Tag Archives: date night

Jul25

9 Simple Self Care Changes That Make A Big Impact

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9 Simple Self Care Changes That Make A Big Impact

Having a soothing evening of self care is something that everyone enjoys. A little bit of TLC can make a world of difference with how you feel. Here are some of the best ways to relax and refresh your mind and body:

A long, hot bath: This time may be difficult to achieve if you have young children, but if you do get the chance to have a long soak in the tub, then snap it up. Light some candles, switch the main light off, pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink, and dollop a large amount of bubble bath into the tub. Let the hot water and amazing aromas take you away from the stresses of life for a little while.

Another great thing to do when taking a bath, is adding some pink Himalayan salt to your water. It has incredible health benefits, especially in the realms of skin care. You’ll come out feeling relaxed and your skin will feel super soft thanks to the exfoliating properties of the salt.

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 Those nails!

Face masks: Another great way to treat your skin is to slap on a face mask, cut some slices of cucumber, and relax for ten or so minutes. Your skin will feel refreshed and supple and hopefully the cucumbers will have eliminated those tired bags from under your eyes.

One downside of face masks, is that the first few times that you use them, you may break out in acne. This is your body expelling the dirt underneath your skin. Always remember to make sure that you’re using a mask that is safe for your face. Check out beautyproductwarnings.com for the best advice on skin care and products.

Meditation is a fabulous way of unwinding from your day. Put some relaxing music on, sit comfortably, and breathe deeply. With each exhale of air, push out any worries or complications that you’ve had that day. Once you feel calm and relaxed, you can continue to enjoy the rest of your evening.

Similar to meditation, hypnosis can also work wonders with relieving stress. You simply pop some headphones in and listen. Make sure that you’re comfortable and let the recording take you away. Hypnosis can be great for people with anxiety or people who struggle to sleep. Michael Sealey’s YouTube account is a fantastic example of the hypnosis that you might want to look for.

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 R&R

Time to yourself: Having a small amount of time to yourself is underrated. You may adore your partner and children but taking some time to just be yourself is incredible for the mind. Letting it all hang out (ayyy!) on the sofa in front of the TV is all some people need to rejuvenate.

Foot spa: You might not have a fancy foot spa at home, but there are other ways that you can treat your feet for next to no cost at all. Get yourself a bucket and fill it just under halfway with warm water (the heat you would use for a bath). Be sure to add some bubbles and maybe a drop of lavender oil into the water. Sit yourself down with a book or while watching TV and pop your feet into the bucket. You will feel relaxed almost instantly. Be sure to hit the pumice stone and lotion after!

Manis & Pedis are another great way of treating yourself. You don’t necessarily have to do this at home, either. Take yourself to your favorite salon and enjoy some pampering. Plus, with the amount of wonderful designs that you can choose for your nails these days, you will walk away looking absolutely fabulous.

Dye your hair: Doing this can make you feel like a whole new person. Your hair will look shiny and full of life again and you can even cover up those evil greys(!). Be careful not to over-dye your hair, though, as this can be very damaging to your scalp and locks. Be sure to also get regular trims if you dye your hair as split ends are easily formed.

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 Pamper party!

Have a beauty evening with your girls: Invite the girls over for some drinks and giggles and ask them to bring their makeup bags. You can gossip and put the world to rights while doing each other’s makeup. It’s a great way of relaxing and afterwards, you will be ready to hit the town!

One thing to remember with using makeup is to not ruin your skin by caking it unnecessarily. Take a look at the best way to apply foundation and the routine you should adopt before applying it.

Spend alone time with your SO: It’s likely that you’ve both had a mega hectic day and have barely seen each other. Take the time at least once a week to cook a meal together and sit at the table with no distractions. Talking through your day or week with your loved one can relieve stress and anxiety, and it will also stop any distancing between you as a couple. Grab some wine and make it romantic. There’s nothing wrong with keeping the spark alive in your relationship, even if you’ve been together for many years.

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#datenight

We all have to work hard in life to get what we want, but we also need to take care of ourselves in the process. Take time at least once a week to do one of these things and you will start to notice the difference in how you feel. Also, pampering and self-care will not only make you feel better, but look better too. It’s a win-win situation!

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Jul10

Battle Of The Sexes: How Men And Women Get Ready

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Battle Of The Sexes: How Men And Women Get Ready

You’re going out. Maybe it’s date night, or perhaps an evening out with friends to celebrate a special occasion. Both you and your boyfriend have agreed what time you need to leave; you have to be out of the door by 8 PM/8:15 at the very, very latest.

So the clock starts ticking. *Que Jeopardy theme*

vss.pngClocks can’t rush perfection. 😉

6 PM; You: “I guess I better start thinking of what I’m going to wear…”

You head to your closet and start inspecting literally everything that you own. Of course, none of it is acceptable; a closet full of gorgeous clothing but nothing that you’re enthused about wearing. You try on a few outfits, but none of them seem to be the right look for the night.

6 PM; Boyfriend: “Oh that’s right, we’re going out.”

And then promptly forgets about it, continuing on with the task he was doing beforehand. SMH.

6:30 PM; You: “What are you wearing?”

Having finally decided on your own outfit, you decide it’s probably a decent idea to make sure your boyfriend isn’t going to clash. You track him down and ask what he’s wearing.

6:30 PM; BF: “I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest.” (Typical.)

He doesn’t panic, though. It’s pretty simple for men; pants and some kind of shirt will suffice for the vast majority of occasions. He’s sure something is clean. He looks puzzled when you mention the idea of color clashing (What does that even mean?!).

6:45 PM; You: “Getting my groom on.” AYYY

You head to the bathroom to begin the process of getting ready. It’s actually one that you quite like, so you’re happy to spend some time going through the familiar motions of preparing yourself for the world.

You shower. You moisturize. You brush leave-in conditioner through your hair. You wrap your hair in a towel (which you boyfriend proclaims to be “witchcraft, when it’s really just strategically placed tucks and folds). You’re ready for phase two.

7 PM; BF: “Oh, I guess I should shower, as well, shouldn’t I?”

Reminded only by the fact that you’ve showered, he hops into the bathroom himself and does his routine. It’s a bit shorter than yours; shower, shave, a little bit of manscaping, aftershave, and then he’s good to go. He heads to get dressed.

7 PM -7.30; You: “Primer, foundation, concealer, eyeshadow…”

You know the motions of getting ready by now and the routine is smooth and simple. It takes a while – don’t worry, even women with the steadiest of hands aren’t able to apply eyeliner flawlessly on the first attempt – but you know that you’ve got time. With your makeup done, all you need to do is put your pre-chosen outfit on and do your hair. Job done. Well, nearly.

7:30 PM; BF: “I really did think I had something clean…”

After a panicked look through his entire wardrobe, he finally alights on an outfit that looks presentable. He’s ready.

7:45 PM; You: “Are you sure this looks okay?”

Still preening in the mirror, you’ve suddenly taken wildly against the outfit that you selected less than two hours prior. (It happens to the best of us.)

7:50 PM; BF: “Yes it’s fine. You look fine. Great. Can we go?”

8 PM; Both Of You: Finally ready, you head out of the door for your night out. You might have taken different routes to get to this point, but you got there in the end and that’s all that matters!

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Looking good feeling great.

Everyone has a different getting ready routine and as long as you get from Point A to Point B on time, you can’t really complain about your SO’s totally annoying pre date night process! 😉

Jan28

Never Been On A Date

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Helloooo everyone and happy weekend! I hope all of you are having a wonderful day so far. So in case you guys weren’t aware, my Think Spring guest bloggers series is launching on February 15th. This series has been a fun one to work on and it has given me the opportunity to make some new blogging friends, like Lakshmi from The Rink. Lakshmi will be featured in my guest bloggers series but she was also kind enough to provide me with another terrific post for lifewithlilred. This article is titled “Never Been On A Date” and you saw it here first!

Never Been On A Date:

Terms, which you won’t believe, that exist!

I am L.R. and I come from India. For those who don’t know, there is this system in India known as the “arranged marriage system” – a guy and a girl who are ‘destined’ to be with each other (through the idea of horoscope matching) get married. They need not know each other or even have to love each other before getting married. Why, in the olden times, they wouldn’t even meet each other until the wedding ceremony. Just to clarify, this system doesn’t happen all over India but in the conservative families.

The rules have since relaxed a little. Nevertheless, it is still of importance to get the girl married before she turns a certain age, currently it is 24 (which is pretty late according to them!). I am in this inevitable system. There is this thing known as “trust” – something that I built with quite a strong foundation in my parents’ minds for not ‘loving’ or ‘dating’ any guy. This will keep me out of any relationships with a constant status of “Single but not available”. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to my friends of other lands but that is how it is!

I live in the Present too!

Being in such a connected world in the 21st Century, I have to say that 99% of the movies I see, books I read, and all of media revolve around “love”… not the daughter-parents love or platonic love but love – the feeling you have towards a special someone. While people on every other side of the Earth keep waiting to meet “the one”, I know that I’ll meet him through my parents. Nope, the guys on whom I have crushes on will never be my one. As of now, love is a forbidden emotion, almost like the Candy House in Hansel and Gretel! Yes, I know that I live in 2017!

I mean, forget love… lets talk about the dating game.

Have I ever dated? Nope! Because this will lead to love, of course. While some of my friends go on dates and love guys, I freak out about the fortress of trust. Once we break it, it will take long to re-build it. Do I want to go on a date? I am restricted from giving an absolute answer. I want to try it. Just imagine that you are forbidden from eating chocolate for your entire life and everywhere you see, there are movies and books about chocolate (analogy is, admittedly, not the greatest here). You would want to taste this restricted deliciousness… at least once, right?

Looking back at it now, it is funny that I have grown up with this ‘inserted’ thought that I’m not beautiful and I should be beautiful only for the guy I marry. To tell you the truth, I’m not a very pretty girl but a girl with some definite admirers. Yes, some of them have mustered up the courage to even approach me (dating game and love is still considered a mild taboo). I just rush away from the spot or speak to them meanly or even lie to them about already having a boyfriend. Haha! This is what I did! After all of this, my girlfriends and I sit and talk and laugh about these encounters! Although I kept brushing away dates, deep inside I knew that I wanted to try it once.

When I really wanted to try it and I asked some of my ‘experienced’ friends, they always tell me to never fall into this trap! Then, they would overflow with episodes from their bad dating life – the ones in which I would hate to be a part. Seeing them cry, I would feel that it is the right decision to stay far away from the dating world. But hey! I don’t know how it will be… These friends of mine recommend it one in four times… one in four times, they would actually be content in the game. This left me with the only thing that improved over the years – my imagination.

I imagine being on a date with the most awesome and handsome celebrities out there in the world. Even in my daydreams, the date doesn’t go well! I feel like everything is in the right place except my conscience. Haha! Growing up this way, I don’t think that I will ever sneak around to go on a date. I just cannot be a badass – it’s not me. And guess what? I like this style of living. I am familiar with it. I don’t have heart-breaks. I don’t need to search far and wide for my true love. I don’t need to date a couple of losers to find the one. I kind of get a fast-pass to the real deal in this game! Around 95% of the arranged marriages that happen through this system in India come with a guarantee that the couple will stay together as long as they live!

Welcome to my life!

❤ L.R.

Fashion blogger

THE RINK

^^^ Thank you so much again to Lakshmi for such an informative and delightful read! You can catch her again soon during my Think Spring guest bloggers series! What is the best or worst date that you have ever been on? How does Lakshmi’s lifestyle differ or relate to your own? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: If you are interested in participating in my guest bloggers series, feel free to shoot me an email at sarah.mush6794@gmail.com! 🙂

Oct19

Feel Confident and Look Fantastic For a First Date

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Feel Confident and Look Fantastic For a First Date

A first date is exciting and daunting in equal measures. Knowing what to wear can be a bit of a difficult one, as you want to make a good impression but without looking like you’re trying too hard! If you have a first date coming up, here’s how you can make sure you look and feel as confident as possible.

Have a Pamper Night: Before your big date, spend some time relaxing and using your favorite products. A facial, hair mask, and some exfoliating and moisturizing products will all get your skin and hair into tip-top condition. A hair removal wax such as sugaring hair removal will get your skin looking completely smooth. This is particularly important if you’re wearing an outfit that shows off your legs! Paint your nails and generally unwind with some music and scented candles. You’ll feel rejuvenated and will be looking your best when you get ready for the date.

Wear Something Comfortable Yet Flattering: You want to look like yourself on your date, just the best version of yourself. So if you don’t usually wear dresses or high heels, now isn’t the time to start. Instead, choose items that you’re comfortable in, but look good on you. A good tip is to pick one area to show off and keep everything else covered, this allows you to show a little skin while still keeping it classy.

You could opt for a top that shows your decolletage, collarbones, and cleavage while wearing tights or trousers and long sleeves. You could choose to show off your legs with a shorter dress and go for sleeves and a higher neckline on top. Or, you could show off your arms or back in a top while wearing trousers. Any of these combinations work well for a first date, so decide which areas that you’re happiest with and wear what will give you confidence. Then, you can look into your wardrobe and plan accordingly or even treat yourself to a brand new look by shopping Ethical Fashion for Women. Regardless of what you wear, if you are confident – it will radiate!

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 Mascara is a must!

Go For Pretty, Neutral Makeup: When you want to look beautiful, it can be easy to go overboard on the makeup. But if you’re just going to the movies or for causal drinks – strong highlight and contour, dramatic lips, smokey eyes, and killer false eyelashes are just going to look a bit much. Again wear what you like and makes you feel comfortable, but your best bet is to accentuate your natural beauty. A dewy foundation with a flattering shade of blush, light neutral eyeshadow, and plenty of black mascara, for example, will give you a radiant, fresh-faced appearance.

Wear Perfume: While this isn’t something that will impact how you look, a spritz of perfume shouldn’t be missed from your first date outfit. Research by Cosmo showed that fragrance has the ability to seduce and excite. Over a third of men polled said that gorgeous perfume will captivate their interest on a first date. It will probably give you a bit of added confidence too, which is never a bad thing

What is your perfect first date outfit? What are some of your tricks to avoid first date jitters? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Pexels

Aug18

One Year Anniversary

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One Year Anniversary

Hey everyone and happy Thursday! So Monday was a lot of fun because my boyfriend, Kyle, and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Technically, it falls on the twentieth but there’s no harm in breaking out the party pants a few days early! We had a fantastic day of fine dining at Taco Bell, getting drinks, and going to see Suicide Squad in the evening. AND exchanging presents is always a plus! Our big day together was just the best and I wanted to give an extra special I love you shout out to my Kyle! You are amazing and thank you for a fantastic year together! Hurray! ❤

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^^^ #AWE 😉

Feb23

Delicious Baked Ziti Recipe

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Delicious Baked Ziti Recipe

Hiii everyone and happy Tuesday! So in yesterday’s Monday Update I mentioned that I made my boyfriend a baked ziti dish for our six month anniversary. It turned out amazing and my beau and family really enjoyed it. The recipe I found on allrecipes was way too good not to share so I thought that I would post it for your super cheesy pleasure today! You’re welcome! 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups ziti pasta, uncooked
  • 1 (26) oz jar marinara sauce (Instead of plain old Ragu, I used a specialty sauce with extra garlic and herb flavoring to kick things up a little)
  • 1 (14.5) oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used a can that had additional oregano and Italian herb seasoning)
  • 6 oz cream cheese, cubed (The blocked cream cheese usually comes in 8 oz packaging so I just used the whole thing)
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients That I Added:

  • 8 cloves garlic
  • salt
  • pepper
  • basil
  • parsley
  • oregano
  • Italian seasoning

Ingredients I Will Use Next Time:

  • More seasoning
  • Onions
  • Green pepper
  • Zuchinni
  • Yellow squash

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Cook pasta, using the directions on the packaging. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove and drain.
  3. After you have removed the pasta, turn the burner down to medium heat. Add the rest of your ingredients in the pan and let it cook for about 5 min. or until the cheese is completely melted.
  4. Add the pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly.
  5. Layer the pasta into a 13×9 in. baking pan and then top with extra mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
  6. Bake for 20 min. or until heated through.

*** A word to the wise: This recipe made a GIGANTIC amount of food so be prepared for left overs! Here is the link to the recipe that I used, if you would like to reference it for any reason! Special thanks to whomever posted it, it was delicious! 🙂

The baked ziti was a hit for my family and my boyfriend so I hope all of you enjoy it as much as we did! What is your favorite food to make? What is your favorite food to eat? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb22

Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition

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Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition

Hey everyone and welcome to a new week here on lifewithlilred! On Saturday it was me and Kyle’s six month anniversary so we had a lovely day together to celebrate! We had the best time during our date day and I can’t wait to relive it as I type this out. But before I get started on how we spent our six month, here’s a friendly reminder of how cute we are:

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^^^ What a stud! The red head isn’t too bad either…

Kyle picked me up around two o’clock on Saturday afternoon to get our festivities started. We live about a half hour away from each other so during our drive back to his place we made a game plan for how we would like to spend the day. We decided on afternoon drinks while video gaming or watching Netflix, dinner, and then a night out at the movies to wrap it up!

 To start the afternoon drinks portion of our agenda, Kyle and I stopped at the Giant Eagle on the way home for some booze. I got Kyle a drink shaker as one of his Valentine’s Day gifts so we thought it would be fun to put it to use today. We had a bit of a hard time deciding on a drink that we could make because the only hard liquor that I really “do” is vodka, which Kyle isn’t a huge fan of. However, a bottle of sour berry and lemon vodka spoke to me and Kyle thought it sounded alright so we went for it. We then got some fruit punch and lemonade to mix with it as well as a back up pack of hard apple cider in case our concoction was sub par.

With our alcohol haul bagged up and ready to go, we headed back to Kyle’s house to have some quality time with the TV. But before we started our session of “Netflix and chill” we had a drink to make! Kyle broke out his new shaker (which he loved) and mixed up our berry beverage. It wasn’t bad except for the fact that the vodka was blue, the lemonade was a pale yellow, and the fruit punch was a raspberry red so when it was all mixed together it made the most disgusting dish water grey color. The drink tasted like a liquefied version of SweetTarts but it definitely tasted better if you avoided looking at the color of it. -_-

Once our drinks were made, we began our marathon of Wentworth, our latest TV obsession. When Kyle and I binge watch shows, we are SO serious about it. If we can’t knock out at least two episodes of it at once, we don’t even bother putting it on to begin with. This high focused level of Netflix watching calls for comfortable clothes so it was a must to change into our pajamas until our evening out at the movies. Kyle and I knocked out two episodes of Wentworth, at least ten games of Super Smash Bros., and a rousing tournament of Mario Kart Double Dash before we decided we were hungry.

Lucky for us, I prepared dinner for the occasion the previous day so all we had to do was let it heat in the oven. I love cooking for Kyle so I wanted to make a special dinner for him so that we didn’t have to bother dining out. I made a super cheesy dish of baked ziti, a pan of ficaccia bread, and cupcakes for dessert. At my house we have never really had ziti so I was a bit wary of how it would turn out. I also have never made ficaccia without my mom’s help so I was relived that they both turned out great! Kyle loved it and so did my family who I test drove the meal for when I prepared it at home. The ziti was rich, the bread was baked to a perfect crisp, and the cupcakes were so decadent so needless to say, we were stuffed silly!

After dinner we had an hour or so to kill before it was time for our movie so we knocked out another episode of Wentworth before we left. I told Kyle a few days ago that I wanted to see the latest horror flick that came out, The Witch. We rarely go to the movies so I thought it would be a good way to wrap up our anniversary day. There’s a theater that Kyle lives by called TinselTown and it’s the biggest movie theater I’ve ever seen so I was really excited when he picked out a movie time for that location!

Our show started at 7:40 and we made it in time to examine all of the movie posters that are hanging up in the hallways to promote upcoming films. I had a minor freak out when I saw that a new movie for The Little Prince (my favorite book) is coming out in March! After I calmed down, we got settled in the theater to wait for the movie to start. I had heard excellent reviews for The Witch and I love horror films so I was eager for the movie to begin.

But unfortunately…The Witch really missed the mark for basically everyone in the theater. I personally didn’t mind it too much because it was more of a period piece and very artistic but Kyle didn’t care for it at all. It was one of those movies that we were probably better off waiting for to come out on DVD but it was still fun to go! I felt bad that Kyle didn’t like it but I still enjoyed the flick well enough because I’m a big wierdo. 🙂

By the time we got home it was around ten o’clock and we were both exhausted so we popped in a movie and went to bed. Kyle and I had such a wonderful time celebrating our day together, despite the fact that he didn’t care too much for the movie! I’m so lucky to have had the best boyfriend on the planet for six whole months and I can’t wait for many more! I love you, Kyle Kyle! ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition! I hope all of you had just as great of a weekend as I did! What was your favorite part of your weekend? What did you think of The Witch if you saw it? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb10

Dinner Date Night

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Dinner Date Night

Hi everyone and happy Hump Day! On Monday night, my boyfriend, Kyle, and I stayed in and made dinner together. We had so much fun cooking our meal and it was nice to have Kyle as my cheerleader/helper. We made zucchini enchiladas and guacamole and it turned out so fantastic! Take a look at our finished product and then I’ll provide you with the recipes so that you can make your own:

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^^^ YUM!

Zucchini Enchiladas:

This dish is a staple at my home so it was easy to wing the recipe. At my boyfriend’s house there wasn’t a lot of the spices that I needed to bring the heat to the enchiladas so I improvised for that. I also wasn’t cooking for a large amount of people so feel free to double the recipe if needed. My version made eight enchiladas.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 medium size red onion
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 package of sharp cheddar shredded cheese
  • salt
  • pepper
  • basil
  • oregano
  • cilantro
  • tortillas
  • salsa

Note that the original recipe calls for spices like cayenne pepper and cumin. The basil and oregano was what I was limited to – they are required in the recipe but are not the main herbs flavoring the dish.

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large pan and dice the vegetables. You will want them to cook until they’re golden.
  2. While the veggies are cooking, add in your herbs and spices. You’ll notice that I didn’t give an exact measurement for the seasonings and that’s because I rarely cook with the amount given on a recipe. I go a little crazy with my seasonings so feel free to add as much or as little as you wish.
  3. Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350 while the veggies are almost done sauteing. Once the veggies are done, turn the stove top off and remove them from the heat. You will then pour the shredded cheese packet over your mixture and stir until the cheese is melted.
  4. While the oven is preheating, you will prepare the enchiladas for baking. Spray the bottom of a glass pan down with Pam and then put a layer of the salsa of your choosing on the bottom. Then you will fill your tortillas with three or so spoonfuls of the cheese and veggies, wrap them up, and place them in the pan.
  5. Once all of the enchiladas are rolled and ready, add a layer of salsa to the top of them and then sprinkle some cheese to top it off. Bake the enchiladas for 12-14 minutes and then remove from the oven.

Kyle and I also prepared a dish of guacamole together, as well. I was so happy that I had Kyle there to help me because he was such a pro at smashing all of the ingredients together! Here’s the recipe that I free styled for the guac:

Ingredients:

  • 1 avocado
  • 1 handful of extremely finely chopped red onion
  • cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon of water
  • juice of half a lemon

Directions:

  1. Cut the avocado in half and then peel away the skin from both halves. Then you will dice up the avocado and add it in to a medium mixing bowl. Be sure to remove the pit!
  2. Tear up your fresh cilantro and add that in to the bowl, as well.
  3. Chop up a small amount of red onion very finely and add it to the mix.
  4. Pour in your water and squeeze your half a lemon.
  5. Once all of your ingredients are in the bowl is when things get tricky. There wasn’t an adequate utensil at Kyle’s house for mashing our concoction so we settled for a spoon with holes in it. I was so bad at smashing our mixture so thank goodness for my muscle man to get the job done! The consistency of your guacamole is up to you. We settled for a medium consistency and it was the perfect mixture of smooth and chunky.

I love cooking for Kyle and it was so nice to have him hanging out with me in the kitchen while I prepared our meal. It was also great having him as my helper, too! Kyle kept the pit of “our first avocado together” to commemorate his helpfulness and our delicious meal – which I thought was the cutest thing ever! It’s our avocado baby. 🙂

So there you have it, Dinner Date Night with my beau! What is your favorite dish to cook for yourself or others? What dish is a staple in your household? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb1

Monday Update: Paint Nite Edition

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Monday Update: Paint Nite Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! For Christmas my brother and sister-in-law got me a Groupon for two admissions to a Paint Nite. For those of you not familiar with the event, it’s a lot of fun! You go online and pick a bar as well as the theme of the picture that you would like to paint. Then you make your way to whatever location you picked and paint a beautiful picture and enjoy some drinks while doing so. My boyfriend, Kyle, and I went to the Paint Nite that we chose last Tuesday and we had a blast. Kyle took pictures of our progress on the canvasses throughout the night, so take a look and then let’s chat:

^^^ The one on the left is mine and the one on the right is Kyle’s.

Kyle and I spent close to a half hour browsing through Paint Nite’s website to find a theme and a location that we both liked. We settled on the Love Birds theme which would take place at the Canton Brewing Company in Canton, Ohio. This location was good for Kyle because he’s a beer drinker but looking back on the event, I would have preferred to be at a wine bar! We booked our tickets thanks to my Groupons a few weeks in advance so for two or so weeks all we could talk about was how excited we were for our night out.

Finally, our date night on Tuesday the 26th rolled around and it was all I could think about for the entire day! We arrived at the Canton Brewing Company which was gigantic and then headed down into the basement where the event was taking place. After we walked down the huge stairway we saw all of the canvasses set up on easels and a bunch of people gathered around to enjoy their evening. We snagged a spot where we could sit together which I was afraid was not going to happen because almost everyone was there by the time we arrived. After we established our spots we went to the bottom floor bar to get ourselves some drinks before the extravaganza began.

The Canton Brewing Company had a great selection of beers (obviously) and that was great for Kyle but not so good for me! I’m not a big beer drinker at all – mama likes her sweet white wines! Unfortunately, they only had two wines to choose from which was a red and a chardonnay which ended up being way too dry. I threw back the chardonnay even though it was extremely unpleasant and was then able to get a drink that I actually like upstairs at the main bar. After I got a vodka sour in my system, I was feeling much better!

Our painting party started promptly at seven o’clock and was led by a lovely hostess whose name I can’t remember for the life of me, so we’ll call her “Anne”. Anne is a high school art teacher and had a lively personality which made listening to her talk a lot of fun. The basic idea of Paint Nite is that Anne will paint a section of the canvas and tell you how to do it and then you repeat the process. This back and forth went on for about an hour and then we dispersed for a fifteen minute break to get more drinks, go to the bathroom, and let the paint dry.

Once we returned from our break we got to work on the second half of our painting. Our hostess did a really good job of explaining the process in laymens terms which was so helpful because Kyle and I don’t have an artistic bone in our body. It was also nice to have another art teacher there who made her rounds around the tables to give some pointers and replenish our paint supplies. Before we knew it, another hour and a half had passed and our paintings were finally complete! Again, here are the finished products:

I was really pleased with how our paintings turned out – everything except Kyle’s dumb old cardinals that he decided to paint hair on to differentiate which bird was which. He gave his alter ego bird spiky hair and he ended up giving mine a mullet…Thanks, babe. -_-

I had so much fun at Paint Nite but there are a few things that I would do differently. It was nice to be among such a lively crowd while we got our paint on but at times, it was almost too much. There were around thirty or more people there so it would get incredibly loud which made it hard to hear Anne teach us what to do. I would definitely prefer smaller groups because then you would be able to get some type of attention from the hostess and her helper. You also wouldn’t have to deal with the insatiable urge to yell “SHUT UP” at everyone. 🙂

Other than the over abundance of people, I’d say that Paint Nite was a wonderful time. I was so thankful for my Groupon Christmas gift because the cost to go to an event is forty five dollars per person. I honestly think that that’s a bit pricey which is too bad because I would love to go to another one but I don’t particularly want to break the bank for it – especially when you still have to pay for drinks, snacks, and parking.

My best friend, Lea, wanted to try a Paint Nite after I told her about how much fun it was so we looked in to going to an event together. We were both not too keen to spend sixty or so dollars for the evening so we planned our own Paint Nite to have at home. We searched on YouTube for instructional videos on painting canvasses so we’re going to get our own supplies, grab a bottle of wine, and let an over enthusiastic YouTube painter walk us through creating a picture. Hello, girls night in!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Paint Nite Edition! If you’re looking for a unique and memorable date night, girls night, or gift idea then I can’t recommend a Paint Nite outing enough. How many of you have attended a Paint Nite before? What did you think of it? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan5

Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

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Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! This Saturday I was surprised with the literal best Christmas gift ever…Two tickets to see Elf the musical with my beloved big sister, Kristen! My sister purchased us two tickets for a night on the town to see one of our favorite movies turned into a musical at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio. Take a look at us being pretty (!!) and then let’s discuss:

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Last Friday night when Kristen asked me if I had plans for the following evening, I didn’t think anything of it. But when Saturday came around the next day and she texted me with meticulous plans for when to pick her up, I started to get suspicious. When I called her to ask her where we were going for our hang out she told me it was for my Christmas gift and asked if I wanted to know what it was. The thing about me, though, is that I HATE surprises with a capital H and a capital ATE – so of course I wanted to know! That’s when she told me that she got us two tickets to see Elf the musical at 7:15 sharp this evening! I was blown away!!!

After I came out of my happiness coma we began to make plans for when I could pick her up and where we would go for dinner. We settled on our favorite…Taco Bell! Afterwards, she treated me to a full tank of gas and we went on our merry way to Playhouse Square in Cleveland. The drive was easy peasy and once we were in the downtown Cleveland area we got to enjoy seeing all of the buildings lit up beautifully for the holidays – it was awesome!

We arrived at the theater in perfect timing and Kristen managed to get amazing tickets for our date night. We were about twelve rows away from the stage and smack dab in the middle so our view was spectacular. While we waited for the show to begin, we took lots of sister pictures and I also took a picture of the stage, which is my featured image photo. I couldn’t take any pictures during the show, of course, but rest assured that it was incredible!

Elf the musical was simply fantastic. The actors were sublime, the music was catchy, the set was darling (it was storybook themed), and the choreography was superb. Kristen and I had a blast watching one of our favorite films come to life on the stage. The story from the movie was modified a little but all of the changes were clever and made perfect sense. We were in stitches the entire show and spent the whole car ride back to  her apartment quoting the musical.

Before we returned to Kristen’s place, we stopped at Giant Eagle to pick up some holiday gifts for her coworkers. The Giant Eagle that I live by is open twenty four hours and I found so much joy in just roaming the aisles with her at ten o’clock at night. We found gifts that suited our needs, as well as some treats for ourselves, and then headed back to her apartment.

Once we arrived at her place we crawled into our pajamas ASAP. As soon as we were comfy we made further preparations for our sister sleepover because this was the first night that I spent the night in her new apartment. Afterwards, I drove back to my house quickly to grab my sleeping pills and morning medication. It was no biggie, though, because we live a whole three minutes away from each other!

By the time I arrived back at her place, we were both beyond ready to hit the hay. We got tucked into her super comfy queen size bed and turned on the tube to fall asleep to. It was the absolute perfect ending to a perfect sister Christmas date night.

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had on Saturday night with my big sister. She completely surprised me with my Christmas gift and it will be a memory that I’ll cherish for forever. Everything that we did from our dinner and the show to even just driving around to our locations was a blast and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our Christmas Gift Night with each other. I love you, Kristen! Thank you for treating me to an amazing evening – Sister Style!

So there you have it, my Saturday Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style! Kristen and I had a glorious time wrapping up the holiday season together and starting 2016 on a wonderful note. Have any of you seen a musical lately? What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah