Tag Archives: love

Jan25

Bouquet Beauty

Posted on January 25, 2022 by lifewithlilred

Hello! My dad is an excellent gardener and for as long as I can remember, there is always a wildflower bouquet on the kitchen table for my mom in the summertime. It’s pretty much the sweetest thing ever and his flower arrangements are beautiful every time. My grandma also had a green thumb so, between her and my dad, the majesty of flowers is something that I have enjoyed from a young age.

I love receiving flowers as gifts and I even still have the dried roses from mine and Johnny’s “one week anniversary” of dating and an arrangement from a Valentine’s Day together. In my opinion, dried flowers are just as pretty as fresh ones and I have endless bowls on my knick knack shelf filled with dried petals.

A couple of weeks ago, Johnny’s mom surprised me with a lovely Christmas bouquet. While it looks like it has seen better days now, I still love it just the same:

Flowers are such an amazing any time gift and they are always special to receive. It shows such thoughtfulness on behalf of the bouquet giver and I was so appreciative to Johnny’s mom for this gift. Although I am constantly cleaning off dried petals from the floor, I just can’t part with the arrangement. It also makes a fine centerpiece on my coffee table with my other vases of dried flowers. Plus, how pretty are those Lil Red blooms?! 😀

Dried or fresh, flowers are the best and I smile every time I look at mine. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! ❤

What is your favorite flower? Who else has a green thumb? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan17

New Harbor Blue & Shadow Grey Nails

Posted on January 17, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! This past Wednesday, I spent some time at Elysian Nails after work getting pampered. It was much needed because some of my acrylics were lifting and they were looking all around jank. Thankfully, my fave nail tech quickly solved all of the problematic claws and I even had a gift card to spend from Johnny’s aunt for Christmas. Getting pampered is great but it’s even better when it’s free! Check it out:

Before my appointments at Elysian Nails, I normally have a pretty good idea of what polish colors I would like to use. This time around, however, I had no idea and stood at the nail polish wall waiting for something to speak for me. At first, I had a cobalt blue in mind and thought that grey would look nice with it. I was all set with these two hues until the harbor blue bottle of polish caught my eye and I knew that I had found my match. Right away, my nail tech told me how much she liked my choices so, needless to say, I was feeling my damn self!

As soon as I got to my nail tech’s station, I literally sank into the chair. I don’t think I realized how tired I was from my holiday weekend with my family until I had time to myself to relax! As always, it was an absolute delight to get my nails done and the conversation was great as per ushe too. It is so fun to be able to have my monthly catch up with my tech so we can dish about anything and everything. What is said in the salon chair stays in the salon chair, after all.

I am in love with the end result of my fill and the stormy seas color palette is one of my favorite combinations I’ve done in a while. It feels so perfect for those grey January days! After my nails have dried, I always leave Elysian Nails feeling like a million bucks. I can’t wait to go back next month and spend the rest of my gift card! 😀

What color are your nails? Which colors should I get next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan11

Happy Haulidays: Bestie Edition

Posted on January 11, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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Hello! This past Wednesday, my best friend of fourteen years, Lea, and I had our holiday gift exchange. It may have been a bit late but it still felt like Christmas magic to me. As soon as she walked in the door, we immediately began opening presents and spent the evening girl talking away. I am so in love with what my best girl gifted me with and my new flower pressed coasters she got me from Etsy already have a very special place on my coffee table:

Lea and I both know the value of receiving bath and body care during gift exchanges so I was very excited for some eos brand goodies to add to my beauty hoard. I have only ever used their lip balms before, which are fabulous, so I can’t wait to test out the lotion and hand cream. Eos is a brand that I have always been interested in, but would never buy for myself so it was a perfect present.

Of course, the piece de resistance were the handmade coasters that she purchased off of Etsy. We both share an affinity for shopping on Etsy and my gifts from her were actually ordered on there too. I have never owned coasters before so it definitely felt like moving up in the adult world. And, what an amazing place to start because they are beautiful! 😀

For over fourteen years, Lea and I have participated in gift exchanges and it will never get old. It is so special to share holidays and birthdays with her and, oh yeah, half of our lives too. She is the best friend a gal could ask for and I love her so much! ❤

How do you celebrate holidays with your bestie? Do you have a favorite Etsy shop? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan3

Happy Haulidays: Husband’s Family Edition

Posted on January 3, 2022 by lifewithlilred

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Happy Haulidays: Husband’s Family Edition

Hello! Due to the high rates of COVID in Ohio, Johnny and I have had to have late Christmas celebrations with our families. This is why you haven’t seen any OOTDs or Hauliday posts recently but keep your eyes peeled because they are still going to happen! This past week, we celebrated with Johnny’s family and one of his aunts who is just wonderful and it was such a great time.

Living during a pandemic is insanely difficult but especially during the holidays as Johnny and I want to protect our vulnerable populations as much as we can. We haven’t seen his family as much as we would like so it was so nice to be able to share a meal, catch up, and open presents. Johnny’s family so generously gifted me with the following:

Hanging out with Johnny’s family after so much time apart was the best gift of all, of course, but I am so appreciative of everything that they treated us to. I love my cobweb earrings the best of all and I am tickled by the gift from Johnny’s dad of the flashlight/screw driver/whistle/everything else lol. It is such a dad gift and I am obsessed – even if I don’t quite know how to use it. 😀

I am also very touched by the ornament from his mom made for caregivers, although we all had a laugh about how we couldn’t read the sweet sentiments that were on it. Johnny and I have been diligently working through our holiday chocolate – my favorite being the chocolate covered chips. I have never tried one before and it is the perfect combination of sweet and salty. I could seriously eat twenty bags of them!

The piece de resistance of our holiday haul had to be the new air fryer for the both of us. We meant to buy a new one after we got married as ours was on the fritz but we just never got around to it. It finally went kaput a few months ago so we were thrilled with the new appliance. We have been air frying literally everything and have missed it so much. The novelty of air fried food never wears off. 🙂

Although we didn’t keep up with our Miller family tradition of watching Christmas Vacation together, it was still an amazing celebration. I am so thankful to have two beautiful families to join in the holidays with and have my fingers crossed that we can celebrate next Christmas on time altogether! ❤

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

Dec25

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! To those who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful day filled with joy, good company, and holiday cheer. For those who don’t celebrate – I hope the same for you! I will keep this post short and sweet so everyone can get prepared for their festivities but I just wanted to say how thankful I am for all of you. ❤

With the pandemic, everything feels crazy and scary. Writing on my blog every day brings a much needed touch of normalcy to my life and I hope that everyone tuning in feels that way too. My audience has turned into such dear friends and I love you all. I love your insights, your kindness, and the happiness I feel to have you in my life – even if it is from the computer screen.

For Christmas and every holiday celebrated, I encourage all of you to take proper safety precautions to keep things merry and bright for everyone. I can’t wait to hear how all of you spend your day and thank you for being you!

Merry Christmas!

Much love. -Sarah

Dec24

TJMaxx Haul: MaxSport LA Dress Edition

Posted on December 24, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! Other than the new clothes, the best part about shopping at TJMaxx is the prices, of course. I revel in a good deal and there is nothing better to me than getting name brand prices for the low low. Like the MaxSport LA dress that we will be discussing today, for example. The suggested price on its original tag was two hundred and forty dollars and I paid ten bucks for it on clearance. Talk about an amazing score! Check it out:

During my online shopping, I saw my new dress and wasn’t so sure about it. I really liked its pattern and balloon sleeves but the tent shape was questionable for me because I prefer something a bit more form fitting. However, when I saw it’s ultra marked down price, I thought that it couldn’t hurt to add it to the cart. If it worked, I got a new dress for a crazy cheap price. If not, no harm no foul and I could return it.

While I do love online shopping more than words can say, I tend to go with “safer” options so I don’t have to go through the hassle of making returns. So, I pick clothes and accessories in shapes and styles that I know will look good on me. Ordering this dress was a caution to the wind buy because I was so uncertain of it. In store shopping gives you the luxury to experiment with styles and adjust sizes. Online? Not so much.

Nevertheless, I was really excited to try this dress on and was so pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The tent shape, which I was the most ambivalent about was sweet rather than oversized and combined with the pattern, it felt like the perfect nod to all things retro. I cannot wait to pair my MaxSport number with my knee high floral boots from ModCloth for a three seasons student teacher chic look in the fall, winter, and spring!

Due to the pandemic, a majority of my shopping has turned online. This dress encouraged me to branch out of my “safe” styles when scouring my favorite sites and I am itching for my next haul to throw caution to the wind some more!

What is your favorite style of dress? How would you style this dress? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec23

TJMaxx Haul: Lucky Brand Cardigan Edition

Posted on December 23, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! I have always loved Lucky Brand and pretty much died and went to heaven when I got to shop in one of their actual stores during a vacation to North Carolina. I am always on the lookout for their clothing and accessories at TJMaxx and I was thrilled to find the cardigan we’re going to be discussing today. The price was pretty exciting too – I got it for thirty dollars compared to its original price of one hundred and thirty! Check it out:

Many moons ago when I worked at PacSun, I had what seemed like an infinite amount of Aztec patterned oversized cardigans. I am genuinely unsure as to why I got rid of them all but here we are lol. So, when I saw this Lucky cardi during my online shopping, I just had to add it to my cart. It reminded me so much of all of the cardigans that I have loved and lost and it seemed like everything in my life was leading up to this shopping experience… Okay, that might be a little over dramatic but you know what I mean!

Until my new cardi arrived in the mail, I had no idea of its original price so you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found out. I thought that I was getting the steal of the century. Oh yeah, and it’s cute! I absolutely love its length, the drapery, and the colors reminiscent of a fall sunset. This is a cardigan perfect for curling up in front of a bonfire or just lounging about at home and I am so there for it.

Lucky Brand has always spoke to me because of how classic all of their pieces are. Everything that I own by them from clothes to jewelry is something that I can picture myself wearing now or ten years from now. Lucky combines simple and crisp silhouettes with unique touches making them the ultimate brand of wear now and later. Or, when it comes to my favorite buys from them – wear all of the time! 😀

What is one of your favorite brands? What is one of the best buys you have had at a discount store? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec21

TJMaxx Haul: Scotch & Soda Pajama Style Blazer Edition

Posted on December 21, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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TJMaxx Haul: Scotch & Soda Pajama Style Blazer Edition

Hello! It has been a while since I had a big TJMaxx haul so I decided that it was definitely time to change that. 😀 This past week, my online order finally arrived in the mail and I am obsessed with all of the goodies that I picked out for myself. After So. Much. Holiday. Shopping. I thought that I deserved a treat too!

Today, we will be discussing an amazing pajama style blazer by Scotch & Soda. My only regret? That I didn’t buy the matching pants! Let’s get to it:

I must admit that when I originally ordered this blazer, I didn’t have high hopes for it and had plans of it being one of the pieces that I returned. But, man, was I wrong because this is one of my favorite purchases from my shopping. What I thought might look like I forgot to get dressed in the morning turned out to be oh so fabulous and I can’t wait to wear it to work/out and about.

This Scotch & Soda blazer was part of a matching set and as soon as I tried it on, I instantly was kicking myself for not ordering the pants too. After my fashion show, I raced to the computer to see if they were still available and, sadly, my size was sold out. I thought that the full set would be a bit much and I genuinely don’t know what I was thinking because “a bit much” isn’t part of Lil Red’s vocabulary.

While I would have liked to see this set in its completion, I still love the blazer as an individual piece just the same. The colors are muted but so rich and they really pop against its black background. I also can’t get enough of the piping throughout the blazer for a touch of pajama party chic!

During my online shopping, I was looking for pieces that could double for work and play and I think that this blazer hit the nail on the head. This is something that I could easily wear to my office or for a date day with Johnny. It’s also light enough that I could sport it during multiple seasons for ultimate versatility.

Whether paired with skinny jeans or a little black skirt, I am dying to style my new blazer so be on the lookout for OOTD pics soon. And, keep it posted for more from my TJMaxx Haul! ❤

How do you feel about clothing sets? How would you style this blazer? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec15

Face Mask Festivities: Yes To Tomatoes Anti-Pollution Bubbling Sheet Mask Edition

Posted on December 15, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Face Mask Festivities: Yes To Tomatoes Anti-Pollution Bubbling Sheet Mask Edition

Howdy and welcome to a new edition of Face Mask Festivities! Today, we are going to be discussing an absolute delight of a sheet mask from my Target haul. The Yes To Tomatoes Anti-Pollution Bubbling Sheet Mask had it all and my only regret is that I didn’t buy five more of them! If you are a lover of charcoal skin care products, like myself, then have I got a face mask for you:

If you have read my Face Mask Festivities posts before, then you will know that I am not incredibly partial to most sheet masks. I find it SO annoying how they never stay put on your face once you put them on! From the jump, I was impressed by this bubbling sheet mask because once I applied it, it didn’t budge on my face for the entire fifteen minutes I had it on. GREAT SUCCESS!

As soon as this mask was on, it began bubbling and fizzing as if I just opened a bottle of champagne. Within five minutes, the mask was full of bubbly bliss and I loved hearing the noises that it made. I have never used a bubbling sheet mask before and it was such a unique experience that I definitely want to have again.

While my face mask sat, I could literally feel it working to get all of the grime out of my skin. Recently, I began using an oil serum that I was gifted with. Now, normally, I shy away from oil based products but I figured that the extra hydration boost during the winter couldn’t hurt. Although my skin feels ultra nourished from it, the serum has clogged my pores and I was hoping that this mask would help.

And, help it did! The Yes To Tomatoes Bubbling Sheet Mask gave my skin the ultimate deep clean that was so invigorating and left my skin feeling tingly with an icy blast. My skin looked much more radiant and healthy and it was as if my pores were never even clogged in the first place. I couldn’t believe it!

This mask costed about four dollars and I have never been so pleased with a drugstore product before. For four bucks, I felt like I got a spa treatment and I cannot recommend it enough. Next time I am at Target, I will be buying several more of this mask because I am already chomping at the bit to use it again!

Have you ever used the Yes To products before? What did you think of them? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec7

Happy Haulidays: Bestie Edition

Posted on December 7, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi!! When lifewithlilred was in its early years, I developed a friendship with a fellow blogger and fashion enthusiast named Kate of Live In The Nautical. What started as comments on each others blogs turned to Facebook friendship, texting, video chats, and a trip to New York City to visit her! For years, Kate has been one of my absolute best friends and I am so thankful to the blogosphere for bringing us together. ❤

From a love of Harry Potter and figure skating to celebrities we can’t stand, Kate and I can talk for hours on end about everything and nothing and I always look forward to our FaceTime dates. We also both love gift shopping for birthdays and Christmas so the holiday season and our close together June birthdays are a very exciting time for us!

This past week, Kate and I exchanged super early Christmas gifts in the mail and it was such fun. Despite the fact that her package used SO. Much. Tape. that I compared it to trying to break into a jail when attempting to open it! Lol take a look at these darling prezzies from my darling bestie:

Both Kate and I can concur that our friendship is the best gift of all but the gifts above are a nice touch! I am obsessed with the Espresso Patronum mug a la Harry Potter and plan on drinking all of the coffee spiked with Baileys in it… Or maybe just Baileys! And, of course, I can’t wait to test out the bath bombs from Lush because Kate knows that they are my favorite. ❤

Every day I am so grateful for Kate but times of celebration like the holidays make me realize how lucky I am to have her in my life even more. I can go to her for anything, judgement free, and I know that she will listen, offer sound advice, and make me laugh like no other. I love the self who I am when we are together (albeit through a computer screen) and she is one of the best things that came out of starting my blog in the first place.

The blogosphere is such an amazing way for people to come together and near or far, I have made a best friend for life. Kate, I love you so much and thank you for everything you do for me. Now, everyone go check out her page!

Have you met any best friends through your blog? What is your favorite thing about blogging? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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