Tag Archives: holidays

Mar22

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

Posted on March 22, 2024 by lifewithlilred

Hello everyone! Today is a fantastic, wonderful day because it is my amazing mom’s birthday!! My mom is my A1, ride or die bestie and every second of every minute spent with her is a joy. She is the most fun, hilarious, beautiful person I will ever know and I hit the jackpot being her daughter. Not only is my mom the best on the planet, but she is also the best grandma too of four kiddos and two bunnies. 🙂 Every day, I am thankful beyond words for my mom who is the brightest light to everyone she meets.

My mom is a pillar of strength and grace. She is a fighter, a badass, and a constant source of inspiration to me. I am lucky because I get to see my mom almost every day of the week and when we are not together, we are texting away about how much we miss each other! I know that we can both go to each other about anything and everything and it is so special to be able to have that kind of relationship. No matter how old I get, she is the first one I go to for advice, a kind word, or a shoulder to cry on. We are and forever will be two peas in a pod, best of friends, and an unshakable mother/daughter duo! ❤

Mom, thank you for being you and all you do. I wouldn’t be me without you!!! I love you more than words will ever say!

Happy birthday to you!!!!!!!! ❤

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

Jan6

All Better OOTD Bloopers

Posted on January 6, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my All Better OOTD! I spent the majority of my holiday break being sick AF and only started rallying over the weekend. This couldn’t have come a moment too soon because my family celebrated Christmas late when the whole crew could be there. On Friday, we enjoyed a wonderful family meal at Hibachi Japan and I was stoked! It is one of my favorite restaurants in my neck of the woods and also the last time Johnny and I went I dropped my leftovers all over the stairs leading up to our apartment. SMH! Anyways, let’s get to these bloopers:

When you literally can’t pop your foot

Lol, SO over it!

She sticks the landing!!!

Making sure no one saw that…

Lol my eyes look terrified, my mouth is smiling, and I have no idea what’s happening

I LOOK GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had grand plans for my holiday break. Sure, I was going to rest and spend some time reading and watching my favorite shows. In between the R&R, I had dates for outings with friends and family and a few shifts that I didn’t feel like missing. That all went up in shambles and it turns out that I would be spending my break in its entirety recuperating and watching endless episodes of My 600 Lb. Life. It was a massive bummer but, on the bright side, I really love watching My 600 Lb. Life so I guess it wasn’t all bad? lol

Come this past Tuesday, I was honestly so ready to go back to work. I’m sure many of you didn’t want your holiday break to end on account of all of the fun you were having. Myself, on the other hand, was willing every day to go by quicker because it would be one less day of being sick! Returning to the grind after a solid week of vegging out wasn’t ideal, but I couldn’t wait for the change to my routine – especially considering I could breathe out of my nose again. All I know is that I am taking a whole week off for my birthday in June to make up for this dud of a break. Start crossing your fingers now that I don’t get sick for that too!

It’s never fun feeling under the weather, but it is even worse when it’s over the holidays. I am SO happy to be back on my bullshit and not sounding like Napoleon Dynamite anymore. Bring it on, 2024!

What are your tried and true remedies for a cold? When was the last time you got sick? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan2

Happy Haulidays: Second Family Edition

Posted on January 2, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!! Prior to me getting sick on Christmas day, Johnny and I had a wonderful holiday celebration with his parents and aunt over the weekend. It is such a joy to be able to spend Christmas with both of our families and I love the traditions that Johnny and I participate in every year with his. We have a delicious meal, open presents (Including a stocking for each of us on the mantel, which I adore!), and have our annual viewing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – our favorite! I had never seen that movie until my first Christmas with Johnny’s family and now I think I can out-quote all of them lol. 😀 As always, Johnny’s family is way too generous with their thirty something year old kids and we are so enjoying everything that was waiting for us under the tree:

Every year, Johnny’s mom gifts me with amazing goodies from Hope Soap, which is a local business in Cuyahoga Falls. These products couldn’t have come a moment too soon because I was literally all out of lotion! In fact, I just started using the jar of Fruity Loops Body Nectar last night and it is divine. It smells exactly like Fruit Loops, as I’m sure you all guessed, and I am so there for it. I also received two bottles of the body cream from Hope Soap in Grapefruit & Bamboo and Honey & Almond. The grapefruit scent is zingy and refreshing and the honey one is SO lush and rich. I am very partial to a Honey & Almond fragrance and I can’t wait to use it!

As always, Johnny and I received lots of chocolate to satisfy our sweet tooths and we have been in heaven! Every night since, we have had a piece or two during our viewings of Criminal Minds and it is with sheer willpower and determination that we don’t have everything in one go haha. My favorite gift of all, though, has to be the sweet leopard print shawl that Johnny’s mom got for me. It is just SO damn cute and I am most eager to wear it with my French Rooster cami top. The shawl is soft and cozy, perfectly unique, and such a fun cold weather accessory. I don’t own anything like it whatsoever, making it the ideal gift for me. ❤

Two holiday celebrations make for twice the holiday joy for me and Johnny on Christmas and it is the best gift to be able to spend time with our amazing families!

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

Jan1

Happy New Year!!

Posted on January 1, 2024 by lifewithlilred

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Helloooo darlings and Happy New Year!!! It’s 2024, baby and this is a most exciting year indeed. Come September, it will be lifewithlilred’s TEN YEAR blogiversary spectacular!! I have never been one for making New Year’s Resolutions and, honestly, is anyone really? I feel like no one makes them anymore and the ones I have made in the past were broken pretty much immediately lol. However, I am bringing nothing but good vibes into 2024 because there is so much to look forward to!

As you all know, I formed a partnership with one of Ohio’s most well known local celebrities, Tim Misny, this past November. In the New Year, we will be taking our content creating to the next level with lots of fun adventures and I couldn’t be more excited. We have grand plans of podcasts, videos, and merch photo shoots and it is such a thrill for all of my hard work to pay off in such a major way. lifewithlilred has been an almost decade long journey and this is, easily, the coolest thing my blog baby has ever done for me. 😀

From taking on new clients in my work as an Independent Provider as well as some social media management gigs, it’s safe to say I like to keep myself busy. This is a wonderful thing and I love all of my many jobs more than words can say. However, after getting pretty sick on what should have been my holiday vacation, I realized how damaging the “grind don’t stop” lifestyle can be. I guess I do have a resolution to be more lenient with myself when I need to take a break as well as recognizing my own limitations. I am only one person and definitely need to treat myself better as my own employer! The grind should stop sometimes and whether that be taking a long weekend or clearing my schedule for a day, I plan on doing that more this year.

Last year was for lack of better words, a shit show. There was SO much going wrong and I feel like I am finally getting a grasp on normal life again. One constant in my life is my blog and I am so thankful for all of you because I think I would go nuts without lifewithlilred! I hope each and every one of you has a New Year full of smiles, success, and joy. Let’s make 2024 our best year yet and thank you for joining me on another trip around the blogosphere. I love you all. ❤

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dec25

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Posted on December 25, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone and Merry Christmas to all of you!!! What a year it has been and I am SO ready for quality time with my family and time off. Other than Thanksgiving day, I have not taken time off since having Covid in September. Minus a few random shifts, I will be taking a whole week off and I could not be more excited if I tried. I can’t wait to watch all of the reality TV, hang with my bunnies, read, and relax. It is going to be just what I need and I hope that you will be able to find the time to recharge and enjoy the holidays too!

I know I say this literally every time a holiday rolls around, but it needs repeated: I am so beyond thankful to all of you wonderful people throughout the blogosphere. Wherever you are, you are special to me and words cannot express how happy I am that out of all the blogs online, you stumbled onto mine. Every day, I am motivated to create content for all of my dear friends and readers and I feel immensely proud of everything we have accomplished together. At the end of the day, I couldn’t do it without each and every one of you. ❤

Merry Christmas and thank you for being you! Much love. -Sarah

Dec24

Bath & Body Works Holiday Scents Pt. 2

Posted on December 24, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Howdy!! I used an afternoon off on Tuesday to pop into Bath & Body Works because I was running dangerously low on my beloved foaming hand soaps. The soap from B&BW has been a staple at chez moi ever since I got my own apartment and I simply refuse to buy anything else. They are the absolute best! While I enjoy many of the fragrances that are always available at Bath & Body Works, it’s fun to do a restock when their holiday scents drop. Yesterday, we discussed three of these fragrances and we will chat about the remainder today! Let’s get to it:

Twisted Peppermint: From fragrances to flavors, I love all things peppermint! The Twisted Peppermint from B&BW is exactly what you would expect it to smell like and offers notes of “cool peppermint, sugared snow, and fresh balsam”. Now, I don’t know what sugared smell or balsam is supposed to smell like. I don’t even know what balsam is lol. But, you can definitely smell the peppermint and that is all that matters to me! Some peppermint products can be almost harsh smelling and super mentholy but not this one. The Twisted Peppermint is minty, yes, but it doesn’t sting your nostrils when you take a whiff. It is just right!

Frosted Cranberry: A few years back, I gifted Frosted Cranberry candles for Christmas and I remember really liking the scent. Fast forward to present day and it wasn’t as good as I recall it being, but it’s still nice enough! The fragrance notes for Frosted Cranberry are… “frosted cranberry (lol), red delicious apple, and blonde wood”. What I like about the Frosted Cranberry is that it is much richer in its berriness than the Golden Berry Mistletoe which we reviewed yesterday. Not the best, but certainly not the worst either.

Snowy Peachberry: I think I saved the best for last because the Snowy Peachberry is the bomb.com! This scent serves with hints of “snow-kissed cranberries, frosted peach blossom, and shimmering woods”. I can’t speak for the shimmering woods portion, but this is a perfect wintery peach fragrance. It smells fresh and sweet, but also has some tartness to it compliments of the cranberries (the scent not the band). Snowy Peachberry is a fragrance that I would buy any time of the year and I wish that it would linger beyond the holidays. See what I did there? 😉

My favorite to least favorite scents:

Snowy Peachberry

Pink Sparkling Spritz

Twisted Peppermint/Vanilla Bean Noel (I can’t decide between the two!)

Frosted Cranberry

Golden Berry Mistletoe

Normally after a haul from Bath & Body Works, I consider myself to be well set. However, I think I will definitely be shopping the post holiday sales because some of these fragrances are just too good to only have around this time of year. Give me ALL of the Snowy Peachberry, please! 😀

Will you be doing any sale shopping after the holidays? What is a B&BW fragrance that you wish they had year round? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec23

Bath & Body Works Holiday Scents

Posted on December 23, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hellooooo darlings! It has been a FAT minute since I received any coupons from Bath & Body Works in the mail. Honestly, I get it though because I literally never buy anything lol. I cash in my freebie coupons, I do my foaming hand soap hauls, and that is about it. Hopefully this most recent purchase of holiday scented soap will put me back in B&BW’s good graces because your girl is running desperately low on shower gel and lotion!! Fingers crossed! As I eagerly await some mail from B&BW, let’s chit chat more about their holiday scents. We’ll start with three today and do the remainder tomorrow:

^^^ Very aware that Peach Bellini isn’t a holiday scent, but it’s my fave so I always have to buy it! 😀

Pink Sparkling Spritz: This might just be one of the best ones from the Bath & Body Works holiday/winter line. It is bright, poppy, and oh so delightful with notes of “bubbly ginger ale, pink sugar, and raspberry fizz”. It kind of reminds me of another B&BW scent called Champagne Toast (or as Johnny would say, Champagne AND Toast). Imagine that Champagne Toast is a dry champagne. Pink Sparkling Spritz, on the other hand, is sweet as can be and always goes down smooth! 10/10 would recommend!

Vanilla Bean Noel: I have always been fond of Vanilla Bean Noel and am thrilled that B&BW brings it back time and time again. I am a huge vanilla fan and this scent is simply scrumptious with hints of “fresh vanilla bean, warm caramel, and sugar cookies”. Freaking YUM! Also, major shout out to one of the employees who looked all around the store to find my Vanilla Bean Noel for me. I would have been SO disappointed if they were completely out of stock because it has become one of my holiday scent staples.

Golden Berry Mistletoe: I feel very in the middle about Golden Berry Mistletoe. It’s nice, yes, but it isn’t my favorite. Why did I buy it, then? Because I was freaking sick of smelling everything lol! I was starting to go nose blind so I just went for it. This scent features notes of “sparkling berries, sugared spruce, and frosted air”. Whatever frosted air means. If you are looking for a softer holiday fragrance, Golden Berry Mistletoe is a safe bet. If you want something that packs more of a punch, however, you should skip on this one.

So far so good with this holiday hand soap haul! Stay tuned tomorrow because we will be talking Twisted Peppermint, Frosted Cranberry, and Snowy Peachberry. I bet you can already guess which one is my favorite! 😉

What is your favorite Bath & Body Works holiday scent? What is your least favorite holiday scent (I HATE cinnamon and pine!)? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec20

Happy Holidays To You

Posted on December 20, 2023 by lifewithlilred

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Hello!!! Johnny and I have been having a blast rocking all of our new Misny Merch and we just had to take some couples pictures this weekend to show it off. Misny Merch is truly the gift that keeps on giving. For starters, you will look freaking awesome in it but, most importantly, all proceeds from each purchase goes towards supporting the Cleveland City Mission. You can shop all things Misny Merch here and help battle homelessness in Cleveland with your order! Here are some of my favorite shots with my favorite person and a very special guest:

Unfortunately, our friend Tim Misny couldn’t be with us for this photo shoot. However, we got the next best things! A Tim Misny pillow and holiday sweaters!! Nothing says “merry and bright” like Tim in a Santa suit and I honestly think that Johnny and I will be wearing our sweaters year round. They are SO comfortable and are warm without feeling like you are in your own personal sweat lodge. There is nothing worse than a stuffy sweater and this one by Misny Merch is the definition of “just right”. Whether you wear it on the go or simply to lounge in, this is a piece from the holiday collection that you don’t want to miss!

It’s always fun to play dress up in all of our Misny swag, but the funnest thing was taking pictures with Johnny. As a doting blog husband, he takes my OOTD shots almost every weekend. lifewithlilred would not be the same without all of his help! While we do take selfies fairly often or, rather, I take selfies and Johnny makes a stank face, we don’t have a lot of “nice” pictures together. I was so happy to be able to take these holiday shots with my main squeeze and I treasure them so much. These holiday shots sum up our very loving and very goofy relationship to the T. Showcasing our new Misny Merch was the perfect cherry on top. ❤

Happy Holidays To You from me, Johnny, and Ohio’s own Tim Misny. We hope you have the most amazing time celebrating with your loved ones and basking in the holiday spirit!

Do you have any “ugly” holiday sweaters? What is your favorite merch line by a celebrity? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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