Aug30

Hi, How Are You?

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Hi, How Are You?

Hi there! Recently at work, I took a client through a McDonald’s drive thru for lunch. I pulled my car up to the speaker and greeted whomever was working with a standard “Hi, how are you?” A very young and shocked sounding male voice told me “no one ever asks me how I’m doing, I guess I’m doing pretty good”. We chatted for a few seconds and he took my order, then I pulled up to his window to make the transaction.

A barely twenty-something year old kid who looked miserable, at best, had the voice I could finally put a face to. However, when I pulled my car up, he gave me a huge smile and thanked me for “being cool”. My heart somewhat broke and exploded. Broke because this young man working at a Micky D’s right off of the highway had a high point in his day just because I asked him how he was. Exploded because something so simple improved how he felt and, therefore, it made me feel good.

After I rolled up to the next window, I proceeded to give his compliments to the manager because he deserved it. He was prompt and kind and I wanted his day to continue to be the best. When my client and I drove away she told me “I think you made his day” and I told her that he made mine too.

Times are crazy right now. COVID and political unrest do not make for the most ideal living situation! But, times are never too crazy to be friendly to everyone you encounter and I think this story definitely can attest to that. ❤

How has someone made your day recently? How have you made someone’s day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug29

lifewithlilred Domain Renewal!

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lifewithlilred Domain Renewal!

Hello!!! On August 21st, lifewithlilred’s domain of http://www.lifewithlilred.com has been renewed for its seventh year online. It feels like just yesterday when I started my blog and it’s hard to believe that it has already been going on for the better part of a decade. lifewithlilred originally started out as more of an online journal and ode to fashion and from such simple beginnings, I now have readers and friends in over one hundred and ninety different countries. Wow!

Since lifewithlilred’s conception, I have been writing every day. I get up early before work to get my blogging done and I can’t believe I still have stuff to talk about after all of this time! No one ever said blogging was easy and that is the truth – it takes a lot of dedication and perseverance to write Every. Single. Day. Luckily for me, such amazing friends tuning in makes this task a joy instead of a burden.

I want to thank literally everyone who has viewed lifewithlilred because all of you serve as my motivation to continue on with this blogging journey. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart and here’s to another lucky seven more years of lifewithlilred!! ❤

And, as a reminder, my blog is a safe place for everyone and if you are ever interested in guest blogging for me, then shoot me an email at: sarah.mush6794@gmail.com 🙂

Aug28

Preparations To Make Moving Day A Breeze

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Preparations To Make Moving Day A Breeze

Moving day should be an exciting one where you step right into your next adventure. However, there’s a lot to remember and the idea of moving can be pretty overwhelming. To help you, the ideas below should make the day a breeze. Take a look and see what you can do to make this a much easier task:

Don’t Panic About Doing The Hard Stuff Yourself – Hire Somebody:

Stop panicking about doing the hard stuff yourself. You shouldn’t have to do it alone. Contacting a service like Burnett’s Moving Services will take a literal weight off of your shoulders and give you the help you need. You may also want to ask family members and friends for help. Moving, of course, is an expensive adventure and one of the best ways to save money is to move all the light stuff on your own. Then, you can leave the heavy lifting for furniture to the professionals from a mover interstate company like Austate.

Donate Items That You No Longer Use Or Want:

Don’t take absolutely everything with you on moving day. There are likely some items that you can donate as you no longer use them. If you haven’t used something for six months or more, chances are, you won’t use them again.

Organize Your Boxes:

Remember, don’t make one box too heavy or an innocent helper or removal expert could end up dropping all of your things when the bottom opens up. Make sure your boxes are a fair weight and that you have organized them well. For instance, you should label each box, not just with the room but what’s inside of it. This will help you if you need to grab something quickly.

Create A To-do List In Advance:

Your moving preparations should start months, or at least weeks ahead to ensure that you don’t forget anything. Make to-do lists so that you can stay on top of everything. You’ll need to make sure you do the following things:

  • Inform your utility suppliers of your move.
  • Redirect mail to your new address.
  • Inform neighbors that you’re moving.
  • Look for a new school if you have kids.
  • Prepare your pets for the move.
  • Use up all of the food in the house.
  • Hire the necessary services and ensure they are available on the day.

Try Not To Have Kids and Pets There On Moving Day:

Kids and pets can slow you down on moving day, especially if they are feeling stressed about the whole thing. See if you can find a sitter if you’re not moving too far away and let the adults handle the rest.

Get Smart As You Pack:

You can get smart as you pack, for example, wrapping up your dishes and other breakable items with clothing, socks, towels, and t-shirts to cushion any impact. You can also leave your drawers intact and simply wrap them up with plastic to keep the contents safe. Try filling up things like hampers, laundry baskets, and storage bins with clothes and other items to double their use up. If the packing process is what you dread the most, fear not! A majority of moving companies offer packing services as well. Simply enter a search for “Bayville movers” (or your local area) to find a well reviewed company to take this task off of your hands. Moving can be very stressful and extra help with packing will be a huge relief.

Pack An Emergency Box For Each Family Member:

Pack an emergency box for each member of the family, including things like a drink, snack, charger, book, toy, and anything else they may need when they are making their way to or have arrived at the new place. You’ll minimize tantrums and keep everybody happy!

Good luck on your move!

Featured Image By: Pexels

Aug28

Lil Red’s Book Club: The Boy From The Woods By Harlan Coben Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: The Boy From The Woods By Harlan Coben Edition

Hi there and welcome to a new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! Today, we are going to be talking about a book that I enjoyed very much by Harlan Coben called The Boy From The Woods. I devoured this three hundred and seventy page thriller in about a week and I would definitely put it under the “un-put-down-able” category. Bold and interesting characters mixed with a modern story line as well as a nod to the unsettling political times we are in made for an exciting read. So, without giving any spoilers away, let’s discuss:

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The Boy From The Woods is an interweaving tale between Hester Crimstein, seventy something criminal attorney with her own TV show and Wilde. Simply Wilde with no last name because he doesn’t have one. Wilde was found living in the woods, all alone but somewhat thriving as he learned how to read and talk through breaking into homes and watching TV and instructional videos. Wilde’s first and best friend was Hester’s now deceased son, David, and they played in the woods together before Wilde was even discovered.

Wilde remains a “family figure” in Hester’s world because he is the godfather to David’s son, Matthew, and lover to his widow, Laila. All is going well in Wilde’s world, until a distressed Matthew asks him for a favor. Find Naomi Pine. Who is she? A bullied classmate who spent her school life in torment and has been missing for a week.

Hester and Wilde team up to find Naomi, using Hester’s TV platform and connections to help the cause. When a second child goes missing from Naomi and Matthew’s high school is when things start to get a lot more complicated. Cue uber rich TV producer moguls Dash and Delia Maynard and their son, Crash. The only difference between Crash and Naomi? A ransom note was delivered for Crash, with a promise for his release if and only if damning tapes of megalomaniac politician Rusty Eggers are turned in.

Dash Maynard found fame through documentaries and used to record everything back in the day. And by everything, I mean everything. Him and Delia supposedly have tapes that would destroy Rusty’s potential presidency and someone wants them back. But who? Could Crash and Naomi’s disappearances be connected? Are they together right now? And what dark secrets are connecting this cast of characters to a final shocking conclusion? Read The Boy From The Woods to find out!

What I absolutely loved about this story line was the extremely modern take they had on, well, everything. I wonder which politician Rusty Eggers reminds me of (lol) and Naomi’s troubled life was a sad but very fresh take on your traditional high school student drama. The Boy From The Woods also embraced the media through texting, videos, apps, and Hester’s TV show. It almost felt like I was watching a movie in my head as I read because of the graphic and somewhat flashy descriptions of showbiz, baby.

The best thing about The Boy From The Woods, though? The grand reveal! The brilliance of this book is that Every. Single. Red. Herring. was hidden in plain sight and I thought that was really cool. The books I am used to reading involve a lot of guesswork and intuition to figure out the reveal before it’s… revealed. So, I was using that mentality to figure this book out and I couldn’t.

The grand reveal left me in absolute shock and when all of the clues were divvied up, I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. I haven’t read a book that threw me for this big of a loop in a long time and for that reason I am giving The Boy From The Woods an eight out of ten stars. I highly, highly recommend it!

What are you reading right now? Have you read anything good lately? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug27

What Are Your Goals For The Rest Of The Year?

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What Are Your Goals For The Rest Of The Year?

It’s easy to think that this year has been a bit of a mess. Because in many ways, it has. But at the same time, the days are still ticking by. And if you’re someone that is looking at the time and thinking, where has the time gone, then you’re not alone. Because the situation of the world definitely makes you feel like you’re on pause, but you’re not! Life goes on. And before long, you may find that you want to try and turn the year around and be able to accomplish something. This doesn’t even have to refer to work. It can be about your hobbies, your home, or your health – anything! But if you want anything to happen, you have to make sure that you set those goals. So, let’s take a look.

Follow Your Passion:

To start with, it could be that you want to think about doing something that you love. Maybe you’ve felt uneasy over the last few months and you’ve felt lost? When that’s the case, working to uncover your passion and then dedicating some time to it can be just what you need right now.

Start A Side Hustle:

As a step on from that, you may find that you want to do something that will help or advance your career. Maybe you’re not happy at work at the moment? Or you have always dreamed of doing a different job? Now could be the time that you start a side hustle or you think about taking a course to help you change careers.

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Get Fit:

You also might want to look after your body a little more. If you have felt lethargic lately, it could really help you if you start to work on getting fit. There’s so much time left this year, you could really transform your body!

Redo Your Home:

You may even be thinking about your home and some of the changes that you’d like to make. Because when you’re spending more time inside, as you will throughout the winter, you might want to spruce it up. Whether you have suffered with an issue recently and need to look into water damage restoration cost or you want to redo the space because it’s been a while since you did it, now is the time. It may be the project you focus on that makes you feel great!

Be More Present:

You may find that the most important thing for you is to be able to be more present. It’s easy to get worked up over everything that is happening in the world right now. That can then often mean that you’re worrying or overthinking a lot of the time. But that just causes you to miss a lot of life. It will pass you by! When you decide to be more present, you are going to find that you are able to make the most of all of your efforts.

Ready, set, goal and finish the year strong!

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Aug27

New Candy Apple Red & Dandelion Yellow Hair

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New Candy Apple Red & Dandelion Yellow Hair

Hello! I absolutely busted a gut when I saw my featured image photo because it is the honest to god truth. My hair stylist, Anna, has been my go to gal for well over a decade and I would never trust anyone else to even look at my hair. I recently decided that I wanted a change and Anna created what we coined as “convertible hair”. AKA half blonde and half red, expertly designed to be able to move the different colors into a whole new style:

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We both loved the blonde but we both knew that the colors weren’t exactly what I wanted. When I think red I think red red and when I had blonde in mind I wanted it to be a super bright pop. This first style was a great first crack and the second go at it was just as good. But was it what we had in mind? Not quite.

However, as the old saying goes, the third time was a charm. Anna ordered Pulp Riot colors special for me and I finally got the candy colored hair of my dreams. Check it out:

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To achieve my light bright hair, Anna bleached it for about twenty minutes. And, I’m not going to lie, I kind of like how I looked all blonde! After washing out the bleach and drying it, she applied Pulp Riot’s Fireball for my red and Satire for the yellow and we let it sit for thirty-five minutes.

Obviously the end result is Skittle colored vibrancy but the dye in itself was the exact same color as the finished product and as soon as she put it on we had a very good feeling about it. Not to mention that the Pulp Riot dye smells like Sweet Tarts – very appropriate for hair that almost looks good enough to eat, lol!

As soon as Anna washed the dye out, we were freaking out before we even dried it because the colors were that bright soaking wet. Anna told me that she has never done color like this before and I am so thankful that I was her guinea pig. My request was, admittedly, a tall order and she did her research and her absolute best to give me the results I wanted.

The results? Hair worthy of a cartoon character and off the charts self-confidence. We both had such a blast with this quest for candy colored hair and now Anna knows how to get my locks just right every time. The next color I have in mind after I grow bored with the blonde? Hot pink, of course!

What is the craziest color of hair you ever rocked? How do you experiment with bold colors in your personal style? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug26

Random Lil Red Fun Facts

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Random Lil Red Fun Facts

Hello! In coronavirus times, I have become a little bit “boring”. Not because I want to, of course. Safety trumps all and with multiple high risk clients that I care for, I can never be too, well… careful! A lack of going out and socializing/shopping has definitely made maintaining lifewithlilred more difficult but no one said being a blogger was easy and I still write every day.

If you are just tuning into my page, welcome! I hope you learn something new about me. For those of you who have been with me for the past almost six years, hi again! I also hope you learn something new about me with the following:

  1. I have well over fifty tattoos and have simply lost count of how many I have at this point.
  2. I try to read at least two books per month – sometimes three if I’m feeling especially reading ravenous.
  3. I wouldn’t consider myself a huge “gamer” but I have become obsessed with Animal Crossing since I have been at home more often. Johnny and I share an island called Dingusburg and my favorite thing is fishing for sharks and diving for undersea critters. 🙂
  4. I have been self employed for the past six years and run two businesses that I am very proud of.
  5. Johnny and I are celebrating one year together on September 1st and I couldn’t be happier!
  6. My last in store shopping trip was at TJMaxx in February and I miss it desperately.
  7. I also miss going ice skating a lot too! I used to figure skate competitively and just started taking up learning how to ice dance. I even bought new skates. Then, COVID happened, and I haven’t been on the ice since March. Whomp whomp.
  8. I am an aunt to an adorable niece and nephew. I am the baby of the family with two older brothers and an older sister. I also have two dog brothers named Archie and Ollie. ❤
  9. I allow myself two “treat” outings per month and I always opt to get my hair and nails done. I think I would go crazy without my monthly fill and color touch up!
  10. I have been a vegetarian for close to two decades and I love all kinds of food – especially Indian, Mexican, and Thai. Unfortunately, Johnny is on a much different diet of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and Honey Nut Cheerios to lower his cholesterol so I usually have to eat my favorites by my damn self… More for me!

What are some fun facts about you? Do you have any questions for me? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug25

How To Take Better Care Of Yourself

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How To Take Better Care Of Yourself

It’s not always easy to take the best care of yourself. Even though you know deep down that you need to look after your health and wellness, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, life gets in the way. And when that’s the case, you may find that you put yourself and your care to the bottom of the pile. But this is never a good idea. Because, before long, you will find that it catches up with you and you will find yourself feeling sick or run down. So, it’s important for you to make sure that you know how to take care of yourself. This can be especially important if you are feeling stressed or burned out. Here’s what you can do:

Get More Sleep:

To start with, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re getting enough sleep. It’s easy to think that you are, but it’s more likely the case that you are not. Especially if you are feeling off! However, you may find that when you sleep better, you’re going to feel great too. You will feel healthy and much better in yourself. So do what you can to make high-quality sleep your priority.

Look After Your Body:

From here, you’re then going to want to make sure that you are looking after your body as much as you possibly can. It’s important for you to keep your nutrition in check and to keep on top of your exercise. This is something that will always make you feel better in yourself. So make this a big part of your routine. If you need additional help with these steps, it can be a great idea to work with a nutritionist and visit the gym or walk regularly. Going to the gym for the first time might be a little intimidating and perhaps you could benefit from a personal trainer to show you the ropes and motivate you. If you’d like to go that route, simply enter a search for “personal trainer new jersey” (or your local area) to research the best fit for you. Focusing on your diet and exercise can make a huge difference in your mood!

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Get Your Check-Ups:

You’re going to want to make sure that you are getting yourself medically checked out too. You know that you need to see a doctor when you’re sick or for a general check up, and you have to do the same with your dentist too. So why not access their website and make an appointment. It’s something so small but it can really make a difference to your health.

Be Kind To Yourself:

It’s also important for you to make sure that you are as kind to yourself as possible. If you feel stressed or you are beating yourself up about something, it’s going to have an affect on your health. So, you need to make sure that you are working on your mental health so you can keep viewing yourself in a positive light.

Finally, you are also going to want to make sure that you’re making self care a priority. You can’t just rush through life stressed out and feeling overwhelmed – it’s not going to do anything for your health. However, if you can slow down a bit and make sure that you’re having some me time, it will really help your health. Things like taking a bath, pampering, drinking more water, having cozy evenings, and just relaxing can really help you to take better care of yourself. Enjoy!

Featured Image By: Unsplash

Aug25

Accessory Story: Homemade Cuff Edition

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Accessory Story: Homemade Cuff Edition

Hi! For those of you who don’t know, my big girl job is as an independent provider for people with special needs. I have four clients who I see throughout the week and all of them bring so much joy into my life. Each of my clients has their own unique hobbies and I always like to encourage them, especially when there isn’t much else to do right now except hang out at home and perfect their crafts.

Speaking of crafts, one of my clients is very handy when it comes to making homemade jewelry and she created this cuff just for me. Check it out:

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Two of my clients enjoy playing music like the drums and piano and my other two love to craft. Sometimes we will make bracelets, color pictures, or make our own holiday cards. The creator of my new bracelet can often be found working on her dream journal or making jewelry for her loved ones and I was so tickled when she handed me her masterpiece the last time I was at work.

My friend is incredibly generous and she is always thinking about what she can do for others instead of herself. It’s such an admirable trait and she loves being the reason that someone smiles or their day has been “made”. I think everyone can take some notes out of her book and I am proud to have something that she put together with her little old provider in mind. ❤

What is a character trait that you admire? What is your favorite hobby? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug24

Sweet Surprises: BFF Edition

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Sweet Surprises: BFF Edition

Hello! My best friend of over twelve years, Lea, is going to be getting married at the end of October and I am one of her bridesmaids! Unfortunately, a pandemic isn’t the best time for a wedding celebration and because of having several high risk clients, I have had to opt out of a lot of the fun. It makes me sad that I can’t participate in good conscious in the different activities but Lea knows where I’m coming from and that’s the only important thing to me.

During our most recent hang out to have an early 26th birthday celebration for Lea (AKA drinks on my parent’s deck), I was expecting for her to be the only one receiving prezzies. But my darling bestie surprised me with the following:

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Lea is honestly one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life and it is so like her to bring something for me on a day that should be celebrating her. I am so in love with the comfy cozy “Bridesmaid” tee by Bella + Canvas (I’m wearing it right now!) and the customized glass is adorable enough that I don’t even want to drink out of it!

It has been hard being out of the metaphorical wedding loop right now for Lea because safety is my primary concern. So, these gifts were very special to me because it showed that Lea still thinks of me as one of her bridesmaids no matter what.

2020 has been such a crazy year and I am so sad that Lea’s wedding isn’t going to be everything that she dreamed of and then some. But, as her best friend and STILL her bridesmaid even though I hardly deserve a participation trophy, I will be doing everything I can in the meantime to keep her spirits way up high. I know she would do the exact same for me. ❤

Did you have an event that got cancelled this year? How do you stay safe during the pandemic? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah