Tag Archives: update

Aug11

Fun & Games: It’s A Snap Pt. 2

Posted on by
Standard
Fun & Games: It’s A Snap Pt. 2

Hi!!! Johnny and I love to play video games together and I look forward to every weekend when we stay up late, play games, and listen to music. One of my favorite recent releases for the Nintendo Switch is, easily, Pokemon Snap and I have been loving it since it came out in April. Despite having played every course in the game too many times to count, I always seem to discover something new and that’s what makes the game so exciting.

While every course to explore in Pokemon Snap is insanely fun, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for an update of the game every day since Johnny and I beat the main story line. And, finally, on August third my thoughts and prayers were answered with an update that made the game feel brand new again. With more settings to explore, more Pokemon, and new features to the Neo-One this update was everything I wanted it to be AND MORE.

Johnny and I spent a solid two hours this past Friday evening playing the new levels which includes a day and nighttime course of a rushing river, a desert setting, and my favorite: The inside of a tree trunk! That’s right, the Neo-One can now shrink into the size of a toy car making all of the Pokemon huge and providing for amazing photo ops. This allowed me to get new pictures of old Pokemon – some of which were four star (a-thank you!) – and update my Pokedex with brand new Pokemon like Shroomish and the adorable Foongus. 😀

The inside of the tree in the Florio Nature Park definitely took the cake for me and Johnny was partial to the river. We both agree that our favorite addition to the game was being able to photograph Psyduck because he is so goofy! Every time we hit him with a fluff fruit we were in stitches!

When I learned that Pokemon Snap would be receiving an update, I assumed a few new Pokemon would be added to levels that already existed. This exceeded what I had in mind completely and all I can think about as I write this is how I want to play some more. All I can say is bravo, brava, and bring on the next update baby!

What is your favorite course in Pokemon Snap? What is your favorite Pokemon? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug7

Old School Rulez

Posted on by
Standard
Old School Rulez

Hi! A charming quirk that you might not know about your girl is that I absolutely refuse to get a smartphone. Rather, I opt for my tough as nails slide up keyboard phone which I can make calls and text on:

74202722-896C-481B-B4A8-6369CA480731

This shocks so many people, especially since I work in social media. However, I just have always failed to see the point in a smartphone because of my equally old school iPod Touch that I can access the internet on if there’s WiFi and take pictures. This system has worked for me since I was a teenager and as the saying goes: If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it. But, unfortunately, my old school wayz might need to be altered sooner than later. -_-

When I first moved into my apartment two years ago, I had excellent reception and can recall being able to text or make phone calls from any location inside. Fast forward to the past several months and, slowly but surely, it has been getting harder and harder to send a text and I can no longer make phone calls from my apartment whatsoever. In fact, for the first time last evening, I couldn’t send a text message despite trying to over half a dozen times.

I always knew that this day might come – I just didn’t expect this change to happen so abruptly. It seems like just yesterday I could be a Chatty Kathy from anywhere in my apartment! My lack of reception is, admittedly, insanely inconvenient and I finally have thrown up my hands and agreed to my first smartphone.

While this will certainly be a different change of pace for me, I am just a tiny bit excited to be able to have a phone that takes better quality pictures. This will be awesome for lifewithlilred and for snapping precious memories with my family, friends, and husband. 🙂

Old school has ruled for so long for me but it is going to be out with the old and in with the new before summer is over, I’m sure. Keep it posted here for more updates on this shocking development! 😀

What is something that you are old school about? Which smartphone has the best camera? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul24

Whirlwind Weeks

Posted on by
Standard
Whirlwind Weeks

Hello! I don’t know about you guys, but this summer has been flying by for me because it has been so busy. I got married, my husband and I celebrated our birthdays, and I started a new job. Not to mention that over the weekends, Johnny’s band, The Outside Voices, is usually performing. While these are all incredibly exciting things, it can also be incredibly exhausting!

Busy? Yes – but I am LOVING my new schedule thanks to the job I accepted and never get home any later than four o’clock Monday through Friday… It is beautiful and I feel much more well rested. And, although my weekends haven’t been the most relaxing this summer, it is so nice to see all of our friends again as Johnny and I have been fully vaccinated since May.

My favorite hang out to date this summer was when our dear friend, Shannon, stayed with us for a weekend. He is a wonderful photographer and he took pictures of The Outside Voices playing at a gig. Shannon also was kind enough to take some pictures of yours truly too – some of which are taken on a Polaroid camera which was really cool. Tune in tomorrow for an OOTD with some of the sneak peek photos he has sent me!

^^^ This was the first picture Shannon took with his new Polaroid camera and it is one of my favorites of me and Johnny. ❤

What has your summer been like so far? How do you relax after whirlwind days? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun22

Face Mask Festivities Follow Up: The Body Shop’s Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask Edition

Posted on by
Standard
Face Mask Festivities Follow Up: The Body Shop’s Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask Edition

Howdy! When it comes to bath and body care as well as skin care too, I always find myself partial to products from The Body Shop. In my youth, we always had goodies from TBS handy like their bath beads, bar soap, and shower gel. Then, in my teenage years, my mom took me there for one of my very first skin care and makeup hauls.

The Body Shop always hits right in the nostalgia for me and for good reason! So you could imagine how disappointing it was when all of their storefronts in my area closed several years ago. TJMaxx definitely saved the day when they started carrying TBS products in their beauty department and my mom and I were ecstatic to get our favorite lotions and skin care for a fraction of the cost.

A few months ago, my mom surprised me with The Body Shop’s Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing mask which she found at TJMaxx. It had been a long while since I tested out a new face mask and if you read my original review, you will remember that I felt the mask left a lot to be desired.

While I always enjoy using a new face mask, good or bad, I did find myself a bit disappointed with the Pollution Clearing mask. Yes, my skin felt slightly softer and looked a tad brighter but that was about it and I was very surprised to see so many five star reviews for it on Google. The reviews made me feel like I was missing something and I also refused to believe that The Body Shop could have made such a dud (For a lack of a better word!) of a mask. So, I began using it bi-weekly for about a month and, I have to say, I still don’t get it lol.

There is no denying that using this mask is a pleasurable experience, however, I still don’t see or feel any groundbreaking results after regular usage. Then again, what’s my one negative review among a sea of five star ones?! I still stand by my lackluster opinions but learned from reading user reviews that this mask proves to be highly effective for acne prone skin. My skin type has always been normal so it makes sense that I might not have seen such obvious improvements but it still would have been nice!

Acne prone skin or not, I still wouldn’t recommend paying the full twenty-eight dollar price tag for this mask. But, it is worth a try if you find it at a discount store like TJMaxx. I’m happy that I continued to try this face mask despite little to no results and plan on finishing my jar of it. But I think I will stick to my Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow mask from The Body Shop from now on.

Which products have you been unimpressed with recently? What is your favorite product from The Body Shop? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun20

Married Life

Posted on by
Standard
Married Life

Hello! Ever since tying the knot on June 4th, Johnny and I have been asked time and time again if we feel any different and we always answer with no. Being married to Johnny is the best thing in the whole world but we both agree that it feels exactly the same as it did before when we were dating and recently engaged. We have had a wild bag of replies back of people concurring or feeling the polar opposite but we can all agree that married life rocks!

Since our nuptials, Johnny and I have enjoyed double birthday celebrations, a road trip to Marietta, trivia night, and the endless support of our loved ones and it has been awesome. In fact, all of these outings after being in the apartment for over a year due to the pandemic feels more like when we first started dating! It has been so exciting to finally be fully vaccinated and have the opportunity to go out and about with our friends and the novelty has yet to wear off.

While our now weekly date days and hang outs with friends have been great, our favorite thing to do is veg out together after work. Whether we are playing video games, watching documentaries, or endless hours of Family Matters we both love our time to relax and enjoy each other’s company after a long day. As soon as I exit my car and walk to the apartment when I return home, I always feel butterflies knowing that my Johnny will be there to greet me and it never gets old.

We have both come to realize that married life doesn’t feel much different because we have never left the honeymoon stages of our first dates and there is no better feeling than that. Here’s to our never ending honeymoon! ❤

Did married life feel different to you? How so? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun6

Wedding Update!

Posted on by
Standard
Wedding Update!

Hello! Ever since Johnny proposed to me on March 13th, it has been a whirlwind of wedding preparations for our June 4th wedding. Yes, we got married so keep it posted on lifewithlilred for all of the details! Despite an ultra small ceremony, there was still a decent amount of planning that went into our day. Granted, most of the prep was on what we would be wearing lol but I couldn’t imagine the hard work it would take to plan a large wedding!

Lucky for me, my Johnny was extremely active in helping to make our wedding day a success and I loved the experience of making decisions for our ceremony with him. From the location to our outfits, archways, and everything in between, Johnny and I made choices and compromises that complimented what we both had in mind and I so enjoyed our wedding brainstorming sessions.

Tomorrow on lifewithlilred, we will be celebrating my 27th birthday but for the next several days after it will be all wedding everything and we can’t wait to share our joy with all of my dear readers. You will be getting an exclusive look into our big day with each post and I am very much looking forward to revealing mine and Johnny’s wedding OOTDs! Keep it locked for all of that and more and let’s celebrate together! 😀

Did you have a big or small wedding? What was your reception like? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun3

On Fire!

Posted on by
Standard
On Fire!

Hi! Once I give myself a goal, I try my darnedest to stick to it – especially when it comes to my blog and practicing five different languages on Duolingo. I am proud to say that I have accomplished a two hundred and twenty day streak on Duolingo since my last update and I cannot wait until I hit one full year of daily practicing. I also reached a major milestone on WordPress, when a notification let me know that I am on an eight hundred and ninety day streak for posting on lifewithlilred. Woah!!!

When I am on the Duolingo app, the streak counter updates every day once I complete one lesson, so I always know where I stand. However, I have never received a notification for days of writing on WordPress and was blown away when my writing streak was announced. I never really thought about how many days straight I had been blogging on lifewithlilred and felt so proud of myself when I was able to put an actual number to it – which amounts to two years and a hundred and sixty days.

For eight hundred and ninety days, I have wrote before work and on the weekend and have been true to my goal of daily blogging. And, since the pandemic, I have made good on practicing with Duo every day too! These habits have become so ingrained in me and, now, I can’t imagine a day without my morning writing sessions and language learning. Writing and trying my hand at different languages have always been my favorite hobbies and it feels so good to accomplish such big milestones on the things that I am most passionate about.

I am very much looking forward to hitting a one year streak on Duo and a one thousand day streak on WordPress and I don’t plan on stopping there! Here’s to countless more days for all of us to reach our goals – I know we can do it. ❤

Do you have any goals for yourself? How do you stay motivated to achieve your goals? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: imgur

May23

Loud & Clear!

Posted on by
Standard
Loud & Clear!

Hello all!! A few days ago, I posted about how the radio in my car has not been working for the past several months. I drive a lot for work, so it has been a huge drag not being able to have my singalongs when I hit the road. Before, my radio would always turn back on after a day or two of not working but after months had gone by, I had all but given up hope of hearing anything in my car until I got it fixed. So, you could imagine my surprise when the radio began playing music out of nowhere!

I was about to leave work for the day, turned my car on, and was immediately greeted by The University of Akron’s radio station blasting. Needless to say, it completely shocked me and I dropped my iPod as I was selecting music to play at full volume for the ride home! It’s a little thing, but listening to the radio while I drive makes my work day better and, despite being stuck in rush hour traffic, it was the best drive I have had in months.

I wouldn’t say that I had a bad day at work that day, but I definitely have felt like I could use a pick me up and my radio working was just the surprise I needed. I was eager to hear what the hits have been after two months of radio silence and I walked into my apartment with an ear to ear grin because the last song I heard was one of my jams by Machine Gun Kelly. Small thing. World of difference.

While I love my job so much, we all have those days where we just don’t feel like going to work. However, as I write this, I am itching to get in my car and start my day so I can listen to the radio and enjoy the eighty degree weather in Ohio with my windows down. Let’s have a great day today!

What is your favorite radio station? Who is your favorite Top 40 artist? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May19

Crunch Time!

Posted on by
Standard
Crunch Time!

Hello! The countdown for my wedding is on and I definitely feel like I am in crunch time now. And, mind you, this is just for a super small ceremony – I couldn’t imagine the stress that soon to be married people feel for a big wedding! Thankfully, if there’s one thing that Lil Red loves to do, it’s plan and Johnny and I are constantly checking things off of our wedding to do list. In fact, I was able to cross three things off in just one day.

This past week, I got halfway through with removing all of the horrible and heinous disk sequins from my wedding dress. It is a night and day improvement with just having the top half completely sequin free and it is so worth the painstaking, time consuming effort. Later that afternoon, Johnny and I went to the courthouse to get our marriage license application sorted so that is all good to go which is very exciting!

After going to the courthouse, I treated myself to brand new jewelry for the four studs in my nose at Lucid Body Piercing. I never change the jewelry in my nose so my crystal studs were looking incredibly dingy and that just won’t do for my wedding day. The professionals at Lucid were able to hook me up with slightly bigger studs with a disk backing, which means a little more bling and no more screw posts forever getting tangled. 😀

Once my jewelry was selected, the owner of the studio, Alex, put them all in for free and it was such an amazing experience because he is so skilled and knowledgeable. We had many a laugh while he swapped my studs out and when we weren’t chit chatting, he thoroughly explained what he was doing which made me feel so comfortable. After my wedding, I am playing around with going back to the shop for a potential new nose piercing. Just being in a piercing studio to have jewelry changed out was enough to have the body mod bug come back biting!

Mine and Johnny’s wedding check list is winding down and soon, we will have nothing left to do but wait for our big day. I have really enjoyed doing the wedding preparations with my fiance and I can’t wait to get married! ❤

What helps you stay organized? Are there any new piercings or tattoos in your future? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May17

InboxDollars Update

Posted on by
Standard
InboxDollars Update

Hello! I have been visiting the website, InboxDollars, daily for years now and since posting about earning a thirty dollar Amazon gift card in mid January, I am already so close to receiving another ten dollar gift card. On InboxDollars, you can complete surveys, watch videos, play games, clip coupons, answer trivia questions, and more and it all earns you money. And who doesn’t like free money?

Although it can take a while to get started on the website, it is so easy once you get the hang of it and when you reach the ten dollar mark, you can select a gift card as your reward. The website also always seems to be updating to add new ways to earn some extra pocket cash through special offers and making searches online.

While survey websites are, usually, not a viable source of income, it sure is nice to be able to save some money with your gift card rewards! I spent my thirty dollar Amazon gift card when I buffed up my skin care hoard and got my moisturizer and eye cream FO FREE. And literally all I did to get my free product was open emails and answer trivia questions which takes about two minutes per day. Hey, I’ll take it!

Whether you are looking to kill time or make some extra spending money on Amazon, InboxDollars is a terrific little site to check in daily with. Just be sure to refer yours truly so we both get rewarded! 😀

What is your favorite survey website? How do you like to spend your free time online? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah