Tag Archives: love

Mar18

New Magenta & Gold Nails

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New Magenta & Gold Nails

Hello! Every month, I treat myself to getting my acrylics filled at Elysian Nails. It is my happy place and my happy time and I always leave the salon feeling like a million bucks. I also leave with the hopes that someone will try me so I can give them a good scratch! Lol, because I’ve been getting my nails done for forever, I am running out of inspiration for good color combinations. So, I revisited an old favorite of magenta and gold polish this time around. Check it out:

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I am, admittedly, a pretty flashy girl. I love the bling, I love being bold, and I love things that stand out, all reasons why I love my new nails. The glittery gold against the almost metallic magenta makes for an eye popping combination and they feel perfect for welcoming the spring weather with.

Now that I have the palms of my hands tattooed, keeping my nails fresh to death is a necessity because my unique ink is definitely a conversation starter everywhere I go. Lol, I have never been asked “did that hurt?” so much about anything in my life! This is a weird thing to say, but my decorated palms and nails make me feel so confident and it feels like putting on a show with every hair flip. Love it!

What color of polish do you have on? 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

Mar12

March 2020 Funky Time Jams

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March 2020 Funky Time Jams

Howdy! One of my clients at work absolutely loves oldies style music. This has definitely opened a whole new genre to me and I am actually pretty obsessed. I find myself humming the catchy, poppy tunes constantly and feel like I always have an earworm in my head of songs from the 1950s. Before, I was a-okay with just hearing this music for fifteen hours of my work week but I’ll be goddamned if I say that I’m not listening to it all the time now! Especially some of the following:

^^^ And, as always, I have no rights to these songs or videos!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love music of all kinds. I dabble in all genres and I always enjoy hearing things that I haven’t heard before. But, after being exposed to this golden era of music, I can honestly understand why people say “they don’t make music like this anymore” because it’s one hundred and fifty percent true.

I just love the talent behind all of these short and sweet songs. The big band instrumentals, the amazing vocals, and the way I want to get up and dance to each song is something that I don’t hear or feel on the radio today. Hearing modern remakes of all of these classics would be cool but nothing will ever beat the real thing.

I feel like I’m traveling back in time when I listen to the oldies and from now on you can find me posted up at The Hop! 😀

What are some of your favorite oldies? What genres of music have you been exploring? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb29

New Hayden Los Angeles Maxi Dress

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New Hayden Los Angeles Maxi Dress

Hello! These past two days you got to see the gorgeous jewelry that I got from EmLeigh’s and Mama B’s in Marietta, Ohio. Now, it’s time to introduce all of you to the lovely new pieces that I added to my wardrobe for surprisingly cheap (I think I paid forty dollars for three things). It was honestly one of the best shopping experiences I’ve had in a while. Exploring a new store in a new city with the love of my life was such a treat and I cannot wait to wear all of my purchases, like the one below:

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I have recently been trying to add more dresses to my collection because all of the ones in my closet are old as dirt. There are some that I still have kept around from my PacSun days over five years ago and they definitely look it. So, I was very happy to find this pretty little floral number for a whole fifteen dollars, because my dress hunt has been quite unsuccessful until now.

I absolutely love the white piping on this dress, the buttons going all the way down the front, and the way the colorful flowers pop against the navy base. The one hundred percent polyester material keeps the dress lightweight and breathable despite its length and, depending on how it’s styled, it could easily be worn for at least three seasons.

Of course, I’ll be wearing my new dress in its true form of, well, a dress. But, in the fitting room at EmLeigh’s and Mama B’s, I undid the buttons and had it on as a duster over my jeans and cami, which also looked very cute. I can picture myself wearing this dress belted with a killer pair of heels but I also predict that I’ll be throwing it on as a duster to spice up a more basic outfit very often!

How do you style maxi dresses? Is there anything that you’re trying to add more of to your wardrobe? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb23

Valentine’s Day Bouquet Pt. 2

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Valentine’s Day Bouquet Pt. 2

Hello, everyone! I had a simply magical Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend, Johnny, and I hope that everyone had as wonderful of a day as I did… Whether it be with your spouse or a romcom and a bottle of wine! Johnny’s band, The Outside Voices, was playing a show in Marietta, Ohio on the fifteenth. So, Johnny and I decided to make a long weekend of it and drove there on Valentine’s Afternoon.

We stayed at a beautiful hotel called the Lafayette and we had a delicious dinner. Then, we went back to our room and drank champagne and watched Weird Al music videos for two hours straight. Like I said, it was simply magical.

The following day, we explored Parkersburg, West Virginia and Marietta before The Outside Voices played. Johnny and I spent the day checking out different thrift stores and boutiques and it was a complete blast. Definitely stay tuned for all of the amazing finds I scored from a trendy boutique that is in the process of going online so all of us can shop on there together! 😀

Johnny and I agreed to not go overboard with Valentine’s Day gifts and that was fine by me. Our entire weekend was the greatest gift of all and it was one of the best days of my life. But, being the sweet angel that Johnny is, he surprised me with roses and champagne and that was the cherry on top. Check it out:

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When Johnny and I celebrated our big one week (haha), he gave me one single rose and I gave him a pack of hard seltzer water. I have kept that rose in my favorite vase and put the not dead ones in there too for good measure. When will I take them out, save the petals, and clean the vase? The world may never know.

In case you haven’t noticed, I like getting flowers. I guess that stems from (Ba dum chhhhh!) the fact that I have so many vivid recollections since childhood of my dad gifting flowers to my mom. During the summer time when the flowers in our garden were in bloom, there would be a fresh bouquet on the kitchen table every weekend. And, once the flowers wilted come fall, at least once a month my dad would purchase flowers as a “splurge” from the local grocery stores.

We interrupt your normal blog viewing with a conversation that happened between Sarah and her dad two weeks ago:

Me: Dad, I like those flowers. Where did you get them?

Dad: At Aldi’s… I splurged!

We now return to our normally scheduled programming.

Anyways, I know that people always associate getting flowers with love. But, my association literally comes from seeing true love between my parents. And, that’s why a simple bouquet and a bottle of booze (!!!) was the perfect gift for me. ❤

How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day? What do you associate with love? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb20

New Rose & Beige Nails

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New Rose & Beige Nails

Hi! I was so happy to get my nails filled before Valentine’s Day with a girly sweet color palette to complete my V-Day date night OOTD. I was also so happy that I had some left over gift cards to my stomping grounds of Elysian Nails from Christmas! 😉 I normally never do nail polish colors in theme with whatever holiday is happening. As a matter of fact, green and red nails on Christmas kind of make me want to gag.

However, Valentine’s Day is when you have to pull out all of the oh so pretty stops so I wanted to go with a traditional hue of pink with a creamy beige twist. Check it out:

For my Valentine’s Day nails, I was inspired by a strawberries and cream theme but didn’t want to go over the top with strawberry jam colored claws. So, I opted for a dusty pink with a soft beige for some femininity peppered into my “scratch your eyes out” talons. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this color combo because it was such a far cry from my normal, funky colors. But, every time I look at them, I can’t help thinking how obsessed I am!

I am absolutely in love with how my nails turned out and think that they are delightfully reminiscent of the Strawberries & Cream Cream Savers candy, which were the friggen jam in the early 2000s! Now, if only those would make a come back so that I can snap a picture with a handful of the candy and my matching nails! 😀

How do you feel about holiday themed 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

Feb19

Sweet Surprises: Valentine’s Day Bouquet Edition

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Sweet Surprises: Valentine’s Day Bouquet Edition

Hi! One of my clients, a freshly turned sixty year old with Down Syndrome has a love for all holidays. He revels in decorating for and celebrating each calendar holiday and Valentine’s Day was no exception. From mid January on, it was all about paper hearts, stickers, and Valentine’s Day themed episodes of his favorite old TV shows.

While shopping at Walmart for the finishing touches on the valentines he was going to mail out, he surprised me with a bouquet of a dozen colorful roses. It was quite possibly the sweetest thing in the world and I just had to share how beautiful they are with all of  you:

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While browsing through the Valentine’s Day decor at Walmart, my client “ooh-ed” and “ahh-ed” at everything he found appealing. So, I told him to pick out a small treat for me to purchase for him as a little V-Day gift. He selected his items – some more heart decor and a pair of heart shaped glasses and we continued to make our rounds in the store.

Once we came across Walmart’s aisle way of bouquets, without missing a beat, my friend plucked a colorful arrangement and placed it in his cart. “I get these for you” he said and my heart literally melted. I have never met someone with such a joy for each individual holiday and sharing that enthusiasm with all of his loved ones. It’s simply beautiful and all I need do is think about him to get a smile on my face.

