guess the theme of the Mystery Post? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan30

January 2017 Finishes

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January 2017 Finishes

Helloooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. With January coming to a close and the reminder of Valentine’s Day in February coming in at full force, it’s time to talk about my empties for the month. I actually had a lot of finishes in January which I was so happy about because I was working on a few of them for quite a while and it’s always fun to start something new! Take a look at the products that I bid adieu to this month and let’s discuss:

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Would I Use Again?

  • The Body Shop Argon Oil body wash: YES
  • Peace, Love, & Juicy Couture lotion: NO!!!!
  • Jergens BB Protect lotion: YES
  • St. Ives Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange scrub: YES
  • Olay Total Effects moisturizer: MAYBE
  • Yes To Grapefruit Correct & Repair treatment: NO
  • The Body Shop Almond body butter: YES

Why/Why Not?

TBS Body Wash: This jumbo sized body wash was compliments of TJMaxx for a whopping EIGHT dollars. It took me well over three months to finish completely and I would definitely use it again. The Argon Oil scent is mild and soft and it left my skin feeling well moisturized after each use. It might not be my favorite scent that TBS has to offer but getting the jumbo sized shower gels from TJs is a steal so I take what I can get!

Juicy Couture Lotion: This is a product that I’ve been putting off using for a long, long time because it smells like butt! Many Christmases ago my mom gifted me with a Peace, Love, & Juicy Couture box set that came with the perfume and this lotion. I don’t think that I have ever even used the perfume and the only reason that I finally caved and used the lotion was to be rid of it! The smell…it just isn’t for me. It is so overpoweringly flowery and god knows what else and I (and my entire family, who reminded me every time I wore it) completely hated it. It took me about three weeks to finish this lotion and I could not have been happier to see it go! BYE FELICIA.

Jergens Lotion: I won this Jergens BB lotion from a giveaway last year along with the BB hand cream, which I loved. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy this body lotion again but if it were offered to me or if it were cheap enough, I would snag it. I liked how light it smelled and how quickly it absorbed but it was not an incredibly great value as I finished it after about four uses!

St. Ives Scrub: You guys already know that I love my St. Ives products and this scrub is no exception. First of all, the Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange scent is delicious. It is so invigorating and bright and I loved using it first thing in the morning. Second of all, my skin felt great after every use. It both felt and looked radiant and instantly took away the dull, tired look that sleep can bring to your skin. It took me a little over one month to finish this scrub.

Olay Moisturizer: This empty is actually compliments of my mom who handed it down to me two days before Christmas because I was all out of whatever I was using. She said there was about two uses left which was great because I knew that I would be getting more moisturizer and skin care goodies under the tree! My mom was dead wrong though, because I got about three weeks of use out of the rest of this product which shows that just a little bit of it goes a long way. This moisturizer absorbed quickly and its scent was subtle and mild which I liked, however, the texture was too thin for my liking. I like moisturizers with a little bit of heaviness to it, like The Body Shop’s Vitamin E cream, so this Olay one just didn’t pack enough of a punch for me. I won’t say that I wouldn’t use it again but it’s not something that I’m dying to buy after using it for close to a month.

Yes To Grapefruit Treatment: I like the idea of this Correct & Repair treatment but it really didn’t do much for me. The grapefruit scent did smell great but I never saw any noticeable differences in my skin after using it. I used this product about three to four times per month and it lasted me three months so the value of it was good but that’s really all I have to say for it. I think that this product was trying really hard to be a peel and it just didn’t work out that way. Rather, it was more like a scrub that sat on your face for ten minutes before washing off. -__-

TBS Body Butter: I love, love, LOVE the almond scent from TBS so when I saw this for SIX bucks at TJs, I had to grab it! The light nutty scent is so rich despite its subtleness and it just feels (and smells) so good on the skin. I love putting body butter on after a nice, long bath so it was a treat to be able to use one of my favorites for the past month which is about how long it lasted for me, too!

The month of January brought me seven finished products and some I loved and some…not so much! But that just means that I have seven new products to test in the months ahead which is something that I always look forward to. I would say that this month was still very successful as there were quite a few empties that I would definitely use again but I am so ready for the newbie products come February!

So there you have it, my January 2017 Finishes! Have any of you ever used any of the above products before? What did you think of them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan30

Time To Take Care Of Your Body: Easy Ways To Show It Some Love

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Time To Take Care Of Your Body: Easy Ways To Show It Some Love

We are often so busy in our lives that we leave little time to think about ourselves. But for the sake of your health, you need to look after number one. Our body is so important and if you don’t make time to care for it, you will end up feeling so blah and run down. Here are some easy ways to take care of your body and show it the love it deserves:

Give Your Body a Chance to Relax: It’s often the case that we are on the go constantly. Whether it’s being busy at work or running after the kids, we are not left with much time to relax. But for the sake of our body, we need to make sure that we do have a chance for a little R&R. As we said before, relaxation is essential to lowering your blood pressure, clearing your head, and easing knotted muscles. Try and make sure to spend at least an hour in the evening relaxing. Whether it be with a bath or a good book, allow yourself the time to take a breather. And make sure that you are getting enough sleep at night. It can be a challenge to get plenty of shut eye, but sleep is so important as it gives your body a chance to rest and rejuvenate to make sure that you’re ready for the next day.

Pamper Yourself Occasionally: You can also show your body some love by enjoying a pampering session every now and again. You could have a pampering session from the comfort of your home. Have a warm bubble bath and relax for a while. You can then use a great lotion or body butter to moisturize your skin and leave it in good condition. Also, take the time to give your hands and feet a massage and apply some creams to ensure that they are shown some love, too! If you fancy something even more relaxing, you might want to consider heading to a spa. Take your loved one or a good friend and go and relax in the pool and Jacuzzi. You could even book some treatments such as a massage and a facial to ensure that your body gets the pampering it deserves. You will come away feeling refreshed and ready to move forward with your life and all of the tasks you need to face for the week ahead.

Make Sure You Eat a Healthy Diet: It’s not just the outside of your body that you need to worry about. You need to make sure you are taking care of the inside, too. And one of the easiest ways that you can do this is by making sure that you are consuming a healthy diet. Make sure you are consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables to help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid high fat and sugar foods. If you start eating a healthier diet, your body will definitely love you for it!

Finally, make sure you exercise regularly to keep the rest of your body machine in working order. Here’s to the best you possible thanks to a little self love!

Featured Image By: Flickr

Jan26

Bath & Body Works January Freebie

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Bath & Body Works January Freebie

Hii everyone and happy Thursday! So this month I was growing increasingly wary that Bath & Body Works was finally on to the fact that whenever I come into the store, it’s usually just to cash in my freebie coupons. I had not received anything in December so by late January, I assumed that my free ride was over. But, as they say, assume makes an ass out of you and me because this past week I received some of my beloved freebie coupons in the mail. I was really happy about this because after the holiday season, my hoard was beginning to run dry thanks to peppering many a gift with a few travel sized goodies. Lucky for me, I was able to add to the stock pile with these two lotions:

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On Tuesday, I picked up a travel size Pink Cashmere and Magic In The Air lotion. I really like the Pink Cashmere scent because it smells so barely there light which is perfect for someone who doesn’t like an overpowering fragrance. I am one of those people so if I decide to keep this one for myself or gift it, I know that it will be a hit either way. I also LOVE, love, love the packaging for this lotion. It is so girly, soft, and pretty which was the perfect way to go for such a delicate scent.

Magic In The Air is one of B&BW’s winter fragrances and will definitely be one that I’ll be saving for the next holiday season (or perhaps a giveaway!). It won’t do much good to gift someone with a wintery floral scent for a summer birthday! Regardless, I think that this lotion smells really pretty! It has a lovely winter berry scent layered with some sweet florals, which is all combined with the freshness in the air that comes with a crisp winter wind. Normally, I’m not one for floral fragrances but Magic In The Air is one that I can get down with!

I am so #blessed that Bath & Body Works decided to bestow more freebie coupons onto me and am looking forward to refilling my stock pile with lots of wonderful smell goods!

So there you have it, my Bath & Body Works January Freebie! Who thinks that I should do a lotion giveaway? What is your favorite B&BW scent? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan21

Pinup Girl Style Swap

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Pinup Girl Style Swap

Hi everyone and happy weekend!! My dear friend, Carlie, and I decided that it would be super fun to do a style swap themed blog post – and of course we were right! During our communications via email we each assigned each other a style that we might not dress in on a regular day. If you’ve seen Carlie’s blog before, you’ll know that she is the epitome of pinup girl rocker chic and that is something that I am so not! Knowing this, I thought that it would be a friendly challenge to give Carlie the task of creating a preppy look while she assigned me with styling a pinup girl OOTD.

Quite honestly, I know nothing about pinup girl and rockabilly style so I had to turn to good ol’ Google Images to assist me with my challenge. After scouring the pics for a while, I noticed a common theme of cute curls and sassy updos, tied at the waist plaids, flirty dresses, and bustier tops. Unfortunately, I don’t really have any dresses or tops in my wardrobe that give a super accentuated cleavage while providing a tiny waist line because I’m just not comfortable with that, so I had to think outside of the box. Here’s what I came up with:

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What I Wore:

  • Checkered Top: Hollister, GoodWill – $4
  • Black Shorts: So…, Kohl’s – $12
  • Color Blocked Kitten Heels: Calico, GoodWill – $6
  • Daisy Earrings: Forever 21 – $4

I’m going to keep it real with you guys –  some of the pieces in this outfit are like six years old haha I’ve had my GoodWill Hollister top and Calico heels for ages. But it felt good to be able to style such a cute and sassy look for under thirty dollars with some oldie but goodie wardrobe essentials.

However, I knew that just an adorbs outfit wasn’t going to be enough because in pinup girl fashion, there seemed to be a huge emphasis on hair. I rarely ever make an effort at curling my hair because it’s simply a matter of preference – I love when my hair is pin straight. I knew my curls wouldn’t be perfect because I have no practice doing it, but I gave it a go anyways with my flat iron and surprisingly loved the way it turned out. I felt like my effort looked like an ode to pinup girl style without being super obvious and I even felt encouraged to wear my hair like that again in the future. And, of course, pinup girls wouldn’t be pinup girls without a cherry red lip so I broke out my tried and true NYX True Red matte lippie to complete the look.

Finally, it was picture time! In all of the pictures that I studied to give me some pinup girl inspiration, I noticed that there were a lot of specific poses that seemed to be used constantly. Popped legs, bent knees with your hands on your thighs, and a booty tooch with an arched back for starters. So, I practiced in the mirror and then had my dad who is super handy with a camera snap away.

After three or so minutes, I took a look at the pics and was SO happy with the results. After seeing the look come together in the photos, I felt like it was easy to recognize what style I was emulating while stilling giving it a fun Lil Red twist. I was going for a more modern pinup girl look and I hate to toot my own horn – but I think I nailed it!

So now, the question is: Would I wear a pinup girl style look again? I can’t say that this would be an every day look for me but it was fun to change things up. I can see myself wearing an outfit like this during the summertime while going to the pool or browsing around my favorite outdoor shopping mall. However, I think that I would try to tone the look down depending on where I was by throwing on a pair of combat boots or an edgier heel so the look wasn’t so cutesy because I am a punk girl at heart!

So there you have it, my Pinup Girl Style Swap! Make sure to check out Carlie’s preppy look transformation, too! How would you describe your style? What type of style or clothing do you rarely find yourself wearing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan17

Moisturize That Skin: How To Take Care Of Your Complexion Over Winter

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Moisturize That Skin: How To Take Care Of Your Complexion Over Winter

Over the winter, it’s hard to keep your skin looking flawless. Although we all know that the summer sun can be very damaging for our skin, we often don’t think about the damage that’s done by bitingly cold temperatures and harsh winter winds. With red cheeks, chapped lips, and sore hands, we need a winter remedy to help us feel beautiful again. Luckily, there are many tips and tricks for keeping your skin fresh and picture perfect all year long:

Step Up Your Skincare: We always make sure that we’re wearing sunscreen over the summer – or we should, at least! But people often don’t realize that it’s important to wear a high SPF over the winter, too, because the winter sun can be just as damaging with its UV rays. Make sure that you put your sunscreen or a moisturizer with a high SPF on underneath your makeup and apply it to your neck and décolletage too. Put on night cream when you go to bed at night, along with eye cream. If you get oily skin, try using a gel moisturizer instead – just make sure that you don’t use a cleanser that’s too abrasive and that strips your skin of the natural oils that it needs to stay healthy.

If you have been using skin care that is appropriate for your skin type and are still not satisfied with the results, there are other options. You can go to an esthetician for treatments or you can look for more permanent solutions with a Plastic surgeon in Corsicana, TX (or your local area). Plastic surgery is sometimes still regarded as a taboo subject, but there is nothing wrong with it as long as you are comfortable and are, of course, going to a safe and reputable practice.

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Such cute specs!

Keep Hydrated: In the summer, it’s easy to make sure that you drink plenty of water when it’s so hot outside. Skin cells are made up of water and if you don’t drink enough, then your complexion starts to look dull and lifeless, so it’s important that you keep drinking water all throughout the winter, too. If you’re finding it hard to make yourself do so, why not make flavored water at home with your favorite fruits?

Drinking water will make your skin look fresh and glowing, and it’ll improve your general health – not just that of your skin. Make sure that you take off your makeup every evening with a cleanser that doesn’t strip the natural oils from your skin. If you find that your soap or shampoo aren’t foaming up enough but leaving a greasy layer of residue behind on your skin instead, then you might live in a hard water area – try investing in a water softener to improve matters.

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Drink up!

Fake It Till You Make It: If you’re finding it difficult to get perfect skin this winter, then there is always makeup to help with that. You might need a slightly paler shade of foundation than you do in the summer – or if you want lighter coverage with more moisturizing properties, why not go for BB cream instead? Lightly coat your under-eyes with translucent powder before brushing it away to erase any dark circles and do some light contouring to highlight your cheekbones.

A blusher like NARS Orgasm will add some warm color to your cheeks and if you want to go for a more golden summery look, try a golden highlighter and a light layer of bronzer. Complete the look with eye makeup in warm shades like the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette. Winter is the time that you can be a little more experimental with your lip color, so go for a dark berry shade – just make sure you’ve exfoliated your lips first!

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Love NYX!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Jan13

Black & Neon Green Nails

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Black & Neon Green Nails

Hi everyone and TGIF! Yesterday was crazy busy for me but because I always get my nails done on Thursdays when I need a new set of nails or a fill, I just had to make time to see my beloved nail tech, Vinny, so he could get me right. I usually get my nails filled every three weeks for twenty bucks and honestly it’s the best money that I spend all month. To me, there is nothing better than taking a breather and being pampered before you have to step back into the real world. And, of course, it is always so fun hanging out with Vinny and the salon gang for an hour or two!

Last fill, I was loving the hot pink accent nails that I picked and I decided to go bright or go home again this time with neon green and a coat of sparkles over top of it. As always, the rest of my nails were black with an airbrushed cross on each middle finger. I’m thinking of upgrading to gemstone crosses next fill, though! I’m so obsessed with how my nails turned out yesterday and they might just be my favorite fill yet. Check it out:

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LOVE!!!!!

After a delightful rendezvous at the salon, I went to get myself some Starbucks with a Christmas gift card before heading to the skating rink to coach for the Special Olympics. As I was being rung out, the barista asked for my name and when I told him it was Sarah he checked to see if it was with or without an H (I love when people do that!). After I told him that it was with an H (the best way), he told me that he’s “always told that the H is for ‘high maintenance'”. I guess that has to be true, considering that I was just coming from getting my nails done!

What is your favorite nail polish shade right now? What color should my accent nails be next fill? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah