Sep8

NYC Fall Fun

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NYC Fall Fun

Hi everyone and welcome to my friend Adina’s contribution to my fall guest bloggers series here on lifewithlilred. Please be sure to check out her page linked here and give her some love! Adina’s post is all about fall activities to do in the Big Apple. This is a great read for any NYC natives, travelers, and day dreamers. Take a look:

NYC Fall Fun:

There is no greater time to visit New York City than the fall. The extreme summer heat is gone, the kids are back to school, and the city is as vibrant as she was during the summer. With that being said, here is a list of places to visit in New York City in the fall:

Central Park:

With the weather still comfortable but not unbearable, there is nothing like a picnic on a fall day. Nature lovers and exercise enthusiasts will love watching the leaves change and using the park’s natural layout as a workout space. With a variety of activities, including the Central Park Zoo, the Carousel, and playgrounds for the kids, Central Park has something for everyone.

Prospect Park:

Located in Brooklyn, with access to multiple train lines, Prospect Park has the same amenities of Central Park without needing to travel to Manhattan. The Prospect Park Zoo and The Lefferts Historic House will keep families entertained. Picnickers, nature lovers, and exercise junkies can have the same experience they would have in Central Park while staying closer to home.

The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens:

Located a block from The Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens are a treat in the fall. In the midst of a changing borough, the gardens are a perfect retreat from the busy life outside of its gates. Visitors can stroll through the many gardens, catch a glimpse of the turtles and the coy fish in the lake, and visit the pavilions with the recreations of various environments. And if the visitor can wake up early on Saturday, admission is free before noon.

The Highline:

Imagine, if you will, that you want to take a walk on a cool fall day. You don’t want to go to Central Park, but the thought of staying home does not appeal to you. Why not try The Highline? Originally built in the 1930’s as part of the transit system, it was abandoned in the 1980’s until it was re-imagined as a public space a few years ago. It’s the perfect spot to read, enjoy a meal, people watch, or maybe just enjoy the view of the river.

Coney Island:

There is a reason Coney Island is called The People’s Playground. People from all walks of life have enjoyed Coney Island and made an abundance of memories there. The best time to visit Coney Island is in the fall. Just because the crowds have thinned out does not mean that there is nothing to do. Between the boardwalk, amusement park, aquarium, and more than enough places to eat, there is always something to do in Coney Island during the fall.

^^^ Thank you so much again to Adina for these amazing travel tips! For more fantastic reads, be sure to check out her blog! Where is your favorite place to visit in the fall? What is your favorite fall related activity? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep7

Fall Beauty Essentials

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Fall Beauty Essentials

Hi everyone and welcome to my friend Carlie’s article for my fall guest bloggers series! You can find Carlie at Bombshell 2016 so please be sure to check out her page. Carlie is a great friend and I am so happy to finally be able to feature her here on lifewithlilred! So without further ado, here is Carlie’s post about her fall beauty must haves:

Fall Beauty Essentials:

   I’m very excited to be a guest blogger on LifewithLilred, and wanted to share some new and fabulous products that I love using and that will get you ready for the Fall:

  1. Lancome Masque Pure Focus: I’m a huge fan of facial masks and love how they make your skin look and feel after using them. I use them about twice a week and was very excited to try this new one out. This one is a mineral mask with white clay and purifies the skin leaving a nice matte finish. The texture is rich and creamy and is gentle but very effective. It only needs to be worn for about five minutes before rinsing. After you use this mask, your face feels baby powder smooth.

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  1. Benefit Moisture Prep Toning Lotion: I’m not usually a big fan of a lot of toners because they tend to dry out my skin and makes my face feel very tight but this toner is the complete opposite. It’s made with aloe to soothe the skin and is more water based than alcohol which is ideal for my skin type. I love using this toner in my daily beauty regimen. The best thing about moisture prep is that you see results and notice a difference in your skin immediately after you start using it.

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  1. Nude’tude Nude Eyeshadow Palette by “The Balm”: I first heard about this product line from a fellow pinup model and friend. It’s a vintage inspired brand based in San Francisco and can be found online. This talc-free palette was the first thing I bought from them. The different eyeshadow shades are beautiful and are perfect colors for the upcoming fall season. The pigments are great and look fantastic with or without wetting your shadow brush. The packaging is also so cute! I have the woman version of this shadow palette but there is also a “ Nude Dude” version which is also awesome.carl6
  1. “Schwing” Liquid Eyeliner by “The Balm”: Another favorite of mine from this fabulous company. This eyeliner goes on nice and smooth and the brush always stays at a perfect point which is a “must-have” for me when it comes to liner. It also dries quickly, never flakes, and stays on all day without touch ups.

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  1. “Styled in Sepia” by MAC: This lip color is perfect for the autumn season and looks great on anyone. The color can look a little dark in the tube but when applied the shade looks very soft and creamy. You can also easily layer it to make it darker if you want to add some drama. My favorite way to wear “Styled in Sepia” is to apply it and then dab a little bit of clear gloss just in the center of your bottom lip.

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  1. Dermablend Smooth Liquid Camo Medium Coverage Foundation and Dermablend Professional Setting Powder: When people think of Dermablend, they usually think that it’s just for covering certain skin conditions and tattoos but this line is so more than that. This particular foundation is a little different from the original. When I first learned about Dermablend and the process of how to apply it, I was very excited to try it. I then got my sample, went home, tried it, and instantly was hooked. It is  dermatologist recommended, gives absolutely wonderful coverage, and stays in place all day in any weather condition, it also won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Plus it is very easy to use. Just apply it to your face, blend it, set it with their loose powder, and you’re good to go. Just remember that when you use Dermablend foundation, you HAVE to use their powder to set it. Other powders won’t set it so don’t bother wasting your other ones. Dermablend’s powder is very inexpensive and a jar will last you a long time. I think that it is well worth the investment.

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  1. Origins Ginzing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser: I have already wrote about how much I love using Origins Ginzing Eye Cream on my blog so I was very excited to try their Ginzing Scrub. Scrubs are perfect to use during the changing seasons and colder weather because of how they exfoliate and get rid of any dead or dry skin. This scrub has ginseng and coffee beans in it and brightens, refreshes, and energizes your skin. It’s also a gentle scrub so it won’t cause irritation especially if you have sensitive skin.

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These are my top picks for fall and I hope you enjoy using them as much as I do.

^^^ Thank you so much again to Carlie from Bombshell 2016 for creating a post that will help all of us get glamorous this fall! What are your fall beauty must haves? What is your favorite fall shade of lipstick to sport? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep6

Street Chic OOTD

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Street Chic OOTD

Hello everyone and welcome to a guest post created by my new friend, Andrada, over at Miss Andrada! For this look, Andrada treated us to an OOTD that can be dressed up or down for an autumn day or night. This look transitions perfectly from an outfit worn for an errand filled afternoon to a sweet coffee house date night. The magic being that all you have to do is change your casual cool Converse to a pair of heeled booties and you’re a whole new woman! Take a look at how Andrada styled her fall look:

Street Chic OOTD:

Hello everyone,

My name is Andrada and I run a blog on fashion and accessories. I would highly appreciate if you would follow my blog because I am very passionate about it and hope that it will inspire you (I will follow back so we can support each other).

Today, I have an autumn outfit idea that can be worn in September for going out during the day and night. For this look, I combined a pair of elegant earrings with a casual shirt & ripped jeans. I tried to give the outfit that ‘street look’ that everyone is going for in September.

For me, accessories are really important. They can add dimension to the look as well as the perfect finishing touches to any outfit. Therefore, I accessorized my OOTD with a traditional handmade Turkish bag which I bought last year while on holiday and a pair of statement earrings.

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This is a super easy outfit to pull together and I’m sure that if you check your wardrobe now you’ll find the pieces that you need. Don’t forget to follow me for more similar posts!

What I’m Wearing:

  • River Island shirt
  • Zara jeans
  • Handmade bag
  • White Converse shoes
  • H&M earrings

What is your statement item for the beginning of autumn? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Until next time,

Andrada xx

^^^ Thank you so much again to Andrada for her participation in my fall guest bloggers series! I love your Street Chic look! How do you transition an outfit from day to night? What are your must have accessories for fall? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep5

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice OOTD

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Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice OOTD

Hi everyone and welcome to my fall guest bloggers series here on lifewithlilred! My absolute favorite season is fall. The fashion, the weather, holidays, and traditions – I love it all. Because summer is finally drawing to a close, I thought that it would be a perfect time to call upon a new group of guest bloggers to help me ring in the season with some of their favorite things about autumn. To kick start the series, I enlisted the help of my blogging BFF, Nida, of Shopaholic Blogs to create an OOTD that’s perfect for fall. As always, her post is amazing so check it out and enjoy:

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice OOTD:

🍂 Hello Everyone! Welcome to another fabulous OOTD collab between Life With Lil Red and Shopaholicblogs. When Sarah asked me about doing an autumn collab post I was thrilled because I hadn’t done an OOTD post in quite a while due to the horrendous heat wave we were having.
🍂 What I had totally forgotten was that in Dubai there is no such thing as autumn since summer is here year round with scorching temperatures and laughably short winters. Being from California I truly miss experiencing the beauty of the changing seasons. Nevertheless, I scrambled to put together an autumn appropriate look as I had promised my blogging BFF. 💟
🍂 Back home in California this is exactly how I would picture myself on a lovely day in autumn, surrounded by fallen leaves and the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin spice latte lingering in the air. ☕️
🍂 So here’s presenting Shopaholicblogs take on an autumn OOTD in the desert: 🌵

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OOTD Details:
🍂 Dress: Old Navy – I love this dress. It has full sleeves which are perfect for a chilly autumn day and it has splashes of orange which is perfect for the season.
🍂 Boots: Minnetonka – These were the very first boots I ever bought and I adore them. They are perfect for fall and winter and I love the movement and detail the fringe adds.
🍂 Leggings: Hollister –  These leggings have the perfect amount of stretch and they haven’t lost their shape despite countless washes. Plus I got them for $17 on sale!
🍂 Vest: Old Navy – This is a perfect transition piece that you can wear over a dress or Tshirt in the fall and layer it over a turtleneck in the winter.
🍂 Bag: Oryany – I love the whipstitch detail on this bag and it’s a great accessory to use year round.
🍂 Props: Pottery Barn
🍂 Accessories: American Eagle

I hope you guys enjoyed this OOTD post! Never mind the fact that it was shot in 112 degree weather! Many thanks to Sarah for this opportunity to be featured on her blog. 💞
Until next time xoxo 💋
^^^ Thank you so much again to Nida from Shopaholic Blogs for another fantastic OOTD post! What is your favorite piece of fall clothing? How do you rock a fall OOTD? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Sep2

Hello, It’s Me

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Hello, It’s Me

Hi everyone and TGIF! Welcome to the month of September here on lifewithlilred! My first week of the fall semester went as good as it can get but I am so looking forward to the three day Labor Day weekend! With summer coming to a close, I had to squeeze in wearing as many dresses as I can sans tights before the cold weather begins. Because I was feeling pretty, witty, and gay I enlisted the help of my lovely mother to take some new pictures of yours truly. I feel like I haven’t posted some Lil Red pics on here in a while so it was long overdue! Check them out and have an awesome weekend! Also, be on the look out for my fall guest bloggers series that premieres this week. The posts are amazing and I am so excited! Much love. -Sarah

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Aug29

Monday Update: Back To School Edition

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Monday Update: Back To School Edition

Helloooo everyone and happy Monday! Today marks my first day back on campus at Tri-C for the fall semester and did I mention that it’s my LAST semester?! After this fall, I will be graduated with my Associate of Arts degree! Yay! I will be taking five classes and then I am done, done, DONE and I could not be happier. I will be mighty busy this fall with both of my jobs on top of a full time school schedule but it will be so nice to just power through it all and wind up with a degree at the end of it.

I will try to post as often as I can but just know that if I randomly go MIA for a short while, it is because I am drowning in homework. This fall I will be taking Adolescent Psychology, Bioethics, Astronomy, a course called Ecology, Environment, and Evolution, as well as a lab for that course. Yikes! All of the classes sound interesting enough, though, so there’s that. -_-

My fall guest bloggers series will be coming soon on lifewithlilred so keep your eyes peeled for that as I feature some wonderful bloggers and their favorite things about fall! Now, I will leave you with a little ditty from one of my fave school based flicks, Billy Madison:

^^^ Just beautiful.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Back To School Edition! Who else is starting up at college soon? How do you keep yourself organized during a busy semester? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. –Sarah

Aug27

One Love Yoga & Boutique Trip

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One Love Yoga & Boutique Trip

Hi everyone and happy weekend! This past week, my sister and I made a little trip to Kent which is a college town in Ohio. We live about twenty-five minutes or so away from there so it’s not really far but it’s far enough that we don’t get to frequent the stores in their downtown area as often as we would like. Kristen needed to get one of her piercings fixed at the shop that we both go to in the area and then we thought that we would do some shopping at one of our favorite stores, Figleaf.

Unfortunately, by the time that we were done with Kristen’s piercing, Figleaf was closed because they always lock up obnoxiously early which we forgot. But Kristen said that she noticed a cute looking store that we drove past right when we pulled into the downtown shopping area. We trekked back to the beginning of downtown Kent and wounded up at One Love Yoga & Boutique.

This store happens to be a clothing boutique on the bottom and a yoga studio on top. Kristen was also so right, the store was absolutely adorable. We spent at least an hour in the boutique trying on clothes, admiring the jewelry, and chatting with the extremely knowledgeable and friendly workers. Kristen ended up with a new crop top, some jewelry, and a dream catcher for her apartment. Yours truly ended up with a gorgeous new dress that will be perfect for fall, pictured below:

The front and back of my new Millibon brand dress is pictured although I am realizing now that both shots look exactly the same! Regardless of that, I love this dress so much! I normally don’t wear a lot of burgundies and reds because I feel like it looks obnoxious with my hair but this dress looked so sweet and pretty that I just had to get it. I love the white flowers against the burgundy color as well as the little flutter at the end of its fitted sleeves.

My new dress is in a pattern that Kristen and I both recognized from Francesca’s and the worker told me that they buy from the same vendor which I thought was so cool! All of the clothes that they had in the boutique were gorgeous and the prices were very reasonable, too. This was definitely a pleasant surprise because I thought that I was going to see one hundred dollar and above price tags on everything! I got my dress at thirty-two dollars which I thought was a steal.

I’m looking forward to welcoming fall weather with my new frock. I plan on wearing it with my knee high tan riding boots for a more casual look and my army green Guess wedges for a night out. This is also a perfect dress to wear tights under as the weather gets colder and it will look lovely when it peeks through my navy blue Modcloth peacoat. So much fun fashion so little time!

Also, if you check out One Love Yoga & Boutique’s Instagram, you might see a picture of me because the owner saw me in the dress when I showed it to my sister and thought it would look nice for their social media pages. I also highly recommend checking out their website which is so well put together and a like on their Facebook page would be nice, too!

So there you have it, my One Love Yoga & Boutique Trip! Kristen and I had a blast and I can’t wait to go there again soon! What is your favorite boutique style store to shop at? Who could see themselves taking yoga classes at One Love? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. –Sarah

PS: If you’re not on my Facebook page, here’s a new picture of me in my dress from my shopping trip at Urban Outfitters:

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Aug25

Crocker Park Haul

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Crocker Park Haul

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Last week my mom, sister, and I went to my favorite place in the whole wide world…Crocker Park! For those of you who aren’t familiar with this amazing, luxurious, Ohio outdoor mall – just know that it is truly the happiest place on earth. It is a little heaven manifested in Westlake where blocks upon blocks of clothing, makeup, and home goods stores reside. Stores like Urban Outfitters, H&M, Francesca’s, American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, Anthropology, Express, MAC, and Sephora…just to name a few! I made two purchases during our shopping outing and I’m seriously obsessed so take a look and let’s discuss:

The Haul:

  • Urban Outfitters Ecote brand dress
  • Francesca’s Miami brand flannel

Urban Outfitters: If I’m lucky, I make it out to Crocker Park about two times a year. Whenever I’m there, there are two stores that I always try to at least purchase something at and those are Urban Outfitters and H&M. Crocker Park is the only location with both of those stores and since it is about an hour drive away, I obviously don’t get to shop there frequently. Unfortunately, H&M had nothing that caught my eye during this shopping trip but I was so happy to find this gorgeous print dress on sale at Urban Outfitters!

Before our outing, my mom and I were chatting about what color clothing that we like to wear the best while we were walking our dogs. During which, I told her that I would love to find something gold or mustard yellow when we go to Crocker Park because I don’t mean to brag but those colors look dashing on me. 😉 I had my eyes peeled in every store we went into for something that fitted the color palette I was looking for. I struck out in almost all of them until my sister found my pretty little new number in the sale section of Urban. I had saw the dress but I skipped past it because the fit of it usually isn’t the most flattering on me. However, Kristen urged me to try it on so I did.

As soon as the dress was on, I knew that it was perfect. The colors were phenomenal and the fit was just right. It was flowy and fun as opposed to baggy and lifeless. When I walked out of the fitting room, my mom said that it was exactly what she was hoping I would find after our dog walking chat and my heart just melted. I love my new dress so much and I’m actually wearing it right now as I type this! ❤

Francesca’s: Of all of the seasons that Ohio experiences, fall is my all time favorite. About seventy-five percent of my wardrobe consists of fall clothing because I live for fall fashion. Therefore, when I saw my new black and white flannel from Francesca’s, I knew that I had to have it. I’m a big fan of flannels but the trick is that they have to be really unique because I feel like most flannels look exactly the same. When I saw that my new flannel had embroidered patterns in the design as well as zippers going up both of the sides, I fell in love because I knew that it would stick out.

What made the flannel even more “must have” worthy was that it looked really good with the outfit that I was already wearing – a black crop top, black shorts, and forest green wedges. That made it even harder to say no to the top which completed my outfit so nicely. I liked that it was more form fitting, too. It wasn’t tight my any means but compared to all of my baggy Gypsy Warrior flannels at home, it definitely was more fitted which was a nice change. I am looking forward to wearing this flannel around campus this fall for a laid back, college cool look.

The Crocker Park outing that I had with my mom and sister was a total success but I would have been happy even if I ended up with nothing. Us girls had so much fun wandering around the outdoor mall, looking in different stores, and chattering away that it would have been worth it to go home empty handed. BUT – I’m so glad that I didn’t! 😉

So there you have it, my Crocker Park Haul! Does anyone have an outdoor mall similar to Crocker Park in their neck of the woods? How about a favorite store to shop at that you live far away from? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug24

August Finishes

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August Finishes

Hi everyone and happy Hump Day! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far. Sorry that I haven’t posted a lot this week. With classes starting this upcoming Monday, I’ve been super busy making all of the final preparations so this fall semester can be a good one! Although I have been a busy gal this month, that didn’t stop me from using up some wonderful products so take a look at my empties for the month of August:

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Would I Use It Again?

  • Bath & Body Works Country Apple body mist: YES
  • St. Ives Apricot Cleanser: YES
  • Michael Design Works Into The Woods lotion: YES
  • TopCare Eye Makeup Remover: YES
  • The Body Shop Vineyard Peach body butter: YES

Why/Why Not?

B&BW Mist: Country Apple is my all time favorite Bath & Body Works scent so of course I would use this again! I better have every intention of using it again considering I have eight more of the mists in my hoard! I love all things apple scented and this crisp and bright body mist is just perfect. It took me about six months to finish this spray and I used it multiple times per day.

St. Ives Cleanser: Out of all of the St. Ives products in the world, their Apricot Cleanser is my favorite. I could use this every single day and not get sick of it. The scent is just delicious and the texture of this product is wonderful. It is the perfect amount of creamy and gritty so it scrubs away all of your imperfections without leaving your skin feeling raw or dried out. My skin felt so fresh, clean, and rejuvenated after using this cleanser and I wish I still had more of it! It took me about five weeks to finish this product.

MDW Lotion: My boyfriend got me this lotion for Christmas and I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan at first. If any of you are familiar with The Body Shop’s Absinthe line, then that is exactly what this lotion smells like. Unfortunately…I hated the Absinthe line! However, I began using the lotion and eventually the scent grew on me. Not only that, but it absorbed so nicely and left my skin feeling so good that I was legitimately disappointed when I finished it. The packaging is so precious that I didn’t want to part with it, so I filled it with hand soap so I can continue to admire it! It took me about three weeks to finish this lotion.

TopCare Makeup Remover: This eye makeup remover is one of my old faithful products. It is fragrance free – which is important to me. AND it’s effective – which is even more important to me! This makeup remover has been part of my daily beauty routine for the past four to five months and not a day went by where it didn’t do its job well.

TBS Body Butter: Vineyard Peach is one of my absolute favorite TBS scents. To make this sweet scent even better, I got it for a steal at TJMaxx for six bucks as opposed to the usual twenty-one! Everyone knows that TBS body butter is the best so I won’t go into detail about how amazing it is. Rather, I will say that body butter is the literal best thing that you can give to your legs after you shaved. Vineyard Peach kept my legs prickle free for the better part of a week and that’s seriously amazing! It took me about three weeks to finish this product and I miss it every day!

August left me with a fabulous list of finishes because I loved all of my empties and would definitely use every single one of them again! Each product worked extremely well and I thoroughly enjoyed using all of them. This has been my best month for finishes in a long time and I’m happy that I got a lot of bang for my buck with each of my empties!

So there you have it, my August Finishes! What products have you used up this month? Has anyone used any of my August empties before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug18

One Year Anniversary

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One Year Anniversary

Hey everyone and happy Thursday! So Monday was a lot of fun because my boyfriend, Kyle, and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Technically, it falls on the twentieth but there’s no harm in breaking out the party pants a few days early! We had a fantastic day of fine dining at Taco Bell, getting drinks, and going to see Suicide Squad in the evening. AND exchanging presents is always a plus! Our big day together was just the best and I wanted to give an extra special I love you shout out to my Kyle! You are amazing and thank you for a fantastic year together! Hurray! ❤

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^^^ #AWE 😉