Tag Archives: gifts

Jun20

BFF Birthday Gift

Posted on June 20, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Howdy!! I had a fantastic weekend and it was great from start to finish because my BFF, Lea, came over on Friday for my birthday hang out. We spent the evening catching up and girl talking away and it was just what the doctor ordered. Lea and I both have insanely busy schedules so we don’t get to get together as often as we would like and I missed her terribly! As with the best of best friends, however, her and I pick up as if we just saw each other the day before. That’s what sixteen plus years of BFFhood gets you and it’s a beautiful thing! As are these lovely prezzies that I was surprised with:

For my dirty thirtieth birthday, Lea gifted me with a darling cartoon rendering of us on my wedding day and a simply fabulous middle finger candle lol. When Johnny and I got married, we had a very small ceremony and Lea was the only person I invited outside of my immediate family. I considered both her and my big sister to be my co maids of honor. My big day was even better because Lea was a part of it and she selected one of our favorite pictures together as the inspiration for my gift. I clocked this immediately and it gave me ALL of the feels. So much so that I almost shed a tear. It is the most perfect gift and Johnny surprised me the following day by hanging it up while I was out running errands. I smile every time I look at it. ❤

And, of course, both of my besties know that spooky gifts are the way to my heart and I cannot get over my middle finger candle. In fact, this prezzie was spot on because I have recently become obsessed with candles compliments of my other bestie’s birthday gifts to me. Lea is most fond of shopping at craft shows so I have a feeling she bought this a while ago and was saving it for my b-day. She is so thoughtful like that and is just like me – I am the queen of shopping early for gift giving occasions! I haven’t had the chance to burn this candle yet, but I am really looking forward to it. It’s going to look cool AF! 😀

I had the best time having a low key birthday get together with my bestie and I can’t wait to celebrate her big day later this summer. I am the luckiest gal in the world to have a BFF like Lea and that is always the greatest gift I could ever ask for!

How long have you been friends with your best friend? What kind of gifts do you like to give? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun18

Blogging Bestie Birthday Gift Pt. 2

Posted on June 18, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hi!! One of the most exciting parts about my June birthday isn’t so much the actual day, but the surrounding ones. My Johnny had his birthday on the first, our wedding anniversary is on the fourth, and my best friend’s birthday is on the thirteenth. Between all of these special days, it has been hard to feel down and out about turning thirty. It also makes it easier to be in a festive spirit when you have the best Gemini Twin hype girl!! My BFF, Kate of Live In The Nautical, always makes our Gemini season the most wonderful time of the year and I love her so much for it. She surprised me with a fabulous spooky gift box and I couldn’t believe it when she told me there was more on the way. The remainder of my prezzies arrived this past week and it was definitely worth the wait! Check it out:

Johnny and I live for Halloween, horror, and all things creepy, scary, and spooky. Kate is most certainly not a horror fan, but her gifts to me could say otherwise lol. They are always the most fantastically creative with a dose of creepy for good measure! Just like these gorgeous skull earrings with pressed flowers and leaves. I legit could not believe my eyes when I opened the tiny package because I had never seen anything like them before. I live for edgy fashion with a girly twist and my new flower skull earrings fit that to the T.

Kate and I have known each other for almost a decade (Please don’t do the math on this!) and it has made all of our past b-days even better. She is one of my nearest, dearest, closest friends so it only makes sense that our big days are only six days apart. It is such a beautiful thing to be able to celebrate each other and our textbook Gemini-ness all month long. And, when Gemini season is over, we still treat each other like it’s our birthday. Lol, that’s what best friends are for! It truly is the best gift of all to have Kate in my life and everyone deserves a friend like her. I am the luckiest gal in the world. ❤

The June birthdays have come and passed, but good friends and memories are worth celebrating all lifetime long. I am thankful for my Gemini Twin every day and every birthday since meeting her has been even better than the last!

What is your style aesthetic? How do you celebrate your besties? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun17

Bonus Birthday Surprises

Posted on June 17, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Howdy!! I turned the dirty thirty on June seventh and had the most wonderful time celebrating. The beauty of birthdays is that you can prolong the festivities and I definitely do. With insanely busy schedules between myself, my family, and friends some of the hangouts have had to wait and I am eagerly awaiting them! Although some get togethers are on the back burner, I have still been treated to lots of birthday love, especially from my work family. It is so nice to be thought of and I adore these sweet surprises:

During the work week, I run on sheer willpower and lots and lots of caffeine lol. You can almost always catch me with hot or iced coffee or a Diet Coke and my work fam knows this, which inspired my Stanley Cup gift. Yes, the super viral Stanley Cup! I will be honest with all of you, when these tumblers blew up the internet, I had zero interest in buying one. I have plenty of to go mugs and they have always served me well. However, now that I have this lovely sea foam green Stanley, I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner. It is the bee’s knees! This cup keeps my drinks either piping hot or icy cold and you just can’t beat it. I also couldn’t have gotten it at a better time because it is officially summer weather and it’s so nice to have a tumbler that keeps my water cold all day. Highly recommend!

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday without some sweet treats. I am not a huge candy fan, but one of my favorite families made a guess at what I would like and they were actually spot on. My Johnny freaking LOVES Mike and Ikes and was simply thrilled when I tossed him the candy box upon my return home from work. I am much more of a chocolate girl than chewy or fruity candy so the peanut M&Ms will pull through in the clutch when my sweet tooth acts up on the rare occasion. Normally when this happens, I have nothing in the apartment to staunch my cravings. Not anymore. 😀

Between the birthday greetings and gifts, I have felt so loved and appreciated and this is the best of all. The fact that people took time out of their day to do something just for me really does mean the world. Turning thirty wasn’t so bad after all… I guess! 😉

Do you have a Stanley Cup? What is your favorite candy? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun11

Sweet Surprises: Birthday Edition

Posted on June 11, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! This past Friday, I celebrated my thirtieth birthday and had the most wonderful time. I felt so loved and spoiled and that definitely helped cushion the blow of entering into a new decade. On Friday, Johnny stopped at his parents’ house after work to pick up the remainder of his birthday gifts from me – a new record player. He returned home with his prezzie and a sweet little something from my beloved in laws for my big day. As always, the gifts from Johnny’s parents are so thoughtful, lovely, and totally perfect for me. Check it out:

Johnny’s mom loves to shop at the cool little boutiques that are in the greater Akron area. It makes gift giving occasions really exciting because I don’t shop at those stores so everything is something I haven’t seen before. Like the gorgeous silver earrings, for example. My mother-in-law knows that I am all about pretty things with an edge and my new jewelry is that description to the T. The flower stud that goes into dagger blades is *chef’s kiss* and fits me so well. I have several pairs of dagger earrings, which I am most fond of. These will fit in beautifully with my collection and I can’t wait to wear them!

I was also gifted with a gift card to the Cashmere Cricket and that is just the sweetest. The Cashmere Cricket is the most charming martini bar and is both mine and Johnny’s favorite. It also happens to be where we had our first date and went to celebrate after we got engaged. Needless to say, the Cricket is very special to us both. During the summertime, Johnny and I love to go have a drink or two on the balcony at the Cashmere Cricket. It is decked out in fairy lights and an ideal spot for an evening date. This gift card will definitely come in handy for drinks and dinner too. Not only are the martinis the best I ever had, but their food is literally to die for. I see a date night in my future, for sure. ❤

The best gift of all is feeling like a true daughter to Johnny’s parents. I love them both so much and am really looking forward to our belated birthaversary celebrations together!

Where did you and your partner have your first date? Do you still like to go there together? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May16

Super Early Birthaversary Presents

Posted on May 16, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! June is a banner month for Johnny and I because it marks our birthaversary. Johnny has his birthday on June first, our wedding anniversary is the fourth, and my birthday is on the seventh. It is such fun to be able to celebrate all of these special occasions and in true us fashion, we have already given each other a majority of our gifts. What can I say, we’re both horrible at keeping secrets lol. While I was perfectly content with waiting for June for a gift exchange, Johnny picked up some prezzies for me this past Friday and didn’t want to wait to give them to me. As luck would have it, I brought home his gifts that day too! Check it out:

One of my biggest gripes about our apartment is our lack of shelves. We have so many awesome knick knacks and Lego sets and they need a home. Granted, we can’t do much about it with the minimal space we have. This is where the shelving unit that Johnny got me comes into play. His plan is to haul out our broken record player desk with a friend, build the shelf, and add a few more to fully display our collections. I am beyond excited for this because it is something that I wanted to happen for a long while. I think it’s going to be so much fun to rearrange all of our mementos in a more pleasing fashion and I can’t wait to see the end result.

Johnny also gifted me with a new Harry Potter Lego set – Dumbledore’s Office. We haven’t built Lego together since the wintertime so we were definitely due for a new set! Building Lego with Johnny is one of my favorite things and if they weren’t so damned expensive, our apartment would be full of them. Although it would be amazing to have an infinite supply of Lego, I quite like the sporadic sets we give to each other. It keeps the novelty of building alive and I love when we plan an evening in to complete the set together. And, yes, it will look lovely displayed on our new shelves! 😀

I have had Johnny’s gifts planned for a while – probably the past two months which is when we last watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It is one of our all time favorite any time movies and it’s our tradition to watch it every Christmas with his family. Whenever we have a viewing, Johnny always brings up two things without fail. 1) He wants a moose mug SO bad. 2) He wants the dinosaur pajamas that Clark wears in the attic scene SO bad. So, of course I had to make it happen! His reaction to these gifts was the absolute sweetest and it was literal kid on Christmas Day level. I was so happy to have given him something that has been on his wish list for forever and he looks adorable in his jammies. 🙂

Even though our birthaversary is still several weeks away, I am so okay with this early start to the festivities. We have a few more gifts in mind for each other and I can’t wait to celebrate our upcoming week of us!

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? What is on your birthday wish list? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr30

Hawaii Haul

Posted on April 30, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! In mid April, my mom, dad, and brother went on a guided vacation to Hawaii. This was their dream trip and we were all thrilled that they got to go on such a wonderful adventure. Although I was happy for their fun in the sun, I was missing them something fierce. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for them to come home as soon as they left! Prior to their departure, they asked all of the family what kind of souvenirs they might like. I answered with jewelry and my history buff husband wanted something from Pearl Harbor. I am pleased to report that my travelers delivered! Check it out:

When I visited my family after they returned, it was like a mini Christmas on the dining room table. It was laden with gifts for the kids and grandkids and it warmed my heart that all of us were thought of no matter how far apart we were. Johnny received some guitar picks and a model of the USS Arizona Memorial. He was SO excited to build the model and when I returned home from work the following day, he was almost done with it already. In fact, he enjoyed the build so much that he plans on buying more from the brand. Both the picks and model are proudly displayed on our knick knack shelves.

For my gift, I got exactly what I wanted – a stunning necklace and earrings! I am loving the shell necklace and it will be a fabulous accessory this summer. I am going to wear it wrapped as a bracelet and the pretty, neutral palette will allow me to wear it with anything and everything. The piece de resistance, however, was the earrings for sure. The delicate gold cutouts of sea turtles blew me away and they are also highly sentimental. Sea turtles are my brother’s favorite and what he was most looking forward to seeing. Like the necklace, these earrings are going to enhance any outfit and it will be like a hug from my family every time I wear them. ❤

My family had the best time on their trip and I had the best time welcoming them home. I call dibs on next vacation!!!

Do you have any vacations planned? Where are you going? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar18

ALL Of The Coffee

Posted on March 18, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Back in the summer of 2022, the Great Kitchen Flood happened when a pipe burst in mine and Johnny’s apartment building. It was insane! The water was literally pouring out of the walls and it was so gross because the water was straight up dirty. It completely waterlogged all of my countertop appliances, including my Keurig, toaster, and air fryer. At the time, I wasn’t using my Keurig very often so I never bothered replacing it. Fast forward to this past year and my schedule changed to having to get up at three AM three days a week. Needless to say, I need ALL of the coffee those mornings!

For Valentine’s Day, Johnny and I simply told each other what we wanted and then we ordered it. A new single cup Keurig for me and a new Levi’s jean jacket for him. I have been using my gift religiously since receiving it and all I have to say is: How did I survive this long without it?! Prior to V-Day, I was more than fine with stopping at Starbucks for a coffee or McDonald’s for a crispy Diet Coke during my early mornings. While I miss my little treats during those shifts, I am perfectly content with the K-Pod challenge… AKA just using my Keurig now lol.

I have been enjoying testing out all of the different K-Pods and my mind is never not blown by the infinite selection at the grocery stores. I started out with French Vanilla by Green Mountain Coffee and have since graduated to a Snickers flavored blend by The Donut Shop. They are both pretty good! My favorite part of the Keurig, however, is not so much the coffee as it is the coffee mugs. Lol, I have a substantial collection of coffee mugs and although I use them for any beverage, they hit different with coffee! It is also nice to remember the occasions that they were given to me for because a majority of them were gifts. In fact, the one pictured above was a mug that I got forever ago from my bestie and the sentiments ring true… Coffee always comes first! 😀

I have had my Keurig for well over a month now and I am just as obsessed with it as the day I got it. So glad that my fallen friend from the Great Kitchen Flood of 2022 finally got replaced!

What is your favorite kind of K-Cup? How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb11

V-Day Our Way

Posted on February 11, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello darlings!! Sending hugs and kisses your way because it’s almost Valentine’s Day! V-Day is one of those holidays that you either love, hate, or are totally indifferent about. I have to admit that I am one of those people who are right down the middle. Honestly, every day with Johnny feels like Valentine’s Day, so when the actual day does roll around we’re both just like “oh” lol. While it can be fun to go all out on the day of love with elaborate gifts and dates, Johnny and I do V-Day Our Way. It looks a little something like this:

Gifts:

For a majority of the gift giving occasions, I like to surprise Johnny. However, there are times where we both have specific things in mind that we would like and it’s so much easier to just tell each other what it is. For example, Johnny told me that he wants a new denim jacket because his old one has seen better days. He found the one he wanted and I will order it. This worked out perfectly because I had a gift for myself picked out too: A new Keurig! My old one got waterlogged when my kitchen flooded due to a burst pipe in the building and we never replaced it. Now, I need one desperately because of my 3 AM work mornings and Johnny will order me a new one too and a pack of K-cups. I can’t wait!

Dinner:

Johnny and I rarely go out to eat and find that it is so much more luxurious to DoorDash something! To us, there is nothing better than getting food from one of our favorite places and enjoying it from the comfort of our pajamas. Texas Roadhouse is one of our preferred “special occasion” restaurants to order from so we might end up going that route. But, we’ll see what strikes us the day of… We are always one hundred percent content with getting Taco Bell. 😀

Entertainment:

Valentine’s Day is on a weekday and that automatically makes it highly inconvenient for me and my main squeeze. We both have very early starts to our morning and are normally exhausted by the time we get home. There is a one million percent chance that we will return from our shifts and be ready to turn Criminal Minds on! Over the weekend, I am sure we’ll take the night on Friday or Saturday to make it about us. And, by that I mean, we will play Diablo IV and Resident Evil IV together all evening. We love to game together and that is always our go to way to celebrate. It is never not a complete blast!!

V-Day Our Way looks like any other day for Johnny and I and that is fine by us. We tend to go all out for our Birthaversary and I anticipate slightly more than the usual in June! No matter how we spend the day, I’m just happy it’s with my husband. ❤

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? How are you celebrating this year? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan11

BFF Holiday Hangout

Posted on January 11, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! This past Friday, I had a wonderful post holiday hang out with my BFF, Lea. This was fantastic because I spent the entirety of my Christmas break sick so it was nice to have a celebration that I was up for. We hit up our favorite bar, the Cashmere Cricket, for drinks and dinner and it was divine! We sipped on martinis (Lavender Fizz for me and Key Lime Pie for her) and had a delicious meal. I have never ate at the Cricket before and I am still thinking about their grilled cheese dippers! SO yummy. What I am swooning over the most, though, are the most amazing gifts from my bestie:

Lea and I have been best friends since high school, but the novelty of gift giving for Christmas and birthdays has yet to wear off. We both agree that we are each other’s favorite person to shop for because it’s fun lol. Whenever I hit up my preferred TJMaxx or she attends a craft fair, we are very much in tune to the prezzies that we would go wild over. Her and I know exactly what each other would like and we always end up with gifts that we would have bought for ourselves or would want to buy. It’s a beautiful thing. ❤

For Christmas, Lea gifted me with a bottle of Peach Moscato, cocktail mixes, a gorgeous pair of skeleton hand earrings, and a lounging skeleton pillow. Lea and I are peach wine girls and that is forever a staple in our gifts during exchanges. The Farm Fresh wine was very tasty and it was so nice to sip on during a weekend viewing of My 600 Lb. Life. She also got me cocktail mixes in Cherry Limeade, Citrus-Berry Sangria, and Strawberry Pineapple. I have never seen anything like these drink pouches before, but all you have to do is add wine or vodka and water and sip away. These are going to be a blast to try out!

What I am loving the most from my gifts from Lea has got to be the earrings and pillow. Lea knows that all things spooky speak to my soul so anything with skeletons is A-okay with me. In fact, I was wearing a sweater with a skull print when we were together! I cannot wait to wear my new earrings and am shocked that I don’t already own something like them. They are creepy while still being delicate in sparkling silver and will be a welcome addition to one of my next OOTDs. And, of course, how fabulous is that pillow? The lounging skeleton is perfect for… Well, lounging lol and how fun are those tassels?! It matches mine and Johnny’s emo aesthetic to the T. 🙂

Having a best friend like my Lea is the absolute best gift I could ever have and I look forward to our annual holiday hangouts every year. Our summer birthdays are still way over the horizon, but I already can’t wait to shop for my best girl! ❤

How do you and your friends celebrate the holidays? How long have you been friends with your best friend for? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec14

Sweet Surprises: Early Christmas Gift Edition

Posted on December 14, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Sweet Surprises: Early Christmas Gift Edition

Hello!!! I had a pretty difficult day at my job as an Independent Provider this past Monday and it hit me really hard. It is always the worst when I have to let go of long term clients, but that is just what had to happen and I was beside myself. It was a rain cloud on this past week for sure, but a rainbow appeared on Wednesday morning when one of my clients decided to give me their family Christmas gift early. Oddly enough, I was actually thinking of bringing their gifts in that very day! This was, hands down, one of the most beautiful, thoughtful gifts I have ever received and reminded me why working in the field is still exactly where I needed to be. Maybe that family decided I could use a pick me up that day and it worked like a charm. Check it out:

The inside of the sun and moon patterned bracelet says “You were made to make a difference” and the inside of the plain one says “You make the world a better place”.

Guys, when I tell you I was ugly crying when I unwrapped my presents – I mean I was ugly crying. I adore the mini cuff message bracelets so very much and have at least six of them in my collection. The very first one I got was from my mom when I was a teenager and it sparked a love of them ever since. My clients’ family had no idea about this and I was flabbergasted when I opened them up and simply verklempt when I read the sweet sentiments inside. The messages that these bracelets held were exactly what I needed and given to me exactly when I needed them. It was so unbelievably special to me and once the waterworks started, there was no stopping it.

I love my job so much and always will, even on hard days. But, I think anyone who works in the care field wonders from time to time if they are ever actually making a difference – especially after a bad day. These bracelets were the confirmation I needed that, yes, I am changing the lives of the people I serve and, yes, the world is a better place because of it. It was humbling and beautiful to see this written plainly across the bracelets I received. This gift was so comforting because it told me that I am still doing everything right by my clients and people who I will have the pleasure of helping in the future. I just renewed my certification as a provider and I can’t wait to see where my next three years in the field takes me!

This is the literal first time that I have cried over a gift and I will treasure these bracelets until the end of my days. It was given to me by a family who is so special to me and I take pride in the fact that I am special to them too. ❤

Have you ever got emotional over a gift? What is the best gift you have ever received? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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