Tag Archives: easter

Mar3

Pet Bunnies For Easter: DON’T!!

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Pet Bunnies For Easter: DON’T!!

Hello!! Johnny and I have had our sweet baby bunny angels, Melvin and Penelope, for almost four months already! I honestly can’t believe it has only been that short of a time because it feels like I have had them for forever. The more time I spend as a very active bunny mom, the more I truly can’t understand why small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters are given to children as pets. They are way more work than you could ever expect and it’s not fair to expect a child to meet the needs of pets that require a lot of care.

With the Easter season approaching, I wanted to share my thoughts on this as bunnies are as common to give to kids as candy for the holiday. However, a majority of these rabbits will end up in shelters within the year. Here is a brief summary of all that having a bunny entails before you make the decision to incorporate a new pet:

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Bunnies Need Exercise:

If your plan is to get a rabbit and confine it to a hutch all day every day, then let me stop you right now. For both the mental and physical health of the rabbit, they need plenty of exercise outside of their cage. Because I work from home a lot, I allow my bunnies to roam for six plus hours a day. Your rabbit’s exercise space will need to be fully bunny-proofed to prevent them from getting hurt or chewing on anything that they shouldn’t. And chew, they will – one look at our windowsill will prove it!

Bunnies Are Expensive:

There are so many supplies that you will need to have constantly at home for your small animal; Pellet food, veggies, Timothy hay, bedding, toys, and litter to name just a few. Individually, these things aren’t the most expensive in the world but it adds up when you have to replenish supplies often. On average, Johnny and I probably spend between sixty to one hundred dollars on Chewy per month. If this is something that your budget won’t allow, then let me stop you right now as these are all essential items to your bunny’s care.

Bunnies Are Messy:

After the arrival of Melvin and Penelope, I had to push my wake up time back to 5 AM so that I could care for them and still start online work in time. Every morning, I have to thoroughly clean their potty area including three litter boxes. While Mel and P are pretty good about using their litter box, they still are subject to accidents. Bunnies deserve a clean space and if you can’t set aside adequate time every day to spot clean and empty litter boxes, then let me stop you right now.

Bunnies Are Social:

Bunnies are very social animals and having a bonded pair is ideal. Like humans, bunnies can get depressed too and need stimulation to keep them happy. This means lots of toys, taking the time to pet and groom them, and interacting with them throughout the day. If you can’t commit to the highly necessary extra socialization for your bunny, then let me stop you right now.

Bunnies Are Usually NOT Cuddly:

If you are imagining a fluffy little something that the kids can hold and snuggle, then let me stop you right now. Bunnies, traditionally, are prey animals and they despise being picked up. Kind of like a cat, you really need to let your bunny come to you on their own terms. Penelope is very shy and it took a decent amount of time for her to warm up to me. Melvin, on the other hand, is very adventurous and never minded me too much! It all depends on the temperament of your bunny and forcing cuddles is only going to terrorize them.

Bunnies Are Awesome:

Melvin and Penelope are the absolute best and I love them so much. Before committing to wanting pet bunnies in the first place, I researched their necessary care and felt like I could provide that and more. It makes me happy that I can and it’s important to me that people know what they are getting into before taking a small pet home. It is incredibly rewarding, but a lot of work!

If you or someone you know is considering an Easter bunny, please consider this post before making any decisions. If you can’t meet all of these daily tasks for their care, then a bunny isn’t the pet for you.

What kind of pet do you have? Have you had a small animal as a pet before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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Apr24

Polka Dots, Please OOTD Bonus Pictures

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Polka Dots, Please OOTD Bonus Pictures

Hello everyone and welcome to some bonus pictures from my Polka Dots, Please OOTD! As you will see in tomorrow’s post, there are way more bloopers from this shoot than there were winners. The lighting was wonky, Johnny and I were insanely full from Easter dinner, and it was a bit chilly so we were more concerned about just getting things done!

In true Ohio fashion, it’s going from snowing and freezing rain this past week to summer level hot so be on the lookout for more OOTD shoots soon! But now, let’s look at a few extra shots that didn’t quite make the first cut:

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Have you ever had one of those days when you look into a mirror and you look even more fabulous than normal? You then think that it’s the perfect opportunity to take some pictures but can’t take a good one to save your own life? That’s kind of what this shoot was like! Despite a full stomach and cold temps, your girl was feeling herself. Then, I scrolled through the final results and I was just like “oh” lol.

No one ever said a blogger’s job was easy and with each passing shot, my commentary in my head was “blooper, blooper, yikes, DAYUM, blooper, etc”. Haha but I promised bonus shots and bonus shots is what you’re all gonna get! The hardest part of OOTD pictures is not taking the pictures themselves but finding the good in them after it’s all said and done. Kind of like finding the needle in the haystack of one hundred selfies that all look the same!

Were these my favorite pictures of all time? Not in the slightest. But, I didn’t have much to work with from this shoot so what can you do? When my confidence was barely above ground level, I would never post pictures that were nothing short of amazing. I don’t consider these bonus pictures to be my best work but that’s okay!

OOTD pics are not always home runs and, sometimes, you end up with a billion pictures that do nothing for you. That was the case with this shoot and I am posting them anyways. No matter how your pics turn out, I encourage you all to get in front of the camera, try it out, and post away. It will help build your confidence, you’ll have some fun, and see that it is still your best self even if the final result might not reflect it. ❤

How do you build your confidence? What are some of your picture taking pro tips? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr23

Polka Dots, Please OOTD

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Polka Dots, Please OOTD

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new OOTD here on lifewithlilred! Today, we’re going to be taking a look at some pics from my look while celebrating Easter with the in laws. And, as always, stay tuned for bonus shots and a plethora of bloopers from the shoot! Johnny and I had a lovely Easter weekend and I hope that all of you did too. 🙂 Now, let’s get to it:

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Who? What? Wear?

Nothing says “celebrate spring” like some polka dots and floral prints! While I would have loved to sport a cute little sundress for Easter, it was frickin freezing and it was gonna be a no from me. Instead, I went with the springiest cold weather option I had, which was my polka dot maxi skirt by Eva Franco. This choice was, obviously, a yes from me!

I remember lusting over my Eva Franco number for months on TJMaxx’s website and snagged it on clearance. It was the steal of a lifetime but I never broke it out as often as I imagined so I’m glad it got its moment in the sun… or lack thereof. This skirt is so festive and fun and the bright dots gave a perfect pop of spring without going the floral route.

As you all know, I am a huge fan of making a skirt and top combo look like a dress. To achieve this and add some extra warmth, I went with my Loft unicorn sweater. This was a Christmas gift from my mom and I love it so much. Also note how the blue stitching matches to the T with the blue polka dots! 😀

Since navy is a neutral and the skirt and sweater paired so well together, this gave me the opportunity to have some fun with the shoes. I will be the first to admit that these Elle pumps are, easily, the least comfortable pair of shoes that I own. I have some crazy pairs in my collection and none of them bother me except for these pumps.

My Elle pumps pinch, they hurt, and are so uncomfortable to walk in but I will do anything in the name of FASHION. In fact, one time I made the grave mistake of wearing these to the mall and I had to stuff them full of loose Taco Bell receipts from my purse to keep the blisters from getting worse. But, that’s neither here nor there and since I literally was just walking into my in law’s home, it was a risk I was willing to take. I think it paid off!

Finally, for accessories, I topped this OOTD off with my absolute favorite necklace – my grandma’s pearls. Although there was a lot happening in my look, it didn’t feel complete until I put my necklace on. Pearls are so elegant and I believe that they are an ideal neutral when it comes to jewelry. They don’t distract from the overall outfit but enhance and I love how they tied this OOTD together.

Other than the wicked uncomfortable heels that I absolutely refuse to get rid of, I felt like Spring Fling Queen in my Polka Dots, Please OOTD! Now, can actual spring weather happen now or…?

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

Apr1

Happy Easter!!

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Happy Easter!!

Hi everyone and Happy Easter, Happy Sunday, and Happy April Fools to all! I, myself, do not celebrate Easter but I want to wish the happiest of days to those who do. Oddly enough, I will spend my time today watching the live version of Jesus Christ Superstar, as it happens to be my favorite musical. Go figure, huh?

No matter how you spend your day, I hope that you have a wonderful time doing it! Enjoy a lazy Sunday, a church celebration, or revel in the tricks of April Fools – just have some fun! See you all tomorrow. 🙂 Much love. -Sarah

Apr16

Happy Easter!!

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Happy Easter!!

Hi everyone and happy weekend! I would like to take a minute to wish a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate and a very happy Sunday to those that don’t! No matter how you spend your day, I hope that everyone has a wonderful time with their family, friends, pets, or just hanging out solo dolo. Alright. That’s my spiel! Have a great day, everyone! Much love. -Sarah

Apr14

Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure

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Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure

Hi everyone and TGIF! Yesterday was a HELLUVA day because someone t-boned the Little Red Love Machine, making this my second accident in four months that I’ve been in that was far from my fault. With twenty-five hundred dollars worth of damage to my car thanks to someone disregarding a stop sign, I was left feeling stressed, depressed, well dressed, and pissed off! BUT, thanks to a boozy BFF evening and carrying out a long time friendship tradition, I was left feeling infinitely better.

My best friend, Lea, and I are going on about ten years of friendship and in high school we began a tradition of coloring Easter eggs together every year. Last night just so happened to be our egg dying eggstravaganza, which was so needed after my car trauma earlier in the day. We had a dozen blown out eggs, two bottles of wine, and excellent company considering that Lea’s family is basically like my second family.

We created some crazy cool tie-dye eggs, which we learned how to do from a Facebook video that Lea’s mom showed us. Take a look at our finished product and then I’ll tell you how it’s done:

Caution: Your hands will get messy!

You Will Need:

  • EGGS. Either blown out or hard boiled (but don’t expect to eat the eggs if you use hard boiled because shaving cream)
  • Shaving cream
  • Plastic containers or something similar
  • Food coloring
  • Cooling rack
  • Paper towel

How To Guide:

  1. Take your containers and coat them with a healthy layer of shaving cream. Make sure that you spread it evenly.
  2. Choose two or more food dye colors and add them to your shaving cream. Then, use a knife and blend the colors. You can make as many color combinations as you want!
  3. Take an egg and then cover it with the colored shaving cream.
  4. Place your eggs on a cooling rack and let them sit for twenty minutes.
  5. After the color has set, take your paper towel and wipe the shaving cream away very gently!
  6. Clean up your work space and enjoy your new tie-dyed eggs!

Lea and I had SO much fun creating our shaving cream colored eggs. We had lots of wine, lots of laughs, and we will definitely remember this year’s eggstravaganza for many years to come! Of course, a best friend hangout wouldn’t be complete without some pictures so here we are looking mighty cute! Also featuring her twin brother, BILL!

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^^^ I LOVE US! And the second picture is one of my favorite ones ever, even though Lea doesn’t like it! Her brother was making us laugh when he was taking our pictures and obviously Lea was holding it together better than me!

So there you have it, Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure! Who has traditions with their best friends? What is your preferred egg dying method? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar18

Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure

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Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure

Hey everyone and TGIF! Last week my best friend, Lea, and I had the best time coloring Easter eggs. Lea and I have been BFFs for over seven years and dyeing Easter eggs is one of our many bestie traditions. Every year we always have so much fun, even though our eggs never really turn out all that great! This year, Lea’s mom de-yoked the eggs so we were working with empty shells for the first time. It was all very well until I walked away from the first egg that I sat down on the table for one second and it rolled off! Lucky for me, it only left a crack and we had no further incidents! Take a look at our eggs and us being cute and then let’s discuss further:

^^^ I love us! :*)

As you can see, our eggs clearly aren’t worthy of gracing the Good Housekeeping pages BUT we have a really good excuse for it! The colors in the egg coloring kit that we got sucked! It was seriously the most random compilation of colors ever, with two blues, one green, a yellow, one pale orange, and a pink. I wouldn’t be so upset about the color selection that we were working with had they been bright and vibrant but these colors were dull as dish water! Part of it may have been that we mixed the dye wrong but I’m just going to go ahead and blame it on the coloring kit. 😉

So our eggs didn’t turn out picture perfect – big deal, because we still had such a good time! I can remember dyeing eggs in high school with my bestie so the fact that we have kept this tradition alive after all of these years makes my heart feel very warm. There’s nothing better than sitting at the kitchen table, dyeing sub par Easter eggs, and having girl talk with your best friend! We dyed our eggs pretty early in the month, so who knows? Maybe another Eggcelent Adventure is in our future soon. With much better colors, hopefully!

❤ Love you, best friend! ❤

So there you have it, Sarah & Lea’s Eggcelent Adventure! What concoction do you use to make Easter egg dye? What is one of your favorite traditions with your BFF? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: Quick shout out to myself because I think that the title of this post is a hoot! I’M SO FUNNAYYYYY! #ihatemyself