Tag Archives: thankful

Feb8

Monday Update: Special Olympics Edition

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Monday Update: Special Olympics Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! This past week, my Special Olympic ice skaters competed in the winter games and it was totally awesome. The events took place on Wednesday and Thursday and they were single handedly some of the best days of my life. On Wednesday my sister, Kristen, joined me at the competition and the banquet that followed later in the evening. It was so nice to have her keeping me company and all of my skaters and their families just loved her! The days of the competitions were long but they were so worth it, so let’s discuss:

Wednesday’s competitions were the races for the speed skaters and then the figure skaters would compete in their skills and compulsorary events. On Thursday, the figure skaters would perform their music routines. Wednesday started out much too early for my liking because I had to get up, get ready, pick Kristen up, and then make the twenty minute drive to the rink so I could prepare my skaters for the events an hour or so beforehand. I felt like a zombie but god knows I looked fabulous! 😉

Once we arrived at the rink, my tiredness was a thing of the past because seeing all of the athletes and their families was so energizing! Everyone was so excited and I couldn’t wait to soak up all of the positivity and happiness that everyone was exuding. It was so much fun to make my rounds to all of the athletes upon our arrival and introduce my sister to all of my friends. I was so touched by the warm greetings I got from all of my skaters and their families. I think the athletes were more excited about Kristen being there than me though because they got a brand new person to show off to!

The events started promptly at ten with the speed skaters on the hockey rink and the figure skaters on the practice rink. I had athletes competing on both rinks so I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I had skaters to give pep talks to, athletes to cheer for, and competitors that I had to track down that were going to be competing next. I didn’t mind the fast pace though and thanks to my time management skills, I was able to watch almost all of the skaters that are in my group compete.

Saying that I was proud of all of the athletes was a severe understatement and before I knew it, the events were over for the day. After all of the events were complete, we made our way to the hockey rink for the award ceremony. It was so special to be able to watch the athletes and my students receiving their medals on the podium. I loved seeing the big smiles, surprised faces, and arms raised in victory of all of the competitors. One of my students, Rick, ran to his family after he received his medals and went in for a big hug from his aunt. During the hug he kept saying “I’m so happy, I’m so happy” and I started bawling my eyes out! I was so proud of everyone and being able to see them celebrate and know that they did a fantastic job was the cherry on top of a perfect morning.

After the award ceremony, Kristen and I stuck around for a little bit while everyone had lunch and then we rolled out. Kristen treated me to lunch and then we went back to her apartment to rest and watch Netflix until the banquet in the evening. The banquet for the Special Olympics winter games was held at the Clarion Hotel. There was going to be speeches, dinner, and some good old fashioned tom foolery.

Kristen and I got to the hotel around six and made it right in the nick of time because shortly after we got there it was time to eat. Dinner was served buffet style followed by a huge piece of chocolate cake. Once everyone finished eating, there was a bit of a lull so we could all chat and digest while the dance floor got cleared off. Before we knew it, the dance floor was cleared, a DJ was playing, and disco lights were flashing. That’s when the real fun began!

As soon as the music started playing, Kristen and I ran to the dance floor with our friends so we could get our groove on. We were all dancing and singing along to songs from Grease and the Top 40 hits. My sister and I had such a blast dancing the night away. We were on the dance floor for over an hour and by the time we left, everyone was still dancing and jumping around! Clearly, all of the athletes have far more energy than I! Take a look at some of my pictures from the banquet:

^^^ I love us!!!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million more times, I am so unbelievably proud of all of my students and the athletes who competed at the Special Olympics winter games. I’m so thankful for all of my new friends and I’m so happy that my sister got to share in the fun with us. It has been such a privilege to be able to coach such a talented group of athletes and I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had for anything! Coach Sarah loves you guys! ❤

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Special Olympics Edition! The winter games were a great success and I’m so grateful that I could be a part of it. What is your favorite winter sport? What sports did you used to compete in or are competing in now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb7

Jergens BB Hand Cream Review

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Jergens BB Hand Cream Review

Hi everyone and happy Super Bowl Sunday! I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend so far. Over the holidays, I was lucky and won a giveaway by my friend, Victoria, over at livingdisrobed. I won some Jergens body care goodies which included the most fantastic hand cream ever. The Jergens BB Hand Cream is the best thing that has ever happened to my hands and their tendency to get insanely dried out. I have nothing but good things to say about this cream, so let’s discuss:

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If I could describe myself in one word when it comes to body care products, I would use “picky” with a capital P. If the product is greasy – no can do. If it has a scent that I don’t like – see ya never. And if it’s ineffective – girl, BYE. Lucky for me, the Jergens gods heard my prayer for the perfect cream and they responded by making their BB Hand Cream.

My hands are incredibly sensitive so it doesn’t take a lot to get them dehydrated. On top of this sensitivity, I’m a bit of a germophobe so I’m a hand washer as well. When my hands get dry, they get extremely red, they crack, and they legitimately hurt. You would think that with all of these problems, I would have found the perfect hand cream by now. Unfortunately, I’ve never been so blessed. #fml

It seems like every product that I’ve tried has missed the mark and I don’t like to pay for products unless I’m 110% sure that they’re going to do the job. My last attempt at a hand cream was when I used The Body Shop’s almond cream which worked well but was much too greasy for my liking. I thought that my days of red and raw hands was never going to end and then I ended up winning Victoria’s giveaway.

When my package arrived in the mail, I opened it with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas. I inspected my goodies and then eagerly squeezed some of the hand cream onto the palm of my hand. I took a whiff of the cream and was pleased that it was a nice and light fragrance that wasn’t overpowering in the slightest.

After the cream passed the smell test, I began to rub it into my skin. The only way that I can describe it was that it was like my hands were taking a long and much needed drink of water. The hand cream went in so smoothly and within seconds I couldn’t even tell that I had applied a healthy helping of the cream. There was no grease, no residue, and no strong fragrance left behind.

After just one use of Jergens BB Hand Cream, the redness of my skin was reduced, the scaliness was smoothed down, and my hands felt perfectly hydrated. I’ve never experienced a cream that truly helped revitalize my skin without leaving behind any kind of residue. Honestly, I thought that it was impossible. My Jergens BB Hand Cream has helped my winter hands become a thing of the past and that is something that I am so thankful for.

I would be ridiculous to rate my Jergens BB Hand Cream with anything less than: five stars. This is easily the best cream that I’ve ever used and I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you so much again, Victoria, because it was all thanks to you! ❤

So there you have it, my Jergens BB Hand Cream Review! What is your go to hand cream? What body lotion do you swear by? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan5

Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

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Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style!

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! This Saturday I was surprised with the literal best Christmas gift ever…Two tickets to see Elf the musical with my beloved big sister, Kristen! My sister purchased us two tickets for a night on the town to see one of our favorite movies turned into a musical at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio. Take a look at us being pretty (!!) and then let’s discuss:

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Last Friday night when Kristen asked me if I had plans for the following evening, I didn’t think anything of it. But when Saturday came around the next day and she texted me with meticulous plans for when to pick her up, I started to get suspicious. When I called her to ask her where we were going for our hang out she told me it was for my Christmas gift and asked if I wanted to know what it was. The thing about me, though, is that I HATE surprises with a capital H and a capital ATE – so of course I wanted to know! That’s when she told me that she got us two tickets to see Elf the musical at 7:15 sharp this evening! I was blown away!!!

After I came out of my happiness coma we began to make plans for when I could pick her up and where we would go for dinner. We settled on our favorite…Taco Bell! Afterwards, she treated me to a full tank of gas and we went on our merry way to Playhouse Square in Cleveland. The drive was easy peasy and once we were in the downtown Cleveland area we got to enjoy seeing all of the buildings lit up beautifully for the holidays – it was awesome!

We arrived at the theater in perfect timing and Kristen managed to get amazing tickets for our date night. We were about twelve rows away from the stage and smack dab in the middle so our view was spectacular. While we waited for the show to begin, we took lots of sister pictures and I also took a picture of the stage, which is my featured image photo. I couldn’t take any pictures during the show, of course, but rest assured that it was incredible!

Elf the musical was simply fantastic. The actors were sublime, the music was catchy, the set was darling (it was storybook themed), and the choreography was superb. Kristen and I had a blast watching one of our favorite films come to life on the stage. The story from the movie was modified a little but all of the changes were clever and made perfect sense. We were in stitches the entire show and spent the whole car ride back to  her apartment quoting the musical.

Before we returned to Kristen’s place, we stopped at Giant Eagle to pick up some holiday gifts for her coworkers. The Giant Eagle that I live by is open twenty four hours and I found so much joy in just roaming the aisles with her at ten o’clock at night. We found gifts that suited our needs, as well as some treats for ourselves, and then headed back to her apartment.

Once we arrived at her place we crawled into our pajamas ASAP. As soon as we were comfy we made further preparations for our sister sleepover because this was the first night that I spent the night in her new apartment. Afterwards, I drove back to my house quickly to grab my sleeping pills and morning medication. It was no biggie, though, because we live a whole three minutes away from each other!

By the time I arrived back at her place, we were both beyond ready to hit the hay. We got tucked into her super comfy queen size bed and turned on the tube to fall asleep to. It was the absolute perfect ending to a perfect sister Christmas date night.

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had on Saturday night with my big sister. She completely surprised me with my Christmas gift and it will be a memory that I’ll cherish for forever. Everything that we did from our dinner and the show to even just driving around to our locations was a blast and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend our Christmas Gift Night with each other. I love you, Kristen! Thank you for treating me to an amazing evening – Sister Style!

So there you have it, my Saturday Christmas Gift Night – Sister Style! Kristen and I had a glorious time wrapping up the holiday season together and starting 2016 on a wonderful note. Have any of you seen a musical lately? What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan2

Best Friend Christmas Haul

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Best Friend Christmas Haul

Helloooo everyone and happy 2016! My best friend, Lea, and I were a little bit late in celebrating Christmas with each other but it finally happened this past week and it was glorious! We had such a wonderful time opening our presents, eating Taco Bell, and girl talking to our hearts content. Take a look at what I was gifted with by my darling:

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From Lea I got:

  • A cozy fleece blanket (which I’m wrapped in right now!)
  • A to go coffee mug (which I’m obsessed with)
  • A Starbucks mini ornament
  • Bath & Body Works lotion
  • A coffee mug filled with bath and body products

I love everything that Lea got me so much but honestly I didn’t need anything from her. Our over seven years of best friendship is enough for me! It was a bit funny opening our gifts, however, because we got each other very similar presents. I got my girl a new mug and bath and body care goodies, as well, among other things! We seriously know each other too well and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m so looking forward to a new year full of hang outs with my best girlfriend and I’m so thankful for her friendship and the beautiful Christmas gifts I received! You’re such a doll and I love you, Lea!! ❤

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year’s weekend! Make sure you tune in with me for this week’s Monday Update so I can tell you about how I rung in the new year! Until then, how did everyone celebrate the arrival of 2016? Who has been doing some last minute Christmas gifting to your friends and family? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec31

One Lovely Blog Award

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One Lovely Blog Award

Hey everyone and happy Thursday and the last day of 2015! My pal, Matthew, over at Ignite18 nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award so here’s to you, Matt! Thank you so much! There are some rules that come along with this award, so take a look and then check out some fun facts about yours truly!

rules

About Me:

  1. I’ve been a proud vegetarian for as long as I can remember.
  2. I got my nickname “Lil Red” from one of my old coworkers at PacSun thanks to my bright red hair and lipstick. The name has stuck ever since.
  3. I used to be a competitive figure skater and now I coach skating for the Special Olympics.
  4. I desperately want to travel to Europe after I finish getting my Associate of Arts degree next fall.
  5. I have a collection of over fifty pairs of shoes and I love them as if they were my children.
  6. My blog, http://www.lifewithlilred.com, is read in over one hundred and fifty countries and I’m super thankful to all of my readers!
  7. I live for Taco Bell and actually got it right before I started writing this.

My nominees:

  1. My friend, Carlie, at Bombshell
  2. One of my cherished readers at migueltio
  3. The darling Luiza at Style on Board

Thank you again to Matthew for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog Award! It’s very much appreciated and I hope all of you learned a new Lil Red fun fact today! How is everyone celebrating New Year’s Eve tonight? Do you have any family traditions for ringing in a new year? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec29

New Coat Heaven!

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New Coat Heaven!

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday! On Christmas day I died and found myself in New Coat Heaven. If you read yesterday’s Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition, you’ll know that my parents gifted me with a gorgeous new coat. If you didn’t know that – then now you know! I am so madly in love with my new beauty from Target that I just had to give it some extra special attention in today’s post. Take a look at this bad boy:

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^^^ Swoon. ❤

I’ve had my eyes on this stunning knee length coat from Target for over two months but it was quite expensive so I never would have bought it for myself. While my mom and I went on one of our monthly Target excursions, I pointed the coat out to her and tried it on. I modeled the coat, expressed my desperate interest, and then hung it up and put it away so we could continue our shopping. That shopping trip was Operation: Planting the Seed.

And believe me, the seed in my mother’s brain was planted, alright. When I was gifted with the Corella Deville coat on Christmas day, my mom told me that the day after our outing she went out and bought it for me for one of my presents. She said that if she didn’t do it right away then she would have forgotten the size I needed and she didn’t want it to get sold out. What a lady! ❤

I’ve been planning outfits in my head around this knock out of a coat for days now. The unveiling of my new winter garb will take place on New Year’s Eve, when Kyle and I go out for a date night to ring in 2016. I’m going to pair it with a beautiful, knee length, floral dress along with a killer pair of heels and of course, a bright red lip! Be on the look out for pictures!!

I really am in New Coat Heaven and I’m so thankful for the amazing gift compliments of my mom and dad! Who received new clothes for Christmas? What about new jewelry or accessories? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec28

Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

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Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Welcome to this week’s Update: Holiday Haul Edition! Lil Red made out like a bandit this Christmas and it’s still not over! I still have presents to receive from my sister and my best friend later this week. But so far, the loot has been fantastic. I feel so spoiled because I’ve never had a boyfriend during the holiday season and Kyle and his mom were nice enough to give me some amazing presents. Take a look at what I received on Christmas according to each person:

My parents:

I am SO in love with the gorgeous coat that my mom and dad got me. I’ve been eyeing this jacket from Target for over two months now and I’m so happy that it’s finally mine! My mom got it for me the day after I tried it on in front of her in October and has been hiding it for my surprise ever since. What a lady! I also received a generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation as well as a fresh supply of my favorite beauty products from The Body Shop and Trader Joe’s. Thanks, mom and dad!

My brother and sister-in-law:

From Peter and Megan I received my first Adult Coloring Book, complete with colored pencils and a sharpener. My sister and I have been interested in these for a while so I’m so excited to unleash my inner child and crack open the coloring book with her. I also got a Groupon for two free admissions to a Paint Nite. In Ohio, there are certain bars that offer a night of drinking and canvas painting and I’ve heard that they’re so much fun! It will be the perfect date night for me and Kyle!

The most special gift I got this Christmas, however, was the rosary that Peter and Megan brought home for me from their honeymoon in Italy. It’s my favorite color and it is also blessed by Pope Francis from when they had the honor of meeting him. How cool is that?!

My other brother:

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From my second oldest brother, Andrew, I received another generous donation to the Lil Red Foundation. You can’t go wrong with cold hard cash!

My boyfriend:

My darling Kyle spoiled me rotten this year with some of the most fantastic gifts ever!! He gave me an entire family of stuffed animals from Despicable Me – one of our favorite movies. I also got a stuffed Moogle from Final Fantasy, which I’m pretty stoked about! To continue with the Minion theme, Kyle got me the most comfy pair of Minion patterned fleece pajama pants, which were unfortunately in the washing machine while I was taking my haul photos! Rest assured, they’re cute. 🙂

Kyle did a wonderful job of picking me out some beautiful accessories as well. I was so surprised when I opened the boxes of gorgeous jewelry, which included two stunning bracelets and a necklace. Kyle also knocked it out of the park with a burgundy and grey infinity scarf (Which I’m wearing right now!) and burgundy and black trimmed gloves. I can’t wait to wear my new scarf with all of my favorite sweaters and pair my gloves with my new coat from my parents! Thanks, babe – I love you! ❤

My boyfriend’s mom:

I was so humbled by the lovely gifts that my boyfriend’s mom treated me to. She got me the absolute cutest ornament for my tree of a little penguin ice skating. I made sure to put it right by my human skater, which I got at a figure skating competition in New York. Mrs. Kyle’s Mom also gifted me with some luscious bath and body products from Philosophy. I’ve never used their products before but have always wanted to so I was SO excited to try both of them out! Spoiler alert: They’re amazing and they smell heavenly!

As much as I enjoyed receiving all of these beautiful presents, I enjoyed giving everyone the gifts I picked out special for them even more! I am so thankful for all of the goodies that I was gifted with but would have been just fine with only having the quality time with my family and loved ones. My Christmas this year was one of the best ever and I can’t wait to continue the celebrations this week with my sister and darling best friend!

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Holiday Haul Edition! How was everyone’s holiday? What was your favorite gift that you received or gave? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov26

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

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Helloooo everyone and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you have a marvelous day celebrating or doing whatever it is that you do with your family and loved ones. I’ll keep this post short and sweet since I plan on eating every second of every minute of every hour today so let me just list a few things that I’m grateful for and then I’ll be on my merry way:

  • My family: Despite how annoying they are, I still love em!
  • My friends: I only have like three, but I still love em!
  • My boyfriend: He’s the best! What a guy! ❤
  • My dog: SHE’S SO CUTE!
  • My education: I love college. #asherroth #kegstand
  • My blog and all of my fantastic readers: lifewithlilred wouldn’t be the same without all of you SO THANKS! 🙂

^^^ There’s a lot more that I could list but I’ll leave it at that because a big old plate of stuffing is waiting for mama…along with a whole lot of self loathing afterwards. 😉

Have a beautiful day to all of my friends here on lifewithlilred and I’ll talk to all of you very soon! What is everyone thankful for today? What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov24

1,000+ Followers?! Holy Smokes!

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1,000+ Followers?! Holy Smokes!

Hellooo everyone and happy Tuesday! It’s a very special day in the world of lifewithlilred because I now have over 1,000 followers! HOLY SMOKES! Thank you so much to everyone who has paid my page a visit and thought that it was worthy of hitting the follow button! Thank you to everyone for all of the likes, shares, and comments as well – it doesn’t go unnoticed and I appreciate it SO MUCH!!!

Life is good on lifewithlilred right now…I got approved for WordAds at the beginning of the month, I’ve reached a major milestone in my amount of followers, and I have the pleasure of interacting with all of you every day! I couldn’t ask for anything better and I really am pleased as punch. I started my blog over a year ago and now I’m finally getting my page to where I want it to be and it feels great – so thank you, thank you, a million times thank you!

^^^ Lol, it seemed appropriate!

Once again, shout out to all of my 1,000+ followers new and old. Thank you to everyone who has ever checked my page out. Thank you to everyone who has ever liked, shared, or commented on any of my posts! I LOVE YOU ALL! What blog should I check out on here? Who has recently gotten approved for WordAds? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Nov18

Happy

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Happy

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! So yesterday I had an interaction with my beloved father that made me very Happy. I was having a hell of an awful day and after a complaining vent session to my dear old dad he said one sentence that made me feel infinitely better. Let’s discuss:

On Tuesday I was a frazzled mess. I was stressed from an abundance of school work and a full day of acting as the taxi driver to both of my siblings who currently can’t drive. I was up at the butt crack of dawn to leave my boyfriend’s house and get home in time to take my brother to work and my day never slowed down once.

After I returned home from my brethren’s place of employment I had a few precious hours to cram in some homework before I had to pick him up. So back into the Little Red Love Machine I went to collect him. But did it end there? NO, of course not! As soon as I dropped my bro off, it was time to pick up my sister from work and then go on a wild goose chase of an errand with her. This excursion resulted in some highway driving during peak traffic time, bathroom breaks at a Dairy Queen, and turning my car around to pick up forgotten items. Lord have mercy on me.

By the time that I got home from my running around crazy driving day that should have been a sitting around crazy homework day I was exhausted and I needed to vent STAT. I went into the living room where my dad was sitting on his recliner chair that’s so old his butt is imprinted into it and plopped myself down on the ottoman beside it. Once I was comfortable I opened fire on my busy day of chauffeuring siblings every which way. By the end of my five or so minute rant I was out of breath and even more flustered and then my dad simply said, “you’re doing a good job, Sarah”.

My dad countered my monologue of irritation, frustration, and aggravation with a one sentence answer that made me feel SO much better. These past few weeks I’ve been feeling very unappreciated in the family and yesterday felt like the “tip of the iceberg” as far as that situation goes. My father told me exactly what I needed to hear at the perfect time and afterwards I felt like a whole new person. My day got brighter (even though it was already pitch black out) and my outlook on all of my stresses in life did a complete 180. It. Was. Awesome.

Everyone needs a reminder every now and then that they’re doing a-okay in this crazy world and thanks to my dad giving that to me, I feel reassured and so much more confident about my life and the choices that I’m making. It made me feel so insanely Happy. I hope all of you are having a wonderful day so far! How is everyone’s week going? Who’s watching American Horror Story tonight?! I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah