Hello everyone!! I have been hinting at a change to my hair for a while now and it is time for the grand reveal! This past Wednesday, I enjoyed some fabulous pampering at the Shear Shop and my stylist, Anna, truly outdid herself. Lil Red is back, baby, with fireball hair to welcome the fall with! Check it out:
^^^ Lol, give me my phoooone!
Colors Used:
Pulp Riot’s Pyro on the roots
Pulp Riot’s Lava and Satire in the middle
Pulp Riot’s Fireball on the ends
After several attempts at white and red hair, I decided that I was ready for a change as soon as Anna perfected the combination. Haha, that’s always how it goes but I was just ready for something fun and different that brings me back to my Lil Red roots. I am IN LOVE with my new cut and color and I have, honestly, never felt better about my appearance before. It’s amazing what some time spent in Anna’s chair can do for your girl’s self esteem! 😀
To start this process, Anna bleached my hair for about a half an hour. We didn’t need it on too long this time around because we were using darker colors, which was nice. After the bleach lifted the color to a shade that Anna was happy with, my hair was washed, dried, and ready for all of the amazing Pulp Riot colors.
I have to mention this every time I get my hair done but the Pulp Riot hair dyes smell SO. Good. They smell exactly like SweetTarts and literally everyone in the salon has to take a whiff whenever we use it lol. Anna masterfully applied and blended the color and each chunk of hair used the four colors mentioned above. Although we didn’t see as much of the yellow “Satire” as we would have liked, it was a great first go and gives me all of the David Bowie vibes.
With fiery new hair, I needed a cool new cut to match because I was straight up bored with my old standby. I found inspiration for the “Dewdrop” haircut online and decided that it was the one – bangs included. I have toyed with the idea of bangs for forever but never did it and I am really glad that I took the plunge. I think that it looks so edgy and chic and is exactly what I had pictured in my head.
When I arrived home from the salon, Johnny and I had a Middle Class Fancy moment when he said “Who are you and what have you done with my wife?” Lol, he loves my hair just as much as I do! Tune in tomorrow for a brand new OOTD to showcase my brand new look!
How often do you change your hair’s style or color? Where do you find inspiration for new hairdos? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Howdy! Last week, I completely devoured YOU by Caroline Kepnes. Starving for more, I had to grab the sequel to Joe Goldberg’s super stalker story and ended up reading Hidden Bodies in two days. As many will agree, the follow up was not as good as the gripping first one. But, it was written exactly the same as the first, hence, it was totally un-put-down-able. Let’s discuss:
In Hidden Bodies, Joe Goldberg ditches gloomy New York for sunny LA. However, it wasn’t because he wanted to work on his tan. No, he just needed to seek revenge on the last girl that screwed him over. When Amy fled their relationship with a small fortune of rare books in tow, Joe used his uncanny ability to stalk his prey to find out that LA was her destination. So, he called it quits at Mooney’s, packed a duffel bag, and headed west.
Joe learned that Amy had hopes of becoming an actress but he also found that trying to locate his ex in LA was a lot harder than he initially thought. While on the prowl, he gets himself into more trouble and yet another relationship with an incredibly rich woman in the movie industry compliments of crashing an audition that Amy could have been at.
Once Joe begins his relationship with wealthy and older Love, the plot begins to get just the slightest bit far fetched. And by the slightest, I mean very. I enjoyed it, despite some of it reading like soft core porn. But, it just didn’t feel as creepy as its predecessor. Because of the too crazy to be true plot once finding Amy was completely abandoned, the overpowering sense of being watched and followed went out the window with it.
It was still a well written sequel and, because of that, it was a quick read although it was close to four hundred pages. But, I could have not read it and still been fine. However, I am not going to tell you to not read this book. At the end of the day, Joe Goldberg is hilarious. Yes, he’s an awful, sick, disgusting character and that’s putting it nicely. But, the Joeisms in Hidden Bodies were as rich as they were in YOU and you’ll be sure to get some good laughs in.
I am going to give Caroline Kepnes’s follow up a six out of ten. It was good, but not great. But, if you liked YOU, you’re not going to not like Hidden Bodies. Now, I am looking forward to the second season of the television show YOU to see if they incorporate any of this sequel into it!
What were your thoughts on YOU or Hidden Bodies? How did you feel about the TV show of YOU? I want to hear from all of YOU, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Hi! Something that I’ve been fond of for as long as I can remember but, even more so this year, is the good ol’ local library. In my neck of the woods, there are plenty of different libraries to go to that have instilled in me a love for reading from story time as a youngin up until now as a twenty something. And, what I have learned this past year, is that libraries aren’t just for checking out books and movies.
Frequenting the libraries in the greater Akron area has become a staple in my day job, as they offer wonderful, educational, and fun programs that are all completely free. My clients and I love visiting different libraries and always end up reaping the benefits that the programs and events have to offer. From gaining knowledge and new hobbies to receiving totally free books like the ones below, the library is definitely the place to be.
The libraries in my area offer everything from reading with therapy dogs to GED classes and murder mystery dinners. I have been to excellent music concerts with clients and showings of recently released movies in a huge auditorium. I’ve also attended yoga classes, escape rooms, and lessons in meditation all for the cost of absolutely FREE.
Just last week at North Hill Library’s meditation class, there were cardboard boxes full of free books for the taking. Mysteries, romances, fiction, and nonfiction alike were all there to be sorted through and there was no limit to what we could select. My client and I had a blast looking at all of the choices and I ended up picking out all of the above horror style murder mysteries (My favorite!) to take home with me. Will I like all of them? Maybe not, but that’s no harm done, because I can always donate it so that someone else can have what might be their new favorite page turner.
Lil Red will always support establishments that better the community and I am thankful that mine has so many excellent libraries to choose from, because they do just that. Libraries are inclusive to every single person in this world and there is much to be learned and a lot of fun to be had during your next visit to the neighborhood library!
Who else makes good use out of their local library? What type of programs does your library offer to the public? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Heyyy everyone and happy Monday!! I hope all of you are having a fabulous day so far! I’m currently taking a break after a four hour homework binge, so I thought that now would be the perfect time to let all of you know that my 21st birthday countdown has begun! There are officially only SIX DAYS left until my June 7th birthday. I repeat SIX DAYS! S-I-X D-A-Y-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In case you can’t tell….I’m beyond excited! I have lots of fun stuff planned for a week full of birthday celebrations, so I’m trying to finish as much homework as I can now so that I don’t have anything school related to worry about for my special week – because let’s be real, turning the big 2-1 definitely calls for a weeks worth of tomfoolery! Yesterday my sister and I went shopping at my favorite mall, Belden Village in Canton where I treated myself to some new additions to my wardrobe…A jacket that I’ve had my eye on for forever at American Eagle that FINALLY went on clearance and a super cool and edgy black crop top with two floor length black sheer panels of material hanging from the front and back from Forever 21. I was soooo excited about my new jacket from AEO, because not only did I get it for half off which was a total steal BUT they only had my size (small) and an extra large left – so it was definitely meant to be! I would post pictures of these new pieces to show you guys, but my beloved best friend Kate is going to be doing that for me on our hang out evening this Wednesday, so be on the look out for some pretty new modeling pics of yours truly! I’m seriously so obsessed with both of these new wardrobe editions so I can’t wait for you guys to see them! As I mentioned earlier, I have a full birthday week of plans, so here’s a tentative outline of what my schedule will be looking like until my big day:
Monday: Finish my school work for a stress free birthday week! I have just a few more things to do and then I’ll be done already – hurray!
Tuesday: Get my hair cut so it’s nice and fierce for all of my festivities and then join my sister for an evening of pampering at a fancy salon while she gets her hair dyed.
Wednesday: A lovely hang out with Kate that will be filled with booze, crafting, and photography!
Thursday: An afternoon at the nail salon where my beloved nail tech Vinny will be giving me the princess treatment with a brand new set of nails! My talons take FOREVER to create, so it should be a pretty lengthy salon hang out with Vinny and the rest of the fabulous employees at Empress Nails!
Friday: A trip to the Toledo Zoo with my darling little BFF Lea for my birthday day trip! It’s our best friend tradition to take a day trip for each of our birthdays.
Saturday: My first night out at the bars with all of my friends! The white girl wastedness will be SO real!!!
Sunday: MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! This will probably be my day with my family unless Kate and I aren’t too hung over to have our individual celebration together. I’m not sure what she has planned but she told me that I need to be twenty-one for it – so maybe we’ll be going to a winery or something?! I have no idea, but I’m so excited to see what she has planned!!!
^^^ I LOVE MINIONS!! And speaking of those silly little yellow guys – at Build A Bear you can make a minion (as you can see by my featured image photo) and I want to make one so desperately it hurts! I swear I’m turning twenty-one and not five!!! So if someone could take me to make a minion of my own to hug and love on that would be great! 😉
Alright guys, I must be getting back to work on that Tri-C grind but I will talk to you all later! What does everyone have going on this week? Anything exciting? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Helloooo everyone and Happy Monday! So as you guys know I had a pretty rough few days this weekend, but thanks to a glorious Saturday night hang out with my best friend/soul mate Kate (whom you should know all about!), I’m feeling much, much better. Sometimes all you need is an evening of girl time to shake the blues away. We had an eventful night of:
Telling each other our sob stories while drinking the most delicious hard cider I’ve ever had in my life.
Deciding it would be a good idea to finally see 50 Shades of Grey to help cure #50shadesofdepression, so we drove off to the only movie theater in our area still playing it. We then decided it would be a good idea to get some mini bottles of wine to sneak into the theater (because 50 Shades of Lame is definitely a movie you need to watch while drinking wine), so we went to Target and picked out some fabulously delicious Barefoot Bubbly Pink Moscato baby bottles.
After we got our dranks, we changed our mind on the movie and came up with the brilliant idea to go to a nature park to enjoy the great outdoors while sipping on our bubbly. So we went back to Kate’s apartment to get a blanket in case we wanted to sit down and some to go coffee mugs filled with ice to put our drinks in. Then we headed off to the Gorge, which is a hiking trail right near Kate’s living quarters.
Once we got to the trail we saw that it was jam packed with people because it was one of the first really nice days in good ol’ Akron, Ohio (#represent). So we decided that until the park cleared up a little we would sit in my car (AKA The Little Red Love Machine AKA #TLRLM) and smoke cigarettes, drink our vino, and listen to One Direction. (I’m just now realizing how antisocial that sounds, haha!)
After some down time in my whip we decided to walk to the overlook area that the trail has where you can gaze at the dirty Cuyahoga River #EW. Keep in mind that I had no idea Kate and I would be anywhere near a hiking trail today, so I had to walk there in my beloved black lace up Vera Wang wedges. I felt like such a goon, but hey, a gals gotta do what a gals gotta do.
We admired the filthy and flammable river for a while and then walked back to my car to refill our drinks. Best believe I’ll have buns of steel from that trek on the trail in wedges! So once we got back to the car we both had to pee like no other, so we made a dash back to camp to empty our bladders before hitting up Swenson’s (AKA the best thing that Akron has to offer) for a late dinner.
We got our food to go and then went back to the headquarters one last time so we could watch Parks and Rec while enjoying our food and some best friend cuddling! :*)
My best friend evening with Kate was honestly one of the best nights I’ve had in weeks, and I needed it so bad. I’m no longer a bummed out wreck over some of my sob stories that occurred this past weekend and for that I am so thankful! It’s seriously amazing how one evening of drunken tom foolery with your bff makes all of your problems seem so much less significant than they did initially. I feel like I’m ready to take on the world, and I have my partner in crime to thank for that! ❤
I hope all of you guys are having a fabulous Monday! I’m off to start a ten page research paper, so hopefully all of you are doing something much more enjoyable! Where are all of my fans of The Following at? How excited are you for tonight’s new episode?! I for one am stoked! I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
I can’t tell you guys the number of times per week that I get asked the question “how do you keep your hair so red?” I usually answer with a variation of three of my go to responses, which I’m going to share with all of you in case you were wondering the same thing!
1) I dye my hair often: Thanks to my fabulous Vidal Sassoon box color, I can dye my hair whenever I want from the comfort of my home. The color I use is called Runway Red and it’s part of their London Luxe collection. I am absolutely OBSESSED. Because the box color is so affordable (about eight dollars per box), I dye my hair once a month for the best results. I used to pay a lot of money at the salon for a very similar shade of red, and the cash that I’ve saved is incredible! If you’re looking for a fierce red from a box color, I can’t recommend Vidal Sassoon’s Runway Red enough!
2) I rarely wash my hair: I only wash my hair once every two weeks. And all of you can say that that’s gross and foul and whatever, but I call it dedication! Seriously, if you want red hair, you need to do the work for it – the cold water washes, the redying, the dry shampoo…if you don’t, then don’t bother. Constant washing of your hair is going to bleed your color out faster than you can say “oh shit, my hair color is bleeding out.” (I pinky promise that my hair doesn’t smell! And lucky for me my hair never gets oily or greasy so it’s super easy for me to go for a long time in between washes.)
*Pro tip when you are washing your hair: WASH IT IN COLD WATER! I can not stress this ENOUGH. During my two monthly hair washes, I stand outside of my shower and stick my head into the freezing cold water so none of it drips on my body. (Brrr! I also recommend wrapping a towel around your neck just in case. The cold water drips are the worst!) I never shampoo my hair, I usually just use the conditioner provided with my hair color that helps prevent the color from bleeding out during hair washes. Works like a charm, honey!
3) Dry shampoo is your friend: Why wash your hair when you have dry shampoo? Dove has a really fantastic line, but right now my sister and I are using Batiste brand and I like it a lot. Batiste smells a lot better than Dove’s line, which smells awfully baby powerdery. Batiste’s dry shampoo literally takes all of the odor out of your hair and leaves it feeling fresh and looking shiny. I smoke, and thanks to this product you can never smell the lingering odor in my hair – which is a major plus! With products like this, there’s literally no need to wash your hair as frequently as you would think. If you aren’t convinced, ask any of my friends or family members if my hair smells and I’m confident that they’ll answer with a big fat NO!
If you think you have what it takes to be a red hair warrior like myself, then be sure to follow these tricks to help maintain your gorgeous locks! These tips apply to any artificial color though…in fact you should be using these steps no matter what color you dye your hair for best results. I earned my nickname Lil Red from one of my beloved old coworkers, and I plan on keeping the locks that earned me this adorable nickname till the day I die! #teamredhair
What was the craziest color you ever dyed your hair? What are some of your pro tips for maintaining your color treated hair? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight! -Sarah
Guess who’s back? Back again. Lil Red’s back. Tell a friend.
Whatsuppppp guys. Sorry that I’ve been M.I.A. this past weekend, I was and still am extremely under the weather. I have absolutely no clue what’s wrong. 😦 On Friday night I went to an excruciatingly lame party and got a little too white girl wasted. Naturally I woke up with a hella hangover the following morning, but it wouldn’t go away as the day progressed. I was achy, nauseous, and dizzy all day AND unfortunately, I’ve been achy, nauseous, and dizzy all day today. #fml The only good thing about feeling sick is that you have a really valid excuse to lay in bed and watch Netflix all day. Today I indulged in watching over half of season two of The Following and it was fantastic! I really enjoyed season one but never got around to watching the sophomore season. About a week ago I saw somewhere or another that season three will be airing soon, so I thought today would be the perfect day to get myself all caught up. Kevin Bacon and his chiseled features definitely helped me feel a little bit better! Hubba hubba! Prior to this suck ass weekend, I was having a pretty suck ass week. -___- I’ll tell you guys, Lil Red can NOT catch a break! But it’s whatever, because amongst all of the bullshit, I treated myself to a princess day on Thursday. #treatyoself
Mama needed her nails done DESPERATELY, so I decided that I would hit up the salon after my math class on Thursday morning. I got to class, annihilated a quiz, and then sat through more than half of my two hour lecture until I decided to dip out. Yes, I peaced out of my math class to get my nails done – SUE ME FOR IT! I haven’t said too much about my college classes lately, because they’re all going pretty average so far – BUT, I will tell you that my algebra professor is not my cup of tea. The thing is, is that she seems like such a nice person, but she has one major downfall….she has the worst monotone that I’ve ever heard in my life. Math bores me enough already, so when I have to deal with that on top of listening to a robot lecture the class for an entire two hours I naturally am eager to leave ASAP. So I leave class and take my sassy ass straight to the salon to see my beloved nail tech, Vinny. Vinny has been doing my nails for almost three months now and he is absolutely fantastic. This last visit he spoiled me rotten – he spent TWO hours working on my nails, bought me Starbucks, AND told me he was going to take me to see 50 Shades of Grey on Valentine’s Day! Ha! It felt so amazing to have an entire afternoon of pampering and my nails turned out perfectly, as you can see from the picture below:
So obsessed. Red like my hair and black like my heart. ❤ And here’s a few pics of me and my sweet Vinny, who keeps my nails looking fresh all day every day! #pronails
^^^ Lol, I had to!!!
So there you have it, a quick little update on everyone’s favorite Lil Red before I hit the hay. I promise that I’ll be back in action on the ol’ blog once I’m feeling better this week! Btw, who watched the Grammy’s tonight? What did you guys think of the performances? Who got snubbed out of an award? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight! -Sarah
Heyyyyyy guys! So I was in the middle of doing math homework, and I was getting SO (Lil) Red with frustration, so I said “fuck it” and decided to blog instead. Math homework can wait….until the day before it’s due 😉 Ha, anyways I’ve had a few fun occurrences happen this week that I would love to inform you lovelies about, so let’s get to it with my Lil Red Recommends: Procrastination Edition!
Read “The Husband’s Secret”: Lol, told you guys I was gonna recommend this one as soon as I finished reading it! It was SO good! I recently read “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarty and was obsessed, so I was very excited to start reading one of her best sellers “The Husband’s Secret”. This book did not disappoint, as I expected from the phenomenal Australian author. All of Moriarty’s books weave together three women’s lives, usually through the school that the ladies children attend, which was a common theme between both books. In “The Husband’s Secret” we meet super mom Celeste, introverted Tess, and elderly and depressed Rachel. Rachel has every reason for her sorrow, because her teenage daughter, Janie was murdered years ago and the case was never solved. I can’t say much about the book, because giving one thing away would give away a lot – but I can tell you that there’s a murderer living among the quiet Australian suburb who never fully paid for the crimes committed all those years ago. Saying that “The Husband’s Secret” is a page turner is an absolute understatement. Much like “Big Little Lies”, I devoured this book in days and fell in love with all of the charming characters that “The Husband’s Secret” has to offer. Do yourselves a favor and READ THIS BOOK! I promise that you’ll like it – you have the Lil Red guarantee!
Try Out Jamberry Nails: If you haven’t read my most recent post about these fabulously cute nail wraps, PLEASE DO SO! I had the pleasure of writing about this fun company for a dear friend, and was lucky enough to sample some of the products! I gave myself an adorable Jamberry pedi and hooked my sister up with a manicure yesterday – it’s safe to say that we’re both pretty obsessed! Jamberry has hundreds of wrap patterns to chose from as well as nail lacquers if you’re not a nail wrap fan. Please read my blog post Jamberry Nails for additional info and get yourself a sweet treat on http://jamswithjenna.jamberrynails.net! There’s a bunch of Valentine’s Day themed wraps to pick from to get yourself in the spirit for the most annoying holiday ever! 😉
Go See American Sniper: Alright, so I understand that there’s a lot of controversy surrounding this film regarding how much of the actual story of Chris Kyle was true and whatnot. And here’s the thing – I don’t care. I didn’t look too much into all of the news stories and web articles about the subject – if I did that, I don’t think that I would have enjoyed the film as much as I did. American Sniper was directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, so by default I loved this movie. Anything that Eastwood touches is gold in my opinion, and it brought me great joy to watch a movie that had his unique touch all over it. The entire time I was in the movie theater I couldn’t help but think that the film was such “classic Eastwood”. The controversies regarding the film doesn’t take away from the marvelous direction, cinematography, sound mixing, and acting that American Sniper has to offer. Bradley Cooper gave one hell of a performance – I was so impressed! Usually I don’t care too much for him as an actor, but I truly appreciated this character and the work that went into becoming him. Of course there were a lot of parts in American Sniper that were hard to watch, but if you can look past that, you’re in for a great night at the movies.
Listen To Jagwar Ma: Ohhhh yes. Hell yes. I LOVE these guys! Jagwar Ma has one of the most unique sounds in an indie band that I’ve heard in a very long time. The thing about these guys, is that they’re so much more than just indie. They’re alternative, electronica, surfer rock, with the slightest hint of boy band swag that I just adore. Their 2013 album “Howlin” delivers non stop hits – seriously there’s not one song on there that I dislike. One thing that I’m particularly fond of on “Howlin” is that even their short songs like “Man I Need” and “Let Her Go” pack just as much of a punch as their over five minutes “Come Save Me” and “Four”. I’m sure you all know by now how much I appreciate that, because I feel like I mention it a lot. I always say that you can tell that a band is dedicated to their music when their filler songs are just as good as their main feature songs. Do yourselves a favor and give Jagwar Ma I try, I’m pretty confident that some of you fabulous people will enjoy them!
Alright guys, that’s enough procrastination for the day – mama needs to get back to her homework. -___- I hope all of you have a great rest of your day! What movies have you seen lately? What band are you obsessed with at the moment? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Love, love love – Sarah
Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all of the support you’ve been giving lifewithlilred these past few months! I truly appreciate all of the likes, shares, comments, and views from all of you!!! I’ve been having so much fun writing all of my crazy thoughts on here and I’ve had just as much fun reading everything you have to say as well! You are all so talented!! I’m so thankful to have such a solid group of supporters who seem to actually care about what I have to say – it really does mean a lot! So as always all I ask of you to just keep on sharing, following, and reading and we’ll see just how far we can take this! I have some really great stuff coming up these next few days! It’s the season finale of American Horror Story: Freak Show tomorrow night so make sure you tune in with me for my review of that. And if you’re interested in spreading your musical horizons, I’ve been lucky enough to have a few local bands from Akron, Ohio ask me to do a review on my page! In other news with Lil Red, I start back up at school next week, but I promise to post as often as I can! Thanks for everything again and so much love to all of you!!!
I hope you’re all having a lovely day! Have you guys been sticking to your New Year’s Resolutions? What should I write about next? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Love, love, love -Sarah
Whatsup guys! Happy Sunday to each and every one of you! I’ve read quite a few good books this month, discovered a cool new band, and had a somewhat religious experience while shopping, so I wanted to share all of these and more with you in the newest Lil Red Recommends! Let’s get to it:
Read Tuesdays With Morrie: Seriously. Like Nike…just do it. My dear friend Kate got this for me a few Christmas-es ago and I decided to pick it up when I was out of a book to read after I finished Big Little Lies (which will be discussed later!) I read this book quite some time ago, and I am SO happy that I finally reread it. This book touched my heart and soul in ways that I can’t even describe the second time around. I guess that has to do with the fact that my beloved grandma was still alive and well the first time I read this book. This is a true story that chronicles the final visits a professor suffering with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) has with a former student. Mitch, who hasn’t spoke with his favorite college professor Morrie Schwartz in sixteen years becomes aware of his professor’s disease by seeing him doing a television interview while flipping stations. He hops a plane to Boston to see Morrie looking fragile and pallid in a wheelchair. After their first visit together which fell on a Tuesday, Morrie asked if Mitch would come to see him again next week, to which Mitch obliged. All of their meetings in their college days fell on a Tuesday and these visits stayed true to that tradition because they’re “Tuesday people” according to Morrie. During the visits between professor and student topics like religion, emotions, forgiveness, and death are discussed. We learn about Morrie and Mitch’s past and current struggles, that are peppered with humor and the questions that everyone probably asks themselves. This tribute to an amazing man had the ability to make me love both Morrie and Mitch as if they were my own family, and I cannot recommend this book enough. If you’re looking for a quick read that makes you think and opens your heart, grab yourself a copy of Tuesdays With Morrie pronto. If this book doesn’t move you in some way, then you literally have no soul.
Read Big Little Lies: Ohh yes, this book is FABULOUS. Big Little Lies tells the tale of the drama of three women: battered and beautiful Celeste, fashionable and confrontational Madeline, and of course shy and young Jane. These ladies meet through the kindergarten that their children attend and through fast friendship their lives become intertwined. All of the struggles these women face lead up to a tragic night at a school trivia night function for the parents. The chapters literally begin with counting down the amount of time left until the trivia night. This book covers everything from domestic violence, fabulous fashion, sexual assault, bullying, and relationships and it is an absolute thrill of a read. I can’t tell you too much about the book because it’s going to ruin a lot of the shocks and surprises that happen in basically each chapter. I’m a big fan of the author Herman Koch and Big Little Lies is written very similarly to his work, so I instantly fell in love with it. I know this description of the book was vague, but seriously PLEASE read it and tell me what you think! I’m already obsessed with the author Liane Moriarty and just started one of her best sellers The Husband’s Secret last night. I’m very confident that it will be on my next Lil Red Recommends segment!
Listen to Sam Roberts Band: I know, I know – typical PacSun music. SUE ME FOR IT because I love these guys! So catchy, so fresh, so upbeat. I just put their debut album Lo-Fantasy on my iTunes two days ago and I’m kind of obsessed. It comes with two disks, the actual CD and then remix versions of some of the songs. Upbeat is honestly one of the best words I can use to describe these guys, because that’s what they are – they’re fun and the beats of their songs are absolutely infectious. I dare you to not listen to Sam Roberts Band without bobbing your head or tapping your feet. Or in my case – dancing very poorly. I heard their songs “Metal Skin”and “Shapeshifters” when I used to work at PacSun, and they remain two of my favorite songs off of Lo-Fantasy. Do yourselves a favor and give them a try, you’ll be glad you did.
Shop The Pre-Spring Sales: So I was at the mall earlier this week with my sister and all of the stores were still flaunting their post holiday/pre-spring sales. We went to the two stores that we wanted to find the best deals at, which were Victoria’s Secret and Express. Kristen managed to get a sixty dollar bra from VS for only twenty dollars! You seriously can’t beat that. There were a few bras that I had my eye on in their sale bins, but I have more than enough bras to wear a different one every day of the week so I controlled myself from purchasing one, as hard as it was!!! #selfcontrol The real steal of the day came from my find at Express. This entire winter season I had my eye on a gorgeous snake skin print embellished V-neck sweater but the seventy-nine dollar price tag was just too steep for me to justify buying it. While rummaging through the sale bins in Express, a miracle happened. I FOUND THE SWEATER!!! My hands got sweaty (which always happens when I get excited – it’s my cross to bear.) and I rushed to the fitting room. I stripped off my winter layers of a jacket, hoodie, and sweater as quickly as I could and slipped into the sweater I had been lusting over for so long. It. Was. Perfect. It was exactly how I hoped it would fit and look on me, and I couldn’t wait to wear it out that evening. The best part about it? I got it for NINETEEN DOLLARS! Saying that I felt like I was on Ecstasy is an understatement!!! There she is:
Do a Winter Activity: Whether it be sledding, skiing, snow shoeing, or making some winter food like soups or peppermint treats with a friend – DO IT! I figure skated for close to ten years when I was younger, and a few nights ago my sister and I went ice skating. We had an absolute blast – well maybe me more than her because I actually knew what I was doing! That night was my first time back on the ice in close to four years and I was amazed at how much I could still do. As soon as I hit the ice I could feel my muscle memory kicking it – it was just like riding a bike. I was still able to jump, spin, and do a lot of fun footwork tricks. At one point during the night my sister said “Sarah, people are watching you” and I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit how good it made me feel. It took me back to when I would compete and all eyes would be on me when I performed my routines. Being the center of attention for just a few hours at the rink lifted my spirits and my ass, because it was a great work out! If you’re ever in the Akron, Ohio area and wanna go skating – you know how to find me!
So there you have it! My Lil Red Recommends for the month of January! What’s your favorite winter activity? Have you read Big Little Lies or Tuesdays With Morrie? What did you think of it? What was a great winter sale steal that you got? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a fabulous day! -Sarah
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