Tag Archives: ohio

Jul6

Monday Update: Fourth Of July Edition

Posted on July 6, 2015 by lifewithlilred

Helloooo everyone and happy Monday!!! I had lots of fun celebrating the Fourth Of July this weekend and I hope all of you had a great time doing whatever it is that you did! My sister Kristen and I met up with our friends in Akron at Locke 3 to get our drink on and watch the fireworks. We walked around all of the different food trucks and activities and began our evening of drinking compliments of all of the beer stands! Once we assembled everyone who was invited we headed over to the bar and restaurant the Lockeview to sit on their rooftop patio, drink some more, and wait for the fireworks to start.

^^^ I had to!

The rooftop patio at the Lockeview was so perfect and all of the drinks that they had to offer were delicious and very moderately priced. While walking around the outdoor area everyone in the group was drinking beer and I decided to stick with that at the Lockeview. I had this super incredible raspberry beer that didn’t even taste like beer – we all agreed it tasted like drinking pop. After hanging around the patio for an hour or so it got dark enough outside for the fireworks to start. We had the best view of anyone who came to the event from the rooftop! The fireworks were awesome and they lasted for about fifteen minutes, which was a lot longer than I expected. I never really understood the fuss of celebrating the Fourth Of July before I turned twenty-one – but I can definitely see why people get into it after having my first legal drinking age experience!

After the fireworks show, Kristen and I stuck around for another half hour or so and then decided to head home. We had quite a bit of a walk from the Lockeview back to the parking garage and by the time we fought through the crowd of celebrators and got back to our car we both had to pee so bad. We should have went to the bathroom before we left but the line at the Lockeview was pretty long and we figured that we would be fine…We were dead wrong. The drive home was miserable and we both felt like we were going to explode but that didn’t stop us from getting Taco Bell! The line at the drive thru was surprisingly really short so we were able to get our burritos in record time, arrive back at home, AND PEE! #AMERICA

Kristen and I both had a blast getting our Fourth of July on. It was a much better time than what I was expecting so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I didn’t want to leave the festivities. We would have stayed much later but Kristen had to be at work early the following day – but that’s okay! There’s always next year! 😉 I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend and a great start to your Monday! What is everyone up to this week? Any exciting plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: HAPPY SHARK WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jul1

AWOLNATION Concert!!!!

Posted on July 1, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Heyyy everyone and happy Hump Day! So last night was the AWOLNATION concert at the House Of Blues in Cleveland and it was seriously the best night of my life. I was accompanied by my beloved big sis, Kristen, thanks to the two tickets that my oldest brother bought me for my birthday!! From beginning to end my night was perfect…Allow me to explain. 😉

So the doors for the show opened at seven and Kristen and I arrived at the venue around twenty after six. The line was already pretty long when we got there, but we were still fairly close to the door. I’m just happy that we got there when we did because literally five minutes after we showed up the line started to stretch all the way down the street – talk about lucky! The doors finally opened and after we had our bags checked and tickets scanned, I rushed into the venue to get the best standing spot humanly possible…and I did! I was about three feet away from the stage and had an INCREDIBLE view of the entire show! As I mentioned yesterday in my post, Family Of The Year was one of the openers for the show, but I had no clue who the other opener was – and I still don’t!

The first opener started promptly at eight which was nice because by the time we got situated we only had to wait about a half hour or so for the show to start. I didn’t care for the first opener at all, whomever they were. Their lyrics were so completely stupid and I’m pretty confident that they were playing on pre-recorded tracks because there was sure a lot of music heard when none of the band mates were playing their instruments. Either way, I didn’t like them and thankfully they were only on for like a half hour. But for that entire time, I definitely had Resting Bitch Face Syndrome.

Family Of The Year came on at nine and I was very excited to hear them play because I enjoy their music. It’s not like I know all of the lyrics to their songs or anything, but I’m glad I got to see them perform. I heard many people complain about how Family Of The Year’s beachy vibe didn’t really fit in with AWOLNATION’s style and I actually have to agree. They put on a lovely, chill performance however it really did nothing to amp people up for the headlining act. If I had to choose an opening act for the Run tour, I think I would have gone with someone like Everything Everything or Miike Snow because of their vaguely techno sound as well as the fact that they’re much more upbeat. Does this critique take away from Family Of The Year giving a great performance last night? No, I still really liked it. Would I have preferred to hear a different band before seeing AWOLNATION perform? Yes.

Family Of The Year crooned until about nine forty-five and AWOLNATION’s set started right at ten. Needless to say, I was freaking the fuck out. They began their hour and fifteen minute long performance with “Run” and before I get hella into detail about the show, check out the lighting that kicked off the night:

^^^ So rad!!!

So yes, AWOLNATION blasted off their dance party production with “Run” and the rest of the night was all a mesmerizing blur of terrific music, lighting, and a whole lot of dancing and jumping around from there. I’ve heard from friends who have seen AWOLNATION live and from different reviews that the front man, Aaron Bruno, is an amazing performer – and I one hundred times agree. His showmanship was an honor to witness. I’ve heard many times that Aaron is a fan of random screaming and dancing maniacally on stage and he provided us with nothing less last night. He had this insanely brilliant ability to make everyone in the audience feel welcome – even my sister who had never heard one of their songs before. By the end of the night she was in the crowd dancing and screaming along with the rest of us. And that, boys and girls, is what makes an incredible lead singer.

The set list contained basically everything that I hoped would be performed, which included: Run, Not Your Fault, Windows, KOOKSEVERYWHERE!!!, Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf), Sail, Jump On My Shoulders, Kill Your Heroes, I Am, Burn It Down, All I Need, Dreamers, Like People, Like Plastic, and a special full length performance of Knights of Shame. The songs listed was what my night consisted of in it’s entirety but not in that order. How lucky am I? Very. What I liked the most about this set was that it contained only upbeat songs. I mean none of AWOLNATION’s music by any means is low key, even their slower songs, but because those weren’t included in the set the night was filled with constant energy and a whole lot of fun. I couldn’t have picked a better line up of songs if I tried, however, I am slightly disappointed that “Wake Up”, “Jailbreak”, and “Soul Wars” wasn’t included. Honestly, I just wish they would have performed both of their albums back to back! I think one of my favorite songs of the night was hearing “Knights Of Shame” in its entirety – I especially loved hearing Aaron performing the rapped part of the song!

Another major highlight of the night was when AWOLNATION did “Not Your Fault”. Aside from “Sail”, that was the first song my brother introduced me to by them and it still remains one of my all time favorites to this day. Everyone in the band performed incredibly well and they were all so fun to watch. Kristen and I were discussing after the show about the athlete quality stamina that the AWOLNATION guys must have – I mean I know I was exhausted after dancing for an hour and fifteen minutes straight, but I couldn’t imagine how they feel after a show! I seriously don’t think I stopped moving at one point during the concert…This bitch was dancing, jumping, head banging, singing, and screaming up a storm. I just couldn’t help it though! There’s something so magical about being able to sing along with one of your favorite bands and I was just overjoyed. This childlike euphoria kept myself going for the duration of the show, but by the time it was over I was literally drenched in sweat and the only thing that kept me going on the three block walk back to the parking garage was the promise of Taco Bell and water shortly after!

Seeing AWOLNATION live was absolutely everything that I hoped it would be. They sounded simply incredible live, I daresay even better than on their albums. It was also so fun to hear Aaron pepper all of the songs with his random screaming. I’ve been imagining last night for a very long time and it exceeded my expectations by a long shot. For the one hour and fifteen minute concert I felt unashamed to scream out my frustrations during “Windows” and dance like a crazy person during “Burn It Down”. It was like I was in this safe haven where no judgement was being passed because everyone was cutting loose and allowing the amazing music and positive messages to take control. It was one of the best nights of my life. Seriously. I got to spend an evening listening to my favorite band with my favorite person AND I got to eat my favorite food after the concert! What more could a girl ask for? (And BTW, the TBell was magnificent!)

^^^ As you can see from the pics, the lighting during the show was awesome! And Aaron Bruno and the rest of the guys are all a bunch of babes. Hubba hubba.

After an amazing night at the show, eating in the Taco Bell parking lot, and a forty-five minute drive home Kristen and I ended our festivities with some sweet, sweet cuddling. Best. Night. Ever! I hope all of you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it and if you have the opportunity to see AWOLNATION live, then I would jump on that immediately! What was the last concert you went to? Are you going to any shows or festivals this summer? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun30

AWOLNATION Concert Excitement!!!!

Posted on June 30, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all having a great day so far! So after an entire month of waiting, tonight is finally the night of the AWOLNATION concert at the House Of Blues in Cleveland!!! I’m seriously SO excited I could cry! After notifying my older brother that one of my favorite bands was going to be in Cleveland, he bought me two tickets for my birthday…What a guy. Family Of The Year and some other band is opening and I’m actually really looking forward to that too because I like Family Of The Year a lot. I’m definitely curious about who the other opener is going to be! My sister is such a champ because she’s coming with me to the show even though she doesn’t know one song by AWOLNATION. I’m so happy that she’s coming with me because she’s the only one who I feel comfortable going super hard with – and I plan on it! Hella screaming, hella jumping around, and hella dancing my ass off. If I were to bring a friend with me, I would probably end up feeling pretty self conscious about my fan girling and end up just standing there looking like a goon. -_-

This will be my third night out at the House Of Blues in a month and a half since I recently saw The Used and Glass Animals performing there. I’m a big fan of HOB because it’s such an intimate venue so I’m really hoping that if my sister and I show up early enough that we’ll be able to get pretty close to the stage. The doors open at seven and I plan on leaving around five fifteen or so to make the forty-five minute drive up there. I have no problem waiting in line for an hour if that means that I’ll get a good standing area…Now I just have to convince sissy to be down with that plan! #SAIL

I can’t wait for tonight. I’m already counting down the hours! I’ll be looking forward to telling you guys all about it tomorrow! Until then, have you been to any concerts recently? Who did you see? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun29

Monday Update: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Edition

Posted on June 29, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Monday Update: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Edition

Hey there everyone and happy Monday! I hope that all of you had a fabulous weekend, I know I did! My Uncle Martin and Aunt Eileen who live in Pittsburgh came to visit my family so on Saturday we spent the afternoon in Cleveland at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame & Museum. I haven’t been to the Rock Hall in years so needless to say, I was pretty excited! I have a deep love and appreciation for all things music so it was so amazing to be able to spend an afternoon honoring all of the greats. I hate to brag, but I have a pretty incredible collection of music and my tastes are vast but I never realized how educated I was about different musicians and genres until I perused through the Rock Hall. My parents and older brother really did teach me well about all of the legends and classics and I was so proud to know that I was aware of musicians in genres that I don’t particularly care for, like Gospel and Country. There was so much to see and do in the six floors that the Rock Hall boasts, so let me post some pictures and then we can discuss!

^^^ I took so many pictures that the only way to condense all of them was through PicStitch. The pictures in the collages include costumes from David Bowie, Elvis, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson. We got to see Johnny Cash’s tour bus, Janis Joplin’s car, the set from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and so much more!!! If you have any questions on what specific pictures are, then please let me know in the comment section!

Once we met up with my aunt and uncle at the Rock Hall we decided to start from the top at floor five and six to view the two floor exhibit of the amazing late Herb Ritts’ Rock Portraits. The photography exhibition will only be up for a month or so and it was absolutely incredible – it was like walking through an art gallery. The portraits were mostly in black and white or sepia and they were taken of too many stars to name. There were photographs of David Bowie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Cher, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Mick Jagger just to name a few. Throughout the exhibit there were music videos that Herb Ritts directed playing and interesting information about the artist scattered along the walls. The Rock Portraits gallery was one of my favorite parts of my rock n’ roll filled afternoon.

^^^ Compliments of Mr. Ritts!

On the fourth floor there was a huge section of the set from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” which I remember from my last visit there but was so cool to see again! That display is neat because you can see it if you look down or up from any other floor. It definitely made me feel small standing next to the display! There was also a theater on level four which we stayed in for awhile. They were playing a video from what I’m assuming was an induction to the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. We watched lots of different artists perform and it was especially fun seeing Jeff Beck on stage with his daughter who couldn’t have been more than sixteen at the time playing the guitar like nobodies business!

We headed down to the third floor afterwards which has a cafe and another beautiful theater. In that theater they were playing highlights of different induction ceremonies from years ago until present day which included interviews, photographs, and animation to tell the stories of the artists. As we exited the theater there was a long hallway that we followed and on the walls were panels of signatures from the inductees. As you can see in my PicStitches, I snapped a pic of U2’s signatures which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to having their autographs!

Level two of the Rock Hall was all about the masterminds of rock n’ roll like Les Paul and Alan Freed. There were displays upon displays of original record players, guitars, and recording studios. Old school televisions in the display cases played footage of black and white variety shows which was a fun touch. Level two was jam packed with amazing information and artifacts. As we exited the Architects of Rock and Roll section we walked into a multimedia production called Video Killed the Radio Star which had a television tower made up of at least thirty or more TV’s and all of them were playing a different music video fresh off of the early days of MTV. Another very cool exhibit on level two was all about Rolling Stone magazine. There were three walls completely filled with famous covers of Rolling Stone with artists such as Marilyn Manson, Kurt Cobain, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Britney Spears. (I love her fabulous cover where she’s lounging on the phone while cuddling a Teletubbie so much! SO CUTE!)

We ended our trip to the Rock Hall at the lower level which is where you’re supposed to start, but that’s okay! The lower level is the bread and butter of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame – it’s a wonderland full of costumes, instruments, jewelry, and set pieces all belonging to the legends. There were specific sections dedicated to artists like Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. What I loved about this level was that it took you through each genre of music from a historical point. It started with the early days of the Blues and ended with music from the present day. My favorite genre to explore was the Punk section that had memorabilia from The New York Dolls, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones to name a few. In the Punk display case they had a Joan Jett fashion doll which was so adorable! There was a case dedicated to U2 in the lower level as well which I was pretty thrilled about!

After we explored through the outer rings of the bottom level we ended up at the epicenter which is a dark room filled with well lit costumes and instruments from all of the greats – there was James Brown, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, The Who, The Beach Boys, and Metallica. That list is not even a quarter of the artists that the gigantic room had memorabilia from. It was seriously unbelievable. There were countless exhibits to end up in on the bottom floor and all of them were equally awesome. A few that I particularly enjoyed was a section on the origins of hip hop and a multimedia display called Don’t Knock the Rock. In this display there were different interviews playing of early day televangelists and political figures bashing rock n’ roll music and then it would cut to a reaction of rock musicians. Before we left the lower level we watched one more video compilation in a theater of very sweet reactions of inductees being entered into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I could have stayed on this floor for forever!

Our trip to the Rock Hall was so much fun and this post doesn’t even cover half of all of the amazing displays that we got to see. If you ever are in Cleveland, Ohio then you definitely don’t want to let the opportunity to spend some time at the Rock Hall pass by! I hope that all of you enjoyed reading this post just as much as I did writing it! What musician would you like to see memorabilia from? Do you have any questions about any specific displays or pictures? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun24

Woman Crush Wednesday: Gwen Stefani Edition

Posted on June 24, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Woman Crush Wednesday: Gwen Stefani Edition

Hellooooo everyone and welcome to another issue of Woman Crush Wednesday! This week the coveted honor of being Lil Red’s Woman Crush goes to…..GWEN STEFANI!!!

^^^ AYYY! #WCW

Dear Gwen Stefani,

Oh sweet Gwen, you beautiful little starlet! I so admire your talent and your amazing fashion endeavors. I had the pleasure of seeing you perform in No Doubt when I was fifteen and was blown away by your show-woman-ship and rockin bod. So for that, it is only fitting that you receive a hubba hubba! Everything that you do, I love – fronting No Doubt, your solo career, coaching on The Voice, and all of your amazing clothing lines. I have countless Harajuku Lovers purses and fragrances as well as your perfume for L.A.M.B.! You are so fabulous and creative and I always look to you for celebrity style inspiration. Thank you for giving me music that I can sing poorly to while driving the Little Red Love Machine. Thank you for creating clothing lines to bring some of your flawless style to a gal in Akron, Ohio. And thank you very much for creating fragrances that keep me smelling “Yummy” on the daily! I LOVE YOU!

^^^ She’s so gorgeous I just can’t even! And miss thang can rock a red lip like no other! Hoochie mama. :*)

So there you have it, my Woman Crush Wednesday: Gwen Stefani Edition! I hope that all of you are having a fabulous Hump Day! Who’s your Woman Crush Wednesday? What’s one of your favorite creative endeavors from Gwen Stefani? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun24

Funky Time Jams: Bedtime Music Edition

Posted on June 24, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Whatupppp everyone and happy Hump Day! This Funky Time Jams post is brought to you by my hangover and my deep passion for Bedtime Music. If there’s one thing that I love, it’s falling asleep to some soothing tunes. I have a plethora of go to artists in my vast collection that I play when it’s time to hit the hay for the night and they never fail to send me off to dream land peacefully. The trick to good bedtime music is that it literally has to be “just right”. So here’s my Lil Red Rules to bedtime music before we discuss some tried and true favorites:

1) The music can’t be too upbeat because you don’t want to get hyped up instead of worn out.
2) The vocalist needs to have a voice that soothes you, obviously.
3) Songs with piano playing is always a good thing!
4) The songs need to take you to your pre-sleep happy place.

Alright, here we go!

Enya – Orinoco Flow: Freaking OBVIOUSLY. Out of all of my bedtime music artists, Enya is the one that I play most frequently. I just love her – even though I never understand what she’s singing about half of the time. All I know is that Enya soothes a Lil Red like no other. Her music is pure poetry and it takes me to places in my mind that are good for the soul…shopping in Paris, shopping in London, shopping anywhere. It’s a magical thing. Enya has saved me from many a sleepless night and for that, I salute you.

Coldplay – Speed Of Sound: Of course Coldplay had to be included on this list. I had a difficult time selecting which Coldplay song to feature on here, but then I thought back to yesterday when “Speed Of Sound” came on my iPod when I had it on shuffle and just how much I enjoyed it. I seriously forgot how much I love this song. I’m a really big Coldplay fan – they were my first concert when I was in fifth grade or so. (Richard Ashcroft from The Verve was the opener and they performed “Bittersweet Symphony” together and it was life changing!) My brother chose to take me over his stupid girlfriend at the time and it’s always been one of my favorite memories. I also figure skated to “Talk” during competitions. Coldplay holds a very special, sentimental place in my heart and their music makes me happy – which is why they’re a great band to play before bed!

Cat Power – I Found a Reason: Oh dear lord I love this song – specifically because it’s featured in one of my all time favorite movies, V For Vendetta. Cat Power’s voice is so hauntingly beautiful. Her music is the kind that you would expect to hear in one of those jewelry boxes that I feel like every little girl has when they’re growing up…You know, the kind where you open up the lid and music starts playing and the ballerina or whatever starts spinning around. Those jewelry boxes.

Wolf Parade – Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts: I know I said to avoid upbeat music before bed, but Wolf Parade is my exception. Spencer Krug’s voice is simply intoxicating and it legitimately puts me under a spell every time I hear it. Maybe that’s why I can listen to them while I’m laying in bed at night and feel sleepy, because I’m under a weird Indie rock love spell. “Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts” is a fucking brilliant track, and if you’ve never heard of Wolf Parade then this is a perfect song to introduce you to them with. Make sure you pay close attention to the lyrics because they’re fantastic. The video I’m posting is great too because it includes their hit “I’ll Believe In Anything” as well which is one of my all time favorite songs in the history of ever.

Say Hi To Your Mom – Let’s Talk About Spaceships: If you want some really good Indie bedtime music, then Say Hi To Your Mom is one of your best bets. I love this guy too much and I’m actually really excited because I’ve wanted to see him in concert for years and he’s finally coming to Cleveland in October!! HURRAY! “Let’s Talk About Spaceships” was one of the first songs I ever heard by Say Hi To Your Mom and the only reason I even discovered this artist is because years ago when my brother and I were browsing through Best Buy we saw his CD’s and thought his name was absolutely hysterical. I had to investigate his music as soon as I got home and I fell in love. This track opens with one of my favorite lyrics of “And what’s that saying again? They’re only words and words can’t kill me.” I’ve never considered this song one of my favorites but honestly I think it’s safe to say that it’s one of my favorites. I’ve loved it since I was fourteen and I still love it seven years later.

Sufjan Stevens – Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!): Once again, if you’re looking for some really good Indie bedtime music, Sufjan Stevens is also a good way to go. “Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head!” is probably one of my favorite Sufjan songs for reasons I can’t tell you, because I have no clue why. In the words of Matthew Mcconaughey in those stupid Lincoln commercials, “I just like it”. One of the reasons why I like to play some Sufjan before bed is because all of his songs are quite long, so you can easily lose yourself in the ten minute tracks and before you know it you’re asleep. INDUSTRY! INDUSTRY!

U2 – Sleep Like a Baby Tonight: Okay, 1) Did you honestly think that I would pass up an opportunity to post music by my favorite band in the whole wide world? and 2) The answer for posting this song is all in the name of it. The end. Wait…no, not the end! Because now I have to discuss just how disappointed I am that U2 isn’t coming to Ohio on their Innocence + Experience Tour! So Bono, if you’re reading this: I love you! AND COME TO OHIO!

So there you have it, the Funky Time Jams: Bedtime Music Edition! If you’re having trouble sleeping, definitely give some of these songs and artists a try and let me know how they work out! Who’s your go to bedtime music artist? What songs succeed in making you sleepy? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun20

Date Night! <3

Posted on June 20, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Hey everyone and happy Saturday! So I had the most fabulous date night on Thursday with my sister, Kristen, and my beloved nail tech, Vinny, that I want to tell you guys all about! This little outing was in honor of my 21st birthday, compliments of Vinny and it was seriously one of the best nights of my life! Let’s discuss!

Our night on the town began with dinner and wine at Bricco, a super delicious restaurant that Kristen and I live down the street from. The menu there is terrific because it’s predominantly vegetarian, so both my sister and I had a lot of options to pick from. All of our meals were great and we each picked out a bottle of wine as our beverage, haha AYYY! We drank and ate until we couldn’t move and then we headed off to the Hard Rock Rocksino for some more birthday tom foolery. If you are a fan of hitting the casinos, you might want to consider checking out Casino Martini which offers up to a 400% deposit bonus. Talk about winning big!

The Rocksino was so cool and was much nicer than the Horseshoe Casino, which I went to last week. It was bright and upbeat and had the best decorations ever – the instruments and outfits used and worn by different musicians. All of this amazing memorabilia is compliments of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Every area of the casino had different costumes on display from everyone like Nicki Minaj to Elvis Presley…so, so cool! We headed to the bar for drinks once we got to the Rocksino and after we all got what we wanted Vinny and I went to explore the premises and play some games while Kristen met up with a few of her friends at the bar. There was so much to look at as Vinny and I strolled around and I would have been happy just wandering aimlessly throughout the casino, but we happened to see a game that we just had to play. Want to know why? Take a wild guess. Okay, here we go….The name of the game was LIL RED!!!!!!!! So yes, taking a chance on the Lil Red game was absolutely necessary! Haha, take a look:

^^^ Lol AHHHHH!!!! Unfortunately, we didn’t have too much luck on Lil Red but I had a moral obligation to play it so I’m the farthest thing from mad about it! After Vinny and I roamed the casino for a little while longer we rejoined Kristen and her friends for more booze and to watch the band that was playing in the restaurant area of the Rocksino. Whomever was playing was a cover band who played renditions of current radio hits and old tried and true favorites…They sounded pretty good to me, but then again, I was very drunk. All of us continued to drink and enjoy the band and thanks to the bar at the Rocksino, I was able to try my very first mojito, pina colada, and apple martini and they were all delightful! All alcohol usually is! 😉 #whitegirlwasted

We finished up our time at the Rocksino with one more shot at the bar and then went on our merry way. My birthday date night was a huge success and I had an insanely good time! I didn’t think that I would end up at a casino again after my trip to the Horseshoe last week but I had a much better experience at the Rocksino. It was such a fun environment to be in and the best part about it was that the music that was playing in the casino wasn’t overwhelmingly loud! That was my major complaint about the Horseshoe, along with their dingy lighting and the Rocksino had both of these issues on lock with a perfect music volume and lighting scheme. I would definitely go there again, not necessarily to gamble, but to get drinks and to watch whatever entertainment that they have scheduled for the night. So if you’re ever in the Northfield, Ohio area, definitely check out the Hard Rock Rocksino…maybe you’ll see me there!

^^^ I didn’t take many pictures of the costumes that they had on display at the Rocksino but here’s a PicStitch of what I did snap!

Left: Johnny and June Carter Cash
Top: The Black Eyed Peas
Bottom: (From right to left) Nicki Minaj, Shakira, Lady Gaga

Words can’t express how grateful I am to Kristen and my sweet Vinny for an awesome post birthday celebration. I seriously have the best friends in the entire world and I have no idea what I would do without them! Saying that I love my Vinny and Kristen is a severe understatement, but it’s the best that I’ve got to describe how I feel about them! #bestfriends #teamvinny

I hope that all of you are having a great weekend so far! I know I am! What is everyone up to tonight? Any fun plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun16

Glass Animals Concert

Posted on June 16, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! So last night I went to see Glass Animals at the House Of Blues in Cleveland with one of my comrades and it was fucking amazing! I’m going to be really honest with you guys…I was very intoxicated so some of the details are a little blurry BUT I do know that Glass Animals absolutely killed it. I also know that I’m never getting too turnt during a concert again so I can fully enjoy it and be able to remember everything about the show vividly. It was raining when we got to the venue and we got there a half hour before the doors opened so instead of waiting in line outside we went to a bar around the corner for drinks. As you guys have gathered by now, I’m a big fat lightweight so after two vodka based drinks I already felt tipsy. This unfortunately didn’t stop me from drinking more at the HOB, AYYY! #whitegirlwasted

Shortly after we got to the venue, the opening band came on. I feel like such a goon, but I can’t even recall the name of them…I mean if they were good I probably would have remembered but they weren’t my cup of tea anyways. They were really techno-y, which I actually wasn’t expecting because I feel like Glass Animals is more indie than electronica, so that was kind of fun because I’ve never been to a techno show before. I dunno, music like that all starts sounding the same to me after awhile, so I felt like after hearing two songs by the opener I heard them all. That’s why I really like Glass Animals, because they have electronica qualities to their music but it’s still distinctively very indie as a whole.

The nice part about this show was that there was only the one opener and then Glass Animals came on. This was great, because there were three openers for The Used when I saw them at the HOB last month and it dragged on for forever. As soon as Glass Animals came on I freaked out so hard! It kind of sucked because we were pretty far back in the standing area so I couldn’t really see the stage even with my concert heels on, but I’m not too worried about it because homegirl was dancing the whole time – everyone was! The lighting throughout the show was dope and all of the good vibes in the audience was amazing to experience. I didn’t take many pictures during the concert because I was dancing (probably very poorly) and I was so white girl wasted that all of the pictures were probably going to be blurry anyways. But take a look at the pics I did manage to snap before I gave up on having my iPod out:

^^^ AHHHH! Like I said, all of their lighting was rad and they alternated their color scheme a lot throughout the show. They used the green in my featured image photo to open the concert with and then would change the lighting after every song or two. There was deep indigo, red, fuchsia, white, purple, and probably a lot more that I just can’t remember…Whoops.

I haven’t even talked about how the band sounded yet, so let’s discuss! Glass Animals sounded INCREDIBLE live. Their set list consisted of their album ZABA in its entirety and then one or two songs that I hadn’t heard before. They sounded EXACTLY like how they do on their debut album, which was astounding to me because there’s so much going on in all of the tracks that in my head I thought it would be difficult to recreate on stage…Drunk girl thoughts, obviously! It was so cool to be able to experience seeing one of my favorite bands live and having their performance go above and beyond the high standards that I hold them at, because they really are SO talented. There’s not one song on ZABA that I dislike so I was so happy that that was primarily what they performed at the concert, especially because the album is still relatively new.

As my white girl wastedness increased throughout the night, so did the urge to pee. I had to go SO SO BAD towards the end of the concert, so when they closed the show and went off stage for a few minutes before the encore I jumped on the opportunity to go to the bathroom. They had a chair by the sinks that I vividly remember sitting on for some reason or another, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyways, as I finished washing my hands I heard the beginning of “Pools” being played which is literally one of my favorite songs on the planet, so I ran my happy ass back to my companion in the standing area ASAP so that I didn’t miss one more second of it. Hearing “Pools” live was what I was looking forward to the most and it was everything that I hoped it would be AND MORE. It was seriously the perfect encore song to close the night with. What an amazing, incredible, wonderful, terrific show.

So there you have it, my Glass Animals concert experience! If any of you guys have the opportunity to see them live, I urge you to jump on it! You’ll be glad that you did! Is anyone going to a show anytime soon? Who are you seeing? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun15

Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition

Posted on June 15, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition

Whatupppppp everyone and happy Monday! It’s currently one thirty in the AM and I’m not very tired and I promised my sister that I would stop watching the new season of Orange Is The New Black without her, so I figured I would get the Monday Update out of the way now. I hope all of you had a great weekend! I know I did, thanks for asking! As you guys know, I spent my Friday night at the Horseshoe Casino (See article “Casino Adventures”) which was tons of fun – and the good times continued throughout Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a day of sleeping in, shopping, and date night. Sunday was a day of wonderful company, hair dye, family, and #OITNB. Best. Weekend. Ever!

On Saturday afternoon my mom and I were shopping around in the Fairlawn area and we happened to stumble into Bath & Body Works in the midst of their semi-annual sale. I’ve never been a huge B&BW fan, but holy moley their sale prices were incredible! I got six FULL SIZE (8 oz.) perfumes for the price of one original priced bottle – talk about a deal! As I’ve mentioned before, the only perfume that I wear is Victoria’s Secret’s “Enchanted Apple”, but unfortunately they don’t carry the fragrance year round. The only times they break that scent out is during their semi-annual sales, which is when I stock up on my perfume for the year. About a month ago, I finished my last of five bottles that I purchased during the last VS sale, so I’ve been using the random odds and ends fragrances that my sister and I have…Believe me, I’m not thrilled about it! I feel incomplete without my signature scent. BUT fear not, because I found a very similar apple-y fragrance from B&BW that I’m super obsessed with. B&BW’s “Country Apple” has the exact same sweet/tart fragrance that I love so much in “Enchanted Apple”, so best believe I bought five bottles to keep me going as well as one of their aquatic fragrances “Cool Amazon Rain”. I also stocked up on some dirt cheap lotions which make perfect add ons to birthday and holiday gifts. #BALLIN After shopping with my mama, it was time for date night with my darling, handsome prince Kyle. We went hard on appetizers and yummy drinks at Applebee’s and spent beautiful quality time with each other which was much much needed! Love him! ❤

Yesterday was a pretty chill day which was so nice after being out and about most nights last week. I met up with one of my dear friends, Scott, for some terrific conversation and coffee – which was an absolute joy. He’s definitely on my list of “Lil Red’s Favorite People in The World”! Once I got home in the mid afternoon, my sister and I binge watched #OITNB for a bit and then I got to work on dying my hair. I dye my locks once a month to keep my red fresh and vibrant and let me tell you, it’s a trip washing the dye out of my hair and watching all of the color come out. It straight up looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre happened in my shower every time. The rest of my evening was spent plucking my eyebrows to perfection (ayy!), annihilating at Scrabble, watching #OITNB once again, and here I am now getting my blog on!

So now that you guys know what my weekend was looking like, let me tell you all about how freaking excited I am for tonight! I’m going to see Glass Animals at the House Of Blues in Cleveland with one of my comrades and I’m seriously so pumped I could cry!!! I really lucked out when I found out that Glass Animals was playing in Cleveland last Thursday because if it wasn’t for Facebook I would have had no idea. While scrolling through my news feed on FB I happened to see a status from HOB advertising for the chance to win tickets to the show on Monday night. It was weird that it showed up on my news feed because I have yet to “like” HOB or Glass Animals on there, so there was no reason for it to show up – but I’m so beyond glad that it did! As soon as I saw that they were playing I bought tickets ASAP because there’s no way in hell that I would pass up seeing these guys live. I’ve been in love with Glass Animals since last September and I’ve told literally everyone who I’ve introduced their music to how much I would love to see them live. I can’t believe that in less than twenty-four hours I’ll be hanging out at the House Of Blues watching one of my favorite bands perform! AHHHH! June will definitely be a good month for concerts, because I’ll be back at HOB on the 30th to see one of my other favorites, AWOLNATION, compliments of my brother for my birthday. What a guy! I’m also pretty hyped because Family Of The Year is opening for them and I happen to really like them too! Exciting stuff!!

^^^ SO GOOD! Also, if you’re interested in shopping the semi-annual sale at Bath & Body Works, their offers are available online as well at: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/home/index.jsp! Happy shopping!

So there you have it, my Monday Update: Alright, Alright, Alright Edition! #MCCONAUGHEY!!!! Make sure you check back in with me at some point during the week to hear all about my Glass Animals concert experience! Is anyone going to any concerts coming up? What about any of the festivals like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, or the Hangout Fest? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Have a lovely day! -Sarah

Jun13

Casino Adventures

Posted on June 13, 2015 by lifewithlilred

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Heyyy everyone and happy weekend! I’ve been having the best outings this week following the travesty that was my birthday and last night was no exception! As a birthday treat to me, my lovely and astoundingly pretty friend Danielle took me to the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cleveland. It was….quite an experience. Don’t get me wrong, I had the best time hanging out with Danielle and I loved her company, but I don’t think her or myself will be hanging out in a casino again any time soon! The casino in general was just very very overwhelming. It was seriously gigantic – every time we were walking around I felt like we were in an area that we hadn’t been in before, but in all reality we walked past it countless times. It was so hard differentiating all of the different casino corridors because they all looked exactly alike. It felt like every time we walked away from something and eventually came back to it the initial area changed into something completely different, if that makes sense? It was seriously the strangest sensation I’ve experienced in ages. It felt like the casino was shifting and redecorating with every step we took like a giant labyrinth. So on top of being in this enchanted casino it was fairly crowded and the music that was playing was loud so it was total sensory overload. And don’t even get me started on the games! Danielle and I stuck to the “easy” games like the fruit slot machines and whatnot, but unfortunately, we both weren’t very lucky. It was so frustrating, because even if we won something in the game it still didn’t make up for what we initially spent to begin with so we were losing money. Danielle was so sweet because before we got into the casino she had me pull a piece of paper from her beanie and on the paper was the amount of money that she would supply for the games and after we reached that limit we were donezo. It was such a generous thing to do which I was so blown away by and it was also a really great idea to give ourselves a spending limit. Like I said earlier, we weren’t very lucky at the games and our limit was well spent after barely over an hour…But in that hour I can totally see why gambling addiction is a thing. Danielle and I experienced that “just one more try” mentality first hand and it was quite off putting. Like, we knew we were losing money but we were both so convinced that just one more spin on the game would result in some winnings no matter how small. The Horseshoe was the only casino myself or Danielle has ever been in, but I’m assuming they’re all set up very similarly – multiple bars, loud music, and dim lighting. All of these different elements really do make up the perfect concoction of a place where you could lose track of yourself very easily. That “club” like environment seemed to hook everyone in the casino because every time Danielle and I walked around all we saw were blank faces in front of the machines and people absentmindedly placing their bets no matter what the cost. That type of thing is obviously what some people like, but it clearly wasn’t mine or Danielle’s cup of tea. On our way home from Cleveland we talked about how we were glad that we got the casino experience out of our systems to at least say that we did it, but we both agreed that it will be a long time before we step foot in one again. Despite our bad luck at literally every game we attempted, it was still a super fun evening and I’m so glad I got to share in a casino adventure with Danielle!

^^^ Lol this song seemed very appropriate to include in a post about casinos! I’M SO CLEVER! 😉

So there you have it, my Friday night Casino Adventure! I hope all of you are having an awesome weekend so far, I know I am! Have any of you ever got your gamble on in a casino? What was the most that you lost or won? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: If gambling addiction is something that you or a loved one struggle with, I urge you to seek help – whether that be confiding in a counselor, friend, or even a complete stranger. You can check out this article on responsible gambling and there are multiple different helplines that you can call as well, one of them being the hotline through the National Council on Problem Gambling. Here’s their website: http://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/national-helpline-1-800-522-4700/

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