Tag Archives: apple

Sep10

Let’s Make Caramel Apple Bites

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Let’s Make Caramel Apple Bites

Hello! If there is one thing that I am guilty of, it is endlessly scrolling through Facebook and saving a bunch of recipes that I will never make. Seriously, I must have hundreds of saved videos and posts at this point that I have done literally nothing with lol. UNTIL THIS PAST WEEK! A post for Caramel Apple Bites showed up on my newsfeed from a creator named Andrea and I just had to try them. I LOVE all things caramel apple and this tasty treat only required three ingredients which is my kind of recipe. They were a huge hit with me, Johnny, and my dad! Check it out and be sure to follow her page for more yummy and simple recipes:

^^^ Very aware that my chocolate is a little burnt lolol -_-

The Caramel Apple Bites required round pretzels, Rolos, and Granny Smith Apples and all you had to do was stack them! To start, I covered a baking pan with aluminum foil and placed my pretzels in orderly lines. The next step was the most annoying one because I didn’t realize that a bag of Rolos still came individually wrapped. I kind of assumed they wouldn’t be but you know that old saying about making assumptions! Unwrapping the Rolos was the most time consuming part of this process and I couldn’t resist snacking on a few of them and some salty pretzels as I unwrapped, and unwrapped, and unwrapped some more!

After the Rolos were on top of the pretzels, I stuck them in the oven but made the mistake of broiling them instead of baking them like the recipe called for. I kind of assumed it would have the same result but you know that old saying about making assumptions SMH! My chocolate did turn out a little burnt but it actually wasn’t a bad thing because it tasted like it was made over a campfire. Once the pretzel/Rolo combo was out of the oven, I topped each one with a piece of apple and put them in the fridge to cool down.

The end result of this treat was absolutely delightful despite the burnt parts. The salt of the pretzels were complimented with creamy and smooth chocolate and caramel. This would have been delish on its own but the Granny Smith Apples created the perfect bite. It added some crispness, juice, and a slight tartness for an explosion of flavor. These were a home run and I can’t wait to make some more and, yes, I will be baking them this time!

If you are looking for a quick and easy fall treat, this is the recipe for you. It will be fabulous for Halloween parties, bonfires, or an after school snack. Highly recommend!

Have you made any new recipes recently? How did they turn out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep4

5 Below Haul

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5 Below Haul

Hello! My clients absolutely love shopping at 5 Below and I do too! I am always excited to check out what’s new on the cheap whenever we go and had a fabulous haul this past week. We ended up at good ol’ 5 B after a trip to Spirit Halloween was a total dud. Seriously, everything there was SO expensive and we were hard pressed to find anything cool that was below twenty bucks. So, 5 Below it was and we couldn’t have gone at a better time. They were just putting their Halloween collection out and I kid you not, they had so many of the exact same things that we just saw at Spirit Halloween. Everything at Spirit Halloween feels like a rip off when you know where to shop! I couldn’t resist going a little crazy and ended up with a big haul with treats for my nieces, myself, and Johnny too. Check it out:

This haul costed fifty dollars for ten items and you can’t beat that!

Johnny and I have never decorated for holidays because it is Halloween year round in our apartment and that’s just the way we like it. Whenever our happy time comes around, we are always happy to splurge a little on all of the Halloween goodies our favorite stores have to offer. And, in the case of this 5 Below haul, I actually needed to use a cart for the very first time because there were so many items I couldn’t say no to as soon as I walked in the door! 😀

The first thing that caught my eye was His and Hers skeleton plushies that are just so damn cute I can’t stand it. They reminded me of big versions of adorable Frankenstein and skeleton stuffies we got on vacation in the Poconos and I can’t wait to curl up with our newest additions and watch a scary movie. Whoever says adults can’t get plushies has never bought a plushie as an adult before and Johnny and I adore these comfort items. In comparison to the plushies at Spirit Halloween that were thirty dollars and up, these were a steal at five dollars apiece. BALLIN ON A BUDGET, BABY!

Next in my haul was a few candy treats. A few years ago on social media, I saw the Sour Patch Apple Harvest pack but could never find them anywhere in stores. It was a crying shame because apple candy is my favorite so I couldn’t believe my good fortune when I found them at 5 Below. So much so, that I had to get two bags of them lol. They are so delish and my favorite is the Apple Cider flavor. They are not as sour as I would like but they are still really tasty nonetheless. I also got a pack of Caramel Apple Peelerz which I have seen all over social media too so peep a TikTok on a taste test for those coming soon. 😀

After the first portion of 5 Below was thoroughly shopped through, it was onto the clothing department where I got a set of pajamas for me and a couple of shirts for Johnny. This summer, I purchased an adorable short and cami top PJ set from TJMaxx and have been living in them. They are the only pair of non sweatpants pajamas I have so I was excited to find another pair that costed twelve dollars in total. I’m so excited to slip into the bat adorned fleece shorts and oversized tee that says Bite Me on it lol. I actually have a tattoo of vampire fangs that say Bite Me on my shoulder as well as a robe with the same sentiments so this PJ set really spoke to me. 🙂

For Johnny’s treats, I was so excited to find a wicked cool Halloween shirt. I am a Texas Chainsaw Massacre girl, myself, but Johnny is a Michael Myers fan through and through and the original Halloween is his all time favorite. Also, peep that young Jamie Lee Curtis! Such a doll then and now. ❤ Another one of our favorite movies that has nothing to do with Halloween is School Of Rock and how amazing is that band tee?! Unfortunately, they didn’t have it in Johnny’s size so I got the next size up because I knew he would like it. He loved them both and wore his Halloween shirt to work the next day!

My last purchase in this haul was a fun craft for my nieces. I had plans for a visit over the weekend and wanted something we could do all together. One of their favorite activities is pottery paint kits so I got a darling set of pottery fruit planters for them to create a masterpiece. This set of three costed six dollars making them two bucks a pop and that is a steal. The girls are always so proud of their painted creations and I can’t wait to see their fantastically fruity works or art. ❤

Whether it is at TJMaxx, Marc’s, or 5 Below – your girl loves to discount shop. This haul was so good it’s scary and I am stoked to see what other Halloween goodies 5 Below has as the happiest season of all continues!

What is your favorite discount store? Have you had any great hauls recently? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug4

Bath & Body Works Haul

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Bath & Body Works Haul

Hello!! A week or so ago I got some coupons from Bath & Body Works in the mail for a free wallflower and twenty percent off your purchase. This was perfect timing because I was in need of more of my foaming hand soap as it was pretty slim pickings during the semi annual sale in June. During a quick break at work, I was able to stop in and restock my soap, grab a freebie wallflower, and some new hand sanitizer too. The fragrance I got for hand sani during the semi annual sale reeked lol! Let’s take a look and discuss these scents further:

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Bath & Body Works was jam packed with fall and Halloween fragrances and I was living for it! If you haven’t peeped their Halloween collection, make sure you check it out because everything is fabulous. Rather than stick to one scent category, I got a little bit of everything and contained myself from buying literally every single spooky related product. It was much easier said than done! Here are my thoughts on the above…

Chew Make Me Happy: In case you couldn’t guess, this hand soap smells exactly like bubblegum! Johnny and I watch our nieces fairly often and they are always excited to see what smell goods I have when they visit. I knew they would go gaga over the bubblegum scent so this was definitely for them. I probably wouldn’t have bought this one if it weren’t for the kiddos, but they’ll love it so it’s good enough for me!

Candy Apple Cauldron: Apple is my absolute favorite scent so I was really excited to see that one of the new Halloween fragrances was Candy Apple Cauldron. It offers notes of “mysterious green apple, simmering sugar, and crystalized bergamot”. I can’t speak for if the green apple smells mysterious or not lol, but it smells identical to a green apple Jolly Rancher. I would happily use it all year.

Afternoon Apple Picking: All of the apple!!! Whenever fall rolls around, I have to get my Afternoon Apple Picking fix. It is truly the perfect fall scent and captures the essence of a crisp fall day at the apple orchard. This fragrance features notes of “crisp apple, succulent pear, and cinnamon”. Normally, I am not a cinnamon fan at all. However, it blends beautifully altogether and I think it smells like a steaming cup of hot apple cider.

Vampire Blood: Whenever spooky season is nigh, I always have to purchase my favorite scent of Vampire Blood. B&BW brings Vampire Blood back every year and I am so glad they do. It is a deep berry fragrance with notes of “red berries, blooming jasmine, and petrifying plum”. If you are a fan of berry scents, this is a must buy. The packaging for it is also so cute this year!

Sweet As Sugar: Holy moly – Sweet As Sugar smells good enough to eat!! The fragrance notes are equally as mouthwatering and feature “crumbled crust, gooey brown sugar, and sprinkled cinnamon”. I think it smells like caramel hot chocolate and it is divine. I would absolutely buy it again.

Hand Sanitizers: I selected Champagne Apple & Honey (Shocker!) and Cozy Vanilla Almond for my hand sanitizers. Both of these scents are completely straight forward. If you like apples or vanilla, you will like these fragrances without a doubt.

Wallflower: For my free wallflower, I went with Caramel Pumpkin Swirl. I am not big on pumpkin scents, but that doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t smell like pumpkin at all. This wallflower smells like straight up caramel. It is rich, decadent, and is basically like you’re unwrapping a Werther’s Original. Yum!

I am very pleased with my Bath & Body Works Haul and you can’t beat the price. I got all of these goodies for twenty-five dollars. Total steal!

What is your favorite fall scent? What is your favorite Bath & Body Works fragrance? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May23

iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Problems

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iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Problems

Hello!! It has been a few weeks since we have had a new OOTD and I am sure you’re all wondering why. I recently upgraded from the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 15 Pro Max for work. My old phone is currently at storage capacity so I have been using my new phone to shoot content as it was intended. Unfortunately, I am having some major issues with the camera – I kid you not that my pictures look infinitely better on my iPhone 12 than on the brand new one. I have noticed a lot of people online complaining about similar issues so I thought I would put my two cents in too!

iPhone 12

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iPhone 15 Pro Max

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What I liked the most about my old phone is that no matter the lighting or the setting, the pictures I took on them always turned out crisp and clear. While I have shot a few cool pictures and the awesome pics of Constellations at their first show (See yesterday’s post), I have been overall very unimpressed with the quality of everything else. I notice that all of the pictures seem kind of blurry, grainy, and the colors appear muddled. It is such a 180 from what I am used to and it has been most frustrating trying to figure it out.

I have combed through different “help” pages looking for solutions to this problem. I have done every single thing suggested and nothing has worked. Johnny and I have shot from all angles and all lighting for just regular old pictures and they still look busted. My next step, of course, will be calling for support to see if this can be fixed or if I will need a new phone altogether. I wanted to write this post to say that you are not losing your mind if you just can’t seem to take a good picture on this phone. I pride myself on taking “good” pictures and I haven’t had a single one taken on the new phone that’s usable. I am not sure what Apple was thinking because this is most definitely a downgrade and this phone was advertised specifically for its camera. SMH!

Trust and believe that I have been attempting to shoot outfits – you just aren’t seeing them right now lol. I can’t wait to get this issue sorted out so I can go back to one of my favorite segments on lifewithlilred!

Do you have any troubleshooting tips for me? What do you think about the iPhone 15 Pro Max? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr27

Bath & Body Works Mini Haul

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Bath & Body Works Mini Haul

Hello!! One of my neighbors blessed me with a Bath & Body Works coupon he got in the mail as he had no use for it. So, on Tuesday I popped in the shop during my afternoon break to double dip on my April freebies. My bath and body care hoard runneth over but you just can’t beat free! I had no intention of getting anything besides the travel size item the coupon allowed for, but B&BW was running a good promo on their wallflowers so I grabbed two of those too. The fragrances I picked have me feeling oh so spring! Check it out:

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I don’t know if it’s just my Bath & Body Works or all of them, but I have noticed that their travel size selection is severely lacking the past several times I’ve went in. There were only a handful of scents, maybe three, that were available and it was mainly fragrance sprays and lotion. I am pretty well stocked on all of my bath and body products thanks to the winter semi annual sale and I didn’t want any more perfume. Then, I had a brain blast and remembered that their bar soap is part of the free travel size promo too. This was much more like it! I have used their bar soap a few times and loved it so I picked one out in Apple – my favorite scent. And, as you guessed, it smells exactly like biting into a crisp, juicy apple!

For my wallflower fragrances, I followed a similar motif with fruity scents. I couldn’t say no to Pink Apple Punch, which features notes of “crisp apple, melon, and sugared crystals”. I can’t speak for the melon portion of the fragrance because it just smelled like apples to me and that was perfectly fine! I also purchased Aloha Kiwi Passionfruit as my Johnny loves a tropical scent. This one offers notes of “tropical passionfruit, radiant kiwi, and juicy pineapple”. I could really smell the pineapple on this wallflower and it was such a sweet, punchy fragrance that will definitely brighten up the living room. I can’t wait to use it. 😀

This quick visit to B&BW was such a nice little treat. The fruity fragrances I left with put a spring in my step and will compliment the lovely spring weather beautifully!

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

Aug18

Poison Apple Candle By MZ Candles Review

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Poison Apple Candle By MZ Candles Review

Hello! If Johnny and I could have, we would have bought ALL of the things from the Punk Rock Flea Market. We both decided, however, that we would limit ourselves to the cash we brought and I am pleased to report we made good on that with some to spare too! Johnny and I held true to our plan by sticking to our “sweet spot” price range of five to fifteen dollars per purchase. One of which included this super cool Poison Apple candle by MZ Candles for just five bucks:

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I used to really enjoy burning candles when I first moved into my apartment and pretty much stopped all together. Our old place was so hot that I didn’t need another reminder of it from a dancing flame. Our new digs maintain a much cooler temperature, however, so I couldn’t help but stop at the MZ Candles booth. Merideth Z had candles galore in various sizes, colors, and scents. As always, I am an apple gal and my mind was already made up when I saw the five dollar Poison Apple candle.

The Poison Apple scent smelled exactly like the caramel apple suckers that I love so very much. Also, how cute is the wax skull?! I was expecting a decent amount of fragrance once this candle was lit and, sadly, it wasn’t the case. In fact, I couldn’t smell anything at all as it burned. This was a bit of a bummer, but it didn’t take away from how pleasant it was to have a candle lit during a nonstop rainy afternoon and evening. I also loved how the red skull and green wax melted together into a glittery pool!

Even though I was not blown away from MZ Candles in the scent department, I have been lighting it every day once I’m home from work. There is something so comforting about it and I think I will treat myself to a candle from Bath & Body Works soon!

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

Oct24

Bath & Body Works Haul

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Bath & Body Works Haul

Hello! When it comes to my beauty hoard, I like to keep it very well stocked. This means having at least two backups of my most used products on hand at all times. Johnny and I are both extremely partial to the hand soaps from Bath & Body Works so when I saw that we only had one left, a restock was definitely in order! Check it out:

Would I Buy Again?

  • Island Papaya: YES
  • Ghoul Friend: YES
  • Afternoon Apple Picking: YES
  • Blueberry Maple Pancakes: NO
  • Peach Bellini: YES
  • Let’s Get Nuts: MAYBE
  • Spooky Hand Sanitizers: YES!

Despite a couple of misses during this B&BW haul, I am still pleased with it. The Island Papaya was a huge success with Johnny who loves all things tropical and I am always happy to get another Peach Bellini hand soap – it’s my favorite! Afternoon Apple Picking was also a scent that we both really liked because it smelled strictly like apples without a touch of cinnamon, which we both hate lol. Now, let’s move on to the not so liked buys:

When I saw the Blueberry Maple Pancakes soap, I thought that it would smell amazing and was looking forward to its arrival in the mail. Unfortunately, it missed the mark big time. Instead of a delicious blueberry bakery scent, it just smells like straight up syrup and is almost sickeningly sweet.

Let’s Get Nuts is another scent that I could probably do without. It is your basic vanilla and, don’t get me wrong, I am a huge vanilla fan. However, vanilla can be kind of boring when there are so many other fun hand soap scents to explore. I actually didn’t plan on buying the soap but almost all of the Halloween scents were sold out so I added it to the shopping cart to make the most of the six soaps for twenty-four dollars deal.

The biggest success of this haul was not the soaps but the hand sanitizers! Last month, I got a coupon for a free sani and I absolutely loved it. The scent was nice and light and it made my hands feel clean without drying them out. Since we couldn’t get many Halloween scented soaps, we settled for the five for eight dollars spooky sani pack which is a great deal. Johnny and I are both currently using Vampire Blood and the only thing that would make it perfect is if we had the hand soap too – it smells SO good!

Hit or miss, you can never go wrong with the foaming hand soaps from Bath & Body Works. I am already looking forward to the next restock! 😀

What is your favorite B&BW scent? What is in your beauty stock pile? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct3

The End Of An Era

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The End Of An Era

Hi! For those of you who don’t know, I have been using the same slide up keyboard phone for the past several years and have never owned a smartphone. For taking pictures and using the internet when WiFi is available, I relied on my iPod Touch and never really had a problem with this set up until recently.

When I first moved into my apartment, I could make phone calls and send text messages from anywhere inside. Fast forward to the spring of this year, and slowly but surely I began having lots of trouble doing any basic functions on my phone. It went from not being able to talk on the phone upstairs and mild difficulty sending texts to not being able to make or receive phone calls at all when I was at home.

As you can imagine, this was wildly inconvenient and I had to resort to using my husband’s phone if I had to make a call for work. However, I still held on to my old school phone because, at the end of the day, I freaking loved it. Until last week, that is.

I don’t know what clicked in my head but I finally said “enough is enough” and purchased an iPhone 12. Talk about an upgrade! I have to say that it is so nice to text and talk on the phone freely when I am at home but that wasn’t the main reason for my switcheroo. I’ll be the first to admit that the pictures on my blog weren’t the best and I was sold on getting a new phone for the better camera.

This is my first experience with an iPhone and I am definitely still getting used to it. I miss my little keyboard more than words can say as I don’t like typing on a touch screen. But, the pictures that this phone takes are great and I do love being able to send Bitmojis to Johnny constantly!

^^^ How cute is that?!

My iPhone skyrocketed me into the twenty-first century and it isn’t all that bad. I am excited to be able to take lots of OOTD pictures and selfies on it rather than having to use Johnny’s phone constantly. And, maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll be more comfortable using it by next year lol! 😀

What is your favorite thing about the iPhone? What is an old school piece of technology that you have? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct10

Bath & Body Works Freebies

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Bath & Body Works Freebies

Heyyy everyone! I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend so far! I’ve raved before about my freebie addiction to Bath & Body Works and in the start of this month alone I’ve received two freebie coupons in the mail which I was so excited to use! I got a free PocketBac hand sanitizer and a new travel sized lotion which brings my tally of no pay goodies to ten products in barely over half a year! Nice!

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For my free PocketBac ($1.75 value) I opted for their new Apple Harvest scent. I told the young lady working that apple is my favorite fragrance so I was very excited to try their interpretation on a tried and true fall flavor. I was definitely not disappointed, either! The sanitizer smells SO insanely apple-y with just the faintest hint of spices and it leaves my hands feeling so clean. The nice thing about the PocketBac sanitizers is that they don’t leave your skin feeling dried out like Purell, either. Apple Harvest is a lovely scent for fall and I plan on purchasing some of the lotion if it’s still available during their winter sale!

When I pick out my free travel sized lotion ($5 value) I’m never too picky with my choices. Half of the fun of going to get my freebies is selecting the fragrance and trying something that I might not normally pick out for myself. I went with their Love & Sunshine lotion which I was actually shocked by. It’s a somewhat floral fragrance as you can see by the daisy packaging and I’m not usually a big fan of florals. But the sweetness of the flower scent was balanced out by tart lemon and strawberries and it made for a very fresh and girly smell. Making a selection from the entire wall of travel sized goodies is always a tough choice but I’m really pleased with what I picked!

Wanna know how you can get a stock pile of free Bath & Body Works goodies? Sign up for their emails at http://www.bathandbodyworks.com, for starters. And if you go into the store to do some shopping make sure you enter your email or phone number with your purchase. Every time you buy something keep on adding your info so it updates every time and you continue to receive emails and coupons! I’m so glad I did – my hoard of lotions will make great add on gifts this holiday season and will be a nice little treat for me, too!

So there you have it, my newest Bath & Body Works Freebies to add to the collection! What is your favorite B&BW fragrance? What store do you get the best freebies from? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah