Tag Archives: movies

Feb13

Single On Valentine’s Day? Same.

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Single On Valentine’s Day? Same.

Hellooo everyone and happy almost Valentine’s Day! For some, Valentine’s Day is the best thing ever. A whole day to celebrate what a cute relationship you’re in with presents, dinner, and drinks? Woof. Sign me up! But for us Single Sarahs (and Sallys!), V-Day can kind of suck, am I right? A whole day dedicated to reminding you that you’re forever alone and the only touch you’ll be experiencing is your hand on a glass of wine? Woof. Can we just not and say we did?

But hey, instead of focusing on the fact that we’re single, sad, and suppressing emotions, let’s make Valentine’s Day tolerable, at the very least. V-Day is the day for us singletons to unite in our misery and encourage each other to drink heavily, finish that gallon of ice cream, and watch A Walk To Remember for the seventieth time. There ain’t no shame in our game, so let’s get to it:

First Things First: Get the vino. Head to your local gas station or grocery in your jammies and snag a bottle (or two!) of your favorite booze. You deserve it! After the wine is safely in your shopping basket, gather any other V-Day survival supplies that you might need. We’re talking ice cream, chocolates, and industrial size boxes of tissues – the works!

Next Off: Get yourself home and let the festivities begin. Crack a bottle and pop in your favorite chick flick. One of my personal favorites is Legally Blonde, but any girl power or romance movie will do! Bottoms up!

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After The Movie: Once your movie is over, you might be feeling even worse than before considering every classic chick flick ends with the girl wrapped around her handsome hunk of a man. That’s okay. Embrace your emotions of solitude, phone a friend, cry a little, hold your head in your hands and scream, and move on to the next activity.

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Cheer Up: Once you get all of the tears, snot, and screams out of your system, take a swig of wine or your favorite soft drink and repeat the process. Maybe this time you could even branch out of your movie comfort zone and watch an action packed adventure flick to get your mind off of cute movie couples that you aren’t a part of.

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Still Upset?

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Just Remember…

That you’re single every other day of the year, that your prince or princess charming is probably creeping on your social media pages as we speak, and that I still love you! ❤

And Also Remember…

That this post was made in good humor, always drink in moderation (!!!), and to stay off of Facebook for the day if seeing pictures of happy couples will upset you! 😉

If you’re Single On Valentine’s Day, it’s okay because I am too and will be available on social media, my comments section, and email for those who need a Lil Red pep talk! How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Are you celebrating with your significant other or riding solo? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb2

4 Fun Ways to Spend a Night in with Friends and Family

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4 Fun Ways to Spend a Night in with Friends and Family

What are you usual plans for a Friday night in? Do you go out to the bar with your colleagues? Maybe you have a lovely dinner with your partner or family members at a fancy restaurant? Or perhaps you like to visit the cinema and catch up on the latest film releases? Whatever your decision, there’s always the option of staying indoors with your friends and family.

But why? There are plenty of good reasons to stay indoors, such as the reduced cost of having an entertaining night or the freedom of doing what you like and not having to be around crowds, loud music, and sloppy drunk patrons. If you’d like to switch it up this week and enjoy a night in, here are a couple of ideas to get you excited for a change of pace:

Movie Night: Having a movie night can almost become a ritual if you do it often enough. It’s a night to look forward to because you get to catch up on the latest shows or movies with your friends while stuffing your faces with pizza, tacos, or any kind of greasy fast food. It’s cheap as well thanks to subscription services such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. There are even specialized services, such as Crunchyroll, if you’d prefer to watch something like anime.

With so many shows and films available on the internet, it’s hard to get bored or stumped on what to watch. You could even have a video night where you browse funny and interesting YouTube videos together with your friends and family, and with the growing library of content you’ll always have something fun to watch.

Bingo Night: Bingo might be associated with seniors playing in a club or retirement home, but it’s still a fun and exciting game that is suitable for the whole family. No matter how old or young the players, bingo is a fun game that can be played almost anywhere. You don’t need complicated machinery either because you can play bingo online and use online tools to draw numbers and print off bingo cards. Or you could take things one step further and make the cards relateable to the players by using their initials and inside jokes or memories as the calling criteria.

Gaming Party: Almost everyone has played a video game once in their life, and it’s becoming increasingly popular for young adults, parents, and children to engage in video game parties. Set up a large television in the living room, grab loads of snacks, and connect four controllers to your video game console of choice and play together. You could even get party games such as Just Dance which is fun even if you’re not a gamer—you don’t even need controllers because you can play with your phone!

Board Game Night: Board games have been somewhat forgotten because of the rise of video games, but it’s still a hobby enjoyed by many people around the world. Whether it’s a humble game of Monopoly or something more immersive such as Dungeons and Dragons, there are plenty of board games and pen and paper games for you to play with your family and friends. Board games aren’t very expensive (they cost about as much as a video game or less) and you can have countless hours of fun with them if you keep them in good condition. Board games also provide the opportunity for some amazing keepsakes for your gaming crew. A surprise like custom Monopoly pieces or Dungeons and Dragons Dice will not only come in handy but commemorate your time together.

Board game specific stores, cafes, and bars have been increasingly popular and for good reason. It is just pure fun whether you are on the go or at home. My husband and I are avid fans of board games and we have some advice. Prior to making a purchase on a site like Backwoods Wizards or your local game store, do your research! We have made the mistake of buying games simply because they look fun but found the rules to be difficult and extensive when we tried to play. Your favorite game store or website will have games for every skill level and interest and will have great options for you when you know what you want in the first place!

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Jan18

Choosing Your Anti V-Day Movie? These Romance Ruiners Are Perfect

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Choosing Your Anti V-Day Movie? These Romance Ruiners Are Perfect

If you’re currently in a relationship or are married then you’ll probably see Valentine’s Day as a chance to spend precious time together. However, if you’ve recently gone through a bad break up, are currently single, or aren’t really into over-commercialized holidays then February 14th is probably a not so great pink, chocolate box, themed reminder that you’re basically alone in this cruel, cruel world. 🙂

Revolutionary Road: Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as married couple Frank and April Wheeler this 2008 Oscar nominated film shows, quite literally, that love is sometimes not enough. Frank, bored by the sheer monotony of his office sales job and April, a failed actress now performing in tiny local productions are seen by the neighbors as the perfect couple. In reality, however, their marriage is built mostly on lies, deceit, and a mutual apathy towards the other person. Both husband and wife are having affairs, a spur of the moment move to Paris is thwarted when April realizes, after two children, she’s pregnant yet again and is horrified. So while Frank is pleased about the impending arrival all his wife can think about is how dull, stale, and repetitive her life is.

500 Days Of Summer: Ever wanted to see what happens when you fall madly in love with someone and they don’t really love you back? The answer is a kooky, slightly off the wall, non-linear artistic production. So 500 Days Of Summer tells the story of Summer, Zooey Deschanel, and Tom, Joseph Gordon-Levitt who meet at work one day and begin a sort of relationship. We say sort of because it’s clear that Tom, a lovelorn slightly obsessed greetings card writer is a lot more invested than Summer is. Summer, the atypical cute pixie girl isn’t interested in commitment, labels, or even hanging out with just one person. The more Tom pressures her to make them ‘official’ the cooler her feelings towards him get until they eventually break up. Awesome!

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Flickr Image, courtesy of: sinemabed

The Break Up: Meet Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn) and Brooke Meyers (Jennifer Aniston), a tour guide and a curator of a somewhat odd art gallery. You can see that within ten minutes of the movie starring this relationship that is not going to last, unlike a typical Jennifer Aniston rom-com this one doesn’t exactly have a happy ending. Both Gary and Brooke are fundamentally quite selfish and neither really cares what the other person is feeling. When they both childishly refuse to move out of their sought after condo the two resort to mean tricks, playground taunts, and at one point, all out sabotage.

Assassin’s Creed: Based on the sword wielding, flashy graphics and wall scaling antics of the anti hero of Ubisoft’s best selling namesake, Assassin’s Creed is the perfect antidote to all that love stuff. This is, in fact, a brand new cinema release but Showbox viewers can stream it beforehand – just Download the APK from here and enjoy! Modern day Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender), harnesses the power of futuristic technology that allows him to travel back to fifteenth century Spain. He then experiences the life of his ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, a deadly Assassin belonging to a secret underground order created for just one purpose. Dun dun dunnnnnn.

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Flickr Image, courtesy of: Joshua Livingston

Featured Image By: Flickr Image, courtesy of: SPDP

Jan18

Having A Movie Night? Make It Simple

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Having A Movie Night? Make It Simple

Okay, so everything has gone to plan. The friends you have invited over have said yes, the pizzas have been ordered, the snacks are ready to go, your place looks presentable – like it always does – and the children have been put to bed. You are looking forward to a movie night with your friends who you haven’t had a chance to catch up with properly for weeks. It is only then that you realize you haven’t got the movies ready and worse still, nothing to even put DVDs into. Your laptop is in for repair, and you don’t own a DVD player. You start to panic but then, you realize it can be sorted out quickly. Disaster averted.

It is now really simple and easy to watch movies on your TV through your smartphone, if you have the right equipment. All you have got to do is open up MovieBox on your phone, connect to the Wi-Fi and connect with your DNLA television. Select your movie or movies and then sit back, relax, and enjoy the film. This also means that it’s much easier to find your children’s favorite TV shows, so you can have a moment to yourself while they are engrossed in the latest kids show. You also haven’t got to worry about irritating breaks in the film, as you would when watching a film on a TV channel, so you and your friends can completely enjoy the movie without an advert coming up to steal your concentration.

The ability and magnitude of the internet is now the norm. We can order food, search for the latest breaking news and the live score in the sports game, video chat with family living far away, and even turn the heating at home on or off when we are out and about. It is satisfying to know that our children will grow up in a fast paced world, knowing and growing up with the internet. A lot of us had to educate ourselves about the web when it first started to come to the fore of the masses, and some of us are still learning the basic tools of how and why we should use the internet.

Say, for example, if you really need to go grocery shopping but you can’t leave the house as you have a delivery arriving at an unspecified time. All you have got to do is an online shopping order from a supermarket and your shopping can be delivered to your door on the same day. So, while waiting for that delivery, you can do the cleaning chores before the children get home from school, cook dinner, and surprise them with treats that were delivered just before they arrived home.

Even if you are not a fan of the internet, it is hard to deny that it takes a lot of pressure off of us in terms of getting things done. You can do three, four, five things all at one, with the mere click of a button and your ability to use the world wide web.

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Oct20

Haunted House Help!

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Haunted House Help!

Hi everyone and happy Thursday! So a little known fact to my readers because I don’t think that I ever shared this on my blog before is that my very first job was as an actor at a haunted house. I worked at the Carnival of Horrors at Blossom Music Center in Ohio for two years in a row and I have to say…it was an experience! I did all of my own makeup, drank an abundance of coffee, and stayed up past one o’clock in the morning Friday through Sunday scaring the general public. At the time, my fifteen and sixteen year old self thought that this was the coolest thing ever and I still feel that way now.

I love all things horror – the films, the serial killer documentaries, the literature, I just can’t get enough. My favorite thing is when my boyfriend and I have our movie Mondays where we just watch scary movies and eat Taco Bell the entire day. I have seen more horror films than I can count but my all time favorite will always be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. One of the other movies in my top five is the wonderful French horror film, Ils, which the American “The Strangers” is based off of. I am an amateur French speaker so their horror films are some of my favorites to watch because compared to comedies and dramas, the dialogue in horror movies is much easier for me to understand.

But I digress. The real reason behind this post besides for giving you guys a little insight into my love for the macabre is that I NEED TO GO TO A HAUNTED HOUSE!! I have not been to one in a couple of years and with Halloween just around the corner there is no better time than the present. I have three in mind that I scouted out and because I can’t make decisions to save my life and my sister is no better than me, I am passing the burden on to all of you. 🙂

The Choices:

I am definitely leaning more towards the Factory Of Terror or 7 Floors of Hell but Hauntville was thrown in as the wild card!

I am in desperate need of some Haunted House Help and I would love to know which one looks the best in your opinion. What is the best haunted house in your area? What is your favorite Halloween time scary movie? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct15

PAJAMA PARTY!

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PAJAMA PARTY!

Hi everyone and happy weekend! Last night I had a little Pajama Party with me, myself, and I…and also Harry Potter. I have been OBSESSED with the new jammies that I got from Target and have taken every opportunity I’ve had for the past two weeks since buying them to get comfy, cozy, and cuddle up. I have been in need of new pajamas for years now but have just never really bothered. I just continued to make do with the body butter and lotion saturated sweats that I purchased from Aerie like three years ago.

However, this past month I have been OBSESSED with finding the perfect pair of PJs. I had tried Kohl’s, TJs, and Target a few times but nothing really spoke to me. I was looking for something that was the perfect combination of cute and cozy so not just any pair would do. After shopping trips to the three stores resulted in failure every time, I had damn near given up. But one final trip to Target changed the PJ game.

I had tried Tarjay before and was in love with their Disney line PJs but they were absurdly expensive for a nightgown or top and bottom set. So, despite the cuteness, I had to pass. My mom had pointed out the pair seen in the picture below and initially I turned them away. But after further examination, I decided that the red, flannel, lumberjack chic jammies were perfect. They were warm, cozy, and absolutely adorable. I could definitely picture myself counting a few sheep in them! Take a look:

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It’s admittedly not the best picture but you get the point. I love snuggling up in my new pajamas every night and now I just need a pair in every color! You can shop Target in stores or online to join in on the Lil Red Pajama Party happening nightly! Where is the best place to get pajamas from? What does your perfect pair of PJs look like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug18

One Year Anniversary

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One Year Anniversary

Hey everyone and happy Thursday! So Monday was a lot of fun because my boyfriend, Kyle, and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Technically, it falls on the twentieth but there’s no harm in breaking out the party pants a few days early! We had a fantastic day of fine dining at Taco Bell, getting drinks, and going to see Suicide Squad in the evening. AND exchanging presents is always a plus! Our big day together was just the best and I wanted to give an extra special I love you shout out to my Kyle! You are amazing and thank you for a fantastic year together! Hurray! ❤

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^^^ #AWE 😉

Aug12

Amazon Freebie

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Amazon Freebie

Hi everyone and TGIF! I am finally getting up to date on all of my summer purchases posts and this one pertains to my new favorite sweatshirt that I got on Amazon for FREE! Thanks to completing surveys on IPoll, I received a twenty-five dollar Amazon gift card in April or so. Since then, the card has been burning a hole in my pocket but after watching Animal House with my parents last month, I knew just what to spend it on. Take a look:

Animal House is one of my favorite movies because it’s basically the original Old School – which happens to be another one of my favorites! In Animal House, the “COLLEGE” sweatshirt that Bluto sports while downing a bottle of Jack always cracks me up. The shirt is just so ridiculous and as soon as I saw it while watching the movie last month, I knew that I wanted one of my own.

After the movie was finished, I turned to Amazon and hoped that they would have one for a reasonable price. I was in luck because they had a great selection and all of the sweatshirts seemed to be in my gift card budget and had excellent reviews. I was able to snag my Animal House style sweatshirt for twenty-seven bucks but thanks to my gift card and the points that I accumulated from my Amazon credit card, I got it FO FREE! Now that’s what I call ballin on a budget!

So there you have it, my Animal House Amazon Freebie! What is your favorite crazy college kids movie? What is your favorite quote from Animal House? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. –Sarah

Mar16

Sick Day

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Sick Day

Hello everyone and happy Hump Day! I hope all of you are having a great week so far. Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling pretty under the weather since Saturday. My mom had a killer cold last week which she passed on to me and it hit me with full force. Stuffed up nose, body aches, cough, fever, no appetite – you name the symptom and chances are I’m feeling it. I’ve been running on a diet of Powerade since Monday and I have to say, I’m pretty friggen miserable. The only good thing about my killer cold stint is the Sick Day that I had with my boyfriend, Kyle, on Monday. Let’s discuss:

Let me start off by saying that I usually despise super sappy “I love my boyfriend” or “look what my significant other did for me” posts. I kid you not, there’s a girl on my Facebook newsfeed who literally posts about how much she loves her boyfriend and blah, blah, blah at least five times a day – it drives me absolutely freaking crazy. I will never be the girl who goes overboard with boyfriend posts but this one is SO necessary. Especially considering Kyle risked the possibility of getting sick himself just to take care of little old me.

Monday has always been me and Kyle’s day together and apparently not even the worst cold of all time can change that. Kyle showed up at my house around three bearing candy, tea from Teavana, brownies from his work, and a movie rental of Crimson Peak. He also showed up with knowledge from articles that he Googled on “how to take care of your sick girlfriend without getting sick yourself”. Lol, he seriously thought of everything!

After Kyle unloaded the bag of goodies that he brought for me, we headed into my basement to have a Curb Your Enthusiasm marathon. We were armed with a wad of tissues, a bag full of Sour Patch Kids, Starbursts, and Skittles, as well as the rules of: 1) Refrain from breathing on Kyle and 2) NO KISSES. We deemed the sign of affection “mouth kissin” thanks to me being silly and constantly asking him for a kiss anyways. Kyle tucked me in on the futon and we began our TV marathon which we decided to do in the afternoon so we could watch our movie in the evening.

As soon as we were done with Larry David for the day, we took a break so that I could get something to drink and refill my tissue stash. Kyle came upstairs with me toting my trash can full of tissues to empty which I thought was the sweetest thing ever. It was also one of the suggestions that he found in his research to empty the trash can often. Once we got everything we needed we headed back into the basement to start the movie.

Crimson Peak was a movie that Kyle and I planned on seeing in theaters but we never got around to it. It finally came out on video and I’ve been eager to see it so I was so happy when Kyle rented it for me. Unfortunately, the movie was severely disappointing so I’m glad we didn’t bother seeing it when it first came out. Even though the movie sucked, it was still fun to be able to watch it together!

By the time the movie was done, I was exhausted so we decided to start bringing my Sick Day to an end. We concluded our day by watching Malcolm in the Middle on the computer which is what we usually do before bed when we’re at his house. Kyle then tucked me in under my seven blankets (I like to be really warm when I sleep!) and hit the road. Even though I felt like death, it was sure a perfect end to an awesome day.

I can’t get over how sweet Kyle was to take care of his poor sick girlfriend. He filled my day that shouldn’t have been very fun with so much joy and at some points I even forgot how sick I was feeling. A tell tale sign that Doctor Boyfriend did a great job. Thank you so much for taking such good care of me, babe! I love you!! ❤

I think it’s safe to say that I had one of the best Sick Days in the world thanks to Kyle! As I write this, I’m still feeling pretty shitty but I’m feeling better than yesterday so that’s a plus! Has anyone battled a tough cold or flu recently? What are some remedies that you swear by to feel better? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb22

Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition

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Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition

Hey everyone and welcome to a new week here on lifewithlilred! On Saturday it was me and Kyle’s six month anniversary so we had a lovely day together to celebrate! We had the best time during our date day and I can’t wait to relive it as I type this out. But before I get started on how we spent our six month, here’s a friendly reminder of how cute we are:

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^^^ What a stud! The red head isn’t too bad either…

Kyle picked me up around two o’clock on Saturday afternoon to get our festivities started. We live about a half hour away from each other so during our drive back to his place we made a game plan for how we would like to spend the day. We decided on afternoon drinks while video gaming or watching Netflix, dinner, and then a night out at the movies to wrap it up!

 To start the afternoon drinks portion of our agenda, Kyle and I stopped at the Giant Eagle on the way home for some booze. I got Kyle a drink shaker as one of his Valentine’s Day gifts so we thought it would be fun to put it to use today. We had a bit of a hard time deciding on a drink that we could make because the only hard liquor that I really “do” is vodka, which Kyle isn’t a huge fan of. However, a bottle of sour berry and lemon vodka spoke to me and Kyle thought it sounded alright so we went for it. We then got some fruit punch and lemonade to mix with it as well as a back up pack of hard apple cider in case our concoction was sub par.

With our alcohol haul bagged up and ready to go, we headed back to Kyle’s house to have some quality time with the TV. But before we started our session of “Netflix and chill” we had a drink to make! Kyle broke out his new shaker (which he loved) and mixed up our berry beverage. It wasn’t bad except for the fact that the vodka was blue, the lemonade was a pale yellow, and the fruit punch was a raspberry red so when it was all mixed together it made the most disgusting dish water grey color. The drink tasted like a liquefied version of SweetTarts but it definitely tasted better if you avoided looking at the color of it. -_-

Once our drinks were made, we began our marathon of Wentworth, our latest TV obsession. When Kyle and I binge watch shows, we are SO serious about it. If we can’t knock out at least two episodes of it at once, we don’t even bother putting it on to begin with. This high focused level of Netflix watching calls for comfortable clothes so it was a must to change into our pajamas until our evening out at the movies. Kyle and I knocked out two episodes of Wentworth, at least ten games of Super Smash Bros., and a rousing tournament of Mario Kart Double Dash before we decided we were hungry.

Lucky for us, I prepared dinner for the occasion the previous day so all we had to do was let it heat in the oven. I love cooking for Kyle so I wanted to make a special dinner for him so that we didn’t have to bother dining out. I made a super cheesy dish of baked ziti, a pan of ficaccia bread, and cupcakes for dessert. At my house we have never really had ziti so I was a bit wary of how it would turn out. I also have never made ficaccia without my mom’s help so I was relived that they both turned out great! Kyle loved it and so did my family who I test drove the meal for when I prepared it at home. The ziti was rich, the bread was baked to a perfect crisp, and the cupcakes were so decadent so needless to say, we were stuffed silly!

After dinner we had an hour or so to kill before it was time for our movie so we knocked out another episode of Wentworth before we left. I told Kyle a few days ago that I wanted to see the latest horror flick that came out, The Witch. We rarely go to the movies so I thought it would be a good way to wrap up our anniversary day. There’s a theater that Kyle lives by called TinselTown and it’s the biggest movie theater I’ve ever seen so I was really excited when he picked out a movie time for that location!

Our show started at 7:40 and we made it in time to examine all of the movie posters that are hanging up in the hallways to promote upcoming films. I had a minor freak out when I saw that a new movie for The Little Prince (my favorite book) is coming out in March! After I calmed down, we got settled in the theater to wait for the movie to start. I had heard excellent reviews for The Witch and I love horror films so I was eager for the movie to begin.

But unfortunately…The Witch really missed the mark for basically everyone in the theater. I personally didn’t mind it too much because it was more of a period piece and very artistic but Kyle didn’t care for it at all. It was one of those movies that we were probably better off waiting for to come out on DVD but it was still fun to go! I felt bad that Kyle didn’t like it but I still enjoyed the flick well enough because I’m a big wierdo. 🙂

By the time we got home it was around ten o’clock and we were both exhausted so we popped in a movie and went to bed. Kyle and I had such a wonderful time celebrating our day together, despite the fact that he didn’t care too much for the movie! I’m so lucky to have had the best boyfriend on the planet for six whole months and I can’t wait for many more! I love you, Kyle Kyle! ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Six Month Anniversary Edition! I hope all of you had just as great of a weekend as I did! What was your favorite part of your weekend? What did you think of The Witch if you saw it? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah