Sep1

New Hair, Who Dis?

Posted on September 1, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Hello!! This past Friday, I spent a wonderful four or so hours getting my hair done by the amazing Anna at The Shear Shop. We decided to say bye bye to rainbow hair and move onto something deeper and more lux for fall. This was the shortest amount of time that I have ever spent in Anna’s chair in I don’t know how long. Short and sweet because this is my absolute favorite thing that she has ever done. I know I say that every time I get my hair done, but I really mean it this time! Check it out:

Pulp Riot colors from left top to right bottom:

Fireball

Pyro

Nightfall mixed with Velvet

Satire

When conferencing with Anna pre appointment, we decided that we loved the idea of jewel tones. The “peacock” portion of my hair last time around of green, blue, and purple faded into something swampy and very unsightly. A deeper blue or purple was the way to go to avoid that because the faded portion of my hair looked HIT. To achieve this do, Anna began by bleaching out my regrowth and it only took about a half hour to get my roots lightened to her satisfaction.

Once the bleach was washed out and my hair was dried, the fun part of color application began! My favorite part is when Anna brings out her tray full of Pulp Riot colors and we just have to smell it because it smells exactly like Sweet Tarts. 😀 Anna first started by painting my roots with Pyro and applying Satire next to my bangs and crown. Then, she tied it all together with some Fireball. Once the top half of my hair had color applied, she painted the bottom half with her combination of Nightfall and Velvet. We were hoping that this would pull as a rich navy blue and crossed our fingers while the color sat for forty-five minutes.

The almost hour of waiting to be rinsed off dragged on for forever because I couldn’t wait to see the results! As always, we washed it with ice cold water once the time was up and it definitely woke me up lol it was freezing. While my hair was being washed, Anna told me it was looking really good, but we never know how good until it is cut, dried, and styled. What usually extends my appointments is that we are not happy with how certain colors pulled so we either have to rebleach or redye or both to those areas. That was so not the case at this appointment!

Even with wet hair, we were going gaga over the Nightfall and Velvet combination. It was exactly what we wanted and the contrast between it and the bright colors on top was stunning. Not that I don’t freaking love spending a day at The Shear Shop, but it’s always great to have things go accordingly to plan the first time around. Our literal only regret is that we didn’t have more of the navy and we plan on applying it even higher at my next appointment. I am thinking we will keep with this color combo for a long while because it is shear perfection.

As per ushe, Anna is a genius and a true master of her craft. She works magic every time I see her, but this style is on a whole other level. ❤ Keep it posted for my brand new OOTD tomorrow featuring my brand new do!

What is your preferred hair dye brand? Are you changing your hair for fall? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug31

August 2023 Finishes

Posted on August 31, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone! I blinked and we are already at the last day of August! The end of the month means that it’s time to discuss my finished beauty and skin care products. This post will be short and sweet because I only used up two – in July I had seven empties to discuss! Let’s take a look at my August Finishes and chat some more because they were both duds lol:

Would I Use Again?

Honest Beauty Vitamin C Radiance Serum: NO

Goop Glow Vita-C Brightening Eye Cream: NO

Why/Why Not?

Honest Serum: This is the second product by Honest Beauty that I have used and I was expecting a bit more from the Vitamin C Radiance Serum. I was most impressed by Honest’s Calm & Heal Melting Balm and was hoping for another rave review. I wanted to like the Vitamin C serum, but it just didn’t do anything for me. I loved its shimmery orange hue and that’s about it. I needed a decent amount of serum to fully cover my face and neck. Despite the bigger bottle, it was finished in under a month. In that time, I noticed no positive changes in my complexion. I suppose my skin looked a tad brighter, but literally any serum can do that. This is one you can definitely skip on.

Goop Glow Eye Cream: I received this product as a freebie during my Sephora Birthday Haul and it was pretty good. This was actually a nice free item to receive because the tiny jar lasted me over two weeks of morning and night use. I did notice the skin around my eyes to be brighter and a lightening in my under eye circles. However, I simply refuse to pay fifty-eight dollars for a full size jar of it. That’s ridiculous and even if it were at TJMaxx it would still be too expensive. It’s another no from me, dawg.

My empties for August were not anything to write home about. That’s okay, though, because they can’t all be winners and whether I like the products or not, it’s always fun to try something new. See you in September!

What products did you finish this month? What are your thoughts on any of the above if you have used them before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug30

goodhabit Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream Review

Posted on August 30, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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goodhabit Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream Review

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new skin care review on lifewithlilred! Today, we are going to be talking about the Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream by goodhabit. I have been using it for the past month and still have a little ways to go and I have been loving it. Johnny really likes it too and it has treated his forever dry forehead well lol. The only thing we still can’t quite wrap our mind around is the color of this moisturizer! Take a look:

I will never forget when I opened this moisturizer for the first time and my first impression was simply “Smurf blue”. I always open a new moisturizer expecting a white or off white color so you could color me surprised when the Water Jelly Dew Cream just wasn’t haha. After the initial shock of all blue everything, I was able to appreciate the delightful aquatic scent this moisturizer has. It is so crisp and refreshing! This product also fully lives up to the name of a Jelly Dew Cream because it feels exactly like jelly and jiggles like it too. 😀

Applying the goodhabit moisturizer is like giving your skin an instant hydration boost. You barely need any of it to fully cover your face and neck – a little goes a very long way, but just a little packs a huge punch. This moisturizer absorbs really fast, sits well under makeup, and my skin has never looked or felt better. My face feels SO insanely soft and it looks fresh and bright… almost as if I am well rested for once in my life! I am going to be so sad once it is all gone and I think Johnny will be too!

If you are on the market for a new moisturizer, I can’t recommend goodhabit’s Rescue Me Water Jelly Dew Cream (that’s a mouthful!) enough. I am hoping that I find more during my next TJMaxx shopping trip because I could imagine it being most helpful for dry skin during the fall and winter!

What is your favorite skin care brand? Have you used any goodhabit products before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug29

Country Cutie OOTD Bloopers

Posted on August 29, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my Country Cutie OOTD! The Portage County Randolph Fair was a hoot and I am so glad that Johnny and I stepped out on a school night to attend it. It was safe to say that we were definitely not at the Punk Rock Flea Market when we got to the fair. It is also very safe to say that Johnny and I stuck out like sore thumbs. It’s not every day that your favorite vampires venture out to farmland!

I am pleased to report that our presence was very well received minus the little girl who told Johnny he looked like Michael Jackson and proceeded to scream “hee hee” lolol. Take a look at some pictures that were not very well received at all:

Using my sorcery to set all of the farm animals free

Just gonna go grab my phone, ya’ll

I LOOK GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Closing my eyes against all the dust and hella MANURE

Broken down robot

Smiling for my school picture like

Smiling for my other school picture like

As I have mentioned in previous posts, people have been simply SHOOK that I have never been to a county fair before. Many a person has been curious to see if I would go to one again and to be honest, I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, I had a ton of fun and it was an exciting brand new experience. However, it just wasn’t my bag in the slightest. Being surrounded by animals up for auction is not my idea of a good time. Neither is being in a huge crowd with nothing much to do but eat. Lol, my favorite part was playing a carnival game with Johnny, but that only lasted for like five minutes out of our entire evening!

Regardless of if I ever visit another county fair again, I now understand why people enjoy it so much. Before, I truly didn’t get it! It is exhilarating to be among a group of people all having a blast with the food, rides, and games. It just wasn’t my kind of fun I guess? Johnny didn’t want to ride anything so we didn’t. We also didn’t want to spend an obscene amount of money on games so we only played one. Also, we were full after we ate! That pretty much eliminated every activity in one fell swoop. It’s all good, though, because it was another date night for me and Johnny in the books and that is the best thing of all!

The Portage County Randolph Fair put me far out of my comfort zone from the setting in general to my outfit. It’s always great to try something new and now we know to skip on the county fairs next summer!

How do you feel about county fairs? What is your favorite fair food? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug28

Mistakes To Avoid In Your Home

Posted on August 28, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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It is so important to be taking care of your home the best that you can. There are certain mistakes that a lot of us make when it comes to our homes, thinking that it’s not going to be too much of a big deal. The problem is that it probably is going to be one if you are not careful. What might feel like nothing could turn into a catastrophe! In this article, you will find some of the mistakes that you will regret and how you can avoid them. If you want to know more, you know what to do:

Not Clearing Out Your Gutters:

First on the list, not clearing out your gutters is a huge no. We know that it’s gross, and we know that it’s tiring, but this is not a reason not to do it. Your gutters are there to drain the excess water from the top of your house, and do you know what happens if they are clogged when they try to complete their job? You get leaks in your home coming through the walls or the ceiling. This is absolutely not something that you want as this often leads to cases of mold.

Sometimes the most important jobs around the house are the ones that you don’t want to do, but avoiding them is the worse alternative. If you really don’t want to get up there and do it yourself, there are professionals that you can call for help.

Not Making Repairs When Needed:

Another mistake that too many people make is not making repairs when they are needed. Do you have any idea how much damage you can cause to your home simply by letting a repair fester? You are giving it the opportunity to become an even bigger problem that it already is. If a repair can’t be completed in a timely manner, it’s a good idea to sort a temporary fix until you can get it properly taken care of. At least this way, you aren’t risking the problem getting worse.

Not Hiring The Help That You Need:

Finally, there are going to be times where you need professional help, and you need to get it. There is only so much that you can do without causing damage to your home, and there are also certain things that you should never touch as you may make them worse. We know that hiring help can be expensive, but it’s better to do it now and minimize the cost, than later when the issue is much more severe. For example, you may need the help of a company like Fayette Septic Services, or you may need a roofer, or an electrician, etc, so you need to find the best in your area and get them on site ASAP.

Being a homeowner means doing what you can to keep it in the best possible condition. Trying out these three tips is a great first step!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Aug28

Country Cutie OOTD

Posted on August 28, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! During the work week, I rarely wear makeup or a killer outfit unless the occasion calls for it. And, I would say that a trip to the county fair definitely called for a brand new OOTD! As the saying goes, “when at the county fair” or wherever it was, and I wanted to assemble a Country Cutie OOTD. The only catch was that I own literally nothing to build an outfit with a country theme. My husband does, though! After shopping around in Johnny’s Boutique, I came up with this fun little look and I love how it turned out. Let’s discuss:

Who? What? Wear?

Embroidered Button Down: Chute 1

Blue Jeans: Urban Pipeline (These were a hand me down to Johnny from our old downstairs neighbor!)

Army Green Wedge Heels: Guess, TJMaxx

Cigarette Earrings: Punk N Junk

Skull Tote Bag: Target (This was a gift from my mom forever ago!)

The polka dot sunglasses were also purchased from Target forever ago!

My Country Cutie OOTD was a unique experience because this is simply not my style at all. This was also the first time I wore blue jeans since grade school lol! The key to pulling off an outfit outside of your comfort zone is confidence. As I built this outfit, it was important to me to add fun touches that were my own because the base of this look is not even my clothing. This is how your favorite Punk Rock Princess turned Country Cutie for the night…

Johnny recommended his Chute 1 button down to me and I was instantly a fan. I loved the floral embroidery, pearly snap buttons, and its cool color. It looks white, but has the faintest traces of pale blue and I had never seen anything in that shade before. The original plan with this shirt was to wear it with a maxi skirt in a prairie flower pattern. I had high hopes for this, but the top just wasn’t laying well tucked into the skirt and created an unsightly bulge.

At this point in the styling process, I felt stumped because Plan A went out the window and I didn’t have a Plan B. As luck would have it, there was a pair of blue jeans laying right on top of Johnny’s laundry basket of clothes he doesn’t wear often. As luck would also have it, Johnny and I are the same pants size and I knew that we were back in business, baby. It felt SO weird putting normal jeans on because you all know I pretty much only wear black skinny jeans! I am not a huge fan of tie knot tops, but the situation called for it and I thought the button down turned crop top looked great. With the base of the outfit finally sorted, it was time for accessories.

Selecting shoes for the county fair was an easy task because of the green embroidery on the button down. My Guess wedges were the obvious choice and I thought they really tied the look together. For earrings, I already knew exactly what I wanted – my dangly cigarette pair that was purchased at the Punk Rock Flea Market. They were a huge hit at the fair and I was getting compliments left and right! The last task was a purse to swap out my British Invasion bag with and that also came easily. I chose my canvas tote with a floral cow skull and I was ready to hit the fair!

I can’t say that this is an outfit that I would wear again, but I don’t think it could have turned out better! Even though I was wearing hand me downs, I made them my own and created a Country Cutie OOTD that I was very proud of. This was also a great reminder that it’s fun to step outside of your comfort zone – you never know what you’ll come up with!

What is a style that is outside of your comfort zone? What is something that you would never wear? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug27

A Trip To The County Fair Pt. 2

Posted on August 27, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! Johnny and I attended the Portage County Randolph Fair this past Tuesday and it was a hoot. It was my very first county fair and I am so glad that I got to experience it with my main squeeze! What made this date night even cooler was that Johnny and his parents would attend this particular fair every year in his youth. He was very pleased to see that the Grampa Cratchet Puppet Show was still going strong all of these years later!! Check out some pics from our outing and let’s discuss:

^^^ The sculptures in the last two pictures are made entirely out of tires!!

There was so much to do and see at the county fair and I was fine with letting Johnny lead the way – this was not his first rodeo! We began our evening by hitching a ride on a tractor from the parking lot to the fairgrounds. Once we were there, we were surrounded by animals everywhere! From cows and pigs to goats, horses, and adorable baby chicks there was livestock for days. I was really disappointed that all of the bunnies went home for the day, but Johnny told me I couldn’t bring Mel and P home a brother or sister so I guess it was for the best lol.

After we visited all of the animals, we were ready to get some food and I couldn’t wait. However, looking back now – I wish I did! As we made our way through tons of vendor booths, we finally saw lemonade and food stands. Having never been to a county fair before, I assumed that what we saw was it. So, we stocked up on fresh squeezed lemonade, a burger for Johnny, nachos, and fries and went to the seating area for the Grampa Cratchet Puppet Show to eat. After we were done, you could have knocked me over with a feather when we turned the corner from the stands we got food from and I saw an endless array of more food! This is why we are going to Oktoberfest in Cuyahoga Falls next month to get everything we missed out on at the fair.

The puppet show was, admittedly, very weird haha. It was like the children’s version of Crank Yankers if anyone remembers that show? It was basically just a bunch of puppets doing silly things and teaching valuable lessons like following instructions, which was what our show was about. It was pretty funny, but Johnny and I were ready to go after five minutes. I’m just really glad we got to see some of it because I was like “wtf?” when Johnny first told me about it and my sentiments remain the same!

The main event of the night was a demolition derby and we still had time to kill before we took our seats in the stands. We weren’t interested in any of the rides, but I had never played a carnival game before so we did that next. Johnny gave us a twenty dollar limit to play with and I already knew exactly what I wanted to win – a stuffed corndog that I saw a little boy carrying earlier. We found a game that had the plushie as a prize and I am proud to say that we DOMINATED!! We had to shoot a water gun at a target to fill up a balloon and make it pop. Thanks to our dates to the shooting range, we were a force to be reckoned with and I was so happy to claim my corndog. 😀

^^^ It’s so cute!

Our final stop of the night was at the demolition derby and we were crunched for time. At this point, it was going on seven thirty and we still had to make a thirty-five minute drive home. We were expecting for the derby to start with the big cars right from the jump and that wasn’t the case. The derby opened with the pee-wee league of five or so year olds in their souped up Barbie jeeps and Hot Wheels trucks. It was so cute lol. We stuck around for a bit longer until it was safe to say that the kiddos were not going to get out of the gridlock they created. Our other future plan is to find another demolition derby to attend when we don’t have to get up for work the next morning!

Our Trip To The County Fair ended perfectly because we arrived at the entrance just in time to catch a tractor back to our parking spot. We had an absolute blast! Tune in tomorrow for my OOTD and *gasp* seeing me in blue jeans for the first time! 😮

What is your favorite attraction at the fair? What is your favorite carnival game to play? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug26

A Trip To The County Fair

Posted on August 26, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! One of my little quirks that Johnny has never wrapped his head around is that I have never been to a county fair. In my defense, it makes the utmost sense. My parents didn’t trust the carnival rides and we have lots of strict vegetarians in my family so we avoided the buying and selling of livestock. This was so normal to me that I didn’t really realize everyone else has been to a county fair! So, when Johnny found out that the fair he attended in his youth was going on this past week, we had to go. Even if it was on a work night!

^^^ Yes, Johnny did wear that shirt during our wedding!

Once I returned from work on Tuesday, it was off to the Portage County Randolph Fair. Johnny ordered our tickets ahead of time as well as tickets to a demolition derby (Which is an event I have also never attended!). I had a hunch of what the fair would be like from Johnny’s musings and it was exactly what I expected. Lol, there were animals, more than enough food to feed a small country, games, and rides. Between all of the sights, smells, and people it was total sensory overload for the first ten or so minutes!

I will be discussing more of what we did at the fair along with lots of pictures tomorrow. You can also peep my OOTD and bloopers coming up soon too! What I will say in this post, is that I love all of the new experiences that Johnny and I have together. From going to the shooting range to attending a county fair, it is always something exciting when we go on a date. When we went to the fair, everything was new. I played my first carnival game, ate my first fair food, and was in a situation I never thought I would be in. And it was fun! 😀

Our outing to the Portage County Randolph Fair was a novelty in so many ways, but mainly it was SO different being out on a work night! I truly can’t remember the last time we did something during the week day – it was definitely before we started living together. Even though we were dead tired the following day, it was beyond worth it. The county fair might not be my favorite place in the world, but I was there with my favorite guy and that made it the best. ❤

Because I have never been to an Oktoberfest, that is next on our agenda and we have a grand plan. Do a drop in, get food, and go home lol. Here’s to brand new experiences and be sure to tune in for more on the county fair!

Have you ever attended a county fair before? What was your favorite/least favorite thing about it? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug25

Mental Health Day

Posted on August 25, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! This past Monday, I enjoyed my first mental health day in I don’t know how long. Granted, it wasn’t necessarily my choice but it still counts lol. This weekend, I was in a crazy freak accident – no one was hurt, but my car was so I was out of commission to get to work anyways. I would have loved to have had a mental health day under different circumstances, but I guess I’ll take what I can get? Haha and I used my time off well!

On Monday, I slept in until… SIX AM!!! It was great and definitely beats my normal wake up time around 4:30. Melvin and Penelope weren’t thrilled to have postponed their super early morning outing, but once I was up they got to hang out outside of their hutch almost all day. I also was able to get my car set up for its repairs because who knew auto body shops were closed on the weekend? Not me and it was a big relief to get all of that sorted. Also, I took my car to a mom and pop shop and the owner was just adorable. 🙂

Once I was home from my errands, I got to work doing lots of cleaning and that felt fantastic. When my life was really crazy, it was hard to find the time or energy to do a good deep cleaning of the apartment. I got to do that and more with my day off and I felt so accomplished and proud of my efforts. Maybe I needed this day for me more than I realized because I knew it would be nice to clean, but I didn’t appreciate how nice until I proudly surveyed a sparkling space.

After my chores were done, I completed the last item on my agenda which was finishing my Independent Provider annual training. Every year, we must do eight hours of additional online training to maintain our certification. I was on hour six of mine so I didn’t have too much left to do, but it was cool to not have to do it once I was home from work. I also don’t mind the online training at all because they’re always super interesting and it’s fun to learn something new!

Once all of my checklist for my day off was accounted for, I got to spend the rest of my afternoon FaceTiming with my bestie, Kate, of Live In The Nautical. It was the perfect way to end my Mental Health Day. If you are feeling like you need a day for you too, then I can’t encourage an MHD enough. We all need one from time to time and it’s important to listen to what your mind and body needs!

How do you like to spend a day off? When was your last mental health day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug24

4 Year Celebration!!!

Posted on August 24, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!!! lifewithlilred has been going strong since 2014! That’s almost a decade of everyone’s favorite lil redhead in the blogosphere and it is something that I am very proud of. Several years back, I decided that I wanted my page to have fresh content daily and I have stuck with it. Huge shout out to being able to schedule posts because that definitely helps the cause! This past weekend, I ran my calculations because I am currently on day 1,474 of daily content which makes….

An over four year streak!!!!!!

I knew that I was having a good run with publishing every day on lifewithlilred, but I had no idea that it was that good. Writing almost every morning feels so natural to me that it’s something that I don’t think too much about anymore. Knowing that over four years ago, I set a goal and I have been achieving it for that long feels awesome. It also makes me even more dedicated to continuing the quest for daily content because how could I mess up a streak like that?! That would suck lol.

Despite such a lengthy tenure in the blogosphere, I still get writer’s block and feel uninspired from time to time too. However, having so many amazing friends that I have made tuning in serves as the best inspiration of all. If it wasn’t for all of these fantastic friends and readers alike, I think I would have given up on daily content a long time ago. So, thank you all for helping me achieve my goal. I love you!! ❤

What are some of your blogging goals? What is your favorite thing about your blog? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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