Tag Archives: college

Aug29

Monday Update: Back To School Edition

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Monday Update: Back To School Edition

Helloooo everyone and happy Monday! Today marks my first day back on campus at Tri-C for the fall semester and did I mention that it’s my LAST semester?! After this fall, I will be graduated with my Associate of Arts degree! Yay! I will be taking five classes and then I am done, done, DONE and I could not be happier. I will be mighty busy this fall with both of my jobs on top of a full time school schedule but it will be so nice to just power through it all and wind up with a degree at the end of it.

I will try to post as often as I can but just know that if I randomly go MIA for a short while, it is because I am drowning in homework. This fall I will be taking Adolescent Psychology, Bioethics, Astronomy, a course called Ecology, Environment, and Evolution, as well as a lab for that course. Yikes! All of the classes sound interesting enough, though, so there’s that. -_-

My fall guest bloggers series will be coming soon on lifewithlilred so keep your eyes peeled for that as I feature some wonderful bloggers and their favorite things about fall! Now, I will leave you with a little ditty from one of my fave school based flicks, Billy Madison:

^^^ Just beautiful.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Back To School Edition! Who else is starting up at college soon? How do you keep yourself organized during a busy semester? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. –Sarah

Aug12

Amazon Freebie

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Amazon Freebie

Hi everyone and TGIF! I am finally getting up to date on all of my summer purchases posts and this one pertains to my new favorite sweatshirt that I got on Amazon for FREE! Thanks to completing surveys on IPoll, I received a twenty-five dollar Amazon gift card in April or so. Since then, the card has been burning a hole in my pocket but after watching Animal House with my parents last month, I knew just what to spend it on. Take a look:

Animal House is one of my favorite movies because it’s basically the original Old School – which happens to be another one of my favorites! In Animal House, the “COLLEGE” sweatshirt that Bluto sports while downing a bottle of Jack always cracks me up. The shirt is just so ridiculous and as soon as I saw it while watching the movie last month, I knew that I wanted one of my own.

After the movie was finished, I turned to Amazon and hoped that they would have one for a reasonable price. I was in luck because they had a great selection and all of the sweatshirts seemed to be in my gift card budget and had excellent reviews. I was able to snag my Animal House style sweatshirt for twenty-seven bucks but thanks to my gift card and the points that I accumulated from my Amazon credit card, I got it FO FREE! Now that’s what I call ballin on a budget!

So there you have it, my Animal House Amazon Freebie! What is your favorite crazy college kids movie? What is your favorite quote from Animal House? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. –Sarah

May13

All Done!

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All Done!

Hey everyone and TGIF! This week my spring semester at Tri-C finished up and I could not be happier. This semester seemed to drag on like no other, especially considering I only really enjoyed one of the classes I was taking. Despite disliking some of my courses, I still ended the semester with straight A’s for days so that was cool! Now that all of my classes are over and done with, I get a little break until the end of May when my summer classes and internship begin.

This summer I’ll be taking a course on Shakespeare, cultural anthropology, and the psychology of personality on top of my internship on campus. In fact, I just logged on to my student page a few minutes ago and saw that I have an official employee email account now so that made me feel…official. 😉 I’m excited that I’ll get to have some time off before my busy summer but I’m so amped to start my new classes and campus job that I just want it to get here now!

My time off will be well spent, though. During my little vaca, I plan on finishing all of my home interviews for a research project my job with NCI (National Core Indicators) is working on. After ten or so more interviews, I’ll be done until we start up our research again this winter. I also have lots of plans to catch up with some old friends as well as perfecting everything for my birthday party at the end of the month! Then it will be off to North Carolina for some much deserved R&R for the family. Can’t wait!

I’m pleased as punch to be All Done with my spring semester – especially with the good grades to show for it! Where are all of my college kids at? How did you fare this semester? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr9

Versatile Blogger Award #2

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Versatile Blogger Award #2

Hellooo everyone and happy weekend! Last week I was nominated by my friend, Teressina, over at teressinascrive for my second Versatile Blogger Award. I’m finally getting around to posting it and I’m just pleased as punch. I am so appreciative to everyone for the awards that I’ve been nominated for as of late so muchos gracias to all of you. Also, please be sure to check out Teressina’s page, it’s a real gem! Thank you so much, darling! With all of the blogging awards comes a set of rules to follow so take a look and then let’s get to it:

The Rules:

  • Show the award on my blog.
  • Thank the person who nominated me.
  • Share 7 things about myself.
  • Nominate 10 blogs.

All About Me:

  1. The most recent exciting thing in my life is that I got a summer internship at my school! Tri-C offered me three different internships and unfortunately I only could pick one but I went with working in the Learning Commons. I can’t wait to spend my summer semester working on campus and am looking forward to all of the experience that comes with it!
  2. I turn 22 on June 7th and I really want to get a bunny for my birthday! A female, jet black, dwarf rabbit to be specific. 😉
  3. My guilty pleasure television shows are My 600 Lb. Life and Botched.
  4. I seriously despised high school but college is literally my favorite thing in the world.
  5. My go to drink at the bar is a Vodka Sour or a Mojito if I’m feeling saucy. But I would much prefer just staying at home and drinking a cheap bottle of wine. My boyfriend and I call my favorite super sweet wine “Princess Juice”.
  6. I love to read and have finally jumped on the bandwagon that is The Hunger Games. I’m halfway through Catching Fire and I’m freaking obsessed.
  7. Shopping is my sport of choice and my favorite stores are easily H&M, Forever 21, TJMaxx, and Target.

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

So there you have it, lifewithlilred’s second Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks again to Teressina at teressinascrive for the nomination! What are some fun facts about yourself? Does anyone have any big weekend plans? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb2

Hello, Spring Semester

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Hello, Spring Semester

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! Today I start my first day of classes back at Tri-C for the spring semester and I’m moderately excited. (My Abnormal Psychology class which started a few weeks ago is going great, by the way!) I know I posted a couple of articles ago that I would be taking French II this semester but unfortunately, that class got cancelled. Apparently not enough students signed up and yada, yada, yada which I think is a shame. I was so looking forward to that class and improving my French skills even more and now that isn’t going to happen. So if anyone knows of any good learning French programs, please leave me a comment!

Due to French II being cancelled, I had to find a new class to sign up for. Naturally, they only alerted me that I would need a new class a week and a half until the semester starts. Panicked, I had to skim through the classes that were still available and was left with slim pickings of weekend and evening classes and other courses that didn’t fit with my schedule for transporting my siblings. I was so frustrated and ended up signing up for a Film Appreciation course. The class should be fun and easy but it isn’t something that I really wanted or needed to take. I have that class tomorrow evening, so we’ll see how it goes!

Everything for the spring semester just seems to be going wrong. For my Intro to Criminology course, I had to purchase a very expensive text book that came with the access code for all of the online assignments. It was just my luck that when I received the book in the mail, the access code was nowhere to be found. I’m taking the class online and it started yesterday. I looked through the various posts, links, and assignments that my professor provided and the option to purchase the e-book and access code popped up. That sure would have been nice to know when I had emailed my professor about the text book prior to the class starting. Especially because to purchase the e-book and access code from the links he provided was way cheaper. Now I have to brave the crowded and busy campus book store tomorrow to get my access code-less book returned. Yayyyy.

It’s not like I’m complaining…but I’m totally complaining. It’s so annoying/irritating/frustrating when all you want is for something to go smoothly but it just ends up being slightly disastrous. But hey, at least I am going to get everything taken care of and then I should be a-okay. I just needed to vent because these school related problems have been driving me crazy! I’ve also never really had to deal with any slip ups or mishaps during my time at Tri-C so for it to happen now is such a buzzkill! -_-

I’ve said Hello to my Spring Semester but I really just wish I could rewind the past couple of days and have a redo! Where are all of my college kids at? What classes are you taking this semester? What was one of the worst mishaps that have happened to you in college? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan20

Busy Busy Week!

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Busy Busy Week!

Hello everyone and happy Hump Day! This is a Busy Busy Week for Lil Red…One of my college classes started yesterday, my boyfriend’s mom is getting surgery, I have Special Olympics skating to coach, siblings to drive, and I’ll be out of office Thursday night and Friday for a road trip to Detroit, Michigan. Detroit?! Yes, Detroit. My uncle is trading in his car to someone in that neck of the woods so I’m going to be his wing girl so he has a way to get home! It will be about a three and a half hour trip and luckily my travel partner is one of my favorite relatives so it should be a lot of fun.

One of my classes for my spring semester at Tri-C started yesterday so I need to get a jump on that since I won’t have much time to work on it throughout the week. I’m taking French II, Introduction to Criminology, and Abnormal Psychology which is the one that just started. I’ve taken so many different psychology courses at Tri-C that I can’t even think of them all off of the top of my head. I’ve loved all of my psych courses but I’m really looking forward to my newest class. I enjoy learning about mental health and different disorders so I have a feeling that the Abnormal Psychology class will be one of my favorites. My French and Criminology classes don’t start until February 1st so it will be nice to get a little refresher for a few weeks after my winter break!

I have a lot of fun posts lined up for this week once things slow down a little including some new purchases from Forever 21, a possible article for a new company that I’ll be posting for if it’s ready, and some beauty product reviews. I’ll try to get some of these prewritten so I can schedule them for when I’ll be away during my Detroit drive! I’ve really enjoyed my winter break but I’m so ready to get back into the normal crazy swing of things. Having some time off was nice but I can’t wait to get back to work and get a few steps closer towards getting my Associate of Arts degree!

It’s definitely a Busy Busy Week in the world of Lil Red but you can always count on me to keep supplying the latest and greatest here on the ol’ blog! Where are all of my college kids at? What courses are you taking for your spring semester? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan18

Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

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Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend! On Friday I got nominated by my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the Beauty Blogger Award. I was so flattered to be nominated for the second time by such a fantastic blogger so make sure you check out her page! With all of the fun blogging awards comes rules, of course, so take a look and then see how I answered the questions that Kezzie asked her nominees:

The Rules:

  • Tag and thank who nominated you.
  • Respond to the questions that your nominator gave you.
  • Nominate 10 new beauty/fashion bloggers.
  • Create 10 new questions for these bloggers to answer.
  • Tell the blogger that you nominated them.

Got it? Good! Now let’s take a look at Kezzie’s questions:

Q & A:

Are you studying? If so what?

Yes, I am! I’m currently working towards getting my Associate of Arts degree at Tri-C in Cleveland, Ohio.

What are you reading right now?

I just started The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I’m about one hundred pages in and I really like it so far!

What is your favorite lipstick shade?

That’s easy! I love NYX’s Pure Red matte lipstick. It’s seriously the best matte lipstick I’ve ever used and the shade is perfect for Lil Red!

What is your go to outfit for winter?

During the winter, I like to wear my black skinnies (obviously), with a chunky sweater, my Michael Kors booties, one of my many peacoats, and the super warm gloves my boyfriend got me for Christmas.

What is your favorite all time TV character?

This is also an easy one. Elaine from Seinfeld will always be one of my all time favorite TV characters. I want to be her when I grow up.

Do you have a favorite Youtuber?

Not really, I don’t go on YouTube very often.

What inspires you the most in life?

People who are working their asses off to improve their lives and themselves.

What do you do when you are having a bad day?

Hmmm…Before, when I had a bad day I used to use really unhealthy coping mechanisms. Now that I’m clean from that, I like to take bubble baths, write, and binge watch Netflix in bed when I’m having a bad day…So basically what I do every day. 😉

What is your favorite nail polish shade?

Black. Black. Black. I don’t paint my nails often but when I do I always paint them black. Lol, I sound like the Dos Equis guy! When I used to have my talon like fake nails, they were always black with red for an accent nail and a cross on both of my middle fingers. I miss my fake nails so much but they were a lot of upkeep and not having them is a total money saver. Now every time I do something that definitely would have broken a nail, I breathe a little sigh of relief in knowing that I won’t have to rush to the salon to get it fixed!

What is your favorite makeup store?

I love The Body Shop and a lot of my makeup does come from there but honestly, I’m just as happy getting the last odds and ends of what I need at Target. They have a shockingly wonderful makeup selection and I like to use Covergirl and Rimmel. For a treat, I like to use their Pixie brand!

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

My Questions For You:

  1. What is your favorite beauty item that you treat yourself with?
  2. What was one of your worst fashion or beauty moments?
  3. If you could raid one celebrity’s wardrobe, who would it be?
  4. Would you rather wear the same outfit every day for a week or not wear makeup for a month?
  5. Bubble baths or long showers?
  6. Did someone teach you how to wear makeup or did you learn how to do it on your own?
  7. What is your favorite makeup or clothing store to score a bargain?
  8. What was your favorite fashion or beauty moment?
  9. How would you describe your style?
  10. Everyone has a color that just looks perfectly awful on them. What color is that for you? What about the color that looks best on you?

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition! Thank you so much again to my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the nomination! How was everyone’s weekend? How would you answer some of the questions that I asked my nominees? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec11

So Long, Fall Semester

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So Long, Fall Semester

Hellooo everyone and TGIF! This week marks the end of my fall semester at Tri-C and I am SO relieved to be done! I took all of my exams within these last few days and passed with flying colors, of course. This semester I took French I, Comparative World Religions, Intro to Civilizations, and Ethics and for the most part really enjoyed all of my classes. After my winter break, I’ll be taking French II, Abnormal Psychology, and Intro to Criminology – but I have an entire month until I have to start thinking about that!

I’m looking forward to having some downtime for once in my life during my winter break but not too much because I’ll be starting my new work opportunity this upcoming Saturday! As I mentioned in my previous post Exciting Announcements, I’ll be taking part in a research project as an interviewer for families effected by developmental disabilities. I’m so excited to get started and the beauty of the project is that I can make my own schedule for it so I can interview people whenever I want during my break. This is great for the days where I feel like lounging on the couch and watching America’s Next Top Model marathons!

I have a lot of friends returning to Ohio for the holidays so my winter break provides me with a lot of much needed catch up time with some of my dear friends. My brother and his wife will be coming home for Christmas. A pal of mine in LA will be returning to the home front AND my beloved best friend in the army, Tyler, will be making an appearance, as well! I’M SO HAPPY!!!

In the last couple of weeks of my fall semester, all I could think about was winter break…But that didn’t stop me from fully enjoying all of my classes! I learned so much in each of my courses and rocked straight A’s for days in all of them. Not only did I excel in my coursework but I also got accepted into two different advertising companies, Wordads and Twistfire Media, which I am SO thrilled about. Everything seems to be falling into place very nicely so with a happy heart, I can say So Long to my Fall Semester!

I hope all of you are having a fantastic start to your weekend! Where are all of my college kids at? Has your winter break started yet? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec1

Ballin On A Budget

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Ballin On A Budget

Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! As a college kid, I’m always looking for ways to save a buck in everything from beauty and clothes to eating out and buying textbooks. In the past few weeks I’ve demonstrated some frugal efforts at its finest in my beauty routines and now I’m here to share them with you! Let’s discuss:

1) Dye your hair at home!!!! – Back in the day, I would get my hair dyed and cut monthly. I was obsessed with keeping my hair as fabulously red as possible (I still am) and would eagerly shell out about seventy bucks per month at the salon to satisfy my needs. Once I started school, I knew that my hair dying habit had to die. I began to search Target and drug stores for the box color that would match the color I would get done at the salon the closest. Lucky for me, I found a perfect if not better match in Vidal Sassoon’s London Luxe collection. Their Runway Red box color is literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me because now I pay a whopping eight dollars per month for salon quality color!

runway1.jpg

I went from spending over eight hundred dollars yearly to about ninety dollars thanks to using box color on my luscious locks. Every month I now look forward to my pampering time when I throw on a robe, apply my hair color, and watch the water turn red as I wash it out. There’s nothing better! And the sweet smell of savings and freshly dyed and washed hair ain’t too bad either!

Have makeup free days: In the past month, I’ve spent at least twelve days makeup free. These are the days when I’m working on school work from home, when I’m having girl time with my best friend, or hangouts with my boyfriend (because if he can handle my bad breath in the morning he can handle seeing me makeup free, damnit!). I used to do my makeup every day no matter what but then I realized that it’s kind of silly to do that when no one but your family is going to see you in it. Now I only apply my makeup on days that I know for a cold hard fact I’ll be going out and about running errands, to school, or date nights with my beau.

By not using my makeup every single day, I’ve been stretching out how long the product lasts. My black eyeliner, for example, usually needs replacing after one month but as November comes to a close, I still have a little less than half of it left. This has dwindled down my spending at Target significantly because I no longer have to go to the store to do my monthly stock ups. Yes, I’ll be buying the products eventually but if I decrease the amount of eyeliner I buy per year by three, that’s saving close to twenty dollars! And that doesn’t even include mascara, eye shadows, blushes, and whatever other products you might use! My makeup free days have been stretching my dollar for this month which means more moolah to spend on holiday shopping!

ryan

^^^ Thanks, Ryan. ❤

So there you have it, just a few of the ways that Lil Red is Ballin On A Budget! What are some of your money saving secrets? What box color do you swear by? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov26

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

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Helloooo everyone and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you have a marvelous day celebrating or doing whatever it is that you do with your family and loved ones. I’ll keep this post short and sweet since I plan on eating every second of every minute of every hour today so let me just list a few things that I’m grateful for and then I’ll be on my merry way:

  • My family: Despite how annoying they are, I still love em!
  • My friends: I only have like three, but I still love em!
  • My boyfriend: He’s the best! What a guy! ❤
  • My dog: SHE’S SO CUTE!
  • My education: I love college. #asherroth #kegstand
  • My blog and all of my fantastic readers: lifewithlilred wouldn’t be the same without all of you SO THANKS! 🙂

^^^ There’s a lot more that I could list but I’ll leave it at that because a big old plate of stuffing is waiting for mama…along with a whole lot of self loathing afterwards. 😉

Have a beautiful day to all of my friends here on lifewithlilred and I’ll talk to all of you very soon! What is everyone thankful for today? What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah