Lil Red’s Book Club: Ghost Story By Peter Straub (Partial Review) Edition

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Lil Red’s Book Club: Ghost Story By Peter Straub (Partial Review) Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! It has been a fat minute since our last review because I was plugging away at the longest, most boring book I have ever read. It is called Ghost Story by Peter Straub and is one of the few books that I have given up on. Normally, I refuse to not finish a book that I have been reading, but I just couldn’t take it anymore lol. This book is the literal worst and I genuinely can’t understand why Stephen King said it was one of his favorites!! In fact, this was the only reason I wanted to read it in the first place smh. Before we begin, I will be placing a trigger warning on Ghost Story for violence in all forms and disturbing content. Now, let’s get to it:

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LONG story very short… In the quaint town of Milburn resides four old men who call themselves the Chowder Society. During their meetings, each member takes turns telling a scary story. The prompt is “what is the worst thing you have ever done?” The response: “I can’t tell you that, but I’ll tell you the scariest thing I experienced.” Or something along those lines, but you get the point. These stories can be entirely made up or based on fact and the goal is to scare the pants off of each other. Little does the Chowder Society know, their ghost stories are going to come to life and wreak havoc on Milburn and it is up to them to stop it.

Now, with this brief synopsis, one would think that this would be a pretty good read. The plot is decent and has the potential to be truly frightening. However, this was just not the case whatsoever. Ghost Story moved along slower than a snails pace. It was a tedious read and time consuming too. I consider myself to be an incredibly fast reader and I could only finish thirty pages per hour. This book is five hundred and eighteen pages and after almost a month of reading it, I threw in the towel at page three hundred and ninety-eight. Like I said, I literally could not take it anymore.

What I consider to be a saving grace in a book is characters that you can really root for and that was something I didn’t experience in Ghost Story. None of the characters were likeable nor had anything special about them to make things more interesting. And the horror for what is considered a horror book? Minimal, at best. I was hoping for more of the supernatural and what I got was a tired retelling of werewolves and vampires to the point that it was almost comical. If you’re interested in werewolves and vampires, you’re honestly better off reading Twilight!

Ghost Story made me break my golden rule of never giving up on a book and I detest it even more for that. But, with one hundred and twenty pages to go, I refused to spend four more hours on it. Ghost Story will receive no stars and unless you’re a masochist, then I do not recommend it.

What is the worst book you have ever read? What is the scariest book you have ever read? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Urgently Awesome

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Urgently Awesome

Hello!! A few weekends ago, I took a tumble that resulted in some pretty gnarly cuts on two of my fingers. The boo boos were in the most inconvenient spot – right on the crease beneath the pad of the finger. My right hand ring finger was healing pretty well, but the one on my middle finger was a different story. I felt like the wound was barely closing and what’s worse, it felt infected too. By the time I was nearing the end of a course of antibiotics, I was worried that it wasn’t enough so Johnny and I decided to go to the Well Now urgent care clinic down the street from us. This place actually used to be a Family Video lol.

We went to Well Now this past Monday and we were both most impressed with it. We were in and out in less than an hour, which was great. The care was phenomenal and there were also TONS of goodies there too! Check it out:

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Before going to the Well Now clinic, I looked up some reviews online to see other people’s opinions. For the most part, it came highly recommended. This was nice, but what stuck out the most to me was that this place had a Slushie machine in the waiting room! Obviously, I just had to see this for myself and by god there was. Lol, I have never seen anything like it before and it was so fantastic to sip on a blue raspberry Slush Puppie as we waited to get called back. It reminded me of when my dad would take me to skating practice because he would always get us a Slushie to share afterwards. Such a lovely burst of nostalgia. 🙂

We were called back to a room less than five minutes after sitting down and the PA who took care of us was the best. He was so nice and funny, which really helped put both me and Johnny at ease. He dressed my finger to help get it to close and wrapped it up in some crazy contraption that made it look like a banana. Trust and believe I couldn’t wait to flip people off with it! The process was quick and pain free and before we knew it, we were ready to walk out the door. Of course, we had to grab some snacks to go on our way out. Another very nice touch, indeed!

Going to the Well Now clinic was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it. Not just for the Slushie machine, but for the excellent level of care too!

What was the best waiting room you have ever been in? Have you ever been to an urgent care before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Freddy Krueger Edition

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Bath Bomb Blitz: Rusted Acre Soap Co. Freddy Krueger Edition

Hello!! This past weekend was a nice and relaxing one and I decided to take a soak with one of the amazing horror themed bath bombs my bestie got me for Christmas. These bath bombs by Rusted Acre Soap Co. are the literal bomb and I was highly impressed by the knife and Jason Voorhees ones that I used previously. They put on the most amazing show that put them on a Lush level for me and that’s really saying something! Needless to say, I was very excited to use the Freddy Krueger bath bomb but, unfortunately, it missed the mark in a big way. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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One, two Freddy’s coming for youuu

Similarly to the other two bath bombs that I used in this collection, not much happened for the first few minutes of the Freddy Krueger bomb being in the water. It fizzed out white bubbles and didn’t start turning the water red until the bath water was topped with a hazy film. Then, the bath bomb started really going into action with red and yellow bubbles bursting out at a rapid pace. This was pretty par for the course and I was actually willing the process to go faster because I was looking forward to the surprise finish that the previous two bath bombs had.

Nearing the end, the knife bath bomb spurted out inky, glittery black water and it looked SO cool. The Jason Voorhees one, on the other hand, erupted green and red from the eyes and ended up replicating his mask in the water. For the grand finale for Freddy Krueger, I was expecting to see the water bursts create a pattern like his gloves. This was the most logical way for it to go and I couldn’t wait to see it. Sadly, nothing happened once the bath bomb was about to fizz out completely and that was a big disappointment.

I will say that this bath bomb turned the water into a fantastic shade of deep, blood red and that was a nice touch. However, it basically did everything the other bath bombs did without anything unique about it. I’m not sure if this was because these bath bombs are a bit older. They did come shrink wrapped but maybe they needed to be used by a specific date to be at their most effective? We’ll see what the Ghostface and Michael Myers bombs do when I use them to determine if this was a factor or not.

Overall, I am going to rate the Freddy Krueger bath bomb with a four and a half out of ten stars. This was my least favorite one from the pack so far for its lack of excitement. Whomp whomp!!

Who is your favorite slasher villain? What is your favorite color palette for the water to change with a bath bomb? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Lazy Weekend

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Lazy Weekend

Hellooo everyone!! Is January still not over yet? Lol, these past few weeks have felt like a year in itself – especially this last one. Even though Johnny and I enjoyed a day off on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the remainder of the week dragged serious ass. It was freaking freezing all week with temperatures in the teens and by the time the week ended we got a ton of snow. It was definitely a cruel shock after the insanely mild winter we have been having and it wore me out!

Normally over the weekend, Johnny and I try to do at least one fun thing. Whether that be an outing together or hanging out with friends, it always gives us something to look forward to. This weekend, however, was an incredibly lazy one and it was just what we needed. In fact, we didn’t even take OOTD pictures – it was WAY too cold for that! Because I knew that we would be staying in, I made it my goal to complete my Tim Misny Christmas puzzle and had high hopes of accomplishing it…

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And let’s just say that I didn’t even come close lol. After I spent what felt like forever sorting the pieces out, I was already SO done! I didn’t even finish the border and that’s the easiest part smh. Don’t tell Tim! After realizing that the puzzle was a bust, Johnny and I went on a binge watching marathon and it was great. Usually, our “day of lay” on a Sunday involves a lot of quality time with our TV, but we decided to make that happen on Saturday too.

After I took a relaxing soak with a bath bomb (Stay tuned for a new Bath Bomb Blitz tomorrow!), our day(s) of lay commenced. On Saturday, we watched The Hunt For The Wilderpeople (Our favorite!), The Lord of The Rings, and Diary of a Mad Black Woman (We are on a HUGE Madea kick!). And, of course, LOTR was the extended edition which is the only way it should be watched! On Sunday, we stuck with our tradition of watching the new Saturday Night Live and Criminal Minds for the rest of the day.

Even though we really didn’t do much of anything over the weekend, Johnny and I still had a blast because we were together. Sometimes, you really do need a few days to just veg out and I’m glad we did. I think we were both pretty rundown from the work week and I know that I woke up for my three in the morning day on Monday feeling much more well rested. Well, as well rested as I can be for being up that early. I would absolutely say that that helped make the weekend an ever bigger GREAT SUCCESS!

When you’re feeling worn out, it can be so easy to just keep going and doing anyways. Johnny and I listened to what our bodies needed and that was a heaping dose of R&R. As I write this on Monday morning, I feel very ready to take on the week ahead!

How did you spend your weekend? What is your favorite way to relax? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 2

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Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 2

Howdy! Judging from yesterday’s post, it’s safe to say that I come alive during the Bath & Body Works semi annual sale lol. With such amazing deals, I would be shocked if I didn’t! I can’t say that I have ever paid full price for anything from B&BW between their coupons, promotions, and fabulous semi annual sales and that is how it should be. I couldn’t imagine spending almost fifteen dollars for one body wash! And, for this haul, I didn’t have to. Each product totaled out to be about four dollars and fifty cents and I was on thrifty girl cloud nine! Let’s check out the rest of this haul and discuss further:

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When I shop in store at B&BW, I tend to have my blinders on because I know exactly what I need and don’t want to be tempted by anything else. So, I was shocked to see that B&BW has skin care products as I online shopped my way through the semi annual sale! Despite the fact that I just had a major skin care haul from TJMaxx, I added a dry skin moisturizer to my cart anyway. The reviews for the moisturizer were pretty average and it only received three stars. Normally, I would shy away from something that doesn’t have stellar reviews, but curiosity got the best of me. It was also way cheaper than a moisturizer from TJs. I will be eager to try it out and will be sure to let you all know what I think!

Like the moisturizer, I really didn’t need more hand soap because I just had a holiday scent haul for that too. Also like the moisturizer, the hand soaps were dirt cheap and you all know that they are an absolute necessity in my household. The two soaps I chose were Express Your Elf and Very Berry Good Days. Express Your Elf was described as a “merry cookie” scent and I thought that was hilarious. With fragrance notes of “buttery shortbread, vanilla bourbon icing, and spun sugar”, I have to say that the merry cookie description was dead on lol. Hilarious, yes. Accurate AF, YES! 😀

Very Berry Good Days was said to have a strawberry soda scent and this one was just okay to me. The notes featured are “fresh strawberries, bubbly seltzer, and crushed ice”. It actually does smell like a fizzy, fruity soda and I thought that was cool. However, the strawberry scent translated more as a cough medicine and that was a turn off. One whiff of this soap had me wishing that they went for a limeade fragrance instead because I think that would be delightful.

Last but certainly not least from this haul is the Sun-Washed Citrus fragrance spray and shower gel. (Peep yesterday’s post for more on Poppy!) I am a fruity scent girl through and through and that includes all things citrus. It’s just so invigorating and fresh and gives summertime vibes in the dead of winter. Sun-Washed Citrus is exactly what I imagined it to be with notes of “sugared lemons, mandarin, and agave nectar”. The mandarin is soft and sweet while the lemon adds the perfect amount of zest and it is so very nice. Highly recommend!

This semi annual sale haul was one for the ages and I am so pleased with all of my purchases. The fragrances are sweet, but the prices were (Dare I say?) even sweeter!

What kind of fragrances do you like? What is a fragrance you can’t stand? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

 

Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 1

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Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul Pt. 1

Hello!!! Countless stores run semi annual sales, but the only one that I participate in is Bath & Body Works. You simply cannot beat their promotions, which include up to 75% off of full size products. It’s not a deal, it’s a full on steal and their winter sale couldn’t have come soon enough because I was running low on the bath and body care products in my stock pile. I shopped the semi annual sale online and, admittedly, went a bit nuts lol. However, I won’t have to restock my supplies for a good long while and it was worth every penny!

My haul included twenty-two products (The ones not pictured are for Johnny!) for a grand total of one hundred dollars. This made each item about four dollars and fifty cents as opposed to upwards of eighteen! Like I said, worth every penny. Because this haul was so massive, I will be breaking it up into two parts starting with the following:

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There was a point in my life when I was obsessed with the wallflowers from B&BW. What I liked most about them is the fact that they offered a way to add scent to the apartment without being overpowering. I feel like I can taste some of the air freshener brand plugins and I am SO not about that! Then, my favorite Wicked Apple plugin that I kept in the living room broke after a guest bumped into it and I never bothered replacing it. The wallflowers themselves are inexpensive, but the plugins are kind of pricey. The semi annual sale was the perfect time to rectify this and I purchased a new apple plugin and two new wallflower scents in Raspberry Thumbprint and Hanukkah.

I am a HUGE fan of raspberry scents and the Raspberry Thumbprint is just as delicious smelling as I imagined it to be. This wallflower features notes of “buttery shortbread, rich raspberry jam, sprinkled with powdered sugar”. It’s like a bakery in a bottle and I love it so very much. The Hanukkah wallflower was purchased for no other reason other than I was curious. What does Hanukkah smell like? Let’s find out because I’m taking a whiff for the first time now…

Coincidentally, I feel like Hanukkah smells exactly like Raspberry Thumbprint lol! The notes for this one include “Pillowy fried donut, sweet jelly filling, sprinkled with powdered sugar”. So, in other words: Raspberry Thumbprint haha. Hey, kudos to me for trying something different!

While I was most excited to see what scent Hanukkah is, what I was most looking forward to was my purchases from the Poppy line. Poppy is quite possibly one of my all time favorite scents from B&BW and when I say I needed all of it, I mean ALL of it! I ended up with three shower gels, three lotions, and three body creams in Poppy and it took all of my self restraint to not buy more. The fragrance notes of this scent are “fresh morning dew, wild poppies, sugared rhubarb, and juicy pear”. I can’t speak for the morning dew or the wild poppies because, to me, Poppy smells like a strawberry/pear combo and it is magnificent. It is fruity and sweet without being too much because the mellow pear balances out the strawberry scent. It is absolutely divine. ❤

Stay tuned for more from my Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale Haul tomorrow because we have a lot more fragrances to discuss. See you then!

Which store has the best semi annual sale? How often do you restock your bath and body care products? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Constellations Call To Action

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Constellations Call To Action

Hi everyone!! My most recent work endeavor has been doing social media management for a local metalcore band called Constellations. It has been an absolute blast and I have had the best time collaborating and getting to know all of the guys. They are, of course, amazingly talented. But, most importantly, they are the sweetest, kindest, goofiest dudes you could ever hope to meet. It makes my job not only easy, but a complete pleasure. I am SO proud to even know them and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for my new besties.

This past Friday, Constellation’s first single called RIP dropped and it was most exciting!! We have all been working so hard for this release for the past month and change and it was a joy to share in the big day all together. It would mean a lot to all of us if you took the time to follow our social media pages and give RIP a listen. Even if metalcore isn’t your thing, it would be doing your favorite Lil Red blogger a huge favor! You can give some love to our pages at the following:

Facebook: ConstellationsBand

Instagram: constellations330

TikTok: constellationsband

YouTube: ConstellationsBand330

X: seeingstars330

You can also stream RIP on Spotify!!!

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Myself and all of the guys from Constellations can’t thank you enough for your support! Let us know what you think about RIP in the comments. 🙂 Much love. -Sarah

Busy Day OOTD Bloopers

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Busy Day OOTD Bloopers

Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my Busy Day OOTD! Normally, weekends are my time to veg out and catch up on my R&R after a long work week. This past Saturday, however, was different because I needed to get recertified in CPR and first aid for my job as an Independent Provider. As much as I don’t like doing anything work related during my beloved time off, I am happy to have gotten it done and brush up on my skills. Of course, I had to take some OOTD pics before I got my training on and, as always, there were lots of yikes shots interspersed with the winners. Check it out:

Looking like Donkey from Shrek

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The face of a gal who’s READY to get her CPR on

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Do you think they’ll go over how to pop your foot in this class?

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Spoiler Alert: They didn’t. *Face palm*

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Sweet mother was it cold out!!!! Smiling through the pain

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Getting ready for my close up…

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

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As an Independent Provider, I have to get recertified in CPR and first aid every two years and this was my fourth time doing so. Back in 2022, I had arguably the WORST time at the class. It had snowed like crazy the night before, my car got stuck in the parking lot, and Johnny had to take me to the Red Cross building in Akron for the training. This was fine, but what wasn’t okay was that the teacher of the class was TWO HOURS late! All of the trainees decided to stick around instead of sign up for another session because the weather was crap. I think we were all so fed up by the time the teacher arrived that it was going to be the worst class ever regardless of if she did a good job or not.

This time around, though, was fantastic. It was actually the best training I have ever had in four sessions because our fearless leader, RANDY, was amazing! He armed us all with a wealth of knowledge and perspectives that I have never heard before in almost a decade. Not to mention the fact that Randy was an absolute cut up. He was cracking jokes left and right and real recognized real because I was his go to for some back and forth. It was a hoot!

My favorite part of the class has got to be when we were practicing CPR on our dummies. Randy told us the situation could get chaotic if we ever had to perform CPR and he did his best to bring that craziness to our practice rounds. He would bend down beside our dummies yelling “JOE, YOU’RE GONNA MAKE IT! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!!”. In my head, I was having a laugh but it didn’t stop me from doing a good job! I am also pleased to report that I didn’t lose count for compressions even when Randy was trying to mess us up by going “thirteen, twenty-four, two, nine” and so on and so forth. He had some tricks up his sleeve, for sure, but I have never felt more confident in my CPR ability than after his class. 🙂

Even though it was a Busy Day, I am thrilled for it because I would have never gotten the highest quality training in CPR and first aid that I have ever had. Fingers crossed that Randy will be my teacher again in 2026!

Are you certified in CPR or first aid? Why did you have to get that training done? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Bath & Body Works January Freebies

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Bath & Body Works January Freebies

Hellooo everyone!!! I live for my freebie coupons that come in the mail for Bath & Body Works and after a while of not receiving any, I finally got one for a free full size product. More than likely because of my hand soap haul and a huge semi annual sale purchase (Which you will see more of later!). I also had another free full size product to cash in from my rewards points so I couldn’t wait to hit up the store and pick out some goodies. I didn’t have the best weekend so I definitely needed a little treat! The best part about this little treat is that it ended up being over thirty dollars worth of product completely free. You can’t beat that! Check it out:

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For my free items, I decided to do one shower gel and one lotion. These were very easy choices to make because there were lots of new scents from Bath & Body Works to try. I went for Calypso Clementine for my shower gel and Butterfly for my lotion. The clementine one is brand new to B&BW and I’m not sure if Butterfly is too, but it is new to me. Within ten minutes, I was in and out of the store with my freebies and I cannot wait to use them because they both smell fabulous!!

As you might have guessed, Calypso Clementine features notes of “juicy clementine, neroli nectar, and coastal woods”. Well, maybe you guessed the juicy clementine part anyways lol. This shower gel smells like summer in a bottle and I am obsessed. I am a huge fan of citrus scents and they are often my go to. I like that citrus fragrances tend to be more pungent than your typical fruit scent, but they are by no means overpowering. The Calypso Clementine is zingy and bright and smells good enough to eat.

I wasn’t sure what Butterfly was going to smell like, but I’m really glad I took a whiff instead of breezing by it for the fear that it might be too flowery for my taste. Butterfly offers notes of “raspberry nectar, iris petals, and airy vanilla”. I absolutely adore sweet/tart raspberry scents so this one was perfect for me! While I love vanilla and am not too fond of anything floral, I couldn’t smell the hints of either and that’s okay. All raspberry everything is what I wanted and that’s what I got!

This was a fantastic freebie haul from Bath & Body Works and I am most eager to use my new shower gel and lotion. Stay tuned for my semi annual sale haul that will go live the day after my Busy Day OOTD Bloopers tomorrow! 🙂

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

Busy Day OOTD

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Busy Day OOTD

Hello darlings!! Normally, my weekends are all about having some much needed R&R after a crazy busy work week. This Saturday, however, was a different story because there was SO much to do. Johnny and I needed to give our apartment a much needed deep clean, but first I had to get recertified in CPR and first aid. As an Independent Provider, it is a very important requirement to have that and my certificate was set to expire in February. I was so happy to be able to get it done, even though I wasn’t thrilled to wake up early! Before heading out on a snowy morning, I wanted to get OOTD pics out of the way for the comfy cool look I put together. Check it out:

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Who? What? Wear?

Killin’ It Hoodie: Forever 21

Star Pattern Jeans: Kut From The Kloth, TJMaxx

White Combat Boots: Forever 21

Cheetah Print Headband: TJMaxx

Earrings: American Eagle Outfitters

It’s never much fun to do work related stuff over the weekend, but it’s even less fun when the weather freaking sucks lol. For this OOTD, I wanted a laid back look that I could be comfortable in (While still looking cute!) as I got my training done. On really cold days, I just want to wrap myself up like a burrito in a million blankets. That wasn’t the case for me on Saturday, however, so I went with soft pieces to represent my burrito cocoon that I so desperately wanted to be in!

Usually when I’m styling an OOTD, I start from the top down. This time around, I began from the bottom up with my Kut From The Kloth jeans. These star patterned skinnies are just so much fun and a really unique piece. I don’t get to wear them too often because it is difficult to pair them with ninety-nine percent of what is in my wardrobe. Despite not getting to use them much, they are well loved and nice and soft, which is exactly what I wanted as I went about my day.

Next on the agenda was finding a top that worked and I decided to go the hoodie route to keep up with the comfy cute motif. I popped on one of my Misny Merch Ts as an extra layer, then chose an oldie but goodie hoodie from Forever 21. What can I say, I planned on killin’ it at my training and I did! This hoodie is the freaking bomb. It is SO cozy and it almost feels like wearing a nightgown in the best possible way lol. In fact, I have nighties that are similar! The black and white color palette was also just what I needed to keep the jeans from clashing with it.

Finally, it was onto shoes and accessories. I pulled my hair back with a cheetah print headband because practicing CPR with hair in your face is a hassle. This headband was a gift from my mom and I wear it constantly throughout the week. The animal print added a pop of something different to the look and was far enough away from the pants to keep an uncluttered appearance. Long, dangly earrings were also a no go for a CPR class, so I stuck with a small pair of gold earrings which looked great with the headband.

Last but not least was shoes and I went for a pair of white heeled combat boots from Forever 21. I know, I’m also shocked that there’s more pieces from F21 than TJMaxx in this look! These boots added the extra length I needed since the hoodie was so long and the stark white complimented the text on the hoodie too. With that, I was ready to take on the day the comfy cute way and rocked it!

While nothing pleases me more than dressing up, my Busy Day on Saturday called for a dressed down OOTD. This outfit kept me warm and toasty on the blustery day while still looking my laid back best!

How do you normally spend your weekends? What is your favorite comfy cozy piece of clothing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah