Category Archives: Fun

Jan28

Jamberry Nails!

Posted on January 28, 2015 by lifewithlilred

Hey guys! I have the absolute pleasure of writing up an article for the fun company Jamberry Nails for a dear friend of mine. I had the privilege of working with Miss Jenna years ago at PacSun and I also got to pierce her sweet little one, Tierney’s ears when I worked at Claire’s briefly. Jenna has been working with the girly cute company Jamberry Nails for months now, and they offer the most adorable wraps for your fingernails and toes (As you can see from my featured image and pictures below!) The wraps are offered in both adult AND junior sizes with the fun option of coordinating Mommy & Me prints for a matching mani with your little ones! How fun is that?

Pictured above is the wrap “Wee Bit Charmed” on little Miss Tierney!

The wraps that Jamberry offers are applied using heat and pressure and they last up to two weeks on fingernails and up to six weeks on your toesies. That’s a beautiful thing to me, because whenever I paint my nails at home, they start chipping at least three days after the polish is applied, and no one likes having to repaint their nails over again. #annoying One of the fantastic benefits of the Jamberry nail wraps is all of the things that they’re “free” of, which include: gluten, latex, and formaldehyde. They’re also vegan friendly AND non toxic, so you can feel great about using them on yourself or mommy’s little helper. Did I mention that Jamberry’s wraps have no odor?! I find that so fantastic, because traditional nail polishes can be so potent smelling. I’ve known of people who have gotten headaches from the odor alone, so these wraps are great for anyone who experiences sensitivity to strong smells.

If you’re to purchase the adult size wraps, you’ll receive eighteen nail wraps per sheet. These wraps are usually long enough to do two nails! You can also give yourself a fun pedi, covering all ten of your toesies with just two of the largest wraps! (Such a steal!) So what does this all mean? So glad you asked! This means that one adult size sheet of Jamberry nail wraps will give you TWO manicures, TWO pedicures and you’ll still have four full wraps left over! Junior size wraps are also available, and usually work on girls up to age eleven. But if you’re an adult with tiny fingers, these wraps might just work on you too! The junior size prints offer forty-two wraps per sheet. There are twenty-eight wraps in one print and then fourteen wraps offered in a coordinating print. This means that you could purchase a sheet of adult wraps and a sheet of juniors wraps for a Mommy & Me mani/pedi!

Pictured below is the “Snow & Ice” wraps (in juniors size!) on Jenna’s hands. These are perfect for your favorite Frozen fan! #letitgo

Not a fan of the nail wraps? That’s okay too, because Jamberry also offers nail lacquers as well if you’d prefer traditional nail polish! Just like the wraps, they’re beyond safe to use on your nails as the polishes are 5-Free. In other words, these polishes are free of the top five harmful chemicals that most nail polishes contain! And very importantly, Jamberry products are never animal tested. The Jamberry nail lacquers are quick to dry and last way longer than any store brand. If you don’t have the necessary tools to apply any of these fun products at home, fear not! Jamberry offers a mini heater AND an application kit. (A hair dryer works just fine too! 🙂 )

Similar to Avon and Tupperware (because Tupperware parties are a thing!), Jamberry also offers in home, Facebook, and catalog parties which are perfect for a girls night in! Going to the nail salon is over rated anyways 😉

I urge ALL of my lovely ladies reading this to take a look at Jenna’s Jamberry site and get in contact with her if you’re interested in purchasing some nail wraps! Here’s all of the info:

Website: http://jamswithjenna.jamberrynails.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jamswithjenna
Email: jamswithjenna@gmail.com

While you’re browsing on Jenna’s cute as pie website, keep in mind that the wraps are Buy 3 Get 1 Free (with exclusions to the Licensed Collegiate and Sorority Wraps). There’s a bunch of sweet Valentine’s Day themed wraps as well! Here’s a few of my favorite prints that Jamberry offers:

The wrap names pictured above are as follows:

Love Potion
Midnight Celebration
Flirty Flair

I’m writing this in Starbucks right now, and I asked three lovely teenagers sitting in the cafe to pick which prints they liked best, it was hard for them to pick because they liked them all – but here’s the consensus that the little darlings came to:

Victorian Lace
Sugar & Spice
Secret Promise

Too cute right?! For the purposes of writing this article, I got to sample some Jamberry products, and here’s the final result! (Please excuse my gross feet!)

I had an absolute BLAST applying my adorable Jamberry prints to my toes! I rarely paint my toenails so this was such a treat! The application was as easy as one, two, three as well! All I had to do was push back my cuticles and then match up my nails to the best fitting wrap. Once I found the wrap that worked for me I applied a little bit of heat to it from my hair dryer and pressed the wrap onto my nails. I applied as much pressure as my little hands would allow to the wrap, and then trimmed and filed off the excess. After my nails were perfectly shaped, I applied heat and pressure one more time for fun and fab Jamberry worthy nails!

If you’re interested in purchasing some Jamberry nail wraps, please keep in mind that Jamberry currently only ships to the USA, Canada, and US territories – hopefully that will be changing soon though! Once again the address to Jenna’s fabulous website is: http://jamswithjenna.jamberrynails.net. Make sure you check it out!

What do you guys think of these cute nail wraps? Which ones are your favorites? Would you purchase any of these? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Wednesday! -Sarah

Jan22

Shout Out To You – Part 2!!!!

Posted on January 22, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a fabulous Thursday! I made a little somethin somethin for all of my wonderful readers today, so I hope you all like it! I know that I made a map with the labels of all of your lovely locations before, but I just spent over an hour making a new and improved version of it, using push pins instead of post it notes. I finally caved and bought a three dollar pack of push pins at Target today to make this possible! Don’t thank me all at once! 😉 Anyways, here it is!

It took a lot of patience and only a few instances of pulling my hair out to find all of these locations, but it was so worth it!! I’ve been meaning to push pin all of the different countries for forever, and I don’t know what made me pick today to do it – I guess it just felt like a good day!! Don’t mind my awful hand writing, but here’s a note from yours truly as well!

As always, I appreciate all of you like no other! Stay beautiful, and for any questions or concerns, leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Thursday! -Sarah

Jan20

Shout Out To You!

Posted on January 20, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all of the support you’ve been giving lifewithlilred these past few months! I truly appreciate all of the likes, shares, comments, and views from all of you!!! I’ve been having so much fun writing all of my crazy thoughts on here and I’ve had just as much fun reading everything you have to say as well! You are all so talented!! I’m so thankful to have such a solid group of supporters who seem to actually care about what I have to say – it really does mean a lot! So as always all I ask of you to just keep on sharing, following, and reading and we’ll see just how far we can take this! I have some really great stuff coming up these next few days! It’s the season finale of American Horror Story: Freak Show tomorrow night so make sure you tune in with me for my review of that. And if you’re interested in spreading your musical horizons, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few local bands from Akron, Ohio ask me to do a review on my page! In other news with Lil Red, I start back up at school next week, but I promise to post as often as I can! Thanks for everything again and so much love to all of you!!!

I hope you’re all having a lovely day! Have you guys been sticking to your New Year’s Resolutions? What should I write about next? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Love, love, love -Sarah

Jan18

Lil Red Recommends: January Edition!

Posted on January 18, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Whatsup guys! Happy Sunday to each and every one of you! I’ve read quite a few good books this month, discovered a cool new band, and had a somewhat religious experience while shopping, so I wanted to share all of these and more with you in the newest Lil Red Recommends! Let’s get to it:

Read Tuesdays With Morrie: Seriously. Like Nike…just do it. My dear friend Kate got this for me a few Christmas-es ago and I decided to pick it up when I was out of a book to read after I finished Big Little Lies (which will be discussed later!) I read this book quite some time ago, and I am SO happy that I finally reread it. This book touched my heart and soul in ways that I can’t even describe the second time around. I guess that has to do with the fact that my beloved grandma was still alive and well the first time I read this book. This is a true story that chronicles the final visits a professor suffering with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) has with a former student. Mitch, who hasn’t spoke with his favorite college professor Morrie Schwartz in sixteen years becomes aware of his professor’s disease by seeing him doing a television interview while flipping stations. He hops a plane to Boston to see Morrie looking fragile and pallid in a wheelchair. After their first visit together which fell on a Tuesday, Morrie asked if Mitch would come to see him again next week, to which Mitch obliged. All of their meetings in their college days fell on a Tuesday and these visits stayed true to that tradition because they’re “Tuesday people” according to Morrie. During the visits between professor and student topics like religion, emotions, forgiveness, and death are discussed. We learn about Morrie and Mitch’s past and current struggles, that are peppered with humor and the questions that everyone probably asks themselves. This tribute to an amazing man had the ability to make me love both Morrie and Mitch as if they were my own family, and I cannot recommend this book enough. If you’re looking for a quick read that makes you think and opens your heart, grab yourself a copy of Tuesdays With Morrie pronto. If this book doesn’t move you in some way, then you literally have no soul.

Read Big Little Lies: Ohh yes, this book is FABULOUS. Big Little Lies tells the tale of the drama of three women: battered and beautiful Celeste, fashionable and confrontational Madeline, and of course shy and young Jane. These ladies meet through the kindergarten that their children attend and through fast friendship their lives become intertwined. All of the struggles these women face lead up to a tragic night at a school trivia night function for the parents. The chapters literally begin with counting down the amount of time left until the trivia night. This book covers everything from domestic violence, fabulous fashion, sexual assault, bullying, and relationships and it is an absolute thrill of a read. I can’t tell you too much about the book because it’s going to ruin a lot of the shocks and surprises that happen in basically each chapter. I’m a big fan of the author Herman Koch and Big Little Lies is written very similarly to his work, so I instantly fell in love with it. I know this description of the book was vague, but seriously PLEASE read it and tell me what you think! I’m already obsessed with the author Liane Moriarty and just started one of her best sellers The Husband’s Secret last night. I’m very confident that it will be on my next Lil Red Recommends segment!

Listen to Sam Roberts Band: I know, I know – typical PacSun music. SUE ME FOR IT because I love these guys! So catchy, so fresh, so upbeat. I just put their debut album Lo-Fantasy on my iTunes two days ago and I’m kind of obsessed. It comes with two disks, the actual CD and then remix versions of some of the songs. Upbeat is honestly one of the best words I can use to describe these guys, because that’s what they are – they’re fun and the beats of their songs are absolutely infectious. I dare you to not listen to Sam Roberts Band without bobbing your head or tapping your feet. Or in my case – dancing very poorly. I heard their songs “Metal Skin”and “Shapeshifters” when I used to work at PacSun, and they remain two of my favorite songs off of Lo-Fantasy. Do yourselves a favor and give them a try, you’ll be glad you did.

Shop The Pre-Spring Sales: So I was at the mall earlier this week with my sister and all of the stores were still flaunting their post holiday/pre-spring sales. We went to the two stores that we wanted to find the best deals at, which were Victoria’s Secret and Express. Kristen managed to get a sixty dollar bra from VS for only twenty dollars! You seriously can’t beat that. There were a few bras that I had my eye on in their sale bins, but I have more than enough bras to wear a different one every day of the week so I controlled myself from purchasing one, as hard as it was!!! #selfcontrol The real steal of the day came from my find at Express. This entire winter season I had my eye on a gorgeous snake skin print embellished V-neck sweater but the seventy-nine dollar price tag was just too steep for me to justify buying it. While rummaging through the sale bins in Express, a miracle happened. I FOUND THE SWEATER!!! My hands got sweaty (which always happens when I get excited – it’s my cross to bear.) and I rushed to the fitting room. I stripped off my winter layers of a jacket, hoodie, and sweater as quickly as I could and slipped into the sweater I had been lusting over for so long. It. Was. Perfect. It was exactly how I hoped it would fit and look on me, and I couldn’t wait to wear it out that evening. The best part about it? I got it for NINETEEN DOLLARS! Saying that I felt like I was on Ecstasy is an understatement!!! There she is:

Do a Winter Activity: Whether it be sledding, skiing, snow shoeing, or making some winter food like soups or peppermint treats with a friend – DO IT! I figure skated for close to ten years when I was younger, and a few nights ago my sister and I went ice skating. We had an absolute blast – well maybe me more than her because I actually knew what I was doing! That night was my first time back on the ice in close to four years and I was amazed at how much I could still do. As soon as I hit the ice I could feel my muscle memory kicking it – it was just like riding a bike. I was still able to jump, spin, and do a lot of fun footwork tricks. At one point during the night my sister said “Sarah, people are watching you” and I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit how good it made me feel. It took me back to when I would compete and all eyes would be on me when I performed my routines. Being the center of attention for just a few hours at the rink lifted my spirits and my ass, because it was a great work out! If you’re ever in the Akron, Ohio area and wanna go skating – you know how to find me!

So there you have it! My Lil Red Recommends for the month of January! What’s your favorite winter activity? Have you read Big Little Lies or Tuesdays With Morrie? What did you think of it? What was a great winter sale steal that you got? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a fabulous day! -Sarah

Jan8

Recommendations From Yours Truly ;)

Posted on January 8, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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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

Jan4

Lil Red Lifestyle

Posted on January 4, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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This past year I’ve discovered a lot about myself. 2014 was a time for learning new things about Lil Red and improving on things that needed worked on. In 2014 I developed a lifestyle that I wouldn’t change for anything which is appropriately titled the “Lil Red Lifestyle”.

Back in the day, I was extremely ashamed of who I am. I was content with just staying in the shadows and only speaking when spoken to. It honestly took me being fed up with myself and my depression to decide to want to change. You can only take so much of being sad and mopey all the time until you finally say enough is enough. After this revelation, I worked extensively and intensively on myself. I found my voice, I found my style, I found what I genuinely like, and just as importantly I found the things that I don’t want in my life any longer. I eliminated the people and the choices I was making that were bringing me down instead of lifting me up. I learned to love myself enough that I didn’t want to cause harm to myself. I can count the slip ups on my self harm and bulimia sobriety on five fingers this past year. That was a vast improvement from my previous occurrences of doing it every day. With this new found inner strength, self control, and will power, I was able to fully enjoy my life and the person who I’ve become.

The Lil Red Lifestyle is all about accepting and loving who you are. I can honestly say that I love who I am for the first time in my life. I love the way I look, which is another first. I love my bright red hair. I love my pasty pale skin. I love my hazel eyes that change color every day. I love my piercings and tattoos. I love my red lipstick and personal style. Most importantly, I love who I am on the inside. I finally believe that I’m beautiful inside and out, which is something I would roll my eyes at before. I am caring. I am understanding. I am empathetic. I am sympathetic. I am hilarious. I am loving. I am strong. I am brave. I am comfortable in my own skin. This new found confidence in myself has truly changed my life for the better. I no longer let people walk all over me and I let my voice be heard, even if I’m not stating the popular opinion of a group. Being outspoken and having self confidence is another major characteristic in the Lil Red Lifestyle, and I am so thankful that it’s finally something that I posses.

Anyone can employ the Lil Red Lifestyle to their own personal way of living. Having self confidence can be used in the Britney Lifestyle. Accepting yourself and other people can be utilized in the Andrew Lifestyle. Loving who you are and treating yourself like a best friend can be employed in anyone’s lifestyle. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m a firm believer in the phrase “fake it till you make it”. This mindset also helped me leaps and bounds in my quest for bettering myself. I would ask myself questions like “how would a girl with confidence speak her mind?” or “How would someone with self control avoid making bad decisions?” I did whatever I thought was true to these questions and eventually they became part of who I am. I am so proud of who I am now, and I never thought that I could say that before. But now that I can say it, here it is one more time: I am proud of who I am….and that is what the Lil Red Lifestyle is all about.

So there you have it, the Lil Red Lifestyle in a nutshell. Who are you and what lifestyle characteristic do you stay true to? What’s one thing you did this past year that you were proud of? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great day! -Sarah

Jan3

Lil Red’s New Obsessions

Posted on January 3, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Hello one and all and happy Saturday! These past few weeks I’ve gained a lot of great stuff from Christmas gifts and the extra moolah I acquired to hit the post holiday sales. I wanted to share all of this fun stuff with you guys, especially because all of the items I’ll be mentioning below should still be available to purchase in stores and online if you like them!

Gypsy Warrior Flannels: I absolutely adore these flannels! After I quit working at PacSun, Gypsy Warrior was the one brand that I particularly missed getting clothes from. I already had one of their flannels like these new ones except in a different color, so when I saw that the brand launched some new ones, I immediately added it to my Christmas wish list. I was so happy when I opened this gift from my mom! If you’re interested in buying these flannels, just know that the sizes run more like a mans shirt. I’m 5’1 and 1/4 (because the quarter counts, damnit!) and 113 pounds, and I wear a size small – if that helps you figure out what size you need at all! These should still be available on http://www.pacsun.com and in stores. If you sign up for their email program, you get a 15% off coupon emailed to you!

Betsey Johnson Snake Cuff: This little beauty was another stellar gift from my beloved mama. I was absolutely blown away when I opened this gift, because I had forgotten that I even wanted it! A few weeks prior to Christmas, my sister, mother, and myself took a trip to the mall. In Macy’s they had a Betsey Johnson display up, and I absolutely adore her clothing and jewelry so I had to stop and take a look. Naturally, I liked everything, but this snake cuff really caught my eye because I absolutely LOVE snake jewelry. I pointed this one out to my mom and told her how much I liked it, and then we walked away and it was never discussed again. I was so so happy to add this piece to my collection, I was even happier to hear that my mom got this bracelet at TJMaxx for a much better price than at Macy’s. This bracelet should still be available at TJ’s if you’re lucky, at Macy’s, or on Betsey Johnson’s website http://www.betseyjohnson.com!

Express Sweater & Shoes: Express has slowly but surely become one of my favorite stores to shop at. I never really cared to shop there until a few months ago, when I went in with my sister who needed new black clothing for her job at The Body Shop. I was blown away by how chic and sharp all of their clothing was. I saw my cowl neck sweater that night with my sister, and had my eye on it ever since. A few weeks ago when Kristen and I went shopping, Express was having a half off sale and I knew that the sweater had to be mine! It has become an instant favorite, and I wear it way more often than I care to admit. My snake skin patterned shoes were a Christmas gift from my sister. She originally got me the same shoes in a floral print pattern which I didn’t care for, so I exchanged it out for these bad boys. I absolutely love black snake skin print, and I was so happy when I saw these! They match perfectly with my black snake skin super skinny jeans that I got from Express a few months ago. Who could ask for anything more?! Love it. Both of these items should still be available on http://www.express.com or in stores!

Target Winter Coat: Yesterday when my mom and I were running errands at Target, I found this lovely jacket marked fifty percent off. I was so thrilled when I found it, because it was a great deal, and I don’t have a really warm winter coat to brave the Ohio cold. I love the black and dark blue color blocking going on and I find the shape of this coat so charming! Best of all, it keeps me warm and toasty when I’m out and about. This jacket came with a detachable black faux fur collar, which I clearly have taken off already! However, I put good use to the collar by attaching it to my flannel collars for a fun unexpected twist. This coat should still be available in stores and online for half off at http://www.target.com! This jacket also came in all black without the dark blue color blocking.

BustedTees Shirts: My beloved big bro Peter got me a thirty dollar Groupon to http://www.bustedtees.com and I couldn’t be more delighted by the shirts that I ordered from this hilarious website. All of the t-shirts on BustedTees are simply fantastic. A lot of them are inside jokes from movies, television, or video games. For example, my Speaker City shirt was the company that Beanie founded in the movie Old School, which is one of my favorites! “I built Speaker City from the ground up and I can’t even read. Truth.” The website is filled with shirts dripping with sarcasm and pure wit. Peter and I thought that the Daft Punk shirt pictured below was an absolute riot and I thought that the Reunite Pangaea shirt was great. There is sure to be something for everyone on http://www.bustedtees.com! The shirts fit fantastically and your purchases arrive promptly as well. One of the best things about this website was it’s ingenious size chart. It showed the shirts in a size small, medium, and large, on different girls with different body types. A size small looked like it fit well on a girl shaped similarly to me, so that’s what I got and it fits like a glove! So brilliant!

Peter Pan Book: My beloved best friend Kate got this for me for Christmas in honor of our beautiful evening of decorating ornaments, drinking wine, and watching Peter Pan Live. I was so touched by how thoughtful this gift was and simply stunned by its beauty. The illustrations in this book are just magical and the pages are lined with silver to match the shimmering cover. Kate informed me that she purchased this book at Barnes & Noble, and apparently a lot of beloved fairy tales have been made to look like this one. I definitely would like to add more of these books to my collection. They’re so fun to read and just as enjoyable to admire! When Kate got this book, it was buy one get one half off, I’m unsure of if that promotion is still running, but the book should be available in store and online at http://www.barnesandnoble.com!

So there you have it, Lil Red’s latest obsessions! Was there anything you got this holiday season that you absolutely loved? Did you score any great post holiday deals? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great day! -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

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 :))))

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