As soon as I got home, I grabbed my spooky vases (Also from Walmart!) and began arranging my flowers. I have them proudly displayed on my coffee table and plan on keeping them there even after they have dried out as a sweet reminder of my friend and his joie de vivre. ❤

What is your favorite kind of flower? What were you treated to on Valentine’s Day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb11

Sweet Surprises: It Doesn’t Take Much Edition

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Sweet Surprises: It Doesn’t Take Much Edition

Hello everyone! With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I thought I would take a minute to commemorate my darling boyfriend, Johnny, because he so deserves it! As we all know, Lil Red is a huge fan of sweet surprises and I like to show my gratitude for any type of gift that is treated to me with a blog post. So, here we are!

I, myself, am a huge fan of administering surprises even though I’m rotten at keeping my surprise a surprise! I feel like Johnny and I are always picking each other up a little something while we’re out and about whether it be a cool find at a thrift store or just grabbing dinner on the way home from work. Either way, it’s fun giving and receiving small treasures from the one you love best.

As the title of this post states, it really doesn’t take much to make me happy. In fact, just a six pack of tiny Diet Coke cans waiting for me in my fridge once I got home from a long day at work was enough to turn my day around. Let’s discuss:

pop

After my horrible oral surgery gone wrong last winter, I totally lost my taste for pop or coffee and became a fairly avid tea drinker. The harshness of the coffee’s caffeine and the pop’s carbonation was enough to put my stomach in knots, especially since I was used to only drinking the flat chocolatey chalk of Ensure for over a month and a half.

Once I was about four months out from my recovery and sunny days were a norm in Ohio again, the thought of an ice cold can of pop was enough to make my mouth water. And, as a bonus, I was able to drink it without an upset stomach. Back in the day, I was a Diet Coke fiend and could drink six cans a day, easily. Now, I might have one or two cans a week. But, when I do, it always hits the spot.

I haven’t been grocery shopping in a while and Johnny knows that I have been mooching on my mom and dad’s pop stash while I work from their home. So, he picked me up my own little cans when he went to the store after he got off from work. I came home and got a glass of wine from the fridge and he told me to look at the side compartment where my treat was cooling down for me.

I was so tickled because I always say that I could go for a pop when I never have it in the house and nine times out of ten he ends up hearing about it. He stifled my Diet Coke cravings for the time being because he thought of what I might need while he did his shopping. This was such a simple gesture but I felt so loved and taken care of and that’s what made it grand to me.

This Valentine’s Day, remember that it doesn’t matter what your gifts costed or if you can post a picture of the fancy meal you had on Instagram. What is really important is the thought that your partner put into it. I feel lucky that Johnny thinks of me when he’s going about his day to day life when we’re not together and I just know we are going to have the happiest Valentine’s Day together! ❤

What is a Sweet Surprise that you gave or received recently? How are you celebrating Valentine’s Day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan24

Victoria’s Secret Haul

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Victoria’s Secret Haul

Hello everyone! Shockingly enough, I had a real hankering to go to the mall this past week. I know, I know – I’m amazed that I didn’t end up at TJMaxx myself! However, I needed some very specific things that I knew could only be bought by making the trek to Summit Mall. I was in the mood to hit up Bath & Body Works’ clearance sale, I was hoping to find something to wear for Valentine’s Day, and I definitely needed some new bras and undies!

Every year and a half or so, I’ll have a Victoria’s Secret haul to liven my lingerie up. There is nothing more boring than wearing the same handful of bras or panties throughout the week and it was high time to incorporate some new ones into the cycle. And, considering how cute everything at VS is, this wasn’t hard to do at all. Check it out:

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In my opinion, there is nothing better or more empowering than knowing that you have a sexy little number on underneath your OOTD. Am I thrilled with how expensive Victoria’s Secret is? No. I spent way more money than I care to admit on the pieces above. BUT, my new purchases made me feel so good that it was one hundred and fifty percent worth it.

I love the feeling of true support that you get from a brand new bra. It makes your clothes look better, your figure look slamming, and you are kept locked and loaded all day long. I am obsessed with my mermaid shimmer grey bra and matching panty and I am really looking forward to breaking out the floral embroidered one, as well. The muted colors somehow work perfectly thanks to the peppy pattern and it will be a gorgeous bra to pair with some white or pale pink lace panties.

And, can we please talk about how cute the bow undies are?! Lol, I just couldn’t say no to them! To me, good lingerie is just as much as a staple as a killer pair of heels or a clutch purse. I already feel so much more confident from my purchases and will definitely be considered tided over until my next haul next year!

Where do you shop lingerie at? How do you get the most bang from your buck at Victoria’s Secret? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan23

Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts For Your Boyfriend

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Perfect Valentine’s Day Gifts For Your Boyfriend

Hello! Yesterday, we went over some perfect Valentine’s Day gifts for the special ladies in your life and, now, it’s on to the fellas. I, myself, find Valentine’s Day particularly difficult to shop for when I’m in a relationship. I definitely don’t want to go overboard with presents, as we just finished the holiday season. But, I don’t want to purchase too little, either! It’s a fine balance and today we are going to look over a bunch of different gifts for your man for every budget. Let’s get to it:

The Classics:

Who says guys can’t get chocolate, too?! The classics for the girlfriend is often chocolate, flowers, and a bottle of wine. Give these ideas a masculine twist like a six pack of his favorite beer, chocolate with pieces of bacon in it, and beef jerky bouquets… Yes, they are a thing. Or, you could always go to Five Below and grab one of these hunky chocolate bars that I got for my beau:

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^^^ Lololol.

Dapper Dudes:

Does your man candy enjoy dressing up or have a unique personal style? Go with this and treat him to a new pair of shoes or a goofy T-shirt. Help him accessorize with tie clips, pocket squares, and cuff links for a suave touch to his OOTDs. Any apparel based gifts will make him think of you every time he wears it, which is the whole point! But, if you gift him with a hoodie it is partially yours, of course. 😉

Sports Fan:

If you’re in a relationship with a sports fan, an ultimate gift would be tickets to the next big game. Ballin on a budget? That’s okay! Plan a night in when the next game he’s interested in is on TV. Provide Super Bowl level snacks, cold drinks, and a positive attitude in case his team is losing!

Memorabilia:

My boyfriend is a music connoisseur and we both have an affliction for movies. So, this is always a safe route to go if your partner is the same way. Snag him a cool new band T-shirt, get a coffee mug with his favorite Star Wars character on it, your options are limitless! And remember, nothing beats a good old fashioned night at the movies, which would be a great choice if a flick he’s dying to see is playing.

From The Heart:

Guys appreciate heartfelt gifts just as much as girls and just might be better at not showing it. Frame some of your favorite pictures together, write a poem, or take him to dinner at the restaurant where you had your first date. There is nothing wrong with going the more romantic route and it could be his favorite gift to date.

Experiences:

Experience gifts often go very well for guys and you could go as big or as small as you wish. How about a weekend getaway in a cozy cabin? A winter hike with thermoses of warm spiced cider? Or maybe a trip to a local museum for your history buff? Either way, you will be sharing in a day together and that is the most special part about Valentine’s Day! ❤

And who says guys are hard to shop for with the tips above?!

What do you like to gift your guy for Valentine’s Day? How do you plan on celebrating this year? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan14

Mean Muggin’ Pt. 2

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Mean Muggin’ Pt. 2

Hello! A simple gift that I really love to receive are coffee mugs. I don’t know why, but I am always so tickled when I am presented with them and I have quite the collection from many years of exchanging during gift giving occasions with my BFF. I enjoy selecting from my mug shelf for the perfect cup to put my morning coffee in and every one reminds me of a special time or person in my life. It always starts my morning off with a smile and this new one will more than likely start my day with a laugh… If I’m not too hungover, that is. 😉 Check it out and you’ll see what I mean:

mugmug2

While shopping at Target with one of my girlfriends so she could spend some Christmas gift cards, I pointed my “hungover” mug out to her because I thought it was hilarious. It was the last one on the shelf and I told her that I loved it. Without even missing a beat, my friend plucked the mug from its spot and placed it in her cart. I was so taken aback, because it was such an unexpected but pleasant surprise and I had to double check with her like a million times to make sure she was okay with the extra purchase.

Not only do I get a kick out of the funny saying on the mug, but I think the pretty flowers against the stark white background are beautiful and the sentiment behind it makes it even better. There is nothing like a sweet and simple gift to turn your day around completely and I am so thankful to my friend for her generosity. I don’t think I’ll ever not feel a warmness in my heart every time I select this mug from the cabinet! ❤

What is a simple gift that you love to receive? What does your favorite coffee mug look like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah