Tag Archives: great success

May27

Bunny Love

Posted on by
Standard
Bunny Love

Hello!! Johnny and I have been proud bunny parents to our mother and son duo, Melvin and Penelope, for the past two and a half years and it has been an absolute gift. They have brought an indescribable amount of joy and laughter into our lives and we just love them so much! Ever since adopting them and bringing them home, Melvin has always been our little adventurer. He loves to play and explore and never shies away from cuddles as he was handled by humans since birth. Penelope, on the other hand, is shy and timid. She clearly did not have a lot of human contact in her life and can be quite skittish.

It has been a long process to get Nelly Girl fully comfortable with pets and love and I am pleased to report that she has been making great strides. In fact, it’s almost as if she’s a completely different bunny than the one we brought home. It took a lot of patience and innovation for my bunny girl to not shy away from affection and it was worth every minute. We have been enjoying several times daily cuddles and it has been fantastic! If you have a skittish bunny, here are some of the techniques that worked for me:

Patience Is A Virtue:

I have always believed that Penelope would open up when she was ready and that meant doing everything on her own timeline. If she would run away in an attempt to pet her, I wouldn’t push it. If she was accepting of pets and love, I would utilize that time fully until she was ready to be done. If you continue to push your bunny into a level of contact they aren’t comfortable with, you are just going to terrorize them and they will consider you an unsafe person. I never wanted this to be the case so slow and steady will always win the race. And it did!!

Love Equally:

My two pet bunnies have polar opposite personalities and if you have two buns, it’s so important to not compare them. Whenever Melvin is ready for some love, I always ALWAYS attempt to give love to Penelope too. If she was not accepting of it, that was okay. Instead, I would talk to her in a soft, calm voice and look her in the eyes. That way, she was still receiving affection in a way that was comfortable for her. And, eventually, this coaxing resulted in her coming to me for pets rather than running away. This was one of the most beneficial techniques I used daily and I am so happy that my voice has turned into something that is soothing for them.

Favorite Things:

The way to Penelope’s heart has always been through her stomach lol. That girl can eat and one of her favorite things is an apple treat! If you have a food motivated bun, use it to your advantage when you try to pet them. That way, they will associate your touch with something pleasant while they are munching away on their favorite snack. Another great way to bond is by feeding them by hand. This is something I do with the bunnies daily. If they don’t come to you right away with treat in hand, that’s okay. Give them the option to do so and then place the snack down after a few minutes so they can have it on their own. Once again, patience is a virtue!

Get On Their Level:

Cats and dogs will typically come to you when they are ready for affection. For bunnies, you need to go to them if they are in their hutch. Tread lightly when you are on your way to avoid startling them, speak to them, and get on their level rather than hover over them. Bunnies are prey animals and a looming presence over top of them can be intimidating. If the bunnies are having free roam time, sit on the floor for a while and see what happens! Every morning, I spend some time on the floor doing paperwork. Eventually, my bunnies would come visit me as I was working and it is always a highlight of my morning. ❤

If you have a skittish bunny, be patient, kind, and don’t come on too strong. It took time for Penelope and we have such an amazing bond now!!

Do you have any pets? What kind of personality do they have? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May26

Don’t Knock It!

Posted on by
Standard
Don’t Knock It!

Hello!! Those of you who have been long term readers of lifewithlilred will know that I absolutely despise going to the dentist due to a horrible oral surgery gone wrong. For those of you who are just tuning in: I absolutely despise going to the dentist due to a horrible oral surgery gone wrong lol. It took a lot of time for me to feel even remotely comfortable going to routine cleanings and I am proud to say that they are a lot easier than they once were. Part of it definitely has to do with where I go for my cleanings: Aspen Dental.

I know, I know – Aspen Dental isn’t the most well reviewed dentistry practice in the world. In fact, I know several people who vowed to never step foot in one again lol. However, it is affordable and I love my oral hygienist who has been taking care of me since I started going a handful of years ago. She is well aware of my dentist phobia and does her best to accommodate anything that I need to make me more comfortable. This includes explaining everything she’s doing as she does it as well as providing ample time for me to take breaks. It might not seem like much but it has transformed my appointments into a more positive experience and encourages me to keep trying to do better with my oral health.

I had an appointment at Aspen Dental this past week and as I was waiting for the dentist to check in on me after my cleaning, I couldn’t help but snap this picture of my X-Rays. It always makes me laugh to see my piercings show up:

^^^ Lol so cool!

As I waited, I also pondered all of the ways that Aspen Dental has helped me. Regardless of if the practice as a whole might not be well received, the people who work at mine are phenomenal and their expertise is crystal clear. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is Don’t Knock It! I began going to Aspen Dental because they were able to get me in immediately for a chipped tooth. That experience alone told me everything I needed to know because I was upset and in pain and they took excellent care of me. I scheduled an appointment for a cleaning that very day, kept every single appointment since, and have no regrets. I feel fully confident in their team and I hope this instills confidence in you should you ever need to get dental help ASAP!

My appointment went great this week and I feel so good about the strides I have made in tackling my phobia and improving my oral health. I can’t believe I’m saying it but… I’m actually looking forward to my next cleaning!

What are you scared of? What helped you get over your fears? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May25

Spring Hiking Spree Success

Posted on by
Standard
Spring Hiking Spree Success

Hello!! My neck of the woods is gifted with countless beautiful Metro Parks to hike, bike, and explore and I love visiting them with my brother. We got extremely into hiking about a year ago and even completed the Fall Hiking Spree together for the first time. The hiking sprees are exactly what they sound like – hike at X amount of parks in a certain amount of time and get rewarded with a new shield for your hiking stick. We had so much fun achieving this goal and were most excited when a Spring Hiking Spree was announced. I am pleased to report that we finished this challenge this past week and I think we saved the best hiking trail for last!

^^^ Giving ALL the Shrek vibes

our final hike for the Spring Hiking Spree, we visited a Metro Park called Sand Run for a trail we have never been on before. This was no ordinary trail, however, but a Parcours! As we hiked through the scenic woods, we shortly came across a numbered wooden sign that walked us through a work out for arm circles. Rather than bypass it, we completed the advised reps and decided to do so for every sign we encountered. The work outs started out easily enough: Leg lifts, toe touches, torso twists, and balance exercises and it was honestly really fun to see what we were going to have to do next. It almost turned the hike into a game and it was so different than any other trail we have done before.

As we made our way through the lengthy woods and exercises, we began to notice a huge increase in difficulty. The trail was winding and the work outs were getting intense. We’re no longer talking toe touches but push ups, chin ups, hand walks, and vault jumps. I am not sorry in the slightest to say that we bypassed those lol! Eventually, we got out of the woods and the end of the hike was upon us. Or so we thought! We ended up on a bike trail that took us past a huge swamp that was serving so much Shrek and then we were back into the woods for another good twenty minutes to complete the trail. We were exhausted by the time we finished our work out within a work out but both agreed that we would love to do the Parcours again!

My brother and I finished our Spring Hiking Spree right in the nick of time because it has rained every day since. We can’t wait to get back on the trails once they dry out!

Have you gone on any good hikes recently? Where did you go? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar26

Floral Flounce OOTD Bloopers

Posted on by
Standard
Floral Flounce OOTD Bloopers

Hello everyone and welcome to the Blooper Reel from my Floral Flounce OOTD! I have had a bit of extra free time on my hands (I will explain eventually!) and want to make the most of it. This has involved a lot of housework and shooting a lot of content. I even made a TikTok and you can follow me at lilred6794 !! The OOTDs that I have created this past week have all been shot using a tripod. It is a process that I have been getting used to and it can be quite time consuming. Normally, I am done in five minutes when my blog husband takes my pictures! Despite being slightly annoying, it is fun to try something new and, of course, check out some yikes shots:

Lumbering back to redo the shot again

My arms were moving so fast they propelled me through the ceiling

The face of a woman who is FED UP with this process

Aw! That’s not so bad 🙂

This is lmaooo I look like Lord Voldemort!!

In case you couldn’t tell, I was genuinely pissed at this point lol

The Floral Flounce OOTD was the very first look I shot on a tripod in years. I think I might have done one or two tripod shoots a few summers ago when Johnny was out but you get the point. All I know, is that my conclusion after those shoots was that it sucked and that Johnny would take my pictures for forever lol. In the bloopers above, you can definitely see my frustration with the tripod process because it was annoying. That’s the only word I have for it: Annoying. Put the timer on the camera, run into place, strike a pose, evaluate the picture, rinse, repeat. And repeat, and repeat, and repeat. I must have done that at least fifty times and I was just done at the end of it.

But, you know what? It got easier! Since the Floral Flounce OOTD, I have shot two new looks with the tripod (Peep those soon!). The second outfit was still a learning process. However, I was ON FIRE with the third look. I hate to toot my own horn but toot toot! I had a plethora of shots to choose from in under ten minutes, I was able to place the tripod in the best position on the second or third try, and only had a few lighting issues to tend to. Not bad at all considering it took me a good half an hour to shoot the Floral Flounce fit. In fact, after my successful third tripod attempt, I found myself wishing that I had brought more outfits to shoot!

The moral of the story? Try and try again. I am stepping outside of my content comfort zone. The tripod experience is brand new to me and my own TikTok is something I never thought I would make. I’m having fun, though, and am proud that I decided to blaze a new trail instead of thinking of reasons not to!

Have you tried something new recently? How did it go? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar3

Clinical Works Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer Review

Posted on by
Standard
Clinical Works Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer Review

Howdy! I absolutely love to shop for skin care at TJMaxx and am always eager to try new brands and products. Whether they are a hit or miss, it’s just nice to try something new and review them. Typically, I have a lot of luck with my selections and am fine with the periodic “good but not great” product. However, I have been really striking out with moisturizers as of late. The ones that I have completed recently literally did nothing for me, which is a bummer because I revel in a good moisturizer! I was expecting a repeat of the “meh” sentiment when I started this Hyaluronic Acid moisturizer by Clinical Works. It turns out that my luck has turned because it is the BEST! Let’s discuss:

Before talking about the product itself, let’s talk price. This is a highly important factor in what I pick out and I simply refuse to spend more than seven dollars on skin care at TJs. I couldn’t believe that this HUGE jar of moisturizer was only five dolla holla and I am not even close to halfway done after a month of twice daily use. Talk about a bang for your buck and my deepest regret is that I didn’t buy the lot that they had available during that haul. Hindsight, as always, is 20/20.

When it comes to moisturizers, my preference is something nice and light with a gel texture. The Hyaluronic Acid moisturizer by Clinical Works lies somewhere between a true cream and a gel moisturizer and it feels as light as air when applied. It absorbs rapidly and it’s easy to forget that I even put it on in the first place. My skin feels so soft with each use and I love the way it looks too. It is dewy, radiant, and glowing. All of this from barely a quarter sized dollop for full coverage on my face and neck. I cannot recommend it enough!

I am going to be SO sad when I finish my jar of Clinical Works moisturizer and will be keeping my eyes peeled for more. Fingers crossed!

What is your favorite moisturizer? Where do you shop for your skin care? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan15

Bath & Body Works Shower Gel Haul

Posted on by
Standard
Bath & Body Works Shower Gel Haul

Howdy! I had a most successful Semi Annual Sale shopping experience with Bath & Body Works. I was able to stock up on our tried and true favorites as well as a few new shower gels for myself and Johnny. For Johnny’s shower gel, literally every single one had some type of alcohol in the name lol. Mine, on the other hand, all had fruit! What can I say, I just love a fruity fragrance. By the time I was ready to place my order, a few of the shower gels that were in my cart had sold out. That was a bit of a bummer because the remaining selection were all scents I haven’t used before. Are they a hit or miss? Let’s find out together:

IMG_2447

Costa Rica Pink Pineapple Surprise: We already have a winner!! Pink Pineapple Surprise is an extremely straight forward fragrance – it literally just smells like pineapple and I am SO there for it. This scent is bright, tangy, and will be perfect to wake up with during my morning shower. If you are a pineapple fan, this one is for you!

Fruity Sherbet Scoop: This scent is just okay for me and is fairly muted. With a name like Fruity Sherbet Scoop, I was expecting something with a little more oomph. This fragrance offers notes of “rainbow sherbet, zesty orange, and sun kissed strawberry”. It’s fine, but it reminds me of how a bowl of Fruity Pebbles smells after it has been sitting for a while. I wouldn’t get it again.

Strawberry Soda: Finally, we have Strawberry Soda and it definitely lives up to its name! With notes of “fresh strawberries, bubbly seltzer, and crushed ice” it really does smell like a Waterloo sparkling water. It’s sweet without being overpowering and this might sound weird, but I can smell the fizz! I wouldn’t say this is my favorite scent or even that I would buy it again, but I certainly won’t mind using it.

The Pink Pineapple Surprise was the obvious winner from this batch so I’m glad I got two of them. And, even if the other two aren’t great, it’s always fun to try some new scents!

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

Dec4

1500 Day Duolingo Streak!!

Posted on by
Standard
1500 Day Duolingo Streak!!

Howdy!!! As most of you know, I thrive on having a strict routine. It brings me a lot of comfort to know ahead of time what my day is going to look like and I rarely stray far from it outside of the weekend. Knowing that I live for a good schedule, it should not come as a surprise that there is nothing more pleasing to me than a good streak. No, not running naked through the neighborhood, but doing something regularly and tracking the days! My most recent accomplishment for a streak happened this past weekend when I hit 1500 days in a row on Duolingo:

IMG_1952

I always say that if I had a super power, I would want to be fluent in every language in the world. I would love to be able to communicate with people in any language that they are most comfortable with! While I am not there yet lol, I have to say that Duolingo has been a great asset. For over FOUR YEARS now, I have woken up every morning and completed at least one practice session of French. It comes as naturally as my daily early morning Facebook check and I have never forgotten or faltered. Probably because the owl would blow up my phone if I did!

Because of massive time restraints, I don’t get to work on Spanish, Italian, German, and Czech as often as I would like. However, I am always pleased with my recollection when I can squeeze in a multilingual practice. And, I am extremely happy with how my French has advanced over time. I have studied French literally since high school and it has been my dream for as long as I can remember to go to France. Will I ever get there? Who’s to say? But I love that I would feel comfortable with my communication if Johnny and I treat ourselves to a very belated honeymoon. 😀

Thanks to the handy Duolingo app, I get to start my mornings off right with something I enjoy so much. I can’t wait till my next milestone!

Which languages do you speak? Which languages would you like to learn? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov15

Fall Hiking Spree Success

Posted on by
Standard
Fall Hiking Spree Success

Hello!! One of my favorite forms of exercise is easily taking walks and hiking. There are countless amazing Metro Parks in my neck of the woods within a twenty mile radius and beyond and it’s exciting to explore them. I try to go on at least four walks or hikes every week if the weather permits. Despite my absolutely insane schedule, it’s important to me to squeeze in that extra time for exercise. And, I always find that I feel much better after my walks even if I am really tired.

My go to walking companion is my older brother, Andrew, and we decided that we were going to make an effort to complete the Fall Hiking Spree. For the spree, the goal is to take hikes at eight different Metro Parks in the general vicinity by November thirtieth. Now, literally every year we talk about doing the hiking spree together and while we might do a few on the list, we never finished it in its entirety. I am pleased to report that this year, we not only talked about it but were about it. We took our last hike of the spree on Wednesday!!

I love walking with my brother and whether we spend our hikes chatting and joking or in silence, it is nice to work out together. I couldn’t tell you how many walks we take throughout the year but it is a lot and I can really tell that this hard work has paid off. Every time we hike together, we try to go a little bit further than we did the time before. These small increases might not seem like a big deal, but they were everything for an improved stamina. By the end of the spree and our past combined efforts, we were doing strenuous, three plus mile hikes like it was nothing. This was a thrill for us because we saw all of our previous “training” coming to fruition right before our eyes.

Not only did we complete the spree with time to spare, but we also became privy to Metro Parks that we had never been to before. It really gave me a better appreciation for the beauty in my own backyard and we found new favorite trails because of it. We saw the leaves change colors and fall, spotted wildlife, and fell in love with the trails that reminded us of Lord of The Rings. From beginner and moderate level hikes to the most advanced, we did them all and I am so proud of us!! We set our goal and achieved it and there is nothing better than that. 🙂

After our Fall Hiking Spree Success, I just know that Andrew and I will continue on with our new tradition for many years to come. I can’t wait already!!

Do you have a favorite trail to hike? What kind of wildlife do you see on your walks? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov4

Johnny’s GREAT SUCCESS!!

Posted on by
Standard
Johnny’s GREAT SUCCESS!!

Hello!! I wouldn’t consider the actual day of Halloween to be anything special to me. Thursdays are a very long, busy day for me at work. Johnny, however, had a banner day at his job! Normally, when I return home for the day, Johnny will greet me at the door looking just as exhausted as I feel. So, you could imagine my surprise when he opened the door bright eyed and bushy tailed! Clearly, he was in a good mood and I found out why when I sat down at my computer. There was a trophy on top of my laptop that he won from the costume contest his job hosted!!

IMG_0422IMG_0412IMG_0427

Every year, there is a Halloween costume contest at Johnny’s place of employment and he planned on reprising an oldie but goodie ensemble for the competition: AC/DC’s Angus Young. He was excited to rock that COTD again but a wrench was thrown into the mix when we couldn’t find the signature Angus Young shorts or hat anywhere. We must have turned over the entire apartment trying to find it! Begrudgingly, Johnny settled on being Lord Licorice for the event and got up extra early to get himself dressed to impress. And how he impressed!

Out of the three costume categories of Scariest, Funniest, and Most Creative, my main squeeze won Most Creative on his Lord Licorice look. Along with the trophy, he also received a Yeti tumbler as a prize and he was on cloud nine. I was so tired after work but this excellent news and seeing him so happy perked me right up! As he told me all about his big day, we were both grinning from ear to ear. Johnny and I both put a lot of effort into our costumes and it paid off in a major way. In fact, he ended up saying that he was glad we couldn’t find his Angus Young costume because he didn’t think it would make him a winner after all. It’s funny how things always have a way of getting sorted out. ❤

We are both absolutely elated over this costume contest win. It might not seem like much, but it is a huge deal for us. We thought our costumes were the best and this confirms it! 😀

Do you celebrate holidays at work? What are those events like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct23

Final Halloween Costume Sneak Peek

Posted on by
Standard
Final Halloween Costume Sneak Peek

Hello! Johnny and I are going to be Lord Licorice and a Candy Queen for Halloween. You would think that such a fun costume would be a joy to shop for. That was, unfortunately, far from the case and it proved to be a massive pain in my nads. I ended up having to settle for my last resort costume and it’s cute, just not what I wanted. The candy button platform heels did help perk me up, though! We both needed a few finishing touches on our costumes so we made a trip to Spirit Halloween on Saturday. Thankfully, we managed to find all of our requirements because the store was already pretty picked over. And, thankfully, I am feeling WAY better about my costume now with these additions (Including some Amazon purchases!):

IMG_0174IMG_0173IMG_0176IMG_0177

So the candy headband and giant lollipop both came from Amazon and 0/10 do not recommend. The lollipop came with a huge dent, as you can see, and also you just kind of had to shove the stick into the foam lol. The candy headband also came with a really cute lollipop necklace and earrings (Totes forgot to include those!) and the jewelry was okay. The headband, however, came with three popped off lollipops that I had to superglue back on. It all ended up working out, but it definitely added to the annoyance of my top pick costumes NOT working out.

While the accessories were going to help this costume, they weren’t going to make the look. So, I turned to Spirit Halloween to kick it up a notch. First on the agenda was a wig and I scored massively with a gorgeous pastel blue, pink, and lavender in long, curly tresses. It was also the last one in the store. NICE! Next was a tutu to add some volume to the skirt as well as provide some extra coverage to the very mini length! The pink tutu was also the last one available which was DOUBLE NICE and everything was coming up Lil Red.

The last order of business was thigh highs and eyelashes and things went down slightly lol. I was really hoping to find some pastel pink thigh highs but came up with nothing. The white ones will be okay, though, and I love the bows! For eyelashes, I chose a wonderfully rainbow set to pop against all the pastel. I left the store with *almost* exactly what I wanted/needed and it was a much needed great success after the struggle bus ran me over time and time again!

I am honestly so excited to put this whole costume together over the weekend. It was not what I originally had in mind but maybe that’s a good thing because I’m already obsessed!

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