Spray Paint + Tape = Super Cute Craft

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Spray Paint + Tape = Super Cute Craft

So as you guys know, I LOVE me a good craft – specifically canvas art! My best friend Lea and I just completed a super fun, cute, and easy craft that I thought I would share! Take a look:

craft

What you’ll need:

  • Canvas board
  • Spray paint in multiple colors
  • Durable tape that you can spray paint over

How we did it:

As I mentioned above, this craft was easy peasy lemon squeezey. But here’s my step by step guide, just in case you can’t figure it out by yourself! 😉

Step one: On your canvas place your tape in any location and pattern of your choosing. I kept my design fairly simple, while Lea incorporated the wore “Smile” onto hers. You have my permission to go crazy with your canvas taping until you reach your desired pattern. Not gonna lie, it took Lea and I a LONG ass time to lay out our pattern because we’re both such perfectionists. If she wasn’t there making me laugh the entire time, I would have gotten up and left. Mama was getting frustrated!!! (Leave it to me to not be able to make a triangle made out of tape for my arrows. #fml)

Step two: Take your newly taped canvas outside along with the spray paint colors that you picked out. The colors that were used by Lea and I were purchased with the intent to make another craft that didn’t turn out too hot. Since we’re ballin on a budget we figured we could just use the same colors for this new craft and it ended up looking great! The metallic silver and gold along with the blue complimented each other a lot better than I thought. Anywho, once you have your color scheme figured out, go ahead and spray paint to your hearts content. Fair warning that some of the paint will more than likely leak through the tape. But fear not – because in my opinion the dripping paint gives the canvas character! Rub some dirt on it and it will be fine…or whatever.

Step three: Leave your canvas outside or in a well ventilated room to dry. (Spoiler alert – the spray paint smells like butt!) Once your canvas is dry, you can remove your tape and reveal your masterpiece!!!

So there you have it, a quick and easy craft that cost a little over ten dollars to make. Not bad for some super cute new wall art! If anyone has some fun holiday craft suggestions pleeeease let me know! And if you for some reason have any questions on this project, leave me a comment and let’s chat. Have a great night! -Sarah

An Update on Lil Red!

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An Update on Lil Red!

So things have been not so great lately, but I’m getting by. Not gonna lie, this past week has been a major pain in the ass. I got broken up with. I’m not going to go into any detail about the relationship because it’s something I don’t want to discuss right now. Maybe later. Maybe not. But it happened – and it sucked. I was left feeling like a complete idiot after the said “break up” took place. And the worst part about it was that I didn’t even get the final word in the conversation because the dude ended our chat like a little biotch. Not saying that if I got the final “fuck you” in the conversation that the disappointment I’m feeling right now wouldn’t still exist. But it would sure make me feel better to end the talk on my terms instead of him peacing out halfway through. #BYE. I haven’t experienced a break up for years, because I’m not really one for relationships. This gent and I weren’t even “official” but we were seeing each other for quite a while. Then, surprise! He gets a new “Facebook official” girlfriend and I’m left feeling like a moron. However, I can imagine this is what a break up in an actual relationship feels like. Spoiler Alert: It sucks ass. Whatever.

Anyways, there is some good news I can share with you! School is going fantastic 🙂 I got registered for my spring semester classes today and it made me very happy. I’m taking ten credit hours which is one hour less than being considered a full time student. I had originally only registered for two classes for the spring time but then I decided about an hour later that I should push myself a little harder. I then registered for third course. I’m getting all of my general classes out of the way now so in the spring time I’ll be taking a math, English, and psychology course. Then once the fall semester rolls around I’ll be well on my way to taking all of the fun classes in my Associate of Arts degree program. Yay! I had mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn’t feeling too happy at my new job, and thankfully that feeling has subsided. Things at Next are going great! The thing that I love the most about this job is that it’s a small business chain so our holiday season isn’t going to be anywhere close to the extent of what goes on in the mall. I’m really looking forward to working a Black Friday that’s going to be relatively calm, cool, and collected. It’s definitely going to be a nice change of pace from working four Black Friday’s in a row at the mall. I don’t know about you guys, but a lot of the malls in Ohio are opening at six o’clock in the evening on Thanksgiving day – which is absolutely absurd. There might as well not even be a holiday at this point. -____- I feel very thankful that at my store we’re more than likely going to be opening at our normal time of eleven o’clock the day after Thanksgiving. This is going to be my first Thanksgiving in a long time that I’m going to genuinely be able to enjoy. As opposed to years prior where all I did was spend my holiday dreading the midnight openings at the mall rather than enjoying time with my family. Hurray for work, school, and CHANGE.

When I take the time to write everything out, it makes me realize that this stupid break up with a stupid boy is just a bump in the road of all of the great things that I have going on. I feel energized, refreshed, and a whole lot better.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make a break up less suckish? If so, pleeease leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a great Thursday! -Sarah

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American Horror Story – Episode 6

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American Horror Story – Episode 6

Hello hello! So this review of “Bullseye” which was episode six of American Horror Story: Freak Show is going to be short and sweet. Partially because I’m exhausted and I have to be up early for school tomorrow AND also because this wasn’t a very exciting episode. Nothing too important happened tonight, but let me give you the main high lights and then we’ll call it a night. Ya dig?

Dandy’s new playmates: As you know, last weeks episode ended with Elsa dropping Bette and Dotte onto Dandy’s doorstep. We learn after Gloria passes a serving platter with condoms on it to Dandy that she would love for him to mate with the twins. She states that inbreeding has caused the Mott family enough turmoil already. However, Dandy states that he would never violate the girls because he loves them. “I’m going to marry those girls, mother. And we’re going to be together forever.” As usual, the twins have extremely opposing opinions as to how they view Dandy boy. Naturally, Bette absolutely adores him while Dotte despises him. We learn later when Dandy reads her journal that he bores her and she can’t bear living with him. But Dotte is crafty. After Dandy reads a newspaper article to the girls about the first set of conjoined twins being separated, Dotte decides it would be beneficial to keep on Dandy and his money’s good side so the surgery can be performed on her and Bette.

twinss

Paul is GETTIN IT: Tonight we learn a little bit more about Paul AKA “The Illustrated Seal”, who turns out to be quite the ladies man. HUBBA HUBBA. First we see Paul shacking up with Elsa, which was kind of a shocker. THEN flash forward thirty seconds later and we find him in bed with none other than the hospital worker who participated in the freak show orgy in the season premiere. It turns out Mr. Paul fell in love with this gal while he was banging her with the freak show crew. Well played. Not only is Paul getting ass for days, but he also displays some street smarts through out the episode tonight as well. He becomes keen to the possibility that Elsa may have had something to do with Bette and Dotte’s disappearance from the carnival. He confides his suspicions to Jimmy which results in a slap in the face from him. Jimmy claims that Paul is ungrateful and that he should remember all of the good that Elsa has done for the troupe. A night goes by and Paul is back in Elsa’s tent – he tries to leave without giving Elsa a good night kiss but miss girl is NOT having that. She beckons him over but can instantly smell the perfume of his other woman. “You reek of Venisian Romance”. Once she learns of the betrayal of her lover she calls a troupe meeting because she’s well aware of the shit talking that’s happening in regards to the twins’ disappearance. Elsa throws a BF (#bitchfit) and questions where everyone’s loyalty and faith in her has went. She then says that the only way for her to trust in any of the crew is if they trust in her. She insists upon one of the freaks getting hooked onto the spinning bullseye wheel while she displays her knife throwing skills. Jimmy volunteers, but Paul steps forward saying that it should be him. So onto the wheel Paul goes while Amazon Eve spins it. The first two knives Miss Elsa throws land safely, but the third one goes straight into her target’s stomach. Ouch. Moral of the story? Don’t betray Elsa. *Snaps fingers*

paul

Stanley and Maggie’s evil plans: The twins are gone, so the con artists Stanley and Maggie need a new victim to get a big paycheck from. Stanley makes it apparent that he wants Jimmy’s lobster claws, but Maggie vetoes this idea since she now has the hots for Jimmy. She suggests a different alternative – Ma Petite. “It will be quick, easy, and she won’t fight back.” Stanley approves the plan, and leaves Maggie to do the dirty work. Miss Esmeralda sneaks into Ma Petite’s tent in the middle of the night and wakes her up. She tells the tiny princess that she has a surprise for her in a barn by the camp grounds. While Maggie walks with the little one in her arms she exclaims “the moon is beautiful! You are beautiful!” Ugh. So. Fucking. Cute. Once in the barn, Maggie tells Ma Petite that they’re going to play a game. She says she’s going to put Ma Petite in one of the glass jars already prepared in the barn. “Like a butterfly?!” The little one asks. “Like a butterfly,” Maggie confirms. While the sweet girl is in the jar flapping her hands like wings, Maggie holds a bottle of what appears to be some type of poison over the jar. Thankfully she couldn’t bring herself to commit the deed because the next morning she appears with Ma Petite in her arms to get breakfast. Afterwards, Maggie tells Jimmy to run away with her. To up and leave to where ever they want to go. They share a kiss and Jimmy tells her to pack her bags. Miss girl runs to her tent only to find Stanley there with the command to lure Jimmy to the barn so he can get a hold of his lobster claws. Bastard. -_____-

ma petite

We end the episode with sweet Dandy Boy delivering a weird monologue to his mother about how he was born to bring death and that he’ll never experience love and blah blah blah. When suddenly, Jimmy shows up at the door. (Jimmy is told by Paul that Dandy might have something to do with the disappearance of the twins because of an encounter he had with him at a drug store. While at the check out counter, Paul saw Dandy purchasing a bunch of female items – in sets of two.) So here Jimmy is being escorted into the Mott residence. Little does he know, before his arrival Dandy has placed a dagger in the back of his pants. Duhhh duhhh duhhhhnnnnn.

Alright so there you have it. If you’ve read this article you’ve basically gotten the gist of episode six of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Congratulations! With that, I am off to bed. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

Music Obsessions – TECHNO TIME!

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Music Obsessions – TECHNO TIME!

So I’m not the biggest fan of the techno/electronica genre, however there’s some really fantastic artists and remixes out there that deserve some Lil Red lovin. Here’s some of my TECHNO TIME music obsessions:

Purity Ring Feat. Danny Brown – Belispeak II: Hell to the YES. Belispeak was a sick song already but Danny Brown laying down his insane rap game on the track made it even better. I love the morbid lyrics Purity Ring has to offer that are usually performed in a sing songy voice so hearing Danny Brown spit his verses with sharpness made for a very unique remix. Well done.

The Knife – A Tooth For An Eye: I really REALLY enjoy The Knife. This song happens to be one of my favorite tracks to listen to while I’m showering 😉 (you’re welcome!). But seriously. If you listen to this song or have heard it before, you’ll know why. This track makes me feel like I’m being transported into a rainforest safari. Best believe that my body is covered in tribal paint and wild animals are frolicking all around me in this weird minds eye vision. Take whatever device you listen to music on into your bathroom and take a hot bath or shower while listening to this track…you’ll thank me later.

Basshunter – Dota: PLEASE judge me for it, I’m begging you!!!! Ha, I remember when my brother introduced me to this song years ago and I thought it was the funniest thing ever. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t love it though!! This track is so damn catchy I CAN’T EVEN! It makes me feel like I should be on a stage surrounded by a huge crowd with green lights flashing everywhere. I would be Basshunter’s hype girl and I want jump around on stage the ENTIRE time. Best. Fantasy. Ever.

The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health (Ratatat Remix): This is hands down my favorite remix of all time, simply because Ratatat made their remix better than the original. It’s a pretty dark take on the The Knife’s original track and I really like that. The non remix song sounds quite haphazard and Ratatat made their remix sound extremely cohesive. The way he blended the high pitched female chanting along with the male baritone singing is GORGEOUS. This remix happens to be a PacSun song (go figure!) and it’s definitely in my top five favorites that we played there for sure.

Glass Animals – Pools: I’ve mentioned this song previously and quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn – BECAUSE IT’S SO GOOD! I love this song so very much because it’s the perfect combination of a fairly indie sound with electronica mixed in, and I’m very much an indie girl at heart. The lyrics in this song are just beautiful. My favorite time to listen to this song is when I’m driving and it’s raining, it kind of gives me the same rainforest-y feel that A Tooth For An Eye does. My other favorite time to blast this track is when I’m feeling a little bummed out. There’s something about the mellow lyrics with a really uplifting beat in the background that just makes me feel good. Take a listen and I think you’ll understand.

t.A.T.u. – All The Things She Said: This song is a fucking classic and don’t you dare tell me other wise. This may not be one of t.A.T.u.’s most electronica based songs but it’s so good that I just don’t care. I find this song relevant to my life literally EVERY time I hear it. I’ve loved this song since I was fifteen and here I am still rocking out to it five years later. A lot of people classify this track as a break up song, but it’s more of an every day life song to me. We all have that one person or situation that we forever have stuck in our heads. Some people have more than others. All The Things She Said captures this feeling perfectly. Love it.

I’m very aware that quite a few of these songs wouldn’t be classified to others as purely techno or electronica. BUT to me they are, considering that these artists and songs are about as far as I dabble into those genres. Does anyone have any suggestions for some artists that I might like? If so, please leave me a comment and let’s chat! ALSO, make sure you check back in with me tonight for my review of the new episode of American Horror Story! Happy Hump Day! -Sarah

OOTD – Grandma Chic

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OOTD – Grandma Chic

Booooo! So somehow my OOTD “Grandma Chic” article from yesterday got deleted, so out of the kindness of my heart, I’m going to rewrite it! 🙂 Here’s my effort at styling the “Grandma Chic” trend with a modern and youthful twist:

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As usual, here’s the break down of the brands of each item and where I purchased them:

  • Cardigan: Modcloth, Knitted Dove
  • Novel T-shirt: Modcloth, Out of Print
  • Hunter green ankle skinnies: Aerie
  • Oxfords: Target
  • Hat: PacSun, Gypsy Warrior

I had an absolute blast styling this outfit. I centered it around my cream and mauve Knitted Dove cardigan which is very “grandma-ish” in my opinion! I got this sweater years ago from Modcloth and it still remains to be one of my favorite purchases from the site. Once I knew the center piece of my look, I added all of the other articles of clothing accordingly. I thought that my hunter green skinny jeans from Aerie would be the perfect complimentary color to the cardigan. I also thought that the fit of these jeans would help add to the laid back look that I was rocking because they’re a regular old skinny jean and not a super skinny jean like I usually wear. To keep the outfit feeling fresh I added my Le Petit Prince shirt to wear underneath the cardi. The Little Prince is one of my favorite books of all time, so when I saw this shirt on Modcloth, I knew it had to be mine! It didn’t feel right pairing this look with my usual heels or combat boots, so I opted for a classic pair of Oxfords. I feel like every woman young and old owns at least one pair of these shoes. I own two myself, while my mom owns over five! To top off the look, literally, I added my favorite Gypsy Warrior hat for a fun and modern twist. As all of you know, I love clothing with sweet surprises worked into them. I really feel like it was all of the fun quirky details like the gorgeous crochet work on the back of my cardigan, the pop of hot pink soles on my shoes, and the red and white feathers in my hat that kept this look appropriate for a twenty year old. All of these charming surprises kept the look feeling really fresh – without them the look would have been very blah and just “grandma”. The unexpected details definitely elevated this look to Grandma Chic status!

So there you have it, my “Grandma Chic” OOTD – again! Where are all of my Modcloth shoppers at? What’s your favorite item you’ve purchased from there? What are your favorite ways to style a Grandma Chic look? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Monday! -Sarah

PS: Check out my article on the brand Out of Print for more details on their company. Every t-shirt purchased from them gives money to help literacy programs in third world countries! You can find their products on http://www.modcloth.com and their own personal page http://www.outofprint.com . Thanks!

Latest & Greatest Music Obsessions

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Latest & Greatest Music Obsessions

There’s been quite a few songs and artists who I’ve been obsessed with as of late, so I figured why not share the joy and tell you guys all about it!

Sir Sly – Gold: Ohhhh yes indeed. I LOVE this song. We started playing it the last week or so that I was at PacSun and it was always one of my favorite funky time jams. I really just love screaming the refrain of “pocket full of YELLOW, YELLOW, YELLOW” even though I’m not quite sure what he’s talking about. Either way, this song is rad.

Magic Man – Texas: I’m fairly certain that I’ve mentioned this song before, and if so – I don’t care. This song is so beautiful and fantastic that it’s worth repeating. Once again, this is another PacSun funky time jam (judge me for it) and it’s without a doubt in my mind on my list of top five favorite songs that we would play there. This song is just gorgeous. When I’m hung up on a guy or feeling shitty in general, this is my go to tune to play. I remember when I would be at the store early in the morning, and this song would come on and I would feel so good. I felt calm. This song makes me feel like everything is going to be okay.

Grizzly Bear – Will Calls (Diplo Remix): I absolutely love Grizzly Bear, and usually I’m not fond of a lot of remixes – BUT Diplo kills this beat like no other. This remix makes me want to cover my body in glow in the dark paint and take Ecstasy at a rave…too much? Don’t care. When the beat drops in this track and Diplo’s fingers start moving a mile a minute on whatever the hell he’s playing on, best believe I start dancing very poorly. 😉

Steriogram – Walkie Talkie Man: Way back when I was around ten years old there was a band called Steriogram….they kind of sucked. BUT this song is the best throwback in the world. It was featured on this one soccer game that my brother would play on the N64 and it became one of our favorites. This song gets me hyped in the way that it takes me back to silly memories of watching my brother play video games in the basement and I would watch even though I had no clue what was going on. WELL YOU’RE WALKIN AND TALKINNNNN!

Maroon 5 – Animals: I rarely listen to the radio, but I quite like this song. Adam Levine is a sex god. Having said that, I think this song is a great compromise between the poppy bullshit that’s often played on the radio with something dark and alternative. Animals took me back to Maroon 5’s strictly alternative days a la Songs About Jane and I really appreciated the effort. Don’t get me wrong, I rock out to Maroon 5 like any girl does, but this song really showcases their musical talent that I know they have. Way cool.

Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out: The other day I decided I needed some Franz Ferdinand in my life again and was blasting Take Me Out in my car – just like any person would do when they decide that they need some Franz Ferdinand in their life. I remember when this song first came out and I always would think how weird the music video was when it would play on MTV or vh1. This song kicked so much ass when it was released and flash forward five years later and it’s still fantastic. That’s how you know a song is good!

Daft Punk – Doin’ it Right: This very well might be one of my favorite Daft Punk jams. This song takes my minds eye to a club where the lighting is all blues and purples and everyone is slightly drunk and vibing off of each other….Judge me for it. This is an intoxicating track, when Panda Bear comes swooping in with those vocals magic is created. Instant head nodder for sure.

Best Coast – Boyfriend: I’ve been listening to Best Coast a lot as of late and I really just adore them. I’m kind of late in the game to them too. I’ve had them on my iPod for quite some time now but just never really cared to listen to them extensively until now. This song has kind of been the soundtrack to my love life (or lack there of) lately. I’m pretty sure every girl has written variations of these lyrics in their diary when they’re about to go to sleep and thinking of that special someone.

Tom Vek – A Chore: Shit, this song takes me back to my early days at PacSun. I love the pure angst that Tom Vek is showcasing in this song. When he goes into “you’re not really listening to me” I identified with it so much. If I listen to this song when I’m in just the right mood, I get transported into this weird place in my mind where I can see memories of myself saying variations of that phrase to different people in my life. It’s like my own personal music video to this song in my head. Music is amazing.

Viva Brother – Darling Buds of May: I absolutely LOVE this song. Viva Brother has a lot of really fun feel good anthems, but this one is my all time favorite. When I’m screaming along with them to “it is what it is” I get this really cool feeling of girl power bad ass-ness and it’s AWESOME! I feel like I should be wearing leather pants and a crop top and lip synching the lyrics into the mirror while dancing provocatively when I hear this song. What of it?

So there you have it, my top ten funky time jams of the moment. Who are you guys listening to right now? I’m always up for music suggestions to please leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

No Complaints!

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No Complaints!

I’m so happy to say that I’ve been feeling really good lately! I seriously have no complaints and in the words of the great lyricist of our generation – Lil’ Wayne: “I ain’t got no worries”. (I promise you that that was a joke – even though I do love me some Lil’ Wayne!!) 😉

The good days are finally out numbering the bad ones each week. Two or so months ago the good and bad days were divided pretty evenly through out the week so I never knew what I was going to get each day. Mental health is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get. Lame? Ha, sorry 😉 But anyways before I started at my new job at Next and college at Tri-C there would be some days where I would wake up and just feel so bad about myself. I would berate myself for not being in school and for working a shitty retail job in the mall. I would talk down to myself to no end to the point where I would start believing my mean spirited mind. If any of you have read my previous posts, you might know that for a very long time I struggled with bulimia and self mutilation. Even though I’ve been self harm free for over a year now, it was still very easy for me to get the urges to hurt myself. Since I’ve begun on a new journey in life I rarely get those sensations of needing to self harm. I feel good about myself, which is something that I could rarely say before. I feel healthy, attractive, intelligent, and capable. Which is something I haven’t truly felt or believed since I was at least twelve years old, considering my seven year path of destruction began when I was thirteen. I’m feeling the way that I imagined every twenty year old should be feeling. I always pictured people my age to be constantly on the go, always checking in their college planner to see what comes next, and drinking a lot of coffee. Now I’m doing just that – and it’s awesome! I love jet setting around the Akron/Cleveland Ohio area to class, then to work, then to coffee dates with a friend. I LOVE skimming through my planner and filling it with homework assignments, work schedules, and social events. And most importantly, I love this strange feeling of accomplishment I get when I’m driving to Cleveland for school and drinking coffee from a red to go mug. It’s such a small and stupid thing in all reality, but it makes me feel like a college student, therefore it makes me feel good.

The relief I feel to not constantly have urges to self harm in the back of my mind is like having a one million pound weight being lifted off my chest. There’s really no way to describe it other than that. I feel so carefree now, and it feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve felt that way. The fact that I’m no longer tied down with worries makes me experience all of these good emotions ten fold. Before, when I had a “good” day, I would fear for how I would feel the next day, the day after, and so on and so forth. Having that anxiety even on a good day would suffocate the happy emotions. Now I’m happy and actually feeling it. Not just experiencing a dulled out version of it.

Within these few past months of my new job and college career, I’ve learned that change isn’t a bad thing. I was so afraid of change before. Afraid of what I would do if I wasn’t working at PacSun, since I had been there for four years. But I took a deep breath, jumped into the water and swam off to a new and exciting journey. The water was cold at first, and for a moment I felt like I had forgotten how to swim. But eventually, the water warmed up and I found my flow, and now my life is exactly how I want it to be. Now that I know that change isn’t as scary as I thought, I embrace it wholeheartedly – and for that, I am so thankful.

I hope all of you guys have a terrific Saturday. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

Lil Red Recommends – Part 4!

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Lil Red Recommends – Part 4!

Hello all and happy Friday!!!! It’s time for the annual Lil Red Recommends post for the week, so here we go!

Read Before I Go To Sleep: Seriously. Do it. This book is honestly so much better than Gone Girl. In this novel we follow Christine, a forty-seven year old woman with severe amnesia. Her case is unique though, because her memory disappears as soon as she wakes up from a nights sleep. We join her in her quest to regain her memory and learn about her dark and troubled past. This book is such a page turner. I’m more than halfway through and I still can’t draw any conclusions on how the ending will turn out. I’m particularly excited to finish the book so I can see the movie which is out in theaters with my mom. The fabulous Nicole Kidman plays Christine and the DREAM BOAT Colin Firth plays her husband, Ben. If you liked reading Gone Girl, you’re going to LOVE Before I Go To Sleep.

sleepy

Listen to Courtney Barnett: I absolutely ADORE this chick. We played a few of her songs at PacSun and I had always semi enjoyed them but it was once I started playing her outside of work that I fell in love. Her lyrics are so quirky and cool, IE: “The yard is full of hard rubbish it’s a mess and
I guess the neighbors must think we run a meth lab” from Avant Gardener. There’s so many times when I’m listening through her charming EP “A Sea Of Split Peas” where I laugh to myself and think “what did she just say?!” Her sound is extremely unique as well, it’s fairly folksy but it’s her voice that really does it for me. She has this ability to make her voice sound like it’s droning on for eternity which sounds unpleasant but it’s actually quite amazing. Her monotonous vocals allow you to hear every aspect of the story she’s trying to tell in each of her songs.

Make a to do list: I’ve grown SO fond of making to do lists since I started college. Usually I prepare my lists for each day the night before, so it’s nice to have everything you need to accomplish that day planned out for you. And let me tell you, there’s nothing better than checking off each thing you’ve completed from your list. It’s so damn fulfilling! My to do lists have taught me how to prioritize and learn better time management skills which is going to be so important once I start delving deeper into my college career. A daily to do list is simple but effective and I can’t recommend making them enough!

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Get cozy: So if you read my OOTD: College Kid Edition post, you’ll know that I ended up wearing sweat pants to class and it was life changing. So I encourage all of you to get comfy cozy for the day and do work! Wear your favorite comfort piece and flaunt it like the hot tamale that you are. This could be anything – from your hoodie that you sleep in almost every night to your worn in Hawthorne Heights t-shirt that you still have from high school. Anything is fair game. My college sweat pants experience taught me that there’s nothing wrong with “bummin it” every so often. So I guess I’ll be breaking out my Hawthorne Heights tee pretty soon 😉

^^^ JUDGE ME FOR IT!!!

Stock up on cold weather accessories: I LOVE fall and winter time accessories so very much. I’m talking cute boots, knit scarves, stylish hats, and my personal favorite: fingerless gloves. All of these accessories are the epitome of treating yourself. Nothing adds a little extra oomph to your outfit than a fun new fashion statement. I’m really hoping that I can go to TJMaxx soon to pick out some new cold weather gear. As a matter of fact, my favorite all time pair of fingerless gloves came from TJ’s! There’s a really adorable store in a mall that I like going to called Charming Charlie and they’re full of gorgeous winter accessories. If you don’t have one in your area, here’s their website so you can check them out online! http://www.charmingcharlie.com/

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Have a dinner date with a girlfriend: This week I had the most delightful time going out to dinner with my best friend Kate. We went to the Cheesecake Factory which is our favorite place to eat at together. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the atmosphere and the yummy food amongst great company. Enjoying a meal where you don’t have to think about anything but shoving more cheesecake down your throat is my definition of a good time. My recommendation is to incorporate a shopping trip into the dinner date as well! Kate and I usually hit up one of the higher end malls in the Akron/Cleveland, Ohio area which makes for a lovely afternoon trip. And nothing says girl time like a shopping day followed by a dinner date – so fun!

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^^ Some of the many delicious desserts offered at the Cheesecake Factory. I’m gaining weight just looking at it!

Listen to Hamilton Leithauser: I’ve been really enjoying listening to this young man’s album “Black Hours” as of late. His voice is just intoxicating to me. It’s the perfect combination of folk and rock and roll. His music was played fairly frequently at PacSun and the song that always stuck out to me every time we played it was “Alexandra”. The opening lyrics of “I don’t have to, I don’t need to – but I’m always thinking of you” are so sweet! It makes me wish that I was this Alexandra that Hamilton is singing about!!! HUBBA HUBBA. 😉

So there you have it! My Lil Red Recommendations for the week! What are you guys up to this weekend? Whatever you’re plans are, I hope you have a great time doing them! And if you have any questions or concerns, leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

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American Horror Story – Episode 5

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American Horror Story – Episode 5

Wow! Okay, a lot of really important stage setters happened in “Pink Cupcakes”, episode five of American Horror Story: Freak Show. Let’s discuss some of the important information that we learned in tonight’s episode.

1) Stanley is a slime ball: “Pink Cupcakes” opens up with Maggie and Stanley in a motel room discussing their game plan for the murder of the freaks in Elsa’s troupe. With the bodies of the freaks, they’ll both make a pretty penny at the Museum of Morbidity’s in town. Maggie is firm in her stance of not wanting to murder anyone, but Stanley urges her that “accidents can happen.” After a demand of increasing her percentage of the pay, Maggie agrees to Stanley’s delight. “Fraulein Elsa’s cabinet of curiosities is about to be a cabin of bad luck” he says. Maggie is Stanley’s way in to the freak show, as she is posing as a fortune teller there. While she does her thing, Stanley poses as Mr. Spencer – a talent agent from Hollywood “the land of dreams” as he calls it. Naturally, Elsa takes great interest in Mr. Spencer since she’s trying to make her dreams of being a star a reality. Spencer discusses the possibility of Elsa being on television and having her own TV hour, much to her disdain. Elsa claims that television takes away from the beauty of the silver screen. “I would rather be boiled in oil than to be on television.” However, her mind changes in a jiffy after she gets booed off stage during her performance at a full house night at the freak show. She invites Mr. Spencer back into her tent and asks him to “tell me more about this television”. So, now we have Miss Elsa feeling good – we see her in a montage of sassiness, getting all dolled up for a publicity shoot to the tune of David Bowie’s “Fame”. As miss thing is leaving the tent, she sees none other than Bette and Dotte, the conjoined twins leaving in Mr. Spencer’s car instead. Here is when things get fishy. We see the girls and Spencer sitting in a beautiful park having a picnic, supposedly discussing the opportunity for the twins to have their own TV show, the “Tatler Sister’s Hour”. To celebrate, Mr. Spencer offers the ladies two gorgeous pink cupcakes. “Pink cupcakes?! What a treat!” Bette exclaims in delight. Then we flash to a scene where we see Spencer injecting the cupcakes with some type of poison. Bette takes a big bite of her cupcake and then begins to cough. “It serves you right for being such a glutton” Dotte says. As Dotte snaps her sassy remark, Bette begins to foam at the mouth and we flash to see the sisters laying in bed. For Bette, it very well could be her death bed. Mr. Spencer then lashes out at Dotte, appearing to try and choke her while saying “you should have just ate a cupcake!” Thankfully for the girls, this is just what Mr. Spencer wishes would happen. We then flash back to the picnic where Dotte turns down the treats saying, “No cupcakes. We have to watch our figure if we’re going to be television personalities.”

Desiree’s one hundred percent womanhood: It’s a full house night at the freak show, and Del Toledo is no where to be found. So, off Jimmy runs to Del and his wife Desiree’s tent. Miss Dupree is unaware of her husbands whereabouts and is clearly intoxicated. Jimmy sits down beside Desiree and she begins to tell him her woes about Del and his behaviors. She talks about how happy that he used to make her feel. She confesses “I never felt more alive in my life and now I feel nothing but empty.” Jimmy then leans in for a smooch and Miss Dupree asks the Lobster Boy to make her feel again 😉 All is going well until Jimmy’s heavy duty fingering causes her to bleed. Once Desiree is at the doctor’s office, accompanied by Ethel, she learns some shocking news. The bleeding caused by Jimmy’s pleasure claws was actually a miscarriage. The doctor goes on to tell Desiree that she is in fact one hundred percent woman. He tells her that her body had too much testosterone in it and it began to rapidly produce estrogen to compromise for it. Explaining her third breast and her enlarged clitoris which she thought was a “dang a lang”. The doctor let’s her know that all of these body mishaps could be fixed via cosmetic surgery and he’d be happy to do it.

Del Toledo’s sexuality: In tonight’s episode we are taken to what appears to be a gay bar of some sort, where we see none other than the strong man himself, Del Toledo. We see him sitting with a young man named Andy, whom we later learn is a prostitute. The boys are discussing Andy’s artwork, as he likes to sketch and Andy confides in Del that he’d like to go out west and do caricature drawings for a band that’s on tour. Del vetoes this idea though, saying that “if you’re getting out of this place, it’s going to be with me”. Del then professes his love for Andy. The feeling doesn’t seem to be entirely mutual though. In tears he talks about the hurt his body experiences while performing as the strong man, he then utters a line that I loved so much “There is nothing worse than the hurt of loving someone you can’t have.” #TRUE. Del then exits the bar and goes back to his and his wife’s tent, only to find Desiree with her bags packed. She tells him that she’s moving into Ethel’s tent and that she’s a woman through and through. Miss Dupree also let’s Del know that once she gets her cosmetic surgery she’ll be a normal woman and “too much woman for you to handle”. MEOW. At the very end of the episode, we see Del in the doctor’s office. He threatens the doctor and his family if he performs any type of surgery on Desiree. To ensure that the doctor keeps his surgical hands to himself, Del breaks both of them. RUDE.

Dandy’s serial killer quest: Alright! We all know that Dandy is totally bat shit crazy by now but this episode delves even deeper into that. Tonight we learned that Dandy wants to be the greatest serial killer of all time. We see him working out in a montage of weirdness. He proclaims that his problems stem from not having a creative outlet since his mother, Gloria wouldn’t let him be an actor. “I hate her!” He screams in his montage while breaking a mirror. While toning and perfecting his body he claims “This body is America. Strong, violent, and full of limitless potential.” Well shit – someone’s cocky! Then, in true serial killer fashion he goes on to say “my body holds a heart that cannot love.” #classic. Sweet Dandy Boy mentions Twisty the Clown and how it was he that introduced him to the art of murder. With that Dandy is off to none other than the same gay bar that Del Toledo has just stormed out of and a distressed Andy is now accompanied by a handsome stranger. Dandy takes the prostitute to his old stomping grounds of Twisty’s van. He tells Andy that he wants them both to turn around with their backs facing each other and take off their clothes. On the count of three, they’ll both turn around. On Andy’s third count, Dandy turns around with Twisty’s smiling mask and stabs Andy repeatedly. “Rule number one of a good killer” Dandy says, “make sure all of the evidence is gone. Start with the limbs.” We then see him throw an amputated arm into a bath tub of sulfuric acid. He then goes back into the van, but the prostitute has not yet died. “How can you still be alive?!” Dandy cries, “you’re making me feel bad!” At this point, Andy is pleading for death and Dandy Boy, being the merciful killer that he is delivers the final stabs into his victims back.

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One final surprise: Once Elsa learns of Bette and Dotte’s television show plans, she tells the girls that Mr. Spencer has asked her to mentor them. She tells the twins that she has booked them an appointment with a stylist in town for the following morning. So off the ladies go, but the twins discover that they’re not being driven into town but to the front door step of Miss Gloria and Dandy’s home. “I believe I have something that you want,” Elsa declares as she gestures grandly to the girls. Uh oh!!!!

That was some pretty heavy stuff! I thought that “Pink Cupcakes” was a fantastic filler episode. We learned a lot of new secrets about our beloved freak show troupe and it will definitely create some intense drama next week! What did you guys love about tonight’s episode? What did you hate? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

OOTD – College Kid Edition

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OOTD – College Kid Edition

Hey! So first of all, sorry for being MIA recently – I’ve had a hell of a past few days…and not in the good way. Having said that, yesterday I did what I told myself that I would never EVER do…I wore sweat pants to college. But WAIT! Let me explain myself!! I have up to get ready for school at 6:45 in the morning every Tuesday and Thursday. Yesterday morning it was chilly and overcast and all I wanted was to be as comfortable as humanly possible during my hour long drive to Cleveland and in my classes. So while I was getting ready and picking out an outfit, my eyes scanned from cute maxi skirts, dresses I could pair with tights, super skinny skinny jeans, and my new pair of sweat pants from Aerie. I reevaluated all of my options carefully and then rolled my eyes and said “f*** it” and grabbed the sweats. I always thought that during my college career I would be that super fashionable girl who wouldn’t be caught dead in lounge wear. Well since that thought went down the drain, I still tried to make my comfy cozy look as cute as possible. My mom even told me that I looked really cute, so I think I succeeded! 😉 Here’s my “college kid” OOTD:

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As usual, here’s the break down of the brands and where I purchased everything in my OOTD:

  • Cargo jacket: PacSun, LA Hearts
  • Embellished t-shirt: Express
  • Sweat pants: Aerie
  • Oxblood boots: TJMaxx, Airway

The thing that I liked the most about this outfit was the color coordinating that I pulled off. The sleeves on my jacket matched the color of my sweats perfectly. AND the detailing on the elbows of my jacket matched my boots as well. As all of you who have read my previous OOTDs know, I’m a big fan of clothing with a little surprise in all of it. I love the patchwork elbows on my jacket, the laser cut doilie detailing on the boots, the crocheted stripe going down the side of the sweats, and the industrial stud embellishment on the collar of my t-shirt. Clothes with that extra little pop can turn a potentially not so cute outfit (like my college kid look yesterday!) into a stylish comfy cozy look instead. All together my outfit probably cost me $100 or so. If you like the Aerie sweats I have on, you can go to http://www.aerie.com and purchase a pair of your own, as they are brand new! They have a bunch of different colors as well, including heather grey, navy, teal, tan, and wine. I liked my charcoal grey pair so much that I got it in the wine color too! AND I got them for buy one get one half off – you guys know how much I love a good bargain!

So there you have it – my mother approved and Sarah approved college kid OOTD. I turned comfort into cuteness and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. So pleased that I don’t even hate myself too much for wearing sweats to school! 😉

What’s your favorite lounge wear piece to dress up and wear in public? What are your go to tips on dressing up an article of clothing that you wear for comfort? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! And don’t forget to check back in with me for my review of the new episode of American Horror Story: Freakshow tonight! Happy Hump Day! -Sarah