Last night was my mom’s annual Mexican dinner birthday bash and it was absolutely wonderful! Every year for my mom’s birthday we hit up a local Mexican restaurant, El Campesino for good food, frivolity, and hella margaritas! Here’s a few pics from the white girl wasted festivities:
^^^ She’s so cute!!! (And I feel like we look super alike in these pictures, so now you know where I got my striking good looks from! ;)) El Campesino is one of our all time favorites, and we had a complete blast. The restaurant was hoppin on a Friday night, but we got seated right away which was awesome. My mom’s birthday is on Sunday, but all of the members of the family crew could go out on Friday night so we celebrated early. We ordered our food and a pitcher of margs quickly because we were so hungry, and our food arrived in less than FIVE MINUTES!! Talk about service! The most adorable thing about my mom is that she’s a total lightweight, so within one glass of margarita, she was white girl wasted. The only words that I can use to sum up my mom when she’s wasteypants are as follows: funny, sloppy, and unpredictable. We annihilated our food and threw back our margs and had a gay old time. My favorite part of the night was when my mom decided it would be funny to knock her head on my shoulder while saying “timber” in the tune of Kesha and Pitbull’s hit. My mom loves Pitbull, so this one is for her:
The celebration was so fun and will carry on to tomorrow for her actual birthday, so don’t expect to hear from me tomorrow! I love you so much mama and I hope you have a fantastic birthday! Thank you for being my best friend and the most amazing mom a gal could ask for! You’re the most beautiful lady in the whole wide world and I’m SO lucky to have you as my mommy! ❤
I’m currently at Starbucks, where I’ve been working on math homework for the past two hours. -__- I desperately needed a break, so I figured now would be the perfect time to tell you guys all about my lovely family evening. But alas, I must get back to work, so I have to cut this post short. I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend, and I’ll check back in with you guys on Monday for the weekly update!
What are you guys up to this weekend? Any fun plans? What’s your family’s favorite way to celebrate a birthday? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! And make sure you leave my mama some birthday love in the comments! Much love. -Sarah
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!! #BFF!!!!!!
So! A little known fact about Lil Red is that on the rare occasion that I feel like it, I can cook! This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I’ve been known to make a pretty bangin meal. Today is a special occasion because my oldest brother, Peter (who lives in Wisconsin) will be home for an entire week because he’s going to be laying down some chemical engineering knowledge at a local college. #boygenius Because I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks, I decided to make a family dinner….apparently excitement makes me want to cook. Go figure. Anyways, I whipped up some Chinese stir fry for the fam this evening and it turned out fabulous. Chinese is always a good option for my family because half of us (including myself) are vegetarian, so there’s a lot of tasty meat free choices to pick from. I normally never take pictures of my food, but I was so proud of this meal that I just had to, so here’s the final result:
Preparing this meal honestly wasn’t hard at all, it just took some time management to finish all of the dishes at the same time. Here’s a list of all of the dishes made by yours truly tonight:
Top Right – Sesame Tofu Stir Fry: This mix included hokkien noodles, steamed snow peas, and tofu with a sesame sauce. I just kind of free styled this one.
Bottom Right – Sweet & Sour Stir Fry: A fantastic mix from Aldi’s was used for this dish. Snow peas, carrots, red pepper, pineapple, and sauce were in this mix. I added the hokkien noodles to this as well to make it a bit more filling.
Middle – Steamed Snow Peas
Top Left – Brown Rice
Bottom Left – Vegetable Spring Rolls
Dinner was a success and my whole family really enjoyed it! I guess I should start cooking more often! Today has been wonderful. School this morning was boring as usual, but I actually learned a lot which was fun, I got tons of homework done this afternoon, and my brother should be home any minute now! There’s only one song that can give the fantastic mood I’m in justice, and it goes a little something like this….
Hahahaha ^^^^ SO, this weekend my mom and I were driving around running errands and she happens to have Sirius radio in her car. There’s a great station on Sirius called “80’s on 8” which plays all of the beloved one hit wonders of the 80’s. Wang Chung’s “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” played when we were in the car and we almost died laughing over the lyric “everybody Wang Chung tonight.” Ever since this past weekend my momma and I have been quoting it, and it’s obviously become our new favorite. EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! #loveit
Alright guys, I hope you have a fabulous night doing whatever it is that you’re doing! I know I will – Brother/sister time is on the horizon! What’s your favorite meal to cook? What are some of your favorite vegetarian recipes? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Hey guys! So I get home tonight to find notifications on my page on a post that I don’t recall writing. It turns out my mom managed to write this sweet post after I put the link to lifewithlilred on my Facebook. I never log out of my WordPress so it’s no wonder she ended up becoming a blogger in her own right! I love you mom and thank you for your words of encouragement! -Sarah
Hi Sarah,,,thanks for listing the link to your blog on facebook. Though I red (haha…make that “read”) your blog before, I haven;t for awhile. I thought your insightful posting of 1/4/15 was AMAZING! So proud of your hard work, your journey, and, especially, your COURAGE to share! I think the latter is something that always intimidates me with writing, as, once it’s written and sent…it is OUT THERE,,,, I MEAN OUT THERE,,, and that always scares me to make a strong statement that I can’t later rephrase or hem or haw about. SO HURRAY for you Sarah…you bring wisdom to others twice ( or in your mom;s case, even more than twice!!) your age. So proud of your philosophy and writings….Love you….Mom
Hello one and all!!!!! Happy happy holidays and Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate. I had a really beautiful visit today with one of my dear friends that I’d like to share with you. My spirits have been pretty low lately, but this afternoon definitely put me back into the holiday swing of things. Hopefully this story will do the same to you!
This will be the second Christmas that my beloved grandma (rest her soul) will not be with us. But it still feels like just yesterday when she passed. She used to live in an assisted living center ran by devout nuns. During the years that she was there I became quite familiar with the Sisters, the residents, and one lady in particular: Neva. If you recall, I’ve wrote about her and our visits before. To give you guys a little refresher, Neva is a Southern Belle with the most fantastic Kentucky accent I’ve ever heard. She’s known me for over ten years now, and we truly have a mother/daughter relationship. Although my grandma is no longer with us, I still very much like to go and visit Neva and everyone else in the home. So today, I filled a bag full of Miss Neva’s favorite candy (Hershey’s chocolate kisses!) and drove off for a Christmas visit. It always makes me so happy when Neva answers the door to the room and sees that it was me who was knocking. Her eyes light up and she always greets me with a warm “Hi, Honey!” After our hugs hello I presented her with her bag of goodies, and she handed me a bracelet that matches the one she has in green, as seen below:
I was so touched by this gesture and was smiling from ear to ear. It was just so thoughtful and now I feel close to her even when we’re apart. After we exchanged our gifts I asked her to show me around the residence hall, because it’s always decorated so beautifully for the holidays. We gazed upon tree after tree and admired all of the ornaments and lights displayed on them. We then walked into the Chapel where all of the Poinsettias that still needed to be put out around the building were kept. In the Chapel we ran into one of the Sisters who was a main care taker for my grandma when her health started declining. “You’re all grown up!” She said as she greeted me with a warm embrace. At this point I was getting incredibly emotional, and she held me tighter as tears fell from my eyes. “You miss grandma, don’t you?” She asked, and all I could do was nod into her shoulder. After we let go she told me that last weeks Masses were held in memory of my sweet grandma, which made me cry even harder…but they were happy tears, because I know that her memory is eternal in the halls of her home and the hearts of everyone. Sister and Neva both told me how proud they were that I’m now in school and it made me feel so good. After a long hug good bye from Sister she told me that myself and my family is welcome in the halls of the residence anytime. I will definitely be taking her up on that. After our visit with Sister, Neva and I headed back into her room for some girl talk. We gossiped about boys and her family and danced around her room to Christmas carols. While sitting on her bed with my head on my shoulder, she stroked my hair and told me that I’m just like a daughter to her. How can you not feel amazing after hearing that? It was an absolutely glorious afternoon that I needed more than I realized. Here’s a picture of me and my dear friend, Neva:
I am wishing everyone the happiest of holidays. Whatever you celebrate, spend it with loved ones (pets included!) and good cheer. Special thoughts are sent to anyone who will be celebrating the holiday season without a loved one – my heart goes out to you more than you know. Love and good tidings to all of you! -Sarah
PS: Happy holidays from my doggies Gem and Winston!!!!
I absolutely LOVE shopping for Christmas gifts…and just shopping in general, so I’ve had a blast putting together my holiday gifts this year! Instead of venturing into the craziness at the mall to do my shopping, I’ve been purchasing all of my presents online at http://www.amazon.com – and let me tell you: it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! There is absolutely NOTHING better than shopping stress free from the comfort of your own home. After I stopped working at the mall in September, I haven’t really frequented it, aside from a handful of times. When I went to visit my sister at work on Wednesday afternoon last week, the mall was jam packed and it gave me anxiety!!! There were way too many people and the stores were so trashed that it made even window shopping obnoxious. One of the best things about Amazon is that it’s literally a one stop shop. They have everything you could possibly need to put together an awesome gift. There’s a few gifts that I’ve grown particularly fond of giving over the past few years that I’d like to share with you guys. Hopefully this will spark some ideas to help finish all of your holiday shopping!
TV Series Box Sets: These are literally the bread and butter of my Christmas gifts. It all started years ago when my mom would get my dad the Seinfeld seasons for his birthday or holidays. Then we started watching Curb Your Enthusiasm once we were confident that we’ve seen every Seinfeld episode known to man kind. My mom would get the seasons from the library but that gets annoying really quick when the DVDs skip from being scratched so much. So I took it upon myself to carry on my moms tradition and buy my dad a season or two for every gift giving occasion until we had the complete series. He loved it! Box sets of TV shows are so convenient, especially when the show you like to watch has to be accessed on the computer. Last year my sister was obsessed with Breaking Bad, but she could only watch it on Netflix, so Sarah the Gift Giving Extraordinaire got her the DVDs to solve the problem of her always hijacking the computer. This year I got my parents the box set of Six Feet Under, their new obsession that they can only access on http://www.hbogo.com. I also got my sister the last seasons of Breaking Bad to complete her collection and season one of The Strain. Unfortunately, Kristen already knows that she’s getting The Strain because she told me a few days ago that she planned on buying it so I had to tell her that I already had it pre ordered for her! She was still really happy all the same though!!
Board Games: This might be kind of a lame idea but I promise you that it’s effective!!! Nothing makes parents more happy than family game night….okay well maybe there’s a few things that make them happier – but still. This year I bought a strategy game Cards VS Dice for my brainiac brother and his fiance. My sister has been talking about wanting to get Cards Against Humanity for a while and I’ve heard that it’s a lot of fun, so I bought the starter packs of the game as a gift to everyone in the family. Some other fun games that I’d recommend if you’re thinking about giving a board game gift to your family are: Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples, Crush, and Quiddler. Another thing that falls under the game category would be puzzles. I got one of my brothers a jigsaw puzzle of one of his favorite football stadiums so that we could assemble it together. After the puzzle is complete I thought it would be cool to glue it together and frame it for a cool addition to his room.
Bath & Body Products: I know, I know – this is an obvious one. But let me fill you in on why I’m writing about it. Have you ever felt like a gift that you purchased just wasn’t enough? BOOM. Bath and body care is the perfect add on to a gift to make it feel more full and complete. The nice thing about getting somebody gifts to pamper themselves with is that they might not buy stuff like that on their own. Apparently not every grown woman buys bubble bath products anymore. Go figure. But anyways, I always buy some goodies from The Body Shop for my girlfriends to add on to their presents, and they love it every time. Just an FYI that in store and online The Body Shop has some extremely cute and very reasonably priced gift sets – you can check them out at http://www.thebodyshop.com!
Vacation Planning Books: Is there anyone in your family or friends that loves planning vacations? My dad would be that person in my family! He loves traveling and planning amazing family vacations. Next summer we plan on going to Universal Studios in Florida, so as part of his gift I bought him the 2015 guide to the amusement parks. I’m well aware that lots of local libraries carry these travel books, but it’s nice to own them so you can take notes and highlight things that look like fun in them. Do you know for sure that you’re going to be going on a vacation with family, friends, or a significant other? If so, another fun gift for the vacation planners would be purchasing a gift card to a restaurant in the area or making I Owe You cards for dinner or souvenirs from your travel location.
Gifts That Serve a Purpose: How many gifts have you received over the years that sit in your closet to this day? My number one rule for gift purchasing is buying things that I know for a fact the recipient is going to use. My best friend Lea loves writing down her daily schedule for school and work in a planner, so I got her a really cute 2015 planner and a travel coffee cup to match it. My parents like having a 365 day calender to look at over breakfast in the morning, so naturally that was an obvious gift to get them. My mom needs a new laptop case for work, so of course I’m going to get it for her. Gift giving becomes super easy when you think about what each person would definitely use. There’s also a 99% chance that the people who you’re purchasing for are going to love the handy gift you got them, which will save you from the awkward “did you happen to save the receipt” conversations!
So there you have it, the Lil Red Recommends – Holiday Gift Edition! Hopefully these suggestions will help with your holiday shopping this year! What was your favorite gift you’ve ever received? What gift are you most excited about giving this year? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! -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
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
Recommendations one through ten from yours truly ❤ :
1) Read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. If you read my article about this book, you’ll already know how much I love it. I just finished rereading this novel by Rachel Joyce today and it still made me cry just as much as when I read it the first time. I’m really looking forward to reading Rachel Joyce’s other book, Perfect. So be on the look out for my thoughts on that once I start reading it!
2) Go on a hike by yourself. Seriously this may be one of the best things you ever do for yourself. If you read my article An Ohio Hike, you’ll know that I had an absolutely lovely solo hiking experience this past week. I felt so at peace when I was walking through the forest with just me, myself, and I. Hearing the sounds of nature and being alone with my own thoughts was so calming. Walking through the beautiful Ohio Metroparks is definitely something I’d like to continue doing.
3) Write a letter to yourself. I know, I know, so corny right? Contrary to popular belief – it’s not. One of my first college assignments this past week was to write a letter to my future self. My professor promised all of her students that she wouldn’t be reading our letters, just simply mailing them back to us when she felt the time was right. Our only guideline for the assignment was to be kind to ourselves. With that in mind, I wrote a letter straight from the heart to my future self. I wrote all of the positive affirmations I tell myself and then some and it felt so good. Seeing the words I speak to myself in my head on paper made phrases like “you’re beautiful inside and out” very real to me. If that makes sense? If you’d like to read exactly what I wrote to myself, you can check out my article Letter to Myself. Once you complete your letter, tuck it away somewhere special and whenever you need reassurance or positivity, it will be there for you.
4) Listen to Mika!!!! This lovely gentleman is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I was playing him on my way home from work yesterday night and had a blast. I completely forgot how much I enjoy his gorgeous vocals and insane falsetto. This is a true story, I discovered Mika years ago when they used his track We Are Golden in a Degrassi commercial on TeenNick. I loved the song so much that I had to hear more. Screaming “we are not what you think we are, we are golden, we are golden” in my car with the windows down last night was exactly what I needed after a day at work! Mika’s talent is so pure and impressive and I can’t get enough of it.
5) Check out the bands Fallen Captive and Below The Tide: Two of the fantastic gentlemen who work at Odd Fellows Tattoos in Akron (where I got my latest tattoo done) are also members of some pretty cool heavy metal bands. Travis Lamont who did my gorgeous Isis piece this weekend plays a mean guitar for Below The Tide while Mitch Pivarski of Fallen Captive lays down some insane vocals. Help support Akron Ohio’s local music scene by showing these guys some love! These gents are two of the best guys you’ll ever meet, and I’m so glad to have the pleasure of knowing them!
6) While you’re at it, give Odd Fellows Tattoos a like: I had the pleasure of getting my latest ink addition done here, and the experience was nothing but positive. You can read all about it in my latest article Body Mods! Part 2. This shop is inhabited by fantastic tattoo artists, piercers, and the all around coolest guys ever. Please show the Akron body art scene some love by giving their Facebook page a like. Make sure you browse through all of the photos of the amazing work that gets done there on the daily. And in case you haven’t seen my newest tattoo yet, here’s a pic of the goddess Isis, done by Travis Lamont, as well as their Facebook page.
7) Pamper yourself: A few nights ago I took the most amazing bubble bath ever. I lit some fall scented candles in the bathroom, played the gorgeous Amy Winehouse on my iPod, and filled up the tub with some floral scented suds. This sounds like such an obvious thing to do, but sometimes we forget to give ourselves a little treat. I didn’t realize how tense I was from the days work until I sunk into the steaming water. Amy Winehouse is one of the best artists to play while taking a bubble bath – she makes everything so much more luxurious! Enya is also a highly recommended bath time artist as well! After I got out of the tub, I wrapped myself in a fluffy new towel to dry off. As an extra treat I lathered on some Satsuma body butter from The Body Shop. My skin was soft as a baby’s bottom after that! BTW, I believe all of The Body Shop’s bath and body care is half off right now on their website, so take a look if you’re interested! http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/
8) Listen to Say Hi (formerly known as Say Hi To Your Mom): I absolute adore Mr. Eric Elbogen of Say Hi. I’ve been a fan of this one man band for quite some time now, but have been listening to him very frequently as of late. I can’t get enough of the quirky lyrics of this Seattle native. From the haunting lullaby like tune of “I Think I’ll be a Good Ghost” to making a morbid lyric like “I’m gonna drink your blood” in “Blah Blah Blah” sound romantic – this guy can do no wrong. I stumbled upon this artist when he was still Say Hi To Your Mom. I was strolling through the CD section of Best Buy with my brother, when I pointed out the funny name of Eric Elbogen’s act and we shared a laugh. Once I got home, I was curious about what the music of Say Hi To Your Mom sounded like, so I looked it up, and the rest is history.
9) Do a Halloween activity: This Friday night my sister, her boyfriend, and myself went to The Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory in Akron. We had a blast! We only went through the Laboratory because we didn’t feel like paying for both houses. Both haunted houses boast four floors of fright. There were a lot of really cool rooms in the Laboratory, like an operating room, a room inspired by the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and a dentists office. The timing of the actors in the haunted house was so perfect. They would pop out right when we were more than half way through a room with the thought that we wouldn’t get a scare. It was like they were reading our minds, because as soon as we thought we were smooth sailing, out would come a masked man yielding a chainsaw! It was so fun holding on to each other and laughing every time one of the actors got us! I would love to go to the Haunted Schoolhouse before the Halloween season is over! I would also like to hear about popular haunted houses in your neck of the woods, so please leave me a comment about them!
10) Take a shopping trip: Today my mom and I went to TJMaxx to browse their fall and winter clothing. If you guys follow all of my OOTD’s, then you already know how much I love TJ’s! Unfortunately, there was nothing too impressive on our trip today, but it was still so fun to go with my mom and point out our likes and dislikes. It’s always a hit or miss when we make a TJ’s trip, so hopefully next time we go there will be tons of cute and new stuff! I can’t recommend going to one of your favorite stores for a little pick me up enough. In the words of Donna and Tom from Parks and Recreation: TREAT YOSELF!
So there you have it, my Lil Red Recommends for the week! What’s your favorite Halloween activity to do? I’d really like to get in some more Halloween fun before the week is up! Please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions! Have a great night! -Sarah
This is a special thank you letter to my mom and dad. A thank you for them being so accepting of their extremely unique looking daughter. My mother took me to get all of my piercings done from the time I was fifteen until I was eighteen and old enough to get them done on my own. If you’ve read my original post Body Mods, you’ll know that I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times, and my mom was there for more than half of these. My dad was never really thrilled when I’d come home with a new piercing, however he’d rarely let me know it. And when he did, it was as nice as he possibly could make it, which usually just involved asking me if I was ever going to take any of my metal out. Not only was my parents cool with my body mods when I was younger, they were also fine with taking me to the hair salon to get my hair dyed and styled into my signature bright red semi short hair. Words can’t really express how much this means to me now. The fact that I was only a teenager but my parents were giving me the freedom to express myself and look the way I want is something I don’t thank them for enough. I should really start. My mom and dad treated me like an adult in the sense that I was able to make decisions on my appearance completely on my own. I’ll never forget all of the times my mom and I would come waltzing into the tattoo shop and being greeted by all of the guys working. My piercer absolutely adored my mom and we visited him frequently enough that my mom would drop the classic phrase of “you can be my adopted son” whenever we would see him. It was always so fun for me to see my mom chat and laugh with all of these pierced and tatted up guys as if she was the mother of all of them. Watching her interact with them and pass no judgement on any of them was amazing. My mom is sixty and my dad is sixty-six and I really think its cool that both of them are totally okay with having a daughter who looks like me. Most people my parents’ age are very set in their ways which tend to be more traditional. When I came home with my newest tattoo yesterday (see the article Body Mods! Part 2 for more information on that), my mom was so eager to see it that she was genuinely upset when I told her I couldn’t take the wrapping off for another two hours. My dad was amazed when he found out his little girl sat through five hours worth of pain to get it done, “how in the hell did you do that?!” There’s so many parents in the world who wouldn’t be okay with their kids opting for a more unique look. And there’s probably a lot of parents who don’t agree with my mom and dad’s acceptance of my appearance. But that’s okay, to each their own. My mom and dad accept me for who I am because I’m my own person and I like what I like. And most importantly, nothing will change the fact that I’m their little girl. My gratitude to my parents for everything knows no bounds, and I am so beyond lucky that I have them. If you guys haven’t read my newest Body Mods article, this is my newest tattoo which I got this weekend:
Take the time to thank your parents for something they did that you really appreciate. Has there ever been a time where your parents shocked you with how cool they are? What was something that your mom or dad did that you’ll never forget? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday. -Sarah
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