Jan23

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

 

Jan22

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

Jan21

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

Jan20

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

Jan19

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

Jan18

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

Jan17

Go Sports!

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Go Sports!

Hello!! This past weekend, Ohio’s own Cleveland Browns made it to the playoffs only to get annihilated in typical Browns fashion. Johnny and I have absolutely no interest in watching sports whatsoever, but our bestie Cliff does. So, we were going to hang out at our place, watch the game, and play some board games together. To get into the football spirit, Johnny and I decided to make our very own Cleveland Browns shirts… Well… Sort of lol. I personally think we came up with something infinitely better! Check it out:

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Our “Sport?” T-shirts came directly from mine and Johnny’s silly imagination and I am obsessed with them. We both thought it would be funny if we got Browns gear to wear while we watched the game, but it seemed way funnier if we just made our own. So, Johnny went to Walmart and got plain white V-necks and a fabric marker so we could get our Project Runway on. The shirts turned out terribly, as we 100% expected, and that is exactly what we wanted.

Johnny and I know tons of sports lovers, but it is something that both him and I will never appreciate as much as them. In fact, I don’t think we could name one rule of football! However, now that we know we are excellent T-shirt makers, maybe we will be a bit more excited about Ohio sports. In fact, when I posted the Ts we made on social media, several people commented that they want a “Sport?” shirt too. Lol maybe we can all band together to form a club about sports for people who know nothing about them. It could be fun! 😀

I am very proud of how our shirts turned out and I most definitely plan on wearing it out in public. Hopefully, people will find them as funny as Johnny and I do!

What is your favorite sport? What is your favorite sports team? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan16

Writing Prompts For 2024

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Writing Prompts For 2024

Howdy everyone!! Is it just me or does January feel like an entire year in itself? Lol, it has been rainy and so freaking cold in good old Akron, Ohio and every day has felt like an eternity. I literally just said yesterday that one of my blogging goals was to try lots of new activities and hit up restaurants and stores that are outside of the norm for me. However, I think I will do all of that when I can leave the apartment without getting drenched or frostbite lol. If you are hibernating like me this month, it might be hard to create content so I thought I would share some writing prompts to help the cause. Let’s get to it:

  • What are you most looking forward to in 2024?
  • If you are rocking a “new year, new me” vibe, what is going to be new about you?
  • What is a goal or resolution that you have achieved?
  • What is a goal or resolution that you gave up on?
  • What is something new that you want to try this year?
  • What is something that you are leaving behind in 2023?
  • How would you recap 2023? Did anything amazing happen?
  • Is there anything you really hope to accomplish this year?
  • What does a new year mean to you? Is it inspiring or daunting?
  • Do you plan on making any major changes this year? What are they?

The beginning of a new year is a time for reflection and that can be reflected in your content! This is the perfect time to start planning what you want 2024 to look like for you and figuring out the steps you need to take to make it happen. You might find that these prompts will be able to help with that, which is the whole point! This time of the year can be inspiring or it can be writer’s block central. It’s up to you, so make the most of it. 🙂

If you use any of the above prompts, please tag me in the post or shoot me a comment so I can check it out. I would love to see it! ❤

What helps you when you have writer’s block? Does the weather tend to affect your mood or motivation? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan15

2024 Blogging Goals

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2024 Blogging Goals

Hello!! We are a few weeks into 2024 and so far so good in my neck of the woods! I can’t remember the last time I made a New Years Resolution, but I do see the merit in setting achievable goals for my blog at the start of each new year. So I guess it’s kind of the same thing? Lol, either way, I always find that setting blog goals keeps me even more motivated to continue sending content into the blogosphere. Last year, I wanted to try and create OOTD posts as often as I could and I think I did a really good job of it! This is something that I definitely want to keep up with as well as the following:

More OOTDs:

My goal last year was to shoot OOTD content each weekend and even though I missed quite a few, I still managed to create more fashion content than ever on lifewithlilred. This was really beneficial to the blog for several reasons. 1) First and foremost, it was a lot of fun. 2) OOTD content gave me two set in stone posts per week for the outfit itself and blooper reel. For someone who publishes daily content, this was a godsend. I will be happy if I can keep up with the pace I established last year so my goal is to keep doing more of the same!

Daily Content:

I have been publishing once a day on lifewithlilred for over four years and it is an amazing achievement! With a streak like that, it is incredibly motivating to keep it up and I simply refuse to break it. Most of the time, it is very easy for me to create posts for my blog. Other times, writer’s block strikes and it can be like pulling teeth! I have two goals this year to help assist in my daily content endeavor and those are: 1) Not to be so hard on myself when I’m feeling uninspired because that just makes writer’s block even worse. 2) To try lots of new things like different experiences, restaurants, and activities to not only enjoy myself but to keep content fresh.

Ten Year Blogiversary Extravaganza:

It will be my ten year blogiversary in September and I am beyond thrilled about it! If anyone were to tell me when I started lifewithlilred that I would still be going strong a decade later, I would have thought it impossible. Yet, here we are and I am so very, very proud. To commemorate this huge achievement, I would love to do a super cute celebratory photo shoot as well as do a few giveaways and contests too. This will be the first time I will be doing something like hosting a contest on my page and I can’t think of a better time to start than a ten year blogiversary. 😀

Interact More:

I have acquired quite a few jobs in the social media field this past year and I feel like I have ignored my newsfeed on WordPress completely. I am not particularly proud of this and it is something that I would like to change. My plan of action will be to spend some time throughout the week exploring new blogs rather than endlessly scrolling through my personal Facebook. The beauty of the blogosphere is making new friends and finding content that inspires you and I definitely need more of that in my life!

Are these goals or New Years Resolutions, who’s to say? But, I plan on sticking with them and I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings for lifewithlilred!

How is 2024 treating you so far? What are some goals for your blog this year? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan14

Out On The Town OOTD Bloopers

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Out On The Town OOTD Bloopers

Howdy everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my Out On The Town OOTD! The blooper segment on lifewithlilred is something that I am very proud of. Every time Johnny takes my pictures, there are always at least ten bad shots for each good pic! It seemed like such a shame to waste perfectly bad (But good!) content and I liked the idea of being someone on the world wide web who wasn’t embarrassed to share horrible pictures. I am most pleased that the blooper reel is continuing to go strong and I even started sharing some yikes shots on my social media. Hey, if you can’t be about it then don’t talk about it! Let’s take a look at the pics that definitely didn’t make the first cut from my OOTD shoot and have a laugh:

Mannequin pose on point

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Sweet, sassy, and looking stoned AF lol

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I feel like I’m about to say the word “indubitably” in this pic if that makes sense?

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Get me out of this thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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TFYM when you get electrocuted

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Is it just me or is anyone feeling particularly clumsy as of late? Lol I feel like for the past week or so, I have been dropping stuff left and right, forgetting things I need at home, and acquiring minor injuries. I think I forgot my mind in 2023! Yesterday, for example, I got up from the couch to give the bunnies their snack. Within twenty seconds of getting up, I stubbed my toe SO hard and then managed to hit my hand against the door as I steadied myself. Talk about a double whammy because the toe stub hurt like a mother and the hand hit was just salt on the wound smh.

I don’t know about all of you, but I feel like stubbing your toe is one of the worst things. It’s like a paper cut or hitting your funny bone and I think everyone in Timber Top and surrounding neighborhoods heard me yelling expletives. If my life were a reality show, last night’s debacle definitely would have made the blooper reel! Maybe I’m just shaking off the fog of being pretty sick over holiday break. Maybe I’m just going crazy. OR maybe I need to time travel back to last year and get myself together. It could be a combination of the three, but here’s to hoping I have an accident free day today. Fingers and (stubbed) toes crossed!

Bloopers in photos are a hoot, bloopers in real life are not as fun lol. But, hey, at least it makes for something to share with all of you! 🙂 ❤

What is the worst minor injury in your opinion? Have you ever broken something special to you? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah