Tag Archives: love

Mar25

Engagement Ring Reveal

Posted on March 25, 2021 by lifewithlilred

Hello! My engagement ring was too big when Johnny proposed so I took it to Jared’s first thing the following Monday morning. In the meantime before my appointment at the jewelry store, we tied the ear strap from a disposable mask around the ring to keep it from falling off lol. I was not able to pick up my ring until Friday and it was such a long few days without it – especially considering I had just gotten it!

Come Friday morning, I arrived at Jared’s as soon as they opened to pick up my ring and they did an absolutely fabulous job resizing it. It fits so well but is still easy to take on and off, which is great because I don’t shower or sleep in it. I knew that my ring was the one for me at first glance and I am so happy to officially have it back in my possession. And now, the grand reveal:

^^^ The ring is a carved fresh water pearl on a sterling silver band.

Johnny and I are a fashion forward punk rock couple and we wanted unique rings without having to spend a small fortune and that is what we got. His boasts a red coffin with skeletons holding it and I think our rings look awesome together. They are completely perfect for us and I am constantly admiring them both throughout the day. Whether other people like them or not, we are always being told “I haven’t seen anything like it before” – which is exactly what we were going for!

When it comes to my fashion sense, I love pieces that are edgy while still being pretty and my ring showcases that beautifully. The band and skeleton hands are so delicate while the carved skull pearl makes a bold statement and I have never been so smitten with a piece of jewelry before. Both mine and Johnny’s rings have such a strong personality and I can’t imagine us having anything different.

Whenever I look at my ring, I am brought back to Johnny’s proposal and feel even more in love and it really doesn’t get any better than that. ❤

What does your engagement ring look like? What is your favorite type of jewelry to wear? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar22

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi everyone! Today is a happy, wonderful day because it is my amazing mom’s birthday! My mom is my best friend in the whole world and I love spending time with her. She is my partner in crime for everything and we are both really looking forward to her “mother of the bride” status when Johnny and I get married. I am already having so much fun planning out the preparations in my head that her and I can do together.

I treasure every minute I have with my mom and always think back on our pre-pandemic TJMaxx shopping trips fondly as well as the countless hours spent in the kitchen talking, cooking, or playing Scrabble. When something exciting happens, my mom is the first person I want to call and she is always there to comfort me on the not so good days too. Some days when I see her, it just doesn’t feel long enough and we both love to laugh when we end up on the phone with each other an hour later. 🙂

My mom is my hero and I admire her to no end. She is the most caring, strong, resilient, beautiful person I have ever known and I am so lucky to be her daughter. I love you so much, mom!

Happy Birthday!!!! ❤

Mar21

Engagement OOTDs

Posted on March 21, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! Johnny proposed to me during a couples lifewithlilred photo shoot for my Reimagine Your Wardrobe series and it was absolutely perfect. You read about all of the details of the proposal yesterday and, today, we are going to talk about our spring sweater weather OOTDs. I have wanted to style and photograph Johnny for a while now and, while I didn’t put his look together, I am so proud of how well he did in front of the camera! This was not his first rodeo when it comes to being photographed but he took my direction so well and I think our pictures turned out great. Check it out:

Who? What? Wear? Hers:

Cropped Sweater: Forever 21
Skort: Almost Famous, TJMaxx
Rhinestone Fishnets: Urban Outfitters
Daisy Wedge Mules: B.A.I.T., ModCloth
Lightning Bolt Earrings: EmLeigh’s and Mama B’s

Who? What? Wear? His:

Zebra Striped Sweater: Straight To Hell
Leather Jacket: Straight To Hell
Jeans: Hot Topic
Sunglasses: These are mine and are from Forever 21 – he misplaced his 🙂
Boots: We are both not sure lol!

I love both men and women’s fashion equally and I think that Johnny has amazing personal style that actually closely mimics mine. We are both not afraid to take risks when it comes to our outfits and we like to have fun with what we wear. I have been so excited for his debut on my blog and, during our photo shoot before he proposed, he told me that that was what he was nervous about. Like I said yesterday, I really had no idea he was going to pop the question!

The day of our engagement, Johnny got ready before me so it was easy to style an OOTD around what he was already wearing. Johnny loves online shopping with Phix and Straight To Hell and he had just purchased his sweater and jacket within the past few months. My fiance is fond of animal patterns and, while we both agree that the sweater is a little itchy, he still likes it all the same – a tank top or T-shirt underneath is definitely necessary, though.

As soon as I saw that Johnny was sporting his new sweater, my mind instantly went to my rainbow cropped sweater from Forever 21. I have had it for years now and, honestly, haven’t worn it for a year or so and I thought it would be perfect for my Reimagine Your Wardrobe series. It also made me feel like Rainbow Brite when I had it on which is a huge bonus.

Since Johnny had black skinny jeans covered already, I decided to pair the sweater with my Almost Famous skort which you might remember from my In Summer, We Wear Black OOTD. I can’t say that I wore this skort too often when I first bought it but, now, I want to wear it all of the time because it is so versatile. When paired with a tucked in cami or even the sweater in my pictures, it looks like a mini dress and it is a unique substitute to regular old jean shorts in the summer.

Once I had the base of my outfit down, it was time to accessorize. I was going for a “muted rainbow” vibe to compliment and pop against Johnny’s almost All Black Everything OOTD. My Urban Outfitters tights were an obvious choice to me because it was a bit chilly out and I don’t get to wear them too often. They are also just so darn fun except for when the rhinestones get caught in the fishnets!

For shoes, I was originally going to wear a pair of wedged white loafers but they looked too chunky so I went with my yellow mules, instead. I adore these little wedges that I got for a steal on ModCloth and they helped achieve the silhouette I wanted and added a super sweet pop of color. Finally, I just had to break out my pink glitter lightning bolt earrings that Johnny and I got on our Valentine’s Day date last year. I can’t say that I have worn them too much, either, but I’m glad I did because, like the skort, I think I will be wearing my lightning earrings constantly.

I really love how mine and Johnny’s outfits look together and it is so special to me to have these pictures because they document the entire hour before we got engaged. I see a lot of couples OOTDs happening in lifewithlilred’s future and I am so ecstatic to have my Johnny help me out. ❤

How would you describe your personal style? How about your partner’s style? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar20

Our Engagement! Here’s How It Happened

Posted on March 20, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! On March 13th, Johnny and I got engaged and it was the surprise of a lifetime because I had NO idea. As you all know, Johnny has been helping me photograph my Reimagine Your Wardrobe series and even agreed to be my model every now and again. He suggested that once the weather was nicer, we could go to downtown Cuyahoga Falls AKA the Riverfront and take some pictures together for a day date and I was ecstatic to go on a safe outing – one of our first since October of last year.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday with a clear blue sky and warmer temps so after hanging out in the morning, we got ourselves all done up and stepped out in our OOTDs. We spent an hour or so exploring different areas along the shopping plaza and the Cuyahoga River and were having so much fun taking pictures, pretending to be photographers and models, and enjoying the weather and each other’s company.

You can get all of the details for our outfits tomorrow as well as additional pictures but here is a little preview:

Throughout our photography adventure, we were struggling with the timed setting on the camera and for our last pictures together he said we should just take a video and save our favorite screen grabs from it. That sounded much easier to me than having to run back and forth between the camera and where we were standing under a stone archway so we got ourselves situated and began posing while a video was being taken.

Johnny told me I should face the other way for a few shots so I turned around thinking he was working the camera right along with me. Then, he told me I should turn towards him and he was on one knee! You could have knocked me over with a feather – it was absolutely amazing. And, yes, I have watched the video of our engagement a million times since then. 🙂

After the proposal, we sat on the patio of our favorite bar, The Cashmere Cricket, to have drinks and celebrate. This also just so happens to be where we had our first date. How sweet is that?! On Saturdays, The Cricket makes their drinks with dry ice so our beverages were smoking and bubbling like a science experiment as we sipped on them and grinned from ear to ear every time Johnny delightfully exclaimed that he “got me”!

Once we finished up on the patio, we went back to our place and a few of our friends in our “COVID bubble” stopped by for an hour or so. Then, Johnny and I snuggled up on the couch to listen and sing along to some music together. We ended the night with a dance party while we watched Grease and it was simply perfect. ❤

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for our Engagement OOTDs and keep checking back in for more on my ring, which needs resized!

How did you get engaged? Where did you and your partner have your first date? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar19

Guess What?!

Posted on March 19, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hello everyone! I have got some big news for all of you so I am going to get right to it… JOHNNY AND I ARE ENGAGED!! He proposed to me on Saturday the thirteenth and I am still floating on cloud nine. You guys will have to tune in tomorrow for the full proposal story but here’s a little sneak peek of our day:

I am, truly, the happiest, luckiest girl in the universe and this past Saturday was one of the best days of my life. I just melt every time I think of how Johnny proposed and we are so excited to share our joy and story with all of you. See you tomorrow! Much love. -Sarah

Mar10

Seahorses, Butterflies, & Toucans – Oh My!

Posted on March 10, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Seahorses, Butterflies, & Toucans – Oh My!

Howdy! Having a little niece and nephew is so fun and I love spoiling them both for birthdays and Christmas. My niece, Valerie, just turned two this past week and I had a blast online shopping with TJMaxx to purchase her prezzies. Among a Paw Patrol gardening kit and a sand castle table, I couldn’t resist buying my lil future fashionista some new summer dresses. Not only were the prices for these frocks cheaper than Target or Carter’s but they are, quite possibly, the cutest things that I have ever seen and I couldn’t not share them! Check it out:

All I have to say when I clothes shop for Val Gal is “where was all of this stuff when I was a baby?!” because you know I stayed rockin that Osh Kosh B’Gosh twenty something years ago lol. I thought all of these dresses were so summery and sweet and Val loves animals big and small so the patterns will go over perfectly with her! In fact, one of her favorite things in the summer time is butterfly watching with her grandpa. 🙂

The denim blue butterfly dress by Nula Bug absolutely melted my heart when I saw it during my online shopping. The pink butterfly buttons?! Stop it! I also didn’t notice in the pictures of the dress online that it has pockets so my heart melted again as soon as it arrived in the mail.

I would never pay an extravagant price for clothes for my ever growing niece and nephew and felt comfortable with what I spent at TJs. Especially because I did all of this shopping during their winter clearance sale! Shopping during the transition of seasons is a sure fire way to save some money and TJMaxx updates their sale items frequently. This is always a good thing to keep in mind if you like to do birthday or holiday shopping early, like me.

Being an aunt is the best thing ever and the past two years have been so much brighter for me because of my niece and nephew. I sure wish time would slow down, though, it feels like just yesterday when they were both born! ❤

Which stores have the best seasonal clearance? Who is your favorite person to shop for? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar6

Goddess Style OOTD

Posted on March 6, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! You might remember Libby from The Goddess Attainable through her guest post for lifewithlilred or our collaboration article. Libby has become a great friend and is so fun to work with that I just couldn’t wait to do another collab with her and, today, I am going to share an outfit that I feel like a goddess in. This particular outfit was one of the few that I made an effort to put together in the past year due to the pandemic and wore it to visit my cousin’s microblading studio in October. However, I never got a chance to have someone take pictures of it.

Cue: My boyfriend, Johnny! This past weekend when I asked him if he could take my blog pictures for the first time, he happily obliged and with a bit of coaching turned out to be a formidable iPhone photographer. It was impossible to not laugh every time he did his goofy photographer routine of “be a cat, be a tiger”, though!

My Goddess Style OOTD is one that I have no shame in wearing again and again and you might recognize quite a few of the following pieces from previous pictures and posts. But that’s okay! I would like to start doing a new OOTD series to help people re-imagine what they already have in their wardrobe and, because of that, this is the perfect place to start. Let’s take a look at an outfit that makes me feel confident and completely goddess-like:

Who? What? Wear?

Navy striped sweater: Cynthia Rowley, TJMaxx
Plaid high rise jeans: Sound & Style, TJMaxx
Pink plaid platforms: Sugar Thrillz, Dolls Kill
Lipstick: Smashbox, 9 To 5

This outfit is really amazing to me for a few reasons and the first one being: How visually interesting it is. My Goddess Style OOTD is like a master class in mixing patterns with like colors and it makes your eyes dance between each different piece. When done correctly, mixing patterns can create outfit magic. However, when done wrong it can look sloppy and we don’t want any of that!

Just remember when mixing patterns that there has to be a similar color linking each piece of your ensemble together. For example, the horizontal striped sweater wouldn’t have worked against the vertical plaid stripes of the pants if they weren’t both of a navy base color. Just like the Sugar Thrillz platforms would have looked out of place if the pink didn’t mesh with the dark rose stripes in the pants and my hair.

You also never want to overwhelm the outfit with multiple loud patterns or accessories. My sweater was bold because the pattern on the jeans used muted colors and thinner lines. I also kept my accessories to a minimum other than simple dangle earrings to keep the outfit looking sleek. You want your outfit to flow as a cohesive look and jewelry, clashing patterns, or unmatched colors all can take away from that.

My OOTD was insanely fun to style but it is even more fun to wear! The first time I sported this look, my sister told me that I looked like a Bratz doll and it was basically the best compliment I have ever received. From that point on, it has since remained in one of my top favorite outfits and I think it’s because of how perfectly it captures my personal style. I love to have fun with fashion and create statement outfits that not only look good but make me feel good and this OOTD legit makes me feel like a model.

While Goddesses aren’t afraid to show their outer beauty, they have inner beauty that speaks for itself and part of what makes this outfit special to me is how well it reflects my personality too. I am a bright, bubbly, outgoing gal who always tries to see the positive in a situation. I also love to make people smile and laugh and I truly feel like you can see all of that in this look.

My personality and fashion sense are two of my favorite things about me and I would consider them to be personal Goddess qualities. My Goddess Style OOTD showcases both of these attributes beautifully and I feel proud to be me when I am wearing it. If that isn’t goddesslike, then I don’t know what is!

I want to thank Libby of The Goddess Attainable so much again for having some fashion fun with me and you can check out her look now or tune in tomorrow to see it here. If you have any OOTDs that you are proud of and would like featured, you can always shoot me an email at: sarah.mush6794@gmail.com 🙂

What makes you feel confident? How would you describe your personal style? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar5

Love It: Contact Free Grocery Shopping

Posted on March 5, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, it is always best to find ways to limit whatever exposure you can and contact free grocery shopping is an amazing way to help with that. Johnny tried curbside pickup grocery shopping from our local store, Giant Eagle, earlier in February and loved it so much that he claimed he will never grocery shop any other way. With such praise, I figured I could give it a try too and ended up doing our shopping curbside pickup style at the end of February. I have to say, Johnny was so right – it was great!

Giant Eagle’s curbside pickup program has one of the employees do your shopping through a list created online and then you go to the store and your purchases get loaded into your car for you which allows for a completely contact free experience. It also gave me the thrill of online shopping even if it was just for food, lol! At first, I was having a lot of problems with Giant Eagle’s website running super slowly but once I logged on at a less peak time it was smooth sailing from there.

Online shopping for groceries was kind of weird at first but it actually ended up being really easy and insanely convenient. It was nice to be able to see all of the sales and promotions clearly from the website and apply coupons on the spot. I felt like I was able to take my time browsing the site instead of power shopping to get out of the store quickly which introduced me to options that I didn’t even know existed. Like frozen buffalo cauliflower!

I also was so thankful for the option to edit the cart once my order was placed because, in true Sarah fashion, I forgot a few things that I needed. I swear, I am always forgetting at least one or two things that I needed when I grocery shop which always ends up turning into an extra trip to the store. Online grocery shopping was no exception but, this time, I got to go back to my order and add the items that I forgot. No extra trip necessary. 😀

In my youth, I can remember how much I enjoyed grocery shopping with my mom and, pre-pandemic, I loved my trips to the grocery store. However, it is so important right now to utilize the options that different businesses have available to limit exposure for all parties involved. I am so glad that I gave curbside grocery shopping a try and plan on using it until it is safer. 11/10 would recommend!

What do you like to shop for online? Would you ever try using curbside grocery shopping? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar3

What A Guy!

Posted on March 3, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Hi! Last week was a particularly stressful one and, due to a family emergency, I arrived home from work a lot later than usual on Wednesday. Thanks to Aunt Flo hanging out I was exhausted, had cramps, and was freaking starving. However, after literally one step into my apartment once I arrived home, all of that extra irritability and tension dissipated immediately. Johnny was at band practice so I knew I wouldn’t hear a video game or documentary when I walked in. Rather, I heard the dishwasher running and saw a bag of Taco Bell waiting for me on the stove top:

My heart absolutely fluttered upon both of these discoveries and I, honestly, felt like a princess – which I texted him right away, of course. I am a woman of simple pleasures and it really doesn’t take much for me to feel spoiled by someone and, in this case, I felt spoiled rotten. After a long day I didn’t have to cook or clean – I just had to sit down and enjoy my food while watching Demon Slayer. It was perfect. Also the Taco Bell was A++++++ 🙂

My Johnny is simply the best and this sweet surprise is a shining example of how thoughtful he is. How did I get so lucky again? What a guy, what a guy, what a heck of a guy! ❤

What is your favorite fast food? When do you feel spoiled? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb19

Fun & (Video) Games: Valentine’s Day Edition

Posted on February 19, 2021 by lifewithlilred

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Fun & (Video) Games: Valentine’s Day Edition

Hello! Johnny and I are both avid gamers. In fact, we just got done playing about an hour and a half of Diablo III on the Switch before I sat down to write this, lol. My absolute favorite video game of 2020 has to be Paper Mario: The Origami King, which Johnny gifted me with for our one year anniversary this past September. When I first learned that there was a Paper Mario game for the Switch, I was so eager to play it and devoured it in about a month.

I was looking forward to that game so much because, way back in the day, I rented Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door from Block Buster (That just aged me so much!) and never forgot how much fun it was to play. I also never forgot the fact that I got to the final boss but was never able to beat it, smh. After enjoying The Origami King so much, I told Johnny that I would give anything to play The Thousand Year Door again for the GameCube. However, I knew this was unlikely because the GameCube is no longer made, therefore, the used games are uber expensive.

I had come to terms with the fact that I would probably never play my favorite childhood game again – Until Johnny gave me my Valentine’s Day present, that is. My darling boyfriend surprised me with The Thousand Year Door a week before V-Day!

Johnny spent the Saturday afternoon prior to Valentine’s Day running errands, but he wouldn’t tell me where he was going. I knew he was going to be getting me my V-Day gift, though, through girlfriend instinct and I couldn’t wait for him to come home so I could maybe sneak a peak at what kind of bag it was in! I wasn’t expecting him to give me my gift when he walked in the door but he was so proud of visiting two different Exchanges to get the game that he just couldn’t wait. 🙂

After I gifted Johnny with his prezzie of the LEGO Architecture Paris skyline set, we spent the afternoon with him building our own mini Paris while I played my new game. It was absolutely perfect and The Thousand Year Door was just as fun and adorable as I remember it being. Whether Johnny and I are trying to beat an impossible seeming level of Mario Galaxy or slaying hell’s demons in Diablo III, I love our video game time together.

I am so blown away by Johnny’s gift and how thoughtful it was because it shows me that he listens when I tell him about my favorite things and that’s what means the most to me. Celebrating holidays with Johnny never gets old and I can’t wait for infinite more Valentine’s Days with him. ❤

What was your favorite childhood video game? What video game are you currently playing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat!

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