Feb17

It’s A Boy!

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It’s A Boy!

Hi everyone and happy Hump Day! I hope the week is going fabulously so far for all of you. On Valentine’s Day my family said “yes” to opening our home to a sweet baby boy. His name is…Well, he doesn’t have a name yet but he’s the cutest little stinker on the planet. He has four legs, soft fur, a tail, and ears that stand up like a bunny. He’s not a cat, he’s not a tiger, nor an armadillo. Baby No Name is a dog! Take a look at the newest edition to the Mushenheim family:

olly2

^^^ It’s A Boy…Dog!! ❤

My family works closely with the amazing rescue group, Canine Lifeline, so of course we adopted baby bear through them! Our Golden Retriever and peanut’s big sister, Gem, was also adopted through CLL two years ago. Both pups came from a rural shelter in Kentucky and ended up being taken in by CLL a few states away in Ohio. My family has been thinking of adopting a new dog for quite some time and this feeling was intensified when my sister moved to her own apartment, taking her rescue pup, Winston, with her.

After looking through the dogs available for adoption on CLL’s website daily, we finally came across our peanut. On February thirteenth, we took him home for the day and over night to see how he would interact with Gem. We bathed him, cuddled him, and played our time away and by Valentine’s Day, we were smitten. Not only did we adore him but Gem got along with him just fine and is very excited about her new little brother!

Peanut is the most precious little pup and he’s definitely a change of pace from all of the other sweet dogs that we’ve had throughout the ages. We’ve never had a dog as small as him before so it’s been fun being able to pick him up and hold him like the baby he is! The only problem we’ve had thus far is that we can’t come up with a name for the life of us!

From the moment my mom and I picked peanut up on the thirteenth, we’ve been spit balling names like nobody’s business. We are both dead set on his name being “Oliver” but calling him “Ollie” for short. Unfortunately, my dad isn’t quite sold on that idea yet. So now, I need everyone’s help! Asides from doing me a solid and visiting CLL’s website and giving their Facebook page a like, I want your suggestions on what to name peanut! In case you forgot what he looks like, here’s another darling pic of our baby:

olly

^^^ I LOVE THIS DOG!!!!

My family is so proud to have our household be little peanut’s “forever home” and we can’t wait to begin making memories with him! What do you think we should name our baby boy? Do you have a pet adoption story to share? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb16

Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

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Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! I was blown away by recently hitting my 2,000 followers mark here on lifewithlilred. Since I’ve had my page up and running for over a year now, I thought it would be fun to do a stats post and see just how much things have progressed on my little old blog. Let’s take a look:

   My Stats:

  • Posts: 562
  • Comments: 1,553
  • Followers: 2,105
  • Categories: 32
  • Tags: 2,335
  • Countries: 150
  • Views: 43,679

*** Note that I am prewriting this so these stats are slightly off!

If you would have told me when I first started blogging that after over a year I would have posted 562 times, I would have said that you’re crazy! But now, I feel strange if I don’t get to write at least a quick post every day! Once a week I take twenty or so minutes to plan out my posts for the week as well as ideas for days to come. I love coming up with new and exciting articles to write and it’s always so fun to me to see how you guys react to them.

I always find so much joy in looking at my stats and seeing how all of my hard work paid off. If you haven’t already, I can’t recommend making a post like this enough – or at least going through your accumulated stats to see how you’re doing. It felt awesome to look through these numbers and see how much they’ve grown since my very first blog post! For once, it was a trip down memory lane that was enjoyable to take!

So there you have it, Lifewithlilred By The Numbers! A short and sweet post that took ten minutes to write and that brought a smile to my face. So worth it. How long have you been blogging for? How many posts have you wrote? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb15

Monday Update: Valentine’s Day Edition

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Monday Update: Valentine’s Day Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and a lovely Valentine’s Day if you celebrated. Yesterday was my first time ever celebrating Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend, Kyle, and it was certainly a day for the memory books! Take a look at us being cute and then let’s discuss:

^^^ I love us!!

Yesterday our day started out kind of late because we both slept in but it was so nice and much needed. By the time we got ourselves ready, it was already noon and we still had no idea what we wanted to do with ourselves for the day. Kyle and I are literally the worst at picking out places to go to for food, drinks, or activities so we usually just end up binge watching Netflix all day…Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

We went back and forth for a solid half hour on where to go for lunch and thanks to a shocking suggestion from Kyle, settled on an Indian buffet. I absolutely LOVE Indian food and Kyle has never tried it, nor do I think he wanted to that much! Spicy foods and Kyle don’t always get along too well. I’ve been talking about wanting some good Indian food for a while so it was definitely a pleasant and sweet surprise when he came up with that idea.

We Google searched for Indian restaurants close by and were presented with two options and a Kentucky Fried Chicken. We decided to go for Bombay Sitar because of the amazing looking food pictures we saw that were snapped on Yelp. After all of the last minute preparations at home, we were finally ready to go and I was SO excited and so insanely HUNGRY.

The thing about me, is that I’m one of the biggest babies on the planet. When I’m A) really tired or B) really hungry I turn in to such a little diva. Thankfully, the restaurant wasn’t too far away and we didn’t have to wait long to take part in the buffet so Kyle didn’t have to deal with too much sass! As soon as we walked in the restaurant, I began to droll because of how good everything smelled so needless to say, I tore that buffet up!

At Bombay Sitar, they brilliantly arranged the buffet in a vegetarian and meat section and I took a helping of everything that the vegetarian side had to offer. By the time Kyle and I made our rounds around the buffet, my plate was piled with food and I was ready for action. I couldn’t wait to get the first few forkfuls down my gullet but I was also looking forward to Kyle’s reaction to the food. I had a feeling that he would like it but it was a definite possibility that Indian food might not be his cup of tea.

Luckily, after our first few bites, I had nothing to worry about! Kyle completely devoured his plate full of Indian cuisine and went back for seconds and dessert. He even contemplated going back for thirds!! Success! Our lunch was absolutely to die for but let me tell you, mama needed a nap afterwards. Like I said, I adore Indian food and if it were up to me, I would eat it all the time. However, the richness of the dishes are my downfall and I’m always left feeling like I need to sleep for thirty-six hours straight after an Indian meal.

Once we got home, we decided to spend the afternoon in. We lounged in the robes that were deemed “too tattered” from the restaurant and villas Kyle works at, binge watched Wentworth, and played Mario Kart. We both agreed that the downtime would do us good and then in the evening we would go out for a light dinner and drinks. But leave it to the most indecisive/cutest couple ever to turn that idea into a wild goose chase!

We came up with the plan of going to a pet store and then hitting up a nearby restaurant to continue the festivities. I have my heart dead set on getting a bunny so Kyle was going to take me to snuggle up with some little critters and see if there were any that caught my eye. Unfortunately, the pet store was closed by the time we got there so we had to push dinner to the top of the priority list.

We began to drive around the shopping area we were in to scope out a nice place to go. Of course, with it being Valentine’s Day and all, every bar and restaurant was jam packed. We ventured on and brainstormed different places and ideas, which all ended up getting vetoed for some reason or another. At this point, I was getting sleepy from the drive and really just wanted to go back into our little basement bungalow. That’s when we both agreed on the idea to go to Pizza Hut and order the biggest, cheesiest, stuffed crust pizza that we could get our hands on.

Kyle and I had to laugh at the fact that it took us being twenty minutes away to come up with the idea that we should get a pizza – something that easily could have been done from home! After rerouting the trip, we ended up at the Pizza Hut that’s literally two minutes away from his house to order our pizza. We waited in store for our Extreme Cheese Lovers pie to bake, took the cute pictures seen above, and doodled on the little chalkboard they had set up that was obviously meant for children.

Finally, our pizza was ready and we headed back home. We piled our plates high, got back into our PJ’s, and turned Wentworth back on to continue our marathon. It. Was. Perfect. Kyle is watching the season premiere of The Walking Dead as I write this and soon it will be time for more pizza, more Netflix, and bedtime after the best first Valentine’s Day a gal could ask for. I love you, Kyle Kyle! ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Valentine’s Day Edition! How did everyone celebrate V-Day? What was the best or worst Valentine’s Day you’ve ever had? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb14

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hiii everyone and happy Valentine’s Day! I’m going to keep this post short and sweet because this is my first Valentine’s Day in my twenty-one years of living that I have a boyfriend to celebrate with. It’s crazy to think that last year I got stood up for a V-Day date and now I get to have a special day with my darling beau of six months! I hope all of you have a wonderful day whether that be with your significant other, your family, a best friend, a box of chocolates, or three bottles of wine. 🙂

A Valentine’s Day post wouldn’t be complete without some romance so enjoy a reading of my favorite poem of all time by Leon Phelps:

❤ HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! ❤

Feb13

Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

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Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

Hey everyone and happy weekend! I recently started using Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser and I’m really pleased with it so far! When I wash my face in the morning, I usually use some type of cream cleanser and then I use an exfoliater so it’s been nice using Olay’s product which is my two skin care staples in one. Take a look at the sunny bright packaging of my latest cleanser and let’s discuss:

olay.jpg

I’ve always liked using Olay’s skin care products and their exfoliating cleanser is no exception. As you guys know by now, it’s essential that the products I use smell good and my new cleanser passed the smell test with flying colors. As it says on the packaging, it has the essence of honeysuckle and white tea which makes for a sweet and bright scent. I love when my cleansers have a really invigorating aroma to them because it makes for a great pick me up during my morning showers. There’s a slight hint of floral to the scent but it’s not overpowering at all which leaves you with a fragrance that’s perfectly fresh and clean.

It is important to me that my cleansers create a lush and powerful lather when I’m scrubbing away and this product does exactly that. I was using one of Simple’s cleansers before this one and my biggest complaint about it was that it created no lather. Needless to say, I’m in bubble heaven now. What’s amazing about this product is that despite the exfoliater beads in it, it still feels so soft on the skin. A lot of exfoliating products leaves my skin feeling tight and dry but Olay’s “Bead Me Up” cleanser leaves my skin feeling supple and hydrated.

The best thing about this exfoliating cleanser is its personal vendetta against my blackheads! I have five nose piercings and I tend to get a lot of blackheads surrounding my studs. I’m not exactly self conscious of them because they’re really not noticeable but I know that they’re there and it drives me crazy! After just one use of “Bead Me Up”, 90% of my blackheads were gone. I rarely find cream cleansers that are strong enough to eliminate my blackheads so I am very happy with Olay’s exfoliating cleanser.

My one complaint about my cleanser is that it’s not gritty enough. What I love about exfoliaters is how rough it feels on my skin. I like the feeling of really scrubbing away and removing all of the dead skin and gunk clogging my face. If this exfoliating cleanser were just a smidgen grittier, it would be perfect.

Despite my desire for the exfoliating aspect of this cleanser to pack a bit more punch, I’m going to rate Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser with: four stars. I’ve really enjoyed incorporating this product into my hygiene routine and I’m excited to see the effect that it’s going to have on my skin!

So there you have it, my review of Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser! What is one of your must have skin care products? What cleanser are you using right now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb12

My Red Hair Vibrancy Secret

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My Red Hair Vibrancy Secret

Hi everyone and TGIF! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked how I keep my fake red hair so vibrant. I get the question at least twice or more per week and I answer with a reply that usually leaves the questioner shocked. My Red Hair Vibrancy Secret is as follows: I don’t wash it.

Well I wouldn’t say that I completely don’t wash it – I only clean my hair once a month for a total of twelve washes per year. My monthly cleanse isn’t even a “washing” per se. The only reason why my hair is getting wet is to wash the dye out from my monthly at home coloring. I say that it isn’t a washing because I consider “washing your hair” to mean that you use shampoo to do it, which I also don’t do. I just use a colored hair friendly conditioner, let it sit for a good three to five minutes, and then rinse.

“But doesn’t it get greasy?” Is the question that usually follows my spiel about not washing my hair and I’m always happy to answer with a big fat NO. Frankly, I don’t know how my hair hasn’t gotten disgustingly oily from my lack of hygiene for it but I’ve never experienced oil or grease even when I was washing my hair regularly. It kind of amazes me because I use product almost every day -a Fiji styling oil. It is kind of shocking that even with a handful of oil going into my hair daily, my locks still remain a normal and healthy texture.

I’ve heard many times that your hair isn’t meant to be washed and it will naturally clean itself which I suppose rings true for me. On top of not having an issue with oil or grease, I also have no trouble with odor, as well. I swear, I’m some type of hair anomaly because I’ve never had anyone tell me that my hair smells and I’m a smoker, for god’s sake! I’ve rested my head on my boyfriend’s shoulder thousands of times since we’ve been dating and he’s never once said anything about it smelling. I know he would, too, considering he likes to complain about my morning breath every day. -__-

So is my hair some type of miracle? Maybe. But more likely than not, my body has just become used to my no washing preferences and adapted to it. I’ve been steadily not washing my hair for close to a year now and have never encountered any type of issue with it. Thanks to my lack of hair hygiene, my beloved locks remain vibrant, bright, and red hot until I need to give my roots a touch up. Hey, whatever works!

picccc

^^^ The face of a gal who refuses to wash her hair! 😉

My Red Hair Vibrancy Secret is out! A little disgusting? Somewhat. Effective? Hell yeah! What is your secret to maintaining freshly dyed hair? Who else doesn’t wash their hair frequently? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb11

Over 2,000 Followers!

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Over 2,000 Followers!

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! On Tuesday I made it to Over 2,000 Followers here on lifewithlilred and I’m just pleased as punch. I appreciate all of my followers and readers so very much so it was so exciting to finally be over the 2,000 mark. It’s also really cool to know that I have readers in over 150 different countries! I have a world map in my room with push pins in every country that I have readers in and it’s so rewarding to continue to add on to it. There are a few other landmark numbers that I need your help to reach so please check out the links that I’m providing below:

  1. I would really like to get to the 5,000 friend mark on my personal Facebook page so please shoot me a friend request! I also ask that you send me a message letting me know that you read my blog so that I don’t delete you on accident!
  2. I am also very close to 350 likes on my page for lifewithlilred so please give it a like!!
  3. Help me start out strong on my journey to 3,000 followers by giving lifewithlilred a follow. 🙂

And as always, if you’re interested in signing up for the media company Twistfire Media (whose ads you can see on my personal Facebook page) then please email me at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com.

Thank you so much to everyone for their help on making lifewithlilred a success – I couldn’t do it without each and every one of you! What is your favorite way to promote your blog? How long have you had your page for? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb10

Dinner Date Night

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Dinner Date Night

Hi everyone and happy Hump Day! On Monday night, my boyfriend, Kyle, and I stayed in and made dinner together. We had so much fun cooking our meal and it was nice to have Kyle as my cheerleader/helper. We made zucchini enchiladas and guacamole and it turned out so fantastic! Take a look at our finished product and then I’ll provide you with the recipes so that you can make your own:

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^^^ YUM!

Zucchini Enchiladas:

This dish is a staple at my home so it was easy to wing the recipe. At my boyfriend’s house there wasn’t a lot of the spices that I needed to bring the heat to the enchiladas so I improvised for that. I also wasn’t cooking for a large amount of people so feel free to double the recipe if needed. My version made eight enchiladas.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 medium size red onion
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 package of sharp cheddar shredded cheese
  • salt
  • pepper
  • basil
  • oregano
  • cilantro
  • tortillas
  • salsa

Note that the original recipe calls for spices like cayenne pepper and cumin. The basil and oregano was what I was limited to – they are required in the recipe but are not the main herbs flavoring the dish.

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large pan and dice the vegetables. You will want them to cook until they’re golden.
  2. While the veggies are cooking, add in your herbs and spices. You’ll notice that I didn’t give an exact measurement for the seasonings and that’s because I rarely cook with the amount given on a recipe. I go a little crazy with my seasonings so feel free to add as much or as little as you wish.
  3. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 while the veggies are almost done sauteing. Once the veggies are done, turn the stove top off and remove them from the heat. You will then pour the shredded cheese packet over your mixture and stir until the cheese is melted.
  4. While the oven is preheating, you will prepare the enchiladas for baking. Spray the bottom of a glass pan down with Pam and then put a layer of the salsa of your choosing on the bottom. Then you will fill your tortillas with three or so spoonfuls of the cheese and veggies, wrap them up, and place them in the pan.
  5. Once all of the enchiladas are rolled and ready, add a layer of salsa to the top of them and then sprinkle some cheese to top it off. Bake the enchiladas for 12-14 minutes and then remove from the oven.

Kyle and I also prepared a dish of guacamole together, as well. I was so happy that I had Kyle there to help me because he was such a pro at smashing all of the ingredients together! Here’s the recipe that I free styled for the guac:

Ingredients:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 handful of extremely finely chopped red onion
  • cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • juice of half a lemon

Directions:

  1. Cut the avocado in half and then peel away the skin from both halves. Then you will dice up the avocado and add it in to a medium mixing bowl. Be sure to remove the pit!
  2. Tear up your fresh cilantro and add that in to the bowl, as well.
  3. Chop up a small amount of red onion very finely and add it to the mix.
  4. Pour in your water and squeeze your half a lemon.
  5. Once all of your ingredients are in the bowl is when things get tricky. There wasn’t an adequate utensil at Kyle’s house for mashing our concoction so we settled for a spoon with holes in it. I was so bad at smashing our mixture so thank goodness for my muscle man to get the job done! The consistency of your guacamole is up to you. We settled for a medium consistency and it was the perfect mixture of smooth and chunky.

I love cooking for Kyle and it was so nice to have him hanging out with me in the kitchen while I prepared our meal. It was also great having him as my helper, too! Kyle kept the pit of “our first avocado together” to commemorate his helpfulness and our delicious meal – which I thought was the cutest thing ever! It’s our avocado baby. 🙂

So there you have it, Dinner Date Night with my beau! What is your favorite dish to cook for yourself or others? What dish is a staple in your household? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb9

My Makeup Free Weekends

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My Makeup Free Weekends

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a great start to your week. So for the past few months I’ve been making an effort to give myself some makeup free days. I settled on doing makeup throughout the week and living makeup free over the weekends. At first, my days of being au natural were torture and all I wanted to do was plop myself in front of the bathroom mirror and do my daily makeup routine. That was then, this is now though because now I live for my days of having a fresh face! Let’s discuss:

As the weeks progressed of having my makeup free weekends, all of the benefits began to pile up. One of them being that it’s a total money saver! Thanks to my days of not applying a single drop of makeup, I haven’t had to buy any new makeup products in months. On an average month, I would say that I’m not wearing makeup for at least a third of it. That’s ten days of no eyeliner, eyeshadow, blush, and all of my other makeup must haves. Not using my favorite products regularly has stretched out my usage of them tenfold and has really stretched my dollars, as well!

I’m the first to say that I’m a total freak about my skin. Good skin care products as well as face washes and exfoliators are an absolute necessity for me. I’ll do anything to keep my skin as fresh as can be and I pride myself on my porcelain complexion. Over the TV, internet, and magazines skin care can be made out to be so complicated. There’s nothing hard about wearing no makeup though! I’ve noticed that my skin has become so much softer overall due to my au natural days. It makes sense when you think about it, though. For ten days of the month I have no makeup to scrub off of my face, no products clogging my pores, and a fresh face allows my moisturizers and treatments to really soak in and do their jobs. Score!

The money saving is nice and it’s cool to have my skin improve but the best thing I’ve gained from my makeup free days is confidence. When I was applying my makeup regularly before, you couldn’t pay me to step out in public with no makeup on. I always had to be done up even if I was just staying in for the day. I thought that I had to have makeup on to be pretty and I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Now, I spend my weekends out and about running errands, working, and hanging out with friends without an ounce of makeup on and I’ve never felt better. I sometimes have days where I’ll catch my makeup free face in the mirror at a store and wish that I did my beauty routine that morning – but don’t we all? However, I must confess, that it’s Sunday (I like to prewrite my posts) and I am wearing makeup! My boyfriend and I have a few Super Bowl parties to attend and I wanted to get dolled up for them! But fear not, I made up for my negligence of my makeup free rule on the weekends by flaunting a fresh face on Friday. 🙂

My Makeup Free Weekends have done nothing but good for me and I can’t recommend my regimen enough. Does anyone have a similar makeup free routine to mine? What are the benefits that you’ve found from going makeup free? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah