Category Archives: Fun

Oct23

Factory Of Terror Date Night

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Factory Of Terror Date Night

Hello! If there is one haunted house to go to in the greater Northeast Ohio area, the Factory Of Terror is the place to be. It holds the record for the largest indoor haunted attraction in America boasting four different haunted houses, three separate bars, a dance floor, tarot readings, and axe throwing too. Every year you go is completely different than the last and you will never experience the same thing twice. It is absolutely amazing and my favorite place to go when spooky season hits.

Johnny and I had a date night to Factory Of Terror this past Friday and it was such a scary good time! I was also lucky enough to win my first radio contest EVER and scored two free tickets to the haunt. I couldn’t believe it and was literally on cloud nine. What’s better than a free night on the town to a place we planned on going to anyways?! SCORE! This was my third time going to the Factory Of Terror and I think it was the best year yet! Check it out:

^^^ Be sure to peep my TikTok for the video tour!!

Walking into the Factory Of Terror is like walking into a great big scary playground and the fun starts as soon as you set foot on the property. Character actors roam and are ready to sneak up on anyone that passes by. It makes something mundane like waiting in line for entrance wristbands into part of the experience and sets the tone perfectly for your night of spooky delight. After getting our wristbands, our first move was to hit the Poison Ivy bar for test tube shots. We opted for a blue concoction that tasted like straight up blue and was delicious!

After hitting up the Poison Ivy, it was off to the first haunt called the Forsaken Asylum. The bones of this haunted house hasn’t changed but the interior was totally different and transformed into a freaky hospital. It was filled with jump scares galore but the best part was twofold. Halfway through the house, there was a huge slide that you went down on a burlap sack. It was a wild ride! The ending was also excellent as it was a maze of mirrors. Johnny and I were running into the mirrors left and right and eventually a creepy doll character actor helped show us the way out lol. Not so scary after all and we were most appreciative. ❤

Next up was our favorite of the bunch – the Industrial Nightmare. This haunted house took us into the bowels of a factory complete with steaming pipes, compressed air switches on the ground, and glowing green lights to guide us through the pitch black setting. Everywhere we turned were “injured” employees from factory accidents and their scares couldn’t be beat. Some of the actors were legit perched on the ceiling, others were on bungee cords to leap out in front of you, and just being followed around in the dark was enough to send shivers down my spine. The highlight of this haunt had to be when the front of a train literally looked like it was coming straight towards you. I screamed so loud it could have shattered glass. It. Was. Awesome!!

The third haunted house holds a special place in my heart because it is Factory of Terror’s take on my favorite horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is their staple haunted house called Massacre On Mahoning and while the theme remains the same every year, the inside always changes. For someone who is such a huge fan of TCM, going through this haunted house was a treat filled with tricks. Its setting was exactly what you could imagine if you are familiar with the story and was a pure celebration of one of the greatest, most influential horror movies of all time. I just loved it. 🙂

The last haunt to visit was called The Abyss and it simply delighted me and Johnny. For the first half of the haunt, we walked through almost complete darkness and were able to be guided by waist high walls to keep us on the path. After making it through this portion, we were welcomed into a sunken pirate ship and we were so there for it since we are being pirates for Halloween this year! The Abyss was so visually appealing once we made it to the light but it was also pure FUN. While we were waiting in line, we made friends with one of the actors and he made it a point to sneak up on us throughout the haunt. After we emerged on the other side, we all shared a great big hug and he asked us if we had a blast. It was a resounding YES on our part!! ❤

My first job was as a character actor at a haunted house and being at the Factory Of Terror hit me right in the nostalgia. This place is so incredibly special and all throughout the night I couldn’t help thinking how much fun it would be to work there. Our hats go off to the spectacular cast and crew that make the Factory Of Terror possible because the work that has gone into it is awe inspiring. We can’t recommend it enough if you are in the area!

What is the best haunted house in your neck of the woods? What are your Halloween plans? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct22

Wild Weekend

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Wild Weekend

Hello! There is a student run radio station called Z88 at the University of Akron and I listen to it pretty frequently. They all do such a good job! On my way home from work on Thursday, I tuned into Z88 for the last thirty seconds or so until I reached my apartment. It was literally right in the knick of time because I got the tail end of the announcement by DJ Kai that they were giving away two free tickets to the Factory of Terror for the fifth caller. Coincidentally, Johnny and I planned on going there on Friday so I thought I would give the contest a shot. I parked the car, waited about ten seconds, then started calling like crazy and…

I WON, I WON, I WON!!!!

I literally couldn’t believe it when DJ Kai answered the phone and said I was the winner. I have never entered a radio contest before and to win on my first go was so amazing. Regardless of the contest, we were going to go to the haunted house anyways but it provided us with a free date night!! Friday was our one night this past weekend to have some fun because we were on a time crunch. I got my Covid shot early that afternoon and knew darn skippy I was going to feel miserable the next day (And I did!).

On Friday we crammed an entire weekend of activities into one evening. We shot an OOTD and a COTD that I pieced together for our evening out and then it was go time. The first thing on our agenda was meeting up with my sister and sweet nieces for a community Trick or Treat outing. It was really great until I got stuck in the bathroom due to a wardrobe malfunction. You can read more about that in the Blooper Reel for my COTD but I was seriously trapped in there for a good twenty minutes until a kind woman in a Yoshi costume saved the day and my life! The culprit was this bodysuit:

After I emerged from the bathroom, we pretty much had to be on our way which was a bummer but Johnny and I were both super hungry! We planned on getting dinner on our way to the Factory of Terror which is a good forty minute drive from Akron. As luck would have it, we had this super random gift card to Red Robin which was a Christmas gift from Johnny’s aunt. There was one in the general vicinity of the haunted house and since we are never in that area we could put the present to good use.

It was absolutely hilarious rolling into Red Robin with my makeshift COTD on and Johnny in normal clothes lol. But, hey, I felt like a star and the world was my catwalk! There was a long wait for a table so we opted to sit at the bar and were served right away. I have to say, their margaritas were very good. They were nice and tart which is exactly how I like them! The veggie burger was alright but word to the wise: Don’t order their mac n’ cheese on the side. I’m like ninety-nine percent sure that it’s just Stouffer’s lol smh.

After a solid meal, it was time to go to the main attraction: the Factory of Terror! You can read all about it in a post coming soon but we had the absolute best time. It was scary good! It was a jam packed evening and I am so glad we were able to get everything we wanted to done as I knew my physical state was a ticking time bomb from the Covid shot. My arm started throbbing on the way to the haunted house and by the time we were through, I was totally and completely wiped out. I fell asleep as soon as I got home and woke up…

Feeling like total and complete ass lol. I was feeling nauseous but the worst of it was my body being so sore. It hurt to move and I felt like I got ran over by a truck. My day was a series of hot and cold flashes, moving as little as possible, and chugging blue Gatorade that Johnny picked up for me. However, this was definitely not the worst I have felt post Covid shot and for that I am thankful. This year, I decided to not get the flu and Covid shot in one go and I think that made a big difference. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was still tired but knew that I would be good to go for work on Monday!

Stay tuned for LOTS of fun on lifewithlilred! We will be talking Factory of Terror, there will be a new OOTD post, a COTD, and a COTD Blooper Reel so you can hear all about my trapped in the bathroom experience lol. -_- Be there or be square!!

Have you done any Halloween activities? What is your favorite haunted house? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct17

Fall Hiking Spree Success!

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Fall Hiking Spree Success!

Hello! There are countless amazing Metro Parks in the greater Akron area to hike, bike, and swim at. My brother and I try to visit one at least once per week as hiking is our favorite form of exercise. Every year, the Metro Parks hosts a hiking spree in the spring and fall and we completed both of them for the first time last year. We have been most excited for the fall hiking spree to come back around again and finished the last of our eight required hikes this past Friday. It felt so awesome to set this goal, commit to it, and earn our prize: A new shield for our hiking sticks! Here is our newest 2025 addition:

The fall hiking spree runs from the first of September to the end of November and we finished our challenge in five weeks which is pretty good. In fact, it would have been earlier but your girl had to get her hair done! But that’s neither here nor there as we were just happy to finish the hiking spree before the weather got too chilly. During our hikes this year we visited new paths and old favorites. We enjoyed seeing the first changing colors of the leaves and lots of wildlife. On one of the hikes we saw SEVENTEEN turtles posted up across three different logs. It. Was. Awesome! We also viewed blue herons, frogs, and a tiny garter snake that I thought was a worm lol. 😀

Going on hikes with my brother is so much fun that it doesn’t even feel like exercise and I can tell that our regular walks and hikes our effective. Both of us have noticed a huge boost in our stamina and during one of our last hikes we didn’t even realize we walked over two and a half miles because it felt like nothing. The time together in the great outdoors is something I savor so much, especially with winter just over the horizon. When it gets too cold, we will continue our exercise in the gym. Until then, we will be squeezing in as many hikes at the Metro Parks as we can!

All we have to say is: Bring on the 2026 hiking season. We are already looking forward to three years in a row of completing the fall hiking spree!

Where is your favorite place to hike? Are there a lot of Metro Parks in your neck of the woods? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep8

Snap & Switch Trick ‘r Treat Sets

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Snap & Switch Trick ‘r Treat Sets

Hello! A few months ago, I saw a preview of 5 Below’s Halloween collection on social media and one thing in particular really caught my eye: A pseudo Lego set called Snap & Switch featuring precious Sam from one of mine and Johnny’s favorite Halloween movies, Trick ‘r Treat. I was on pins and needles to finally snag a set for myself and was keeping my fingers crossed that it would be available during a recent 5 Below trip. Despite the fact that it wasn’t there, I still had a fabulous Halloween haul but, of course, Sam was weighing heavily on my mind.

With my eyes on the prize, I returned back to 5 Below two days later and could not believe my good fortune: The box containing the Trick ‘r Treat builds were on the shipment cart, I asked an employee if I could have one, and actually got two sets. Snap & Switch made a Trick ‘r Treat candy set too! There were only three of each set in the box and I got mine before they even went on the shelves. GREAT SUCCESS. AND Johnny and I built them over the long Labor Day weekend. DOUBLE GREAT SUCCESS! Check it out:

^^^ His lil sucker!!!!

^^^ My lil builder hard at work!

^^^ My Sam plushie has a friend now!! ❤

^^^ Very aware that random black piece doesn’t belong there! -_-

^^^ All done!!! 😀

The first build we tackled was Sam himself and that was easy peasy. It had less than one hundred pieces and we finished it in about fifteen minutes. However, Snap & Switch is obviously no Lego lol. The bricks in the Snap & Switch sets were tiny and I mean TINY and they also were a pain in the butt to snap together. Not a snap at all! Pieces kept flying off constantly and a lot of them were difficult to fit into the build correctly. But, hey, for five bucks what do you expect? I think it’s a great thing that little sets like these are available for on the cheap! You can get a taste for building with bricks without spending an arm and a leg because I guarantee if this were a Lego set, it would be thirty dollars bare minimum. And, regardless of the ease of use for this product, we were still very pleased with the end result!

After quickly building Sam, we expected the candy Snap & Switch to be, well… A snap lol. We couldn’t wait to build Sam’s sucker and then things went horribly wrong. About five steps into the build, we were stumped. The directions were showing one thing but it was very much impossible with the pieces they allowed. Johnny and I tried several different approaches to no avail and we ended up having to use an extra piece to supplement for what couldn’t be done. That left us sans a piece we needed later on, hence the random black Lego brick. For such a small build, this one was frustrating AF and buyer beware that the directions in this set are wrong and you will need an extra piece to complete it fully.

Once we were done with our makeshift sucker, all that was left to do was make the razor blade chocolate. Thankfully, this one went without a hitch because we couldn’t take much more Snap & Switch after the sucker debacle lol. The candy bar was thrown together in under ten minutes and we loved the fact that the piece of chocolate slid off so you can see the danger that looms underneath. This candy set was a surprise because I wasn’t aware of it at all and I am still happy with it although it caused some difficulty. Yes, it bites that the directions weren’t accurate and pieces were missing but, hey, what do you expect for five dollars?!

If you are a Trick ‘r Treat fan, the Sam build is available on 5 Below’s website as far as I know. Definitely worth it for an hour or so of fun with an adorable end result!

Do you like to build with Lego? What is the best off brand Lego? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep4

5 Below Haul

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5 Below Haul

Hello! My clients absolutely love shopping at 5 Below and I do too! I am always excited to check out what’s new on the cheap whenever we go and had a fabulous haul this past week. We ended up at good ol’ 5 B after a trip to Spirit Halloween was a total dud. Seriously, everything there was SO expensive and we were hard pressed to find anything cool that was below twenty bucks. So, 5 Below it was and we couldn’t have gone at a better time. They were just putting their Halloween collection out and I kid you not, they had so many of the exact same things that we just saw at Spirit Halloween. Everything at Spirit Halloween feels like a rip off when you know where to shop! I couldn’t resist going a little crazy and ended up with a big haul with treats for my nieces, myself, and Johnny too. Check it out:

This haul costed fifty dollars for ten items and you can’t beat that!

Johnny and I have never decorated for holidays because it is Halloween year round in our apartment and that’s just the way we like it. Whenever our happy time comes around, we are always happy to splurge a little on all of the Halloween goodies our favorite stores have to offer. And, in the case of this 5 Below haul, I actually needed to use a cart for the very first time because there were so many items I couldn’t say no to as soon as I walked in the door! 😀

The first thing that caught my eye was His and Hers skeleton plushies that are just so damn cute I can’t stand it. They reminded me of big versions of adorable Frankenstein and skeleton stuffies we got on vacation in the Poconos and I can’t wait to curl up with our newest additions and watch a scary movie. Whoever says adults can’t get plushies has never bought a plushie as an adult before and Johnny and I adore these comfort items. In comparison to the plushies at Spirit Halloween that were thirty dollars and up, these were a steal at five dollars apiece. BALLIN ON A BUDGET, BABY!

Next in my haul was a few candy treats. A few years ago on social media, I saw the Sour Patch Apple Harvest pack but could never find them anywhere in stores. It was a crying shame because apple candy is my favorite so I couldn’t believe my good fortune when I found them at 5 Below. So much so, that I had to get two bags of them lol. They are so delish and my favorite is the Apple Cider flavor. They are not as sour as I would like but they are still really tasty nonetheless. I also got a pack of Caramel Apple Peelerz which I have seen all over social media too so peep a TikTok on a taste test for those coming soon. 😀

After the first portion of 5 Below was thoroughly shopped through, it was onto the clothing department where I got a set of pajamas for me and a couple of shirts for Johnny. This summer, I purchased an adorable short and cami top PJ set from TJMaxx and have been living in them. They are the only pair of non sweatpants pajamas I have so I was excited to find another pair that costed twelve dollars in total. I’m so excited to slip into the bat adorned fleece shorts and oversized tee that says Bite Me on it lol. I actually have a tattoo of vampire fangs that say Bite Me on my shoulder as well as a robe with the same sentiments so this PJ set really spoke to me. 🙂

For Johnny’s treats, I was so excited to find a wicked cool Halloween shirt. I am a Texas Chainsaw Massacre girl, myself, but Johnny is a Michael Myers fan through and through and the original Halloween is his all time favorite. Also, peep that young Jamie Lee Curtis! Such a doll then and now. ❤ Another one of our favorite movies that has nothing to do with Halloween is School Of Rock and how amazing is that band tee?! Unfortunately, they didn’t have it in Johnny’s size so I got the next size up because I knew he would like it. He loved them both and wore his Halloween shirt to work the next day!

My last purchase in this haul was a fun craft for my nieces. I had plans for a visit over the weekend and wanted something we could do all together. One of their favorite activities is pottery paint kits so I got a darling set of pottery fruit planters for them to create a masterpiece. This set of three costed six dollars making them two bucks a pop and that is a steal. The girls are always so proud of their painted creations and I can’t wait to see their fantastically fruity works or art. ❤

Whether it is at TJMaxx, Marc’s, or 5 Below – your girl loves to discount shop. This haul was so good it’s scary and I am stoked to see what other Halloween goodies 5 Below has as the happiest season of all continues!

What is your favorite discount store? Have you had any great hauls recently? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug31

Quelle Surprise!

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Quelle Surprise!

Yoo hoo! As I am self employed, I rarely take a day off or even a half day. Hey, if I don’t work then I don’t get paid because what’s PTO amiright? However, sometimes time off is unavoidable and that was the case this past Monday. My client was feeling unwell so I left about two hours into my shift and decided to head to chez mom and dad’s. They were watching one of my sweet nieces and I wasn’t going to let the opportunity for a play date pass me by. It was a glorious day of seventy degree weather and I couldn’t wait to run around and stretch my legs. After our Columbus Zoo trip last Saturday, Johnny and I literally didn’t move on Sunday so I could have used the exercise lol.

I arrived at my parents’ house as soon as they did and my niece and I went absolutely crazy outside. Bubble crazy to be specific! My parents got my nieces this adorable bubble blower that looks like a French Bulldog and provides beaucoup bubbles with a pinwheel mechanism. We ran and danced through the bubbles for a solid half hour plus. Only pausing for water and juice breaks and adding more bubble soap to the blower! We declared ourselves the Bubble Queens but my littlest Bubble Queen was ready for some lunch.

I stuck around for her meal and some more play, then went on my merry way home. Johnny wasn’t due back for another two hours and I knew exactly how I was going to spend my time: Kicking back and watching America’s Next Top Model AKA my number one guilty pleasure. I couldn’t wait to get home and have some me time and was shocked when I reached our apartment. Johnny’s car was in the parking lot! I was worried he wasn’t feeling well either but that wasn’t the case at all.

When he opened the door, my main squeeze proudly told me he took a half day so he could clean the bunny hutch and surprise me. Quelle surprise! He was also just as surprised that I was home early too! The hutch looked phenomenal and the bunnies were happily romping about with their dad. It was the absolute sweetest and I am the luckiest lady in the whole world. Johnny is the best bunny dad and husband and after my homecoming we enjoyed the rest of our half day together. Johnny played video games while I tucked into the new Rachel Joyce novel and then spent the rest of the day watching our new favorite sitcom, Abbott Elementary. It was the perfect surprise day off followed by a perfect surprise at home! ❤

^^^ What a guy!!!!

Have you had any fun surprises recently? What does a perfect day off look like for you? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug8

My Big Weekend In

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My Big Weekend In

Howdy! Last week was freaking awesome because my family went on a little getaway to Idlewild Park in Pennsylvania. We had so much fun but it was total anarchy being with five kids under six years old and by the time we got home, I was SO exhausted lol. Kudos to all parents because I truly don’t know how you do it! I returned to work after our mini vaca and in this particular case, your girl was working for the weekend. Johnny had to work overtime all weekend to complete inventory and that meant that the apartment was ALL mine. I seriously can’t recall a time when I had the apartment to myself – probably before Johnny moved in with me lol. As this is something that literally never happens, I took full advantage of it…

By doing nothing! All I wanted to do was sit, relax, watch my shows, play my games, and talk to my blogging bestie and I did so in spades. After the cacophony of an amusement park, I needed peace and quiet time to unwind and recharge my batteries for this week. I truly became one with my couch, which means that I achieved everything I wanted to do. Although I missed Johnny terribly, I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t absolutely delicious to put America’s Next Top Model on the boob tube without any complaints. And, if the bunnies did mind, they weren’t saying anything about it. 😀

While the novelty of an ANTM marathon sans Johnny’s commentary was a thrill, the most exciting part of my weekend was finally beating Paper Mario Sticker Star. I am an avid fan of the Paper Mario games and have all of them minus Sticker Star for the 3DS. At a buy/sell/trade store a few weeks ago, I found it for only twenty dollars and it was as good as mine. I had this game FOREVER ago and never beat it. I also have no idea what happened to it and I was so happy to have the completed Paper Mario collection. It was just as fun as I remembered it being and is easily one of my favorites!

With Tyra Banks droning on about smizeing in the background, I played and played and played Paper Mario some more. I haven’t had a good video game session in a long while and I just couldn’t stop myself! In fact, the last time I did “game” was the last time I was playing a Paper Mario game forever ago lol. When I had Sticker Star back in the day, I couldn’t win the final Bowser battle to save my own life. It proved to be just as difficult as I remembered it being and I almost gave up. However, when I was texting with my big bro about it, he encouraged me to keep on trying and that I would be able to do it. Armed with his support, I gave it another go and it’s safe to say I made Bowser my bitch and victory was oh so sweet!

Sometimes you just need to do nothing and that is okay. This is your sign to take it easy when you feel like you need it – as a little treat from me! ❤

What is your favorite video game? Do you have a favorite Mario game? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun29

Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson Concert

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Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson Concert

Howdy!! This past weekend, Johnny and I checked off another concert on our summer lineup list. It was Outlaw Fest at Blossom Music Center and Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were performing. We were supposed to see Willie Nelson at Blossom during the pandemic and had to skip on it so we were so happy to have been able to make up for it. I mean… kind of? Because the night definitely didn’t go accordingly to plan and it was basically one of the wildest nights out I’ve had since the after party at our wedding lol. Take a look at some pics that I don’t even remember a random stranger taking and let’s discuss:

Like any big event, the concession prices at Blossom are absolutely insane. To remedy that, literally everyone going to a show there pregames in a great big parking lot tailgate. Johnny and I got to the show with about an hour to kill, White Claw ready to go, and we posted up in the trunk of our car to sip away. As we were having our trunk time, a young couple who went with family across the way approached us to talk about our tattoos and they became our instant BFFs. We were chatting up a storm and, eventually, the entire family joined us. They were absolutely hilarious and we spent our pregame in stitches together. We were having so much fun that I don’t think any of us noticed we were all getting a fair bit tipsy.

Once we all felt good and ready to head into the venue, we did so as a team and found a nice, shady spot to watch from. We couldn’t see anyone on the stage, but we could hear the music and that was perfectly fine. Besides, Johnny and I were DEEPLY invested in conversation at this point. You guys, I kid you not, Johnny and I held individual sidebars with every single member of the family. Lol, they came to us with their complaints, we essentially gave them the “you have to get your ish together” motivational speech and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the mother’s daughter’s boyfriend would get a job and a license. We stepped into our roles as therapist beautifully and hope for nothing but the best!

Once Johnny and I had our fill of other people’s problems, I REALLY needed the bathroom so he waited for me while I did my thang. When I emerged from the facilities, I found Johnny standing there with two mixed drinks that featured a commemorative plastic pink cowboy hat. Lol he just couldn’t help himself! At this point, I was gone to the wind (Johnny was responsible because he was driving!) and we broke free from the family therapy session. We had been outside in ninety plus degree temps for close to four hours, Willie Nelson was going to be on soon, and we wanted to be able to fully enjoy it.

From what I recall and the poorly shot videos on my phone, both Willie and Bob tore it up. Those senior citizens still sound great!! Also, I was a little busy while Willie was playing because I ended up somehow with a new job perspective lol? One of the people we were standing by needed some social media assistance and we exchanged information! The night just kept getting better and better and I joked that Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan were simply our background music for the evening. By the time the show was over, we were totally and completely beat but it was so worth it for a whole lot of fun!

When we drove to the concert, we were not expecting for our night to transpire the way it did. It was, however, a memory (Or lack thereof!) for the ages!!

What is the craziest night out you have ever had? Are you going to any concerts this summer? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun5

Fun & Games: Horrified – Greek Monsters Edition

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Fun & Games: Horrified – Greek Monsters Edition

Hello!! One of mine and Johnny’s all time favorite board games is called Horrified. It is a co-op game where you have to save a village from classic horror movie monsters like Dracula, the Mummy, and the Wolfman. Each monster has specific challenges that you must complete to defeat them while still protecting yourself and the villagers on the board. It is a complete and total blast!! Johnny and I have played the original Horrified countless times and would often lament on our desire for new boards. You couldn’t imagine our surprise when we learned that there were three other expansions: American Monsters, World Of Monsters, and our newest addition – Greek Monsters!

We are simply elated to have the completed set of Horrified and we busted out Greek Monsters for the first time this weekend. Also lol at the headline “All Hades breaks loose!”. The monsters for this board include: Medusa, Cerberus, Minotaur, Chimera, Siren, and Basilisk. As per the game’s recommendation, we started with the Cerberus and Basilisk and I am pleased to report that we dominated! Check it out:

Like the other Horrified boards, the way to play remains the same: You take a turn, the monster takes a turn, and so on, and so forth. Johnny and I really appreciate this because it can be intimidating to learn a brand new game and the only thing that changes on the Horrified boards are the monsters and challenges to beat them. If this game looks intimidating to you – I so get it. It honestly does look like a lot lol. However, this is one of the most simple co-op games Johnny and I have ever played and once you get the hang of it, the entire Horrified collection opens up to you.

As Johnny and I played Greek Monsters, it only felt appropriate that we listened to our record of Hadestown! It was the perfect soundtrack to protect our village from Cerberus and the Basilisk. These monsters were recommended as they were the easiest, but it was actually quite challenging due to the special actions of the monsters. In fact, we were getting down to the wire and the game could have gone either way – a victory for us or the monsters. Through the power of teamwork, Johnny and I prevailed and I cannot wait to play again!

If you are looking for a super fun and super cool board game, you have just got to try Horrified!! I am absolutely terrible at learning games and if I can tackle this co-op, anyone can!

What is your favorite board game? Have you played Horrified before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May8

Take A Hike!

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Take A Hike!

Hello! In my neck of the woods, we are blessed with an abundance of beautiful Metro Parks to hike at. In fact, there are more than I can count in just a ten mile radius from where I live. It’s awesome! There is nothing like a good, brisk hike on a lovely day and I am always with the best company during my adventures: My big brother! Last year, we completed the Fall Hiking Spree for the first time together and we were genuinely sad when it was over. We enjoyed visiting old and new to us trails so much but by the time the spree concluded, winter was well on its way and we moved our workouts to the gym.

After a long winter with minimal outdoor walks, we could not wait to hit the Metro Parks as soon as the warm weather hit. And, we are simply delighted by the fact that there is now a Spring Hiking Spree!

The Hiking Sprees are exactly what you think they are: Those who want to participate receive a list of different trails throughout the county, there is a minimum amount you have to visit, and a reward like a pin or a shield for your hiking stick is gifted at the end. It’s basically just hiking lol but there is a goal and because my brother and I are extremely goal oriented, it is the perfect activity for us. It’s exciting to work together to achieve something and we really do look forward to our weekly hikes.

While there are several trails on the list for the Spring Hiking Spree that we are familiar with, we bypass those for new to us locations. It amazes me that some of these trails are a hop, skip, and a jump away and we have never been! This has opened our eyes to brand new experiences all in our own backyard. Of course, the Hiking Sprees are an excellent reminder to get active. However, it also serves as a reminder that while Ohio can be boring AF, it sure has a lot of beauty and I feel lucky to have access to all of these wonderful Metro Parks!

We have four hikes to go until we complete our Spring Hiking Spree and I cannot wait to see where we end up next!

Does your neck of the woods do a hiking program similar to mine? Where is your favorite place to hike? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah