Category Archives: Friends

Jan8

Recommendations From Yours Truly ;)

Posted on January 8, 2015 by lifewithlilred

Helllooooooo everyone and happy almost weekend!!! I’ve had a really fabulous week doing a bunch of fun stuff that I’d love to share with you guys. Maybe these ideas will give you something fun to do this weekend! Let’s discuss!

Cook Your Favorite Meal: Honestly…this one is just for my own personal enjoyment…but everyone likes food so WHY NOT let it be a group effort? During the week I had a really lovely evening with myself preparing my personal favorite meal. For about six years now my mom has made this absolutely delicious pasta salad. It uses red pepper, red onions, sauteed zucchini, mozzarella cheese, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. (You can also add herbs of your choosing and spinach if you’d like!) I could eat this salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner…well maybe not breakfast…but it’s THAT good…so breakfast? Sure, why not?! I used to really love cooking and I’m not really sure why I ever stopped. (Maybe because my mom’s food is so good! 😉 ) I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making my favorite dish for a change, and I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed just hanging out with myself, playing some music, and preparing a meal that I know my entire family enjoys. And guess what?! It turned out great! You know how food that you make on your own somehow always tastes better than when other people cook it? That’s exactly the experience I had when I tried out my rendition of my beloved pasta salad. My dad told me that I’ll never starve now that I know how to make my favorite dish…and he’s absolutely right! Here’s a pic of how my pasta salad turned out, and if you’d like the recipe, please let me know!

YUM!!!!! ^^^^^^

Make Some Candy: I had a glorious best friend afternoon today with my darling Lea, who you guys know all about! It’s very cold in Akron, Ohio (#REPRESENT) right now. Early this afternoon I heard on the news that it felt like -17 degrees outside. Lea and I were supposed to go sledding this afternoon, but when I heard about this drastic cold I thought “oh hell no!” So we opted for a nice, cozy day indoors cooking up some yummy treats. Once we were armed with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, we began browsing through Pinterest, our activity destination. After ten minutes of scrolling through pages, we decided on making chocolate truffles. We raided the pantry for the we ingredients needed, then ventured back out in the cold to hit up the grocery story for what we didn’t have. The recipe was very easy to make, literally all you had to do was melt your chocolate and other ingredients together, put the chocolate in the freezer to let it stiffen, and then once the mixture is hard enough you roll them into balls and put whatever topping you would like on them. While our chocolate was melting and stiffening, we played Pentatonixs (or however you spell them), looked up the world’s largest body parts on Google Images, and hung out with Lea’s twin brother Bill. When the chocolates were stiff enough to shape them we had a silly time getting our hands dirty, because the chocolate was still gooey! We used peppermint candy that we crushed with a mallet, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips for the toppings on our truffles. They turned out so yummy! You can’t do much to mess up chocolate! 😉 Here’s a picture of us with our finished product! We’re just a bunch of regular ol’ chocolateers!

Once again…YUM!!!! ^^^

Go See Unbroken: This week I had a lovely date night with my other partner in crime, Kate, who you guys also know all about! We went to see Unbroken, which tells the courageous tale of Louis Zamperini as directed by the stunning and gorgeous Angelina Jolie. In the film we see Zamperini, the Olympic track star survive a plane crash in World War II. Unfortunately he doesn’t land to safety in the crash and ends up stranded at sea with two other soldiers. (One of them happens to be Finn Wittrock, who plays Dandy on American Horror Story: Freak Show!) The sailing in the emergency rafts are anything but smooth, and our heroes end up in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and eventually concentration camps. Zamperini suffers under the hands of a sadistic camp leader, which are some particularly difficult scenes to watch. However, the story tells an amazing tale. The screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen was fantastic and the cinematography and sound effects in the film were truly awe inspiring. Not to mention my dream woman, Miss Jolie directed the film to perfection. The movie is quite long so I’d recommend peeing a lot before hand. Most importantly, the film really covers some heavy and disturbing issues which might not be suitable for everyone. Fun fact for ya, a man from Stow, Ohio had a few lines in Unbroken, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from where I’m at. So way to represent, Ohio, brother man!! If you’re looking for a powerful and extremely well made movie to go to this weekend, I can’t recommend seeing Unbroken enough!

Listen To Cayucas: I know, I know so typically PacSun-y of me, BUT I CAN’T HELP IT! I love these guys! They’re seriously so beachy fun and I just can’t even. My absolute favorite thing to do is play these guys while I’m taking a bubble bath or shower, because they make me feel like I’m just chilling on the beach with my little toesies in the sand. I’ve never been to the beach before (Lake Erie doesn’t count!) but this group of surfer dudes helps me make believe that I’m there. All of their songs off of their album “Bigfoot” are crowd pleasers, but my particular favorite song is “High School Lover”….and YES we did play it at PacSun, ha! This track is very fun though. It definitely will make you think about that one guy or gal in high school that you wanted to be with so desperately or maybe was the one who got away. A charming sentiment set to a soft surfer rock vibe? It’s a win win. (Soft surfer rock?…I believe I just created my own music genre right there!) 😉

Have A Facial Night: Earlier this week, my sister asked me to give her one of my famous around the house facials, which I happily obliged to. After working at The Body Shop, I developed a love for skincare that will last me a lifetime. Here’s my tried and true step by step guide on how to give a fabulous facial to yourself or a friend:

Remove any facial makeup with one of those terrific cleansing wipes from your brand of choice.
Wet the skin with lukewarm water and if you have a clay, honey and oat, warming ginger, blue corn, or any mask in particular that you like to use, apply and let it sit for the amount of time instructed.
Now it’s time to use a cleanser. If you have a bristle brush, I highly recommend using one of these to give your pores an even deeper clean. If you don’t have a brush, make sure you use circular motions with your hands while using your cleanser.
I like to finish the facial treatment with a scrub. If you happen to use a soft buffer pad I would recommend using a rough, gritty scrub. And if you’re a fan of a more cream based scrub I would opt for an exfoliating loofah pad.
(Apply a toner if you’d like. But I never do.)
After your skin is nice and squeaky clean apply any acne topical treatment you use if needed and a moisturizer.

All of those steps listed above may seem like a lot for the skin to handle all at once, but you have the Lil Red Guarantee that all it can do is help if you use these tips every once in a blue moon! Facials scream “girls night” to me, so plan a fun night of pampering and break out the wine, chocolate, and chick flicks!

Treat Yoself: Annnnnd if you’re looking for a few fun treats to pamper yourself with, here’s a few products from The Body Shop that I’ve been obsessed with lately, which can be found in stores and online at http://www.thebodyshop.com!

Items shown from top to bottom:

Smooth and Renew Loofah Pads
Vitamin C Midrodermabrasion
Warming Mineral Mask
Glazed Apple Bath Jelly
Honeymania Bubble Bath Melt

So there you have it, my Little Red Recommends segment for the week! What are your weekend plans? What did you think about Unbroken? What band should I check out next? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great weekend! -Sarah

Jan5

The Planning Nook

Posted on January 5, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. It’s such a chill, lazy day and most importantly Sunday evenings have been dubbed the official hang out time for me and my dear friend Kate, whom you’ve read all about! Kate has recently moved into her own apartment, and it’s the most perfect little place in the world. In her apartment there’s this fantastic room with her piano and a big comfy chair that we named the “Planning Nook”. The whole idea of the nook is exactly how it sounds, to plan fun and exciting goals for ourselves and the future. We had a really inspiring Planning Nook session last night which I would love to tell you guys all about!

The night started out with a trip to Sweet Frog, which is the most delicious frozen yogurt ever. If you’ve ever been to Menchie’s it’s basically the same thing as that. Kate opted for a chocolate filled dish while I went for the fruity froyos, which I’ve never tried before. I’m so glad I did though because it was absolutely amazing. I now know my new favorite sweet treat which is a blessing and a curse! Here’s a drool worthy pic of our frozen yogurt before we annihilated it!

YUM!!!! Sweet Frog has an array of toppings to choose from for your yogurt, which includes these fun little things called “poppers”. (If you look at my yogurt dish they’re the orange bubble looking thingies) Anyways, these poppers are SO GOOD! The best way I can describe them is that the little bubble is filled with fruit juice. They had mango, strawberry, and pomegranate poppers to pick from…better believe I put all three of them on my froyo! #turndownforwhat

After our Sweet Frog treat, it was off to Giant Eagle to pick out some wine. Kate is extremely educated in the wine department, and by that I mean she picks out wine that isn’t Barefoot whenever we’re in need of a bottle! Ha! She picked out a delicious made in Ohio wine (#represent) Sweet Revenge by Wolf Creek. It was a blush wine, which usually isn’t my all time favorite, but I really enjoyed it! It was fairly sweet and fruity, so it definitely got the job done! (If you’re interested in learning about Wolf Creek wine, you can visit their website at: http://www.wineryatwolfcreek.com/wines.php)

Once we got our wine, it was off to the Planning Nook! If you notice my featured image, the wine glasses that we were drinking out of was part of my Christmas gift to Kate, in honor of our 2016 trip to Europe! I brought my Victoria’s Secret journal that I got for free (it pays to spend way too much moolah at VS!) to write down all of our ideas in, and I would love to share a few of them with you!

Make a rough draft itinerary for our trip to Europe
Brush up on our French until said trip
Have a coffee date and only converse in French at the end of the year
Take a weekend trip to Chicago
Make a collaborative blog piece for lifewithlilred

There were quite a few more, but those were my particular favorites, especially the French coffee date goal. When I was in high school, I was very good at French, unfortunately after I graduated I had no one to speak it with, so I essentially lost all of the progress I made in speaking the language. I would love to be at least semi fluent in it again, especially before our trip to Europe. Kate’s mother is a photographer, who will be teaching her craft to Kate these next few months, so some of the pictures you’ll be seeing on here eventually will be done by her, so that’s very exciting!! A lot of great things are going to be happening in 2015, and I’m so thrilled to share a lot of it with one of my best friends!!

What are some of your goals for 2015? What’s one language that you wish you were fluent in? What’s one skill you’d like to learn in this upcoming year? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Monday! -Sarah

Jan2

Fun & Easy Craft!!

Posted on January 2, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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I had a lovely time this evening getting crafty with my favorite little lady Miss Lea! She’s my go to crafting partner in crime and tonight we created a glitter masterpiece! Here’s the big reveal…*drum roll please*………………………..TA DAAAA! (In case you don’t know, our glitter picture is of Ohio, our home state and the heart on the picture is of our home town of Akron. #REPRESENT)

Before I give you guys the step by step on how to make this fun craft, here’s some tune-age for you to enjoy. Except you have to change the lyrics of “oh you fancy, huh?” to “oh you crafty, huh?” Instant classic.

Alright!!!! This craft is clearly pretty self explanatory, but here’s the how to guide on how to make it in case you can’t figure it out! First things first, here’s the supplies you’re going to need: (All together this craft cost about ten dollars to make)

A canvas board of your choosing. Lea and I opted for an oval shaped canvas.
Paint color of your choosing for the background.
Glitter color of your choosing for the shape you’ll be covering.
Glue
Outline of an object, animal, shape, state, continent, or whatever your heart desires to be on your canvas.
Scissors

Once all of your supplies are gathered, I’d recommend placing some newspaper down so glitter doesn’t get everywhere. You don’t want your workspace looking like Ke$ha rolled around on it.

Step 1) Paint the background of your canvas.

Step 2) Blow dry the paint to get it dry.

Step 3) Cut out the outline of whatever you’re gluing onto your canvas and glue it on.

Step 4) Cover your outlined picture with glue. For an even coat of the glue and to avoid bumpy glitter, Lea and I applied the glue with a paint brush.

Step 5) Pour the glitter color of your choosing over the freshly glued object. The glitter might not cover everything on the first try, so I would make sure that you’re glittering over a piece of paper so you can continue to pour the excess glitter from that.

Step 6) Apply a glitter heart to your glitter picture if you’d like.

And viola! You now have a super fun, quick, and easy craft. Lea and I had so much fun making this! Here’s a few pictures of us and our handy work!

If you have any fun crafting suggestions, please let me know! Lea and I would definitely love to try them out! Have you made any cool crafts or projects lately? I’d love to hear all about it, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great night! -Sarah

Jan1

New Year’s Celebration!

Posted on January 1, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Hello one and all and Happy New Year!!!!! Whatuppppp 2015! I had a hell of a time bringing in the new year with my sister Kristen, her boyfriend Ramon, and a great group of friends. Best believe that white girl wastedness was a very real thing last night. I thought I’d upload some pictures of my new years fun, while nursing a slight hangover. -_____-

Unfortunately all of the other pics that I have from last night are of me doing a keg stand which is not about to go up on the internet any time soon! I was actually really hyped on that because it was my first time keg standing (Do people say that? They do now.) and I lasted a whole EIGHT SECONDS! Not bad, right? Maybe? I don’t know! Best of all, I had a whole crew of people holding my dress while I was getting my keg stand on…like a real lady! 😉 Either way, it was SO MUCH FUN!!! There’s nothing that I love more than a night of frivolity with a bunch of my favorite people. I’m so thankful for the wild and safe time that was had last night. I’m especially thankful that my sister, my BFF, my one and only was my New Year’s kiss!!!

^^^^^ Speaking of my one and only!!!! I made this fun little Pic Stitch sister collage! :)) Love her!!!

I hope all of you guys had a fantastic time bringing in the new year in whatever way you chose to celebrate! If you’re stuck with a hangover like I am, I feel your pain all the way from Akron, Ohio. How did you guys welcome 2015? What were you drinking on? Who was your new year’s kiss? I want to hear all about it, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Laterrrrrrrrr. -Sarah

Dec24

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Posted on December 24, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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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!!!!

Dec22

Christmas Craft Fun!

Posted on December 22, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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A few days ago I had one of the most fantastic times with my dear friend Kate. I’m sure you recall reading about her, as she’s the girl who I’m planning a trip to Europe with. She’s also my go to shopping partner!! A few weeks ago you might recall me posting about how Kate and I assembled a vintage Christmas tree together in her apartment. Unfortunately, we had no ornaments to decorate our tiny tree with, so we decided to make our own. During this fun filled evening we ate Taco Bell, drank our favorite Starbucks Peppermint Mochas, drank a bottle of wine, watched the live taping of Peter Pan that was released recently, and became the crafting queens. The night started with a trip to Patcatan’s which is a craft store, as you can guess. When we entered the store, we realized we didn’t exactly plan out what we needed very well. (The night that we assembled our tree, we had a Pinterest party to get some ideas for what ornaments to make.) So we made a quick verbal list of what we should get to at least get us started. We left the store with ornaments, black, silver, and pink glitter, a hot glue gun, black and yellow paint, paint brushes, and last but not least: googly eyes. After we finished up at Patcatans, we stopped at Giant Eagle so Kate could run in and get us a bottle of wine for the evening. A night with Miss Kate wouldn’t be complete without getting Taco Bell and Starbucks, so stops were made there as well and then we headed back to her apartment. If you take a look at my featured image, you’ll see our crafting table where all of the magic happened. Here’s a Pic Stitch collage of some of the ornaments that we made that night:

So I’m sure a lot of these ornaments are pretty self explanatory on what they are and how to make them, but here’s a little further detail on all of them:

Top left and bottom right Minion ornaments: If you’ve seen the movie Despicable Me, then you’ll know that these bulbs are supposed to be the Minions! Kate and I adore that movie, and when we saw this craft made on Pinterest, we knew that we had to give it a go. It’s as easy as it looks to make:

Step 1) Paint the ornament yellow
Step 2) Wait for the paint to dry and then paint a black band around the top of the ornament
Step 3) Wait for the black paint to dry and then hot glue the googly eyes on
Step 4) Complete your Minion by painting a little smile on it! 🙂

It’s up to you to decide whether your Minion ornament has one eye or two!!

Top right ornament: This was a really cool one that Kate made. She painted the outside of the ornament with a black paisley pattern and then she filled the bulb with red M&M’s. Super easy, super delicious.

Middle left and right ornament: At one point during our evening of crafting we both got quiet and were working intently on these ornaments for each other. When we both asked what the other was doing we each said something along the lines of “you can’t see it yet!” It turns out we were both making a name ornament for each other at the exact same time. If that isn’t best friend telepathy, then I don’t know what is!

I wrote Kate’s name with hot glue and then coated the glue in silver glitter. I then cut a red heart out of construction paper and put it inside the ornament. Viola!
Kate wrote my name in black paint and then put black glitter over top of it. She tore up red tissue paper and filled the inside of the bulb with it. Done.

Center candy cane reindeer: This is our beloved reindeer named Albert. Isn’t he the cutest?! Making this ornament is exactly how it looks like you would make it:

Step 1) Cut out antlers for the reindeer with brown foam paper and hot glue it onto the candy cane
Step 2) Cut out circles from the brown foam paper and hot glue googly eyes onto the circles. Then hot glue these onto the candy cane for the eyes
Step 3) Hot glue a red M&M onto the tip of the candy cane for the nose
Step 4) Wrap a ribbon around the neck of the candy cane and now you have your very own Albert!

Bottom left and center ornaments: These ornaments were made simply with paper and glitter.

On the bottom left ornament I drew the British flag, the German flag, and a tiny Eiffel Tower and then cut them out and stuck them in the inside of the ornament along with an ample amount of silver glitter. This little baby obviously symbolizes our European trip dream which will be happening in 2016!
The bottom center ornaments have the same “message in a bottle” idea as our dream ornament. They also have glitter….lots of glitter 🙂

So there you have it, some fun make shift crafts to get you in the holiday spirit!! Kate and I had such a blast making these. We also had an equally fun time drinking some delicious blackberry wine and enjoying Peter Pan Live. Here’s a little clip from it and if you haven’t seen the full movie, I can’t recommend it enough!!

Do you have any fun last minute holiday crafts to recommend? Did you make a seasonal craft that you were particularly proud of? I want to hear all about it, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Monday! -Sarah

PS: My brother is home for the holidays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!! Lil Red is a happy camper :))))

Dec7

Lil Red Recommends – Holiday Gift Edition!!

Posted on December 7, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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Lil Red Recommends – Holiday Gift Edition!!

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

Dec2

Help!!!!!!

Posted on December 2, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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Hello hello!!!! So I’m sure if you follow my blog at http://www.lifewithlilred.com, you’ll be familiar with one of my best friends Kate. She’s my partner in crime…especially when it comes to shopping and wild and crazy ideas! Well we just came up with one of our best ideas yet. After we both graduate college in two years we would like to take a month long trip to Europe as a graduation gift to ourselves. We’ve both been working very hard in school. As you know I’m getting my Associate of Arts degree at Tri-C while Kate is getting her Bachelors of Business degree at the University of Akron. What better way to celebrate a college degree than blowing our savings fund on one final hurrah before we enter the adult working world?! Before I get farther into our plan of tom foolery and travel, I think it would be wise to tell you guys more about my wild friendship roller coaster ride with Kate. We met in high school French class when I was a freshman and she was a senior. We both adored our French teacher and she clearly loved both of us a lot, because she was the reason we became friends. I was going through a lot of shit in my teenage years. As a matter of fact, freshman year was probably one of the worst years of my life. Mrs. Teacher thought it would be good for me to have an older student to look up to, sort of like a mentor, so she privately asked Kate to take me under her wing…and the rest is history. We’ve seriously been inseparable every since our awkward first interactions in that fateful French class. Our friendship has taken us everywhere from shopping trips, a night out at the movies, car rides to nowhere, and assembling a ninety year old vintage Christmas tree. (We actually assembled that tree over Starbucks Peppermint Mochas last evening…we plan on making handmade ornaments to decorate it with while consuming a lot of wine. Once the decorations are made, rest assured that pictures will be posted!) One of my fondest memories of my friendship with Kate was when I got my temporary license and she taught me how to drive. I’m actually pretty confident that Kate would tell you that that’s her favorite friendship memory as well. It was a blustery September day when I got my temps and later that evening Kate took me out to Starbucks to celebrate. (We obviously love caffeine!) After we downed our drinks she drove to the middle of god knows where in Akron to an empty parking lot and parked the car. I asked her what she was doing and she said “you’re going to drive”. I remember being so nervous and excited all at once. I hesitantly switched places with her and got behind the wheel of her car, Winston. She taught me the basics of accelerating, braking, turning, and parking. I drove around and around the parking lot practicing my left and right hand turns until it grew dark. Remember that line of Perks of Being a Wallflower where Charlie stated that he felt infinite? That’s exactly what I felt like that night. Ever since the first conversation Kate and I had about Harry Potter during our French class, she’s been like a big sister to me. Words can’t even describe how much I love her and how thankful I am to have her as my best friend.

So now that you know a little about us and our almost seven year friendship, here’s what I’m asking of you guys: What are some places in Europe that are must sees? We plan on spending a week in Paris, a week in London, and then spend the rest of the two weeks exploring and country hopping. What sights would we regret not going to? What’s the best stores or boutiques to shop at? (Because Kate and I LOVE shopping!) What restaurants do you recommend? And do you know of any cheap hotels or hostels that we could stay in? We’ll also be making a http://www.gofundme.com account within a month or so, so if you’re generous enough to donate to our travels, we’ll send you a handmade goody made with love by Kate and I and seal it with my red lipstick kiss. As soon as our account is made it will be posted to lifewithlilred! We would also be thrilled to meet up for coffee with any of my lovely European readers!

Thanks so much for reading and if you have any recommendations for us PLEASE leave me a comment and let’s chat! Don’t be a stranger! And if you read my reviews on American Horror Story Freak Show, made sure you check in with me tomorrow night for my review on the new episode!! Happy Tuesday! -Sarah

Nov27

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Posted on November 27, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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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

Nov15

Spray Paint + Tape = Super Cute Craft

Posted on November 15, 2014 by lifewithlilred

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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

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