Tag Archives: happy

Liebster Award #3

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Liebster Award #3

Hi everyone and happy weekend! I hope everyone is having a fabulous day so far. I got nominated for my third Liebster Award by the darling Camille over at mrsshern a couple of days ago and am so totally flattered! Her blog is a real gem so make sure you check it out. It’s always so much fun to participate in these blogging awards and get new people involved! Of course with all of these awards comes a set of rules for those who have been nominated to follow. Read the rules over and then see how I answered the questions that Camille asked to her nominees:

The Rules:

• Tag the person who nominated you and thank them.
• Answer the 10 questions you are given.
• Nominate 10 new bloggers and tag them.
• Give them 10 new questions to answer.
• Notify your nominees.

Q & A:

Describe your blogging style in best FIVE words?

Quirky, witty, sharp, insightful, and interesting (I hope!).

What is the best ONE beauty product you can’t live without? Why?

NYX’s Pure Red matte lipstick because it’s the perfect shade of red, the best matte lipstick I’ve ever used, and it completes the Lil Red look.

If you are to do a makeup look for ONE person for the rest of your life, who would it be and why?

Uhhhh….I don’t really know how to answer that question because I suck at doing makeup for other people. Haha, I guess doing stage makeup would be fun. I used to be really in to acting and I envied everyone who could do their makeup on their own.

What is the ONE best advice you would give your younger self when it comes to beauty? Why?

Let’s see…Probably to learn how to dye my hair at home because it would save you a fortune! The money I’ve saved from dying my hair with boxed color is insane.

If you are not a blogger, what would you be doing right now?

Working a shitty retail job. Blogging has given me an awesome way to earn some extra money while I’m in school full time at Tri-C.

What is ONE funniest beauty horror story you had?

Oh gosh, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever had a real “horror” story when it comes to my makeup. However, last time I got my hair cut my amazing stylist gave me this awesome pompadour with twisted braids on both sides of my head. I was so happy with how it turned out but as soon as my boyfriend and I got home, I changed shirts from the cute one that I was wearing to a comfy t-shirt for lounging. By the time the t-shirt was on, my perfectly styled tower of hair had fallen and all that was left was a crunchy and hair sprayed mess. I was SO so pissed because it was one of those things that I should have seen coming a mile away but naturally I disregarded it!

What is ONE product that you keep inside your every day makeup bag that you don’t really use at all?

Hmmm…I don’t really have anything in my makeup collection that I don’t use. I hate clutter, so I try to be good about throwing away old makeup products or giving the things that I don’t want to my sister.

What is the first thing you do in the morning as soon as you wake up?

I hate saying this…But I check my phone! It’s like the millennials version of reading the newspaper and I hate myself for it!

What is ONE beauty routine you can’t live without?

Washing my face with a really good cleanser. I can’t stand the feeling of my skin being dull or dirty so skin care is a must for me.

What is your main goal as a blogger?

To make a living out of it! I’m so passionate about lifewithlilred and I’m working very hard every day to make it a success.

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

My Questions For You:

  1. If you could spend a day with anyone in the world, who would it be?
  2. What is your least favorite color?
  3. Would you rather have bad breath or a piece of spinach stuck between your teeth all day?
  4. What is your favorite candy?
  5. What is your favorite store to go shopping at?
  6. What was your favorite toy to play with when you were little?
  7. If you could have one super power what would it be?
  8. Where is one place that you would like to travel to?
  9. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
  10. What is your favorite thing to write about?

Thank you so much again to my friend, Camile, at mrsshern for the nomination! Liebster Award #3 was a blast to fill out and I am so thrilled to be nominated again! How would you answer some of the questions that I asked my nominees? What is everyone up to this weekend? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

My Second Liebster Award!

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My Second Liebster Award!

Hi everyone and happy weekend! On Thursday I was nominated for my second Liebster Award by my sweet friend, Alyson, at silverpepperofstars! Her blog is a real gem so make sure you check it out! The Liebster Award comes with some rules for those who are nominated so check them out:

The Rules:

1. Create a post, tagging and thanking your nominator.

2. Answer the eleven questions they asked you.

3. Nominate a new eleven bloggers.

4. Ask eleven new questions for those you have nominated to answer.

5. Notify your nominees.

Q & A:

1. What is your biggest pet peeve – what really grinds your gears?

Oh goodness. I guess my biggest pet peeve would probably be when people drive under the speed limit or exactly at the speed limit. That’s so annoying!

2. If your house was on fire, what one item would you grab before you leave?

Uhm…I honestly have no idea. That’s a tough one.

3. What was the last film you watched?

I watched one of my favorite films, Let The Right One In, last weekend for the seven hundredth time.

4. Which food item can’t you live without?

TACO BELL!!!

5. What are you really passionate about?

Writing, my family, my friends, and helping people and animals.

6. If there was one thing that was guaranteed to cheer you up when you were at your most cranky, what would it be?

Hanging out with my sister, my boyfriend, or my best friend.

7. Are you allergic to anything?

Not that I know of!

8. What is your favorite book?

I have too many! The Little Prince, Coraline, The Book Thief, Night Film, and the Sandman graphic novel series – just to name a few.

9. What is your favorite song/track?

Once again, I have a lot, but if I had to pick one and only one it would probably be “Beautiful Day” by U2. It’s been one of my favorites since I was little. So much so, that I got lyrics from that song tattooed on me the day I turned eighteen.

10. Do you have any hidden talents?

Does eating a lot of food without gaining weight count?

11. Describe yourself in 3 words.

Passionate, quirky, red.

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

  1. mommyteacherfashionista
  2. sujatagazderblog
  3. fantageecho

My Questions For You:

  1. What are the most important qualities that you look for in a friend?
  2. What is your favorite thing to write about?
  3. What is your favorite candy or sugary treat?
  4. Where is your favorite place in the world?
  5. Where would you like to travel to?
  6. What inspired you to create a blog?
  7. Do you prefer shopping in store or online?
  8. What is one beauty item that you can’t live without?
  9. If you had a pet while you were growing up, what was its name?
  10. When you were a child, how did you answer the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up”?
  11. What is one color that you love? What about a color that you hate?

So there you have it, all of the fun details to My Second Liebster Award! Thank you again to my friend, Alyson, at silverpepperofstars for the nomination! What is everyone up to this weekend? Any fun plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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

Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition

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Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Monday Update of 2016! On New Year’s Eve my darling boyfriend, Kyle, took me out on the most wonderful date night ever. We enjoyed dinner at Gervasi Vineyard, where he works as the assistant manager. In our over four months of dating, I had never eaten there before – asides from food heated up in the microwave, which so doesn’t count! When Kyle told me he had made New Year’s Eve reservations for us I was beyond excited! Take a look at us being a cute couple and then let’s discuss:

kyle!

^^^ I love us!!!

Gervasi Vineyard is one of the most gorgeous eateries in the Akron/Canton, Ohio area. There are three restaurants on the property, Tuscan style villas to stay in, an apple orchard, a beautiful lake, and of course – their vineyard! Kyle has been working there for close to five years and is amazing at his job. I kept telling myself it was only a matter of time until we had a special dinner there, so as I mentioned before, I was so thrilled when he told me about our reservations!

The entire night was so fun and even just getting ready to go to our 6:15 reservation was a treat. I got to help pick out Kyle’s outfit for the evening and it was so cool! Haha, I always love exploring a new wardrobe! We got dressed to the nines and made our way to the restaurant, which he lives very close to. We were the perfect amount of fashionably early for our table and got seated right away so we could begin our meal.

One thing (of many) that I love about Kyle, is that no matter what restaurant we go to, he always plans the dishes that I can eat ahead of time by researching their menu because I’m a strict vegetarian. Since we were on his home territory, however, he spent the whole car ride there describing all of the different things that I could order. Believe me, by the time that we were seated I was drooling like a dog in front of a tub of peanut butter. Classy! 😉

Thanks to Kyle’s expert descriptions of all of my options, I didn’t even have to look at the menu to know what I wanted. For our first course, I chose their butternut squash soup and Kyle got the apple salad. We also ordered a bottle of their sparkling white wine to enjoy with our meal. Butternut squash is my all time favorite kind of soup and it was seriously the best bowl I’ve ever had. It was so creamy and perfectly seasoned and it was so worth the four month wait to try it out!

For our entrees, Kyle ordered the lobster gnocchi and I opted for their linguini with an aglio e olio sauce topped with fresh spinach and arugula. While we waited for the main course we were serenaded by the saxophone player who was performing in the restaurant and it was all so very romantic! Our entrees came very quickly and they were to die for – just like the entire meal!

We finished the main course in record timing and then ordered a small dish of their bread pudding for dessert. We could barely finish half of the serving before tapping out but it was delicious! It had a caramel sauce and rum ice cream to top if off and it’s safe to say that I was in carbohydrate heaven! Once we completed the three course meal, I felt like I was going to explode from my belly full of food. I also was wearing a skirt that wasn’t very forgiving so I’m sure the whole restaurant got a nice view of my big ol’ gut! 😉

To finish our night, Kyle and I went to Giant Eagle after we decided that we could move again and purchased a bottle of champagne to toast with. It was around eight thirty when we got home and after a glass or two of champagne and a few episodes of Malcolm in the Middle, I was beyond ready for bed. I ended up falling asleep at nine thirty, well before the commemoration of the new year at midnight!

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt like such a goon for falling asleep so early and missing what would have been our first new year’s kiss together. Lucky for me, I have a boyfriend who’s always coming up with sweet surprises for his girl! Kyle showed me a poorly lit but super cute picture that he took of him giving my sleeping self a kiss on the forehead at midnight for proof that I still got my new year’s kiss. How lucky am I? Very. ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: New Year’s Eve Edition! My evening was straight out of a fairy tale and I’ll never forget it. I hope all of you had just as great of a time celebrating! How did everyone ring in the new year? Is there a place similar to Gervasi Vineyard in your neck of the woods? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love and happy 2016. -Sarah

Hi, Best Friend!

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Hi, Best Friend!

Hi everyone and happy Hump Day! Yesterday I had the joy of hanging out with one of my dearest friends all day and I’m simply thrilled about it. One of my best friends, Tyler, is in the Army and is stationed far away from my neck of the woods. Tyler and I met during a play that we did, Suicide in B Flat, and have been inseparable ever since and I haven’t seen him for over a year. This past day we got to reenact our classic “Middle Aged Monday” hang outs, where we day drink, craft, and watch silly movies. We had an absolute ball candle making, drinking blueberry flavored beer, and watching Vacation! Take a look:

Tyler picked me up around noon yesterday and we had our usual MAM (Middle Aged Monday, falling on a Tuesday) lunch at Chipotle. After we dined, we hit up Hobby Lobby to find a craft for us to do while we drink. We decided on candle making, which we usually have frowned upon before because all of the products were so expensive. But lucky for us, all of the supplies we needed were half off!

Tyler and I perused Hobby Lobby and found the perfect jars, fragrances, and colored waxes for us to use during our craft. We settled on a peach mango fragrance and then headed to Giant Eagle to get our day drinking alcohol of choice. Usually we always drink wine during our MAM hang outs, but we went for beer this time around because wine always makes us sleepy during early afternoon get togethers. At first I didn’t care for the blueberry flavored beer but after one bottle it was surprisingly delicious!

Once we purchased all of our gear for a middle aged themed hang out, we made the trek back to my place to get our craft and drank on. The candles ended up being hella easy to make because literally all we had to do was pour the wax, wick, and a fragrance into the jar! Talk about easy peasy lemon squeezy! Tyler and I have played around with the idea of making candles before but we had never dreamed that it would be so simple!

After our craft, which ended up being a whopping five minutes to make, we delved into our six pack of Wild Blue beer and put on Vacation. We had a complete blast watching the movie and laughed until we cried. Once our movie was done, we spent time taking some cute picks while quoting basically the entire movie. It was perfect.

I had the most amazing time with one of my dearest friends and it felt so good to see him after such a long time of being apart. When Tyler is away, we keep in touch via Skype, FaceTime, and text – but nothing is better than being face to face with each other! Middle Aged Monday (falling on a Tuesday) was a great success and I can’t wait for my best friend to come home again soon!

Yesterday I got to say Hi to my Best Friend and I couldn’t be happier. We had the best time and I can’t wait to see him again soon! Who has a best friend that lives far away from you? What do you do to keep in touch? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

New Coat Heaven!

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New Coat Heaven!

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday! On Christmas day I died and found myself in New Coat Heaven. If you read yesterday’s Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition, you’ll know that my parents gifted me with a gorgeous new coat. If you didn’t know that – then now you know! I am so madly in love with my new beauty from Target that I just had to give it some extra special attention in today’s post. Take a look at this bad boy:

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^^^ Swoon. ❤

I’ve had my eyes on this stunning knee length coat from Target for over two months but it was quite expensive so I never would have bought it for myself. While my mom and I went on one of our monthly Target excursions, I pointed the coat out to her and tried it on. I modeled the coat, expressed my desperate interest, and then hung it up and put it away so we could continue our shopping. That shopping trip was Operation: Planting the Seed.

And believe me, the seed in my mother’s brain was planted, alright. When I was gifted with the Corella Deville coat on Christmas day, my mom told me that the day after our outing she went out and bought it for me for one of my presents. She said that if she didn’t do it right away then she would have forgotten the size I needed and she didn’t want it to get sold out. What a lady! ❤

I’ve been planning outfits in my head around this knock out of a coat for days now. The unveiling of my new winter garb will take place on New Year’s Eve, when Kyle and I go out for a date night to ring in 2016. I’m going to pair it with a beautiful, knee length, floral dress along with a killer pair of heels and of course, a bright red lip! Be on the look out for pictures!!

I really am in New Coat Heaven and I’m so thankful for the amazing gift compliments of my mom and dad! Who received new clothes for Christmas? What about new jewelry or accessories? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

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Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Welcome to this week’s Update: Holiday Haul Edition! Lil Red made out like a bandit this Christmas and it’s still not over! I still have presents to receive from my sister and my best friend later this week. But so far, the loot has been fantastic. I feel so spoiled because I’ve never had a boyfriend during the holiday season and Kyle and his mom were nice enough to give me some amazing presents. Take a look at what I received on Christmas according to each person:

My parents:

I am SO in love with the gorgeous coat that my mom and dad got me. I’ve been eyeing this jacket from Target for over two months now and I’m so happy that it’s finally mine! My mom got it for me the day after I tried it on in front of her in October and has been hiding it for my surprise ever since. What a lady! I also received a generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation as well as a fresh supply of my favorite beauty products from The Body Shop and Trader Joe’s. Thanks, mom and dad!

My brother and sister-in-law:

From Peter and Megan I received my first Adult Coloring Book, complete with colored pencils and a sharpener. My sister and I have been interested in these for a while so I’m so excited to unleash my inner child and crack open the coloring book with her. I also got a Groupon for two free admissions to a Paint Nite. In Ohio, there are certain bars that offer a night of drinking and canvas painting and I’ve heard that they’re so much fun! It will be the perfect date night for me and Kyle!

The most special gift I got this Christmas, however, was the rosary that Peter and Megan brought home for me from their honeymoon in Italy. It’s my favorite color and it is also blessed by Pope Francis from when they had the honor of meeting him. How cool is that?!

My other brother:

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From my second oldest brother, Andrew, I received another generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation. You can’t go wrong with cold hard cash!

My boyfriend:

My darling Kyle spoiled me rotten this year with some of the most fantastic gifts ever!! He gave me an entire family of stuffed animals from Despicable Me – one of our favorite movies. I also got a stuffed Moogle from Final Fantasy, which I’m pretty stoked about! To continue with the Minion theme, Kyle got me the most comfy pair of Minion patterned fleece pajama pants, which were unfortunately in the washing machine while I was taking my haul photos! Rest assured, they’re cute. 🙂

Kyle did a wonderful job of picking me out some beautiful accessories as well. I was so surprised when I opened the boxes of gorgeous jewelry, which included two stunning bracelets and a necklace. Kyle also knocked it out of the park with a burgundy and grey infinity scarf (Which I’m wearing right now!) and burgundy and black trimmed gloves. I can’t wait to wear my new scarf with all of my favorite sweaters and pair my gloves with my new coat from my parents! Thanks, babe – I love you! ❤

My boyfriend’s mom:

I was so humbled by the lovely gifts that my boyfriend’s mom treated me to. She got me the absolute cutest ornament for my tree of a little penguin ice skating. I made sure to put it right by my human skater, which I got at a figure skating competition in New York. Mrs. Kyle’s Mom also gifted me with some luscious bath and body products from Philosophy. I’ve never used their products before but have always wanted to so I was SO excited to try both of them out! Spoiler alert: They’re amazing and they smell heavenly!

As much as I enjoyed receiving all of these beautiful presents, I enjoyed giving everyone the gifts I picked out special for them even more! I am so thankful for all of the goodies that I was gifted with but would have been just fine with only having the quality time with my family and loved ones. My Christmas this year was one of the best ever and I can’t wait to continue the celebrations this week with my sister and darling best friend!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition! How was everyone’s holiday? What was your favorite gift that you received or gave? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Be Back Monday!

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Be Back Monday!

Helloooo everyone and happy Saturday! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas that was filled with family and good cheer. I’m taking the weekend off from lifewithlilred as a little holiday vaca so I’ll be back with you on Monday for the usual Monday Update which will be the Holiday Haul Edition! Until then, how was everyone’s Christmas? Was Santa good to you this year? 😉 I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

^^^ If you haven’t seen the movie Vacation, do yourselves a favor and do it! It’s me and Kyle’s new favorite! ❤

Merry Christmas!!

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Merry Christmas!!

Hello everyone and a very Merry Christmas to all of you!! I hope that you’re surrounded by people you love all day and have a joyous time celebrating. I’m keeping this post short and sweet so all of you can read it, smile, and move on to all of the exciting plans you might have going on for the day. I can’t wait to hear about how you celebrated this holiday season. What is your favorite gift you received? What is your favorite gift that you gave? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ❤

The Happy Couple

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The Happy Couple

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Kyle and I celebrated our four month anniversary on Monday (woo!) and we have the cute photographs to prove it! When it comes to taking pictures, Kyle and I are the polar opposite. I like very posed photos that are taken in a timely manner and Kyle just presses the “Ok” button rapidly thirty times in a row and hopes for a good one…Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

After we examined the photos taken from his shooting spree, he told me that we were only going to put two on Facebook so we don’t look like an “annoying” couple (Which is a good rule to live by.). Kyle’s choice is my featured image photo, which has grown on me after a few defiant “no-s” from him when I asked him to change his mind! My choice is as follows:

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^^^ The lighting is lousy, but when the opportunity for a couple’s pic arises you have to seize it!

My beau and I had a great day together. We went for drinks at the Burntwood Tavern, which is where we had our first date. Then we hit up the gigantic Giant Eagle that I live by to grab some beer, compliments of the option they have to “build your own” six pack, which Kyle loves! After we got our refreshments, we settled down at my place for some snuggle and TV time followed by dinner with my family. We concluded our day by watching Kicking and Screaming, which Kyle has never seen before and ended up really enjoying! It was perfect. 🙂

Today, Kyle, my brother Peter, his wife Megan, and I will be going to the Great Lakes brewery in Cleveland for drinks and dinner, which should be a lot of fun! Anything that keeps my mind off of trying to guess what Kyle got me for Christmas is time well spent!! For the past two weeks the poor thing has had to deal with me asking him if I can have my presents multiple times per day…Whoops. :*)

I’m so excited for a great day with my beau, brother, and sister-in-law and I hope all of you have a wonderful day as well! What are your holiday plans? What is a gift that you’ve bought or made that you’re most excited about giving? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah