Tag Archives: bffs

Dec15

BFF Christmas Gift

Posted on December 15, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Hi darlings!! In the past few days I have received so many early Christmas gifts and it has warmed my little heart. My Christmas countdown has been going on since the beginning of the month and these early prezzies are the perfect thing to tide me over until then. I am SO looking forward to some time off to celebrate with my family and finally giving them the gifts that have been sitting in my apartment for months! This Tuesday, I was delighted to receive Santa Mail from my beautiful angel best friend, Kate, of Live In The Nautical. She is my blogging/IRL bestie and her gifts this year simply sleighed – check it out:

For literally every gift giving occasion, Kate wins. Lol, I consider myself to be an excellent gift giver but my best girl is on a whole other level. For my Christmas prezzies, Kate gifted me with a hand massager and an amazing set of horror themed bath bombs by Rusted Acre Soap Co. What I love about presents from Kate is that her gifts are always perfectly tailored to me. They are SO thoughtful and I can tell that she saves little tidbits from conversations in her Christmas Rolodex to find something just right. In fact, her gifts to me are either something that I would buy for myself or think about purchasing but never do. It’s that best friend telepathy, baby!

Kate gave me the gift of pampering this year and I can’t wait to use all of my new goodies. A car accident when Johnny and I first started dating left me with a lot of issues in my hands and arms that come and go. Spending a ton of time on the computer doesn’t exactly help the cause either lol so the hand massager is going to be fabulous to use! It is also so sweet to me that Kate clocked my complaints of hand pain throughout the year and said “I know the gift for her”. Johnny is also most eager to use it too haha so it’s a double gift. 😀

The piece de resistance, however, is the horror themed bath bombs by Rusted Acre Soap Co. Kate and I are both avid true crime fans, but she is SO not a horror movie gal! Yours truly, on the other hand, lives for them and I clutched my pearls when I opened my bath bomb box. These bath bombs are the absolute coolest and they look so great that I almost don’t want to use them. I totally will, though, and I just know they are going to be awesome. Bath bombs are a product I love, but rarely buy for myself and they are almost always a staple in Kate’s gifts. She has gifted me with spooky bath bombs before, but these ones take the cake!

The best gift of all will forever be having a best friend like Kate. I thank my lucky stars for her every day and for the wonderful blogosphere that brought us gals together. I love you, BFF!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

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

Jul12

BFF Garden Party

Posted on July 12, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!! My bestie, Lea, recently moved into a beautiful new house and it is awesome! I am so proud of her and want to do everything I can to assist in the projects that she needs help with. That’s what best friends are for, after all. One of the major things that needs done on her property is the gardening. The upkeep from the previous owners had been nonexistent and it all fell on Lea’s shoulders. Luckily, I am a huge fan of gardening and couldn’t wait to get to work! 😀

This past week, Lea and I headed to Meijer’s to buy some plants, Peach White Claw, and sushi for dinner. After our surprisingly good store bought sushi, we set off to our first task of clearing the planter boxes around her porch and filling it with hostas in various colors and sizes. It turned out GREAT! Check it out:

How It Started:

How It’s Going:

Our first order of business was to give ourselves a blank canvas for the hostas. We began pulling out the weeds, rocks, and random plants that peppered the planter boxes. Everything was going swell until I noticed an ant crawling on my arm. Then, I looked down to find that my gardening gloves were covered with them. It. Was. Awful. While pulling out a bushel of dying tall grass, Lea and I discovered that I had unearthed a ginormous ant colony. It. Was. Terrifying. Lol they were literally everywhere! 😮

The Attack Of The Ants happened at the far edge of the planter box and we refused to go anywhere near it. But, we completed the opposite end and stopped about two feet shy of the scene of creepy crawlies. To start, I taught Lea about the merits of cutting the plastic container the hostas were in so we wouldn’t hurt the plant while attempting to pull it out. Then, I showed her how to break apart the roots to make it perfect for their new home. After the demo, we began working separately and she did wonderfully. With the know how to DIY, she planted the remainder herself once the ants cleared out a bit. We were both very happy with the end results. 🙂

Lea and I had a fantastic time during our Garden Party hangout and we already have our next project planned out. I can’t wait to get our hands in the dirt again and get some flowers planted soon!

What projects are you working on around the house? What is your garden like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun20

BFF Birthday Gift

Posted on June 20, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!!! My bestie, Lea, and I have been BFFs since we started high school in 2008. We have fifteen years of best friendship under our belt and our love only grows fonder with each passing day! For this past decade and a half, we have celebrated holidays and birthdays together and for my 29th birthday jubilee, I requested a low key hang out. We had a slumber party in her brand new house and it was the best! It’s funny because we have only had one sleepover in our teens and have now had another when we are almost thirty lol.

During our celebration, I received the grand tour of her home while we sipped on champagne like the rich and famous. We dug into oven pizza, White Claws, and girl talked the night away while her precious cats, Fin and Win, kept us company. It was a blast and just what I needed as Johnny and I didn’t have a big birthaversary celebration this year.

For all gift giving occasions, Lea and I love to spoil each other and she truly knocked it out of the park this year. For my birthday, she surprised me with a GORGEOUS new pair of earrings that you can see soon in an upcoming OOTD! Check it out:

Lea and her mom and sister enjoy going to craft fairs together, which is where she found this amazing pair of earrings from Janell & Co. She actually bought them half a year ago because she knew that they would be perfect for my birthday. As always, she was SO right! I literally gasped when I opened my parcel because I have seen similar items on Facebook ads, screenshotted them, and never bought a pair for myself. These were even better than anything I could have purchased because they supported a local artist and were way prettier than I remember the other pairs being.

I am a huge fan of big statement earrings and I was so eager to wear my birthday gift that I just had to incorporate them into an OOTD shoot the following day. As soon as I put them on, I couldn’t stop shaking my head to make the rain drops dance! Every step invited delightful movement of the earrings and they were magnificent when they caught the light just right. I am so lucky to have such wonderful besties who spoil me so much every trip around the sun!

Thank you times a trillion to my darling Lea for the best birthday gift and hang out in the world. Here’s to not waiting twelve years for our next slumber party! I love you! ❤

What is the most “you” gift you have received? Who is your favorite local artist? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun13

Happy Birthday, Best Friend!

Posted on June 13, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!!!!!! Today is a fantastic, wonderful day because it is my best friend, Kate’s, birthday! Kate of Live In The Nautical is my sweet angel Gemini Twin and it is our happiest time of the year. The blog gods and stars and whatever else truly aligned when I started lifewithlilred because they brought me an instant BFF. Comment and blog collabs quickly turned into texting nonstop and FaceTime dates and nothing has changed in almost a decade. Wait… pretend you didn’t read that last part because we both turned twenty-five this year! 😉

Kate is such a firecracker and a force to be reckoned with. She gives so much, does everything at 150%, and asks for nothing in return. She reminds me so much of me and with all of our similarities from our upbringing and hobbies to current struggles, we really were destined to be best friends. Whether we need a laugh or a vent sesh, we both know who to go to and it is nothing short of an honor to be that person for Kate.

Even though Kate and I are in completely different states, it always feels like she could be right next door whenever we talk. We have probably texted each other a Stephen King length novel in our years of twinship! Johnny now knows without even having to ask who I’m texting when I’m feverishly typing away and always pauses whatever we are watching until my novella is complete lol. What can I say, we just have a lot to say to each other!

My life is SO much better because Kate is a part of it and anyone who has the pleasure of meeting her will say the exact same thing. Her personality and the way she chooses her words can connect with perfect strangers and I know that firsthand! I am the luckiest gal in the world to call Kate my best friend and she deserves to be celebrated every second of every minute of every day. And, even more so on her birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Gemini Twin! I love you!!!!! ❤

Jun6

BFF Birthday Haul

Posted on June 6, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!! It is birthaversary week for myself and my darling Johnny and it is also Gemini season, baby! Not only is this a special time of the year for me and my main squeeze, but it is also a month long celebration with my Gemini Twin and best friend in the entire world, Kate. Kate is the fantastic author of Live In The Nautical and we became fast friends almost a decade ago when lifewithlilred first began. We share almost week apart June birthdays and, although I am not very into astrology, we both definitely live up to our Gemini status!

Every year for birthdays and Christmas, Kate spoils me rotten and she truly outdid herself this year. Both of us share a passion for musicals and she hooked me up with all of the swag from one of my all time favorites – Sweeney Todd. Check it out:

This haul was more like a giftathon because every other day for the past week, I received another package in the mail from my bestie. Every time I got a call from my dad saying that another package arrived, I would rush over to my parents, who live not even five minutes away to pick it up. It was so exciting because I would text Kate immediately after opening a gift and couldn’t believe it when she told me that there was more!

I am loving my new coffee mug to add to my huge collection and the soft and comfy as can be T. The true piece de resistance, however, was the cutting board fresh from Mrs. Lovett’s Pie Shoppe. I actually really wanted a new cutting board for my birthday, which Kate didn’t know and just shows how strong our bestie telepathy is! She knows me so well. ❤

Every day since Kate and I met, I am so thankful to the blogosphere for bringing us both together in a perfect instance of cosmic fate. We basically skipped the line to best friend status and my days feel SO weird if we haven’t texted at least once! Kate is such a shiny, bright light in my life and has and always will be a complete godsend – especially during this current rough patch that I am going through. Her constant care and support never fail to make me smile no matter how bad I am feeling and I am the luckiest gal in the world to be able to call someone like her my best friend. ❤

Thank you to my BFF and Gemini Twin for the amazing gifts, love, and years of beautiful friendship. Here’s to living all year round like it is Gemini season – you know both of your favorite bloggers will be! ❤

What is your favorite musical? Have you met any friends through the blogosphere? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr8

Happy Birthday, Sister!!!

Posted on April 8, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!!! Today is a fantastic, wonderful day because it is my big sister, Kristen’s, birthday!! Kristen and I are barely over two years apart in age and she was and will always be my first best friend. She is such an amazing sister, daughter, and mother and I am so indescribably proud of her. Thanks to Kristen and her equally awesome husband, Ramon, I have two precious nieces who are my world. They are the happiest, most loved little girls and I can’t sing praises of their parents enough. A sister is a gift and I am so thankful for mine:

Kristen is my A1 and despite having drastically different schedules, we still make time for each other as much as we can. We are always trying to cook up fun plans for us and the kiddos and I live for our trips to the park, zoo, and story time at the library. My favorite hang out is when Kristen, Ramon, and the girls come over to my apartment for dinner. I love to host and cook and it brings me so much joy to make a big meal and then enjoy Johnny’s guitar playing or watching a movie or show all together. It isn’t a day at the zoo, but it sure is the absolute best. ❤

My sister is one of the kindest, empathetic, funniest people I have ever met. She is a fierce warrior for animals and is such a great pet parent to her two rescue dogs and two rescue cats too. Whenever she can, Kristen still manages to find time to volunteer at shelters and lends her voice to the animals that have none. I thought I was good at making schedules, but I truly pale in comparison to her. Between family life, work, and volunteering, I genuinely have no idea how she does it all and with a smile on her face to boot!

Throughout my childhood, Kristen has been my role model and she still is every single day as adults. I just love her to pieces and can’t wait to celebrate her special day together! ❤

Happy birthday, Kristen!!!!! ❤ ❤ ❤

Mar25

Are You Ready To Rumble?!

Posted on March 25, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello! After years of himming and hawing, Johnny and I finally took the plunge and invested in the Peacock streaming service. We have been pretty impressed with their selection of scary movies and documentaries but, of course, the huge perk is binging The Office and Parks & Recreation for the millionth time! When we first got Peacock, we started noticing lots of commercials for wrestling events, primarily the Royal Rumble, and we became nothing short of intrigued. So much so that we invited our bestie, Cliff, over to watch it.

Within minutes of our first Royal Rumble viewing, we were hooked. We knew it was going to be a good time because we’re the three best friends that anybody could have, but we weren’t expecting this! It was the funniest, most ridiculous thing on planet Earth and watching big beefy men in Speedos trash talking is all we needed to turn us into wrestling super fans. Thanks to Peacock, we have access to over thirty years worth of Royal Rumbles and it has become our tradition to watch one almost every Saturday night.

Johnny and Cliff are my best boys and I look forward to our Saturday night dose of wrestling all week. We try to DoorDash something different every week for dinner, Cliff insists on making specialty Royal Rumble cocktails, and we settle in on the couch and have a ball. Normally, I can’t stand commercials on a streaming service but I am very grateful in this case. I don’t think we ever would have started our weekly tradition without it!

Johnny and Cliff have been hard at work creating a new podcast (It’s awesome!) and I’m always touched that they take time out of their preparations to hang out and include little old me. Before our viewing of an early Royal Rumble this past weekend, they entrusted me to take promo shots for their podcast. They turned out EXCELLENT, if I do say so myself! While I can’t tell you the name of their show, I can say that it is airplane themed, which you probably figured out due to the pilot hats. My boys insisted that I wore one too because I’m part of their team and my heart melted. ❤

Johnny and Cliff have been best friends since kindergarten and nothing has changed in almost three decades. Ever since Johnny and I started dating, I have been welcomed with open arms into their hang outs and tom foolery and it means the world. As silly as it sounds, the Royal Rumble is now very special to me because it gave us our first BFF tradition all together. Bring on the Royal Rumble tonight, baby!!

Who else is a wrestling fan? What are some traditions you have with your besties? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar13

Fun Aunt & Uncle

Posted on March 13, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!!! Johnny and I are firm on not wanting children and are very happy to be bunny parents. Another title that we take very seriously is the “fun aunt and uncle” to our two sweet nieces, Val Gal and Raya, and our nephew, Patrick. There is nothing better than raising a ruckus with our favorite little humans and then sending them back to their parents afterwards! This past Tuesday was an incredibly special day because Miss Val turned four years old! To celebrate, Johnny and I hosted a birthday slumber party on Thursday with all of her favorite things: Spaghetti and pesto for dinner, a vanilla cupcake and sprinkles for dessert, and lots of presents!

Val is so dear to Johnny and I because she was only half a year old when he and I started dating and she has grown up with us as a couple. We couldn’t wait to have her over for a party just for her and I thought that we had to be more excited than she was. However, we were proved wrong when Val decided she wanted to skip her dance class (Her fave!) to start the festivities early. And, believe me when I say, Val came to our apartment ready to rage lol.

Within minutes presents were ripped open and Johnny was on the floor being attacked by the Tickle Monster. I began the chant of “fun aunt and uncle” and it spread like wildfire between the three of us. Very shortly after, Val assured her mom that she could go home and our party continued with checking out some of her haul. Rather than the toys, Val was enamored with the music box I got her and was convinced it was magic when she shut the box, opened it, and the ballerina continued to spin. It was a hoot. 😀

With promises of birthday cupcakes after dinner, we settled in to eat and watch an episode of Sonic The Hedgehog as per her latest obsession. Johnny and I thought it was hysterical and we were snuggled up on the couch together in stitches. After a rousing round of “happy birthday” and cupcakes, Johnny assembled her new mobile pet grooming station and we played Pet Shop and Johnny’s favorite childhood board game of Uncle Wiggly. Val also got a surprise visit from my bunny baby, Melvin, who so graciously let her and I give him a cuddle before bed. 🙂

Once Johnny went to sleep, Val and I began winding the party down with a bit of TV and silliness. She wasn’t awfully fond of TT’s favorite game called “let’s go to sleep” but she did love jumping on the bed every time I turned my back. Hey, you only turn four once! Johnny and I had the best time celebrating our best girl’s big day and we are so lucky to be the Fun Aunt and Uncle to the coolest kids on the planet! ❤

Did you have a favorite aunt and uncle growing up? How did you celebrate childhood birthdays? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan14

TT & Val Day

Posted on January 14, 2023 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!! At three and a half years old, I thought this winter would be the perfect time to teach my niece, Val, how to ice skate. For a long time, Val used to say that skating would be “too scary” and didn’t want to try it – and that was totally fine! This winter, however, she said that she would like to learn and I had grand plans of taking her to an outdoor rink in Cuyahoga Falls this past Tuesday afternoon. To both of our disappointment, the rink was closed (Naturally) on our treat day but that didn’t stop us from having lots of fun together anyways!

^^^ That last picture. 🙂 The taste of sweet success!

After informing my sister that skating wasn’t going to happen, I told her that I would just watch Val at my parents’ house for the afternoon. Kristen let me know that Val had little wooden bird boxes to paint and has also been wanting to bake brownies and I thought that sounded like a great time! As soon as Val arrived, we got to work on painting and she did so awesome. She finished most of an entire bird house by herself but then got distracted by our dog, Archie, so TT and Momo had to finish things up lol. We decided that the bird houses are probably too small for birds but will be perfect for fairies and butterflies. ❤

Once our group effort masterpieces were done, it was time to make some brownies and Val was very excited. She loves to help her mom bake and they are constantly bringing cupcakes and cookies to my parents and me and Johnny. For our baking process, literally all I did was measure out the liquid ingredients and Val did everything else. She poured the ingredients, cracked the egg, mixed the batter, and filled up the pan by the spoonful all by herself. I was so impressed!!

While our brownies baked and cooled, Val wanted to lay down so we watched a few episodes of Paw Patrol to recharge. That really did the trick because after resting we had brownies to frost and sprinkle. For this, all I did was dollop the frosting on the brownies and showed her how to spread it with a spatula and she was a quick study in this too. After Val perfectly applied rainbow sprinkles to our bakery, I asked her what she wanted to do next and she said “Eat the brownies!”. Lol, that was very easily arranged and I could tell that she was so proud of her hard work. 🙂

Even though our TT and Val day didn’t go accordingly to our original plan, we still had the best day together. I love my lil BFF so much! ❤

How old were you when you started playing a sport? What is your favorite sweet treat? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec20

Happy Haulidays: Bestie Edition

Posted on December 20, 2022 by lifewithlilred

Standard

Hello!! My best friend, Lea, and I have celebrated fourteen Christmases together and we had our annual holiday hang out this past weekend. It was a hoot! I made us a big baked ziti dinner and our husbands had a man date playing banjo together while Lea and I girl talked the evening away. After almost a decade and a half of prezzies purchased, you would think that Lea and I would be fresh out of gift ideas. That’s far from the case for us, though, and Lea is one of my favorite people to shop for! As always, she knocked it out of the park for me too. Check it out:

Until a week or so ago, I never appreciated the joy of fuzzy socks. However, one of my clients gifted me with an amazing pair of slipper socks last week and I am obsessed. So, I was insanely excited to receive some more pairs from Lea! These holiday socks are the softest, most comfortable things that I have ever put on my feet. They keep my tootsies toasty and they are too cute to boot. The polka dot pattern is so sweet and how adorable is that little hedgehog?! 😀

Lea loves to frequent craft fairs during the holiday season and the jewelry dish and T-shirt were both bought at one she went to with her mom. The jewelry dish is going to be perfect for housing my stud earrings, which is just what I need. I have so many pairs throughout the house that I have taken off and never bothered to put back smh. This dish is so pretty and simple and the cream base with the mauve rim is divine.

The piece de resistance from this holiday haul is, of course, the hilarious T-shirt that Lea got me. I have never owned any type of Christmas themed clothing and this shirt is the one to have. Its sentiment speaks to me on a spiritual level and I would have bought it for myself if I saw it while shopping. What can I say, after fourteen years of best friendship, Lea knows a thing or two about me! Although this is a holiday shirt, I will be wearing it year round. In fact, it just might make an appearance in an OOTD coming soon!

I had the best time celebrating Christmas and comradery with my best friend. I look forward to our holiday hang every year and here’s to fourteen more years of them!

Do you have any holiday traditions with your bestie? Where do you like to shop for holiday gifts? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

	Simon on Groovy Movies: Anaconda E…
	lifewithlilred on Groovy Movies: Anaconda E…
	Simon on Groovy Movies: Anaconda E…
	daneelyunus on Happy New Year!
	lifewithlilred on Happy New Year!