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
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 :))))
Not gonna lie, this week has been less than ideal. Work has been filled with not so nice coworkers and rude customers and school has been stressful. Luckily there’s been a few things that have made me feel better, which I’m going to share with you in this edition of Lil Red Recommends!
Getting drunk with your mother: Last night I came home from a particularly shitty day at work to find my family getting ready to have dinner. It was Italian night in my household so naturally that called for some wine! I’m a big wine drinker and with my moms help of barely drinking one glass, I finished the entire bottle. My mom is such a light weight that she claimed that her glass of wine got her drunk, it’s the most precious thing ever. So the evening was spent with gut busting laughter, stumbling around the kitchen, and singing a duet to the song “You Had a Bad Day” while using the empty wine bottle as a microphone. It was an absolute blast. I’ve never gotten drunk with my mom before and I sincerely hope that this happens again every now and then. The straight up ridiculousness of the mother daughter bonding time that happened last night was indescribable! All of the silliness that occurred was the perfect cure to a shitty day!
Drunkenretail therapy: So after my mom and I sobered up, we headed to the mall for some retail therapy. I was in desperate need of some new jeans. But here’s the trick, I refuse to wear any denim that isn’t black and super skinny. My purchase will be discussed in the next recommendation! Let me tell you guys, while my mom may have been completely sober after her one wine glass 😉 I was still slightly tipsy from almost a full bottle of wine. And from this experience I learned that there is nothing more fun than wandering around the mall while you have a wine buzz! It took my love for shopping to a new extreme because I combined it with my second favorite thing….getting drunk. I highly recommend public intoxication at least once in your life time, its a real treat! (Only once though…then no more public intoxication, kay?)
Snake skin patterned denim: I found my beloved new jeans at Express, one of my favorite stores. These jeans are drop dead GORGEOUS. They’re jet black with a gunmetal snake skin pattern coating it and are extremely skinny. About two weeks ago while I was shopping there with my sister, I noticed these beauties and was drooling over them the entire time. Unfortunately at eighty eight dollars, they were out of my price range. But I could NOT stop thinking about them. Lucky for me, last night they were having a forty percent off sale at Express and they had one pair of the jeans left in my size. All of the other sizes they had were ginormous. I knew that the denim had to be mine. I slipped into the fitting room, and changed into my new favorite piece of clothing. When I looked into the fitting room mirror they were just as perfect as I hoped they would be. They fit like a glove and were a perfect punk piece to add to my wardrobe. I’ve been looking for a pair of snake skin print jeans for quite some time now. But all of the pairs that I have found have been a snake skin pattern on top of grey or white jeans, and that doesn’t follow my all black everything rule. I thank the fashion gods for this gift of the perfect pair of black snake skin print jeans! Hurray! (Please excuse my mismatched socks in the photo below!) 😉
Read the book Perfect: I started the book Perfect by Rachel Joyce a few days ago. (She also authored one of my favorite books, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry). I’m about one hundred pages in and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. The book revolves around a boy who has witnessed a terrible accident and is doing everything in his power to prevent his mother from finding out…as she’s the one who caused the crime. We are introduced to a unique cast of characters – young Byron who is very protective of his mother Diana who is a forward thinking woman in the 1970’s. She refuses to live the cookie cutter lifestyle of the female house wife which leads to animosity from her peers. There is also sweet OCD ridden Jim, who has been in and out of mental institutions his entire life. I have yet to find out how the paths of Byron and his mother will cross with Jim’s, but I’m excited to find out. Rachel Joyce does an amazing job of creating a feeling of empathy for each of her characters… I love them all so much already! Reading Perfect has been the perfect distraction from a below average week.
Listen to Tapes ‘n Tapes: I’ve been listening to A LOT of Tapes ‘n Tapes lately. I think that their music is just fantastic. I’ve enjoyed playing all of their albums on shuffle as I’ve been driving around to where ever I needed to be this past week. They really are the perfect Indie rock band. Each of their three albums The Loon, Outside, and Walk It Off give a solid combination of upbeat tunes, amazing instrumentals, and sentimental ballads. My favorite album between the three is definitely their debut album The Loon. Each song off of that one is a slam dunk. But there are also many crowd pleasers on their second and third efforts as well! Tapes ‘n Tapes is great driving music and just hanging around the house doing nothing music. The music video below is for their song “Freak Out” from their second album Outside. It’s super catchy!
Don’t be an asshole: Pardon my French, but I’ve come across a lot of not so nice people this week. From awful customers to the most incompatible coworkers ever I’m almost at my breaking point. I genuinely don’t understand the people who are mean to others just for the sake of being mean. And let me tell you, I’ve encountered a lot of people like that this week. Being around stand offish people really is enough to ruin my day. For some people it’s easy to just shake things like that off, but not me. I wish I didn’t take so much offense to it, but I do. It’s just the way I am I suppose, but I don’t think it’s out of reason to be upset by people who act like assholes to you for no good reason. So here I am freaking pleading all of you guys (myself included) to be courteous and respectful to others. You never know what the person you give a dirty look to might be going through that day. #enoughsaid
Watch Step Brothers: If there’s one thing that always makes me feel better, it’s watching my favorite Will Ferrell movie: Step Brothers. I watched this with my sister and mom a few days ago and it’s still funny to me no matter how many times I watch it! I’ve seen Step Brothers enough that I can quote the entire movie along with the actors (much to my family’s annoyance!). Sometimes you really just need to pop in your favorite stupid movie and veg out for a few hours. I don’t know about you, but I always feel better after two hours straight of laughing! “SO MANY ACTIVITIES!!!”
Be thankful: With Thanksgiving coming up, this is a no brainer. But it felt right to mention it anyways. Tell your family members and friends that you love them, compliment a stranger, apologize to those you have done wrong to. You know the drill. It only takes one small act of kindness to transform yours and somebody else’s day completely!
So there you have it, my Lil Red recommends for the week! What are some things that you do to make yourself feel better after a rough week? What’s your favorite quote from Step Brothers? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday! -Sarah
So as you guys know, I LOVE me a good craft – specifically canvas art! My best friend Lea and I just completed a super fun, cute, and easy craft that I thought I would share! Take a look:
What you’ll need:
Canvas board
Spray paint in multiple colors
Durable tape that you can spray paint over
How we did it:
As I mentioned above, this craft was easy peasy lemon squeezey. But here’s my step by step guide, just in case you can’t figure it out by yourself! 😉
Step one: On your canvas place your tape in any location and pattern of your choosing. I kept my design fairly simple, while Lea incorporated the wore “Smile” onto hers. You have my permission to go crazy with your canvas taping until you reach your desired pattern. Not gonna lie, it took Lea and I a LONG ass time to lay out our pattern because we’re both such perfectionists. If she wasn’t there making me laugh the entire time, I would have gotten up and left. Mama was getting frustrated!!! (Leave it to me to not be able to make a triangle made out of tape for my arrows. #fml)
Step two: Take your newly taped canvas outside along with the spray paint colors that you picked out. The colors that were used by Lea and I were purchased with the intent to make another craft that didn’t turn out too hot. Since we’re ballin on a budget we figured we could just use the same colors for this new craft and it ended up looking great! The metallic silver and gold along with the blue complimented each other a lot better than I thought. Anywho, once you have your color scheme figured out, go ahead and spray paint to your hearts content. Fair warning that some of the paint will more than likely leak through the tape. But fear not – because in my opinion the dripping paint gives the canvas character! Rub some dirt on it and it will be fine…or whatever.
Step three: Leave your canvas outside or in a well ventilated room to dry. (Spoiler alert – the spray paint smells like butt!) Once your canvas is dry, you can remove your tape and reveal your masterpiece!!!
So there you have it, a quick and easy craft that cost a little over ten dollars to make. Not bad for some super cute new wall art! If anyone has some fun holiday craft suggestions pleeeease let me know! And if you for some reason have any questions on this project, leave me a comment and let’s chat. Have a great night! -Sarah
Hello all and happy Friday!!!! It’s time for the annual Lil Red Recommends post for the week, so here we go!
Read Before I Go To Sleep: Seriously. Do it. This book is honestly so much better than Gone Girl. In this novel we follow Christine, a forty-seven year old woman with severe amnesia. Her case is unique though, because her memory disappears as soon as she wakes up from a nights sleep. We join her in her quest to regain her memory and learn about her dark and troubled past. This book is such a page turner. I’m more than halfway through and I still can’t draw any conclusions on how the ending will turn out. I’m particularly excited to finish the book so I can see the movie which is out in theaters with my mom. The fabulous Nicole Kidman plays Christine and the DREAM BOAT Colin Firth plays her husband, Ben. If you liked reading Gone Girl, you’re going to LOVE Before I Go To Sleep.
Listen to Courtney Barnett: I absolutely ADORE this chick. We played a few of her songs at PacSun and I had always semi enjoyed them but it was once I started playing her outside of work that I fell in love. Her lyrics are so quirky and cool, IE: “The yard is full of hard rubbish it’s a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab” from Avant Gardener. There’s so many times when I’m listening through her charming EP “A Sea Of Split Peas” where I laugh to myself and think “what did she just say?!” Her sound is extremely unique as well, it’s fairly folksy but it’s her voice that really does it for me. She has this ability to make her voice sound like it’s droning on for eternity which sounds unpleasant but it’s actually quite amazing. Her monotonous vocals allow you to hear every aspect of the story she’s trying to tell in each of her songs.
Make a to do list: I’ve grown SO fond of making to do lists since I started college. Usually I prepare my lists for each day the night before, so it’s nice to have everything you need to accomplish that day planned out for you. And let me tell you, there’s nothing better than checking off each thing you’ve completed from your list. It’s so damn fulfilling! My to do lists have taught me how to prioritize and learn better time management skills which is going to be so important once I start delving deeper into my college career. A daily to do list is simple but effective and I can’t recommend making them enough!
Get cozy: So if you read my OOTD: College Kid Edition post, you’ll know that I ended up wearing sweat pants to class and it was life changing. So I encourage all of you to get comfy cozy for the day and do work! Wear your favorite comfort piece and flaunt it like the hot tamale that you are. This could be anything – from your hoodie that you sleep in almost every night to your worn in Hawthorne Heights t-shirt that you still have from high school. Anything is fair game. My college sweat pants experience taught me that there’s nothing wrong with “bummin it” every so often. So I guess I’ll be breaking out my Hawthorne Heights tee pretty soon 😉
^^^ JUDGE ME FOR IT!!!
Stock up on cold weather accessories: I LOVE fall and winter time accessories so very much. I’m talking cute boots, knit scarves, stylish hats, and my personal favorite: fingerless gloves. All of these accessories are the epitome of treating yourself. Nothing adds a little extra oomph to your outfit than a fun new fashion statement. I’m really hoping that I can go to TJMaxx soon to pick out some new cold weather gear. As a matter of fact, my favorite all time pair of fingerless gloves came from TJ’s! There’s a really adorable store in a mall that I like going to called Charming Charlie and they’re full of gorgeous winter accessories. If you don’t have one in your area, here’s their website so you can check them out online! http://www.charmingcharlie.com/
Have a dinner date with a girlfriend: This week I had the most delightful time going out to dinner with my best friend Kate. We went to the Cheesecake Factory which is our favorite place to eat at together. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the atmosphere and the yummy food amongst great company. Enjoying a meal where you don’t have to think about anything but shoving more cheesecake down your throat is my definition of a good time. My recommendation is to incorporate a shopping trip into the dinner date as well! Kate and I usually hit up one of the higher end malls in the Akron/Cleveland, Ohio area which makes for a lovely afternoon trip. And nothing says girl time like a shopping day followed by a dinner date – so fun!
^^ Some of the many delicious desserts offered at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m gaining weight just looking at it!
Listen to Hamilton Leithauser: I’ve been really enjoying listening to this young man’s album “Black Hours” as of late. His voice is just intoxicating to me. It’s the perfect combination of folk and rock and roll. His music was played fairly frequently at PacSun and the song that always stuck out to me every time we played it was “Alexandra”. The opening lyrics of “I don’t have to, I don’t need to – but I’m always thinking of you” are so sweet! It makes me wish that I was this Alexandra that Hamilton is singing about!!! HUBBA HUBBA. 😉
So there you have it! My Lil Red Recommendations for the week! What are you guys up to this weekend? Whatever you’re plans are, I hope you have a great time doing them! And if you have any questions or concerns, leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah
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
Welp, it happened. I got my new tattoo yesterday! Making it the fourth one in my collection. Before I begin telling the tale of getting this baby done, let me show you a picture!
There she is! The goddess, Isis. I got this masterpiece done at Odd Fellows Tattoos in Akron, Ohio. My friend and tattoo artist, Travis made this work of art possible. (And if you’re into heavy metal at all, please check out his band Below The Tide!) Let me tell you guys, this tattoo was a process! It took a little over five hours to complete. Honestly, I’m shocked that I was able to handle getting the entire tattoo done in one sitting. My sister accompanied me for the stencil placing, because I really wanted her opinion on the placement of it. Unfortunately after that, she had to leave me to go volunteer for the rescue group Canine LIfeline. (You can read all about this fantastic group in my article Must Watch Video!) http://caninelifeline.org/
After the tattoo was placed to my liking, we got to work. The outlining of Isis really wasn’t that bad, it was smooth sailing and was completed in an hour or so. After that was done, we took a five minute break for the bathroom, cigarettes, and to stretch out. In the entire five hour process we took three five minute breaks. Travis then called me back to his chair of doom and began to work on all of the black work in the tattoo. At this point I was still doing fine and dandy, I was a little bit tired, but I was still feeling good enough that nothing was really hurting. I’m a trooper 😉 While Travis worked we enjoyed conversing with each other and the other gentlemen working in the shop. All of them were really just fantastic. I told Travis that himself and everyone working at Odd Fellows did a great job of making an uncomfortable situation feel very comfortable. The conversations we had were full of vulgarity and profanity, but it was hysterical and helped take my mind off of the process at hand. Before I knew it, Travis was done with the black work, and it was time for another break. Once again, it was a bathroom, cigarette, and water break. Things took a turn for the worse as far as how I was feeling goes once Travis started on the color, which he called “the fun part”. Ha! Up until the coloring, I didn’t need any of the guys at the shop to hold my hand, and I wasn’t in genuine pain. But once the color began, it was almost too much. My skin was raw and angry, and every stab Travis took at me with the tattoo gun felt like daggers. I told myself that I wouldn’t cry while I got Isis done, but that didn’t happen. Tears started flowing without me even trying. The water works were coming out like my eyes had sprung a leak. That was when the guys at the shop rallied around me to try and help. One of my other friends, Mitch (who you can check out in the band, Fallen Captive) held my feet when I started squirming. Keith was on hand holding patrol for the rest of the session. I was honestly feeling pretty faint at this point, I was in a lot of pain and I was falling in and out of zoning out. To help with that, all of the guys held conversations with me to help take my mind off of the pain. It was very sweet. The last hour of filling in all the color felt like an eternity. I was so zoned out that I didn’t even realize that Travis had finished it once it was done. It was such an amazing moment when he told me I could get up and go take a look at the finished product! I almost thought he was kidding! When I got to look at my completed side piece for the first time, I was blown away. It was better than how I pictured it to be. It looked even better than the picture that I brought in (which is my featured image photo). Travis couldn’t have done a better job if he tried. I am so thankful to him and all the gents at Odd Fellows who helped make my tattoo experience as tolerable as possible! If you’re ever in Akron and feel like getting a tattoo, you know where to go!
Here’s Odd Fellows Facebook page, make sure you give it a like!
On my last day of hanging out with my dear friend Tyler before he left for basic training, we went to the Metro Parks Schumacher Trail to take some pictures with each other. While we were there I was blown away by how beautiful the scenery was, so I decided to go back there today to take some pictures of the trail. I walked to about where Tyler and I had ventured out to and began snapping away on my Ipod camera. Once I was done photographing, I figured I might as well just walk the trail since I was there. And I am so glad I did.
It’s a brisk fall day in Akron, Ohio. The sky is a dull, cloudy gray and there’s a definite October chill in the air. I only wore a hoodie on my venture to the trail today because I figured I wasn’t going to be there long, so I was quite cold in the beginning – but once my blood started pumping as I got further into the trail, I felt fine! There was something so amazing to me about being completely surrounded by nature. I loved hearing the chirping of the birds and the leaves crunching under my feet with every step that I took. One of the few things that I love about Ohio is the fact that we get to experience all four seasons. As you can see by the pictures I took, fall time in Ohio is GORGEOUS. I love everything about autumn here. From watching the leaves change colors on the trees to seeing them blow away from their branches and litter the ground.
I had so much fun spotting carvings on the trees through out the Schumacher Trail. Many trunks donned initials of couples who must have had a romantic afternoon strolling through the forest. The one pictured above sported an awesome carving of an Indian that was just too cool not to take a picture of! I felt so at peace today while I hiked. It felt really good to have some time on the trail by myself so that I could stop whenever I wanted during my trek to just take in all of the beauty surrounding me. All of the Metro Park trails in Ohio are pretty fantastic – the trail that I hiked happens to be about two minutes away from my house. I think I know my new favorite spot to go to when I need some alone time!
If you have the time today, spend a moment out doors and take in your surroundings. You won’t regret it! And make sure you check back in at http://www.lifewithlilred.com tonight for my review of the newest episode of American Horror Story! Have a happy Hump Day! -Sarah
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