Tag Archives: vacation

Sep30

Reader Map Update

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Reader Map Update

Hi everyone and TGIF! As you guys know, I love keeping track of all of the fantastic readers that I have in over ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE different countries via a world map and push pins in my room. I haven’t posted an updated picture of my map in a while so I figured that there was no better time than the present since I broke the one hundred and sixty barrier. Take a look! And also enjoy my featured image photo which is a picture of my boyfriend’s dog, Karma! I love her big ol’ puppy smile SO much! :)))

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^^^ Hurray! Hurray!

I am so very thankful for all of my fabulous readers located from all of the different ends of the earth and I feel so proud every time I look at my reader map. It used to hang on display in my room but unfortunately, the wire that runs across the back of the board snapped months ago and both my dad and I have yet to address it. Every time it gets brought up, the classic phrase “I’ll do it later” comes up but rest assured that it is propped up on a very special place on my floor. 😉

I hope everyone is having a great day so far! Stay tuned for some new posts coming from my vacation cabin in North Carolina! What is everyone up to this weekend? Any big plans? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep29

See Ya Later!

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See Ya Later!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been MIA, I have been and still am pretty sick. My sister had a nasty cold and cough, which transferred to my brother, which transferred to me, which I transferred to my boyfriend, which I’m sure will end up getting transferred back to me somehow because that’s just how things happen in my life. Anyways, I’ve had a cough, cold, fever, and aches from hell since Monday and I am still feeling fairly questionable today. Fingers crossed that those feelings subside by tomorrow, though, because my family is taking a little beginning of fall vaca!

Yeah that’s right! For the first time in twenty-two years of being alive, my family is going on two vacations in one year. We enjoyed being in Asheville, North Carolina so much in June that we just had to come back. This time we are bringing our two dogs with us to the extremely canine friendly city and are departing on Friday and coming home on Wednesday. This is something that my family has never ever done before and I’m seriously so excited!

This semester has been a bitch and a half but I have already gotten all of my work completed for the following week and am ready for some much needed R&R! Since I have been away from my beloved blog baby for so long this past week, I will be sure to get some writing done while I’m tucked away in a little cabin in NC! Have a fabulous rest of your week everyone and See Ya Later! 🙂

Jun20

Monday Update: Vacation Purchases Edition

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Monday Update: Vacation Purchases Edition

Hi everyone and welcome to another week here on lifewithlilred. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of spare time to do hella blogging this summer but I will try my best to at least get a weekly post in via the Monday Update. As you guys know, my family went on vacation to Asheville, North Carolina a week ago and your girl did some amazing shopping there! Take a look at the latest goodies that I added to my wardrobe and beauty collections:

^^^ Hurray!

One thing that I absolutely love to do while I’m on vacation (and basically every day of my life) is SHOP. There is nothing better than exploring the different stores that places outside of your hometown have to offer. Usually during family vacas we dedicate a day to shopping local and hitting up an outlet mall if the area has one. During our shop day, I scored some amazing bath and body care products and my new favorite shirt from Forever 21, so let’s discuss!

While shopping local, we came across the most fantastic store called Appalachian Naturals which offers homemade bath and body care products. The shop was filled with bar soap, shampoos, bath bombs, and even some soap for your four legged BFFs. My mom and I must have spent close to an hour scouring the store, chatting with the employees, and filling a shopping bag with our purchases.

We ended up leaving with twelve bars of soap, a bar of soap for our pups, shampoo, chapsticks, a bath bomb, and a “meatball” made from excess shavings from the soap making process. The meatball was literally a pound ball of over thirty different soaps combined together and it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen…so obviously we had to get it. Pictured above are three of the soaps that I wanted for myself – a face bar, and a Mountain Apple and Peppermint flavored bar soap. I’m very excited to work the complexion bar into my skin care routine after I finish the cleanser that I’m currently using and the same goes for the bar soap for when I finish the shower gel I have open.

At the outlet mall I was able to spend my birthday money on some new treats for myself which was so nice! I’m seriously obsessed with the gorgeous floral blouse that I got from Forever 21. I’m usually not a big fan of wearing white because I’m so pale that all it does is wash me out. However, this stark white top was so different because of the bright, Kimono style floral pattern. The colors complimented my hair and skin so well that the pure white base color made everything pop.

I’ve been trying to incorporate more business casual clothes into my wardrobe and I like that this shirt can be worn to work or my internship but I could still hang out with my friends in it. I purchased this shirt for $22.50 and I thought that it was a steal considering it looks so much like the clothes that I always ogle over at too expensive for me Express!

Speaking of steals, can we please talk about the Semi Annual Sale at Bath & Body Works?! Last year at B&BW’s sale, I discovered my favorite scent – Country Apple. This fragrance only makes an appearance during the Semi Annual Sale because it’s part of the oldie but goodie collection that they bring back special for the occasion. Knowing this, it was a must to stop in at the B&BW at the outlet mall to stock up on my gotta have it body spray.

All of the originally fourteen dollar body mists that were on sale were only $3.75 so, needless to say, I went HARD. I took four Country Apple sprays and four of the Mango Mandarin, too, because it smells amazing and it’s always nice to switch things up a little bit. As I walked up to the register, I remembered that back in good ol’ Ohio, there was a coupon for ten dollars off a forty dollar purchase sitting idly on my desk.

I was already at the thirty dollar mark with my bundle of perfumes and when I explained the situation to the worker behind the register, she was kind enough to provide the coupon for me. I was so incredibly thankful and went back to the front of the store to grab one more Country Apple and Mango Mandarin spray. I was at five perfumes each and I needed one more thing to reach a forty dollar purchase. I debated on which scent to get one more of – the apple or the mango but then realized that getting six of one and five of the other would drive me crazy. So I decided to go for a Sun Ripened Raspberry spray to get me to the price I needed to use the coupon.

Thanks to the kindness of the worker, my total bill for eleven body sprays was $33.44. The coupon knocked each perfume down to $2.86 for an originally FOURTEEN DOLLAR fragrance. Hell yeah! Because I was so grateful to the B&BW employee for helping a sister out, I emailed their customer service center to write her a rave review. I was so pleased to get an email response back from them saying that she would be receiving a certificate from the regional manager for excellence in customer service. She so deserved it! 🙂

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Vacation Purchases Edition! I’m so happy with all of the goodies that I got to return to Ohio with and I can’t wait to start using all of them! Has anyone shopped any good sales lately? What store has the best deals right now? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun13

Monday Update: Vacation Pictures Edition

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Monday Update: Vacation Pictures Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! I have returned home from my beautiful Asheville, North Carolina family vacation and am ready to bring you the latest and greatest in my world. I have to admit, I’m not thrilled to be home since Asheville was so gorgeous! It was such a nice change to be surrounded by all of the art and nature that NC had to offer as opposed to the flat and boring Ohio. But before we begin this post, a round of applause is in order for all of my fantastic vacation guest bloggers! Thank you so much for all of your help in maintaining lifewithlilred while I was away. Great job! Now, let’s take a look at some vacation pics, shall we?

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^^^ Can I go back now, or?

My family had the best time exploring Asheville and we left with so many great memories. One of my favorites was going horseback riding for the morning through a ranch that provides trail rides on their vast 550 acre property. My horse was named Sassy and we were obviously a perfect match! Despite getting super sun burned thanks to our three hour trek, it was definitely a lot of fun!

You might notice some random pictures in the slide show like the snap of a flashlight in its packaging. That happens to be a birthday gift given to me from the Blue Mountain Pizza Company. Lol, I got a glass of wine and when they asked for my ID my dad mentioned that it was my birthday on that very day. The meal was delicious and at the end, our waiter came back with a super special birthday flashlight for yours truly because the restaurant gives presents to those who are celebrating. I can’t say that I’ll make very good use out of the flashlight so I regifted it to my dad who can at least do something with it!

One of our days was spent exploring all of the downtown shops in Asheville so make sure you check back for a post on my vaca purchases. As you can see, my mom and I proudly posed in front of a sign for Appalachian Naturals – the most amazing little homemade soap store that Asheville has to offer. We must have spent close to an hour browsing the store, selecting soaps, and chatting with the knowledgeable and helpful employees.

We left with an enormous selection of handcrafted soap, chapstick, shampoo, dog soap, bath bombs, and…a meatball? Haha, yes. One of the products that the store had to offer was a one pound ball of soap that was made from the excess shavings from the soap making process. It’s admittedly the most ridiculous thing ever but we couldn’t not get it. One of the employees told us a story about how a husband had startled his wife while she was in the shower and she ended up throwing the soap ball at him which resulted in two black eyes and a broken nose. Yikes!

The final picture of the slideshow is a family photo at El Poncho, a Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia when we went to visit my brother and his wife to start our vacation. The food was SO good and we had such a great time. I got serenaded by the mariachi band for my birthday and throughout the meal they continued to come back and play for us. At one point my parents got up to practice their Rumba and ChaCha while the band performed. They were a hit!

At the end of the meal we decided to take a family photo and everything looked awesome except for one thing. The man on the farthest right has no relation to our family. Lol, we got photobombed so hard by this guy sitting at the bar and none of us can get over how good of a job he did. He seriously looks like he belongs in the picture. When we caught the culprit after we took a look at the picture we invited him into our family as an adopted son and brother. He has yet to accept or decline this offer.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update which displays some of the many Vacation Photos that were taken during our week in Asheville! Who is going on vaca soon? Where is your favorite spot to travel to? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun11

2016 Summer Trends

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2016 Summer Trends

Hello everyone and welcome to the final post of my vacation guest bloggers series brought to you by Zeighn from One’s Element. You might remember Zeighn from previous guest blogs here on lifewithlilred and now she’s back to show you some of the top fashion trends for the summer. Please be sure to check out her wonderful blog and enjoy the post below!

2016 Summer Trends

Been wanting to get trendy this summer? If the answer is yes, then you’re in just the right place! Now you can finally warmly embrace the biggest summer fashion trends of 2016.

  Rucksacks:                                            Slip Dresses:

  Bomber Jackets:                                  Bright & Bold Stripes:

Gingham:                                          Micro Pleats:

 Sequins & Sparkle:                          Bare Shoulders:

Pop of Color Purses:                             Embellished Bags:

^^^ Thank you so much again to the always fabulous Zeighn for showing us the hot looks for this summer! Once again, please be sure to check out her page at One’s Element! Which trends seen above do you plan on rocking this summer? What is your favorite piece of summer time clothing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun10

Coachella Inspired OOTD

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Coachella Inspired OOTD

Hi everyone and welcome to a simply gorgeous Coachella Inspired OOTD by my very first lifewithlilred guest blogger, Miss Nida, from Shopaholic Blogs. I’ll never forget my first email encounter with Nida all the way back in February. I thought that her confidence to come right out and email me asking about a guest blogging spot was so admirable and I was instantly drawn to her. Nida and I are literally on opposite ends of the globe but I can honestly say that I consider her a dear friend and I can feel her spirit through her words and pictures and it’s just as beautiful as she is!

Nida’s posts are always sublime and if you love seeing her on my page as much as I do then please do yourselves a favor and follow her blog! These guest blogs are just a little sliver of the big picture of the awesomeness that is her page. So without further ado, take a look at Nida’s summer festival OOTD:

Coachella Inspired OOTD:

Hello Loves! 💕
Summer is in full swing and when Sarah emailed me about doing a guest post for the summer I was totally on board! I have enjoyed working with Sarah in the past, she is so appreciative and encouraging  and we get along fabulously! ✨
For this post Sarah requested a summer accessories look and as always she gave me tons of room to be as creative as I liked. 💕
For this look I was inspired by the recent Coachella festival. Here’s to a fabulous summer and I hope that you guys enjoy this look!  😘

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^^^ LOVE the head chain…Is that what you call it? -Sarah
About The Outfit:
🔅 Top: Banana Republic
🔅 Skirt: American Eagle Outfitters
🔅 Vest: Aeropostale
🔅 Shoes: American Eagle Outfitters
🔅 Jewelry: H&M, Fossil, Lucky
🔅 Scarf: Macy’s
🔅 Bag: Dooney & Bourke
Thanks again to the lovely Sarah for this opportunity. Let us know how you liked this look, we would love to hear your comments! 💕
^^^ My blogging BFF strikes again! Once again, please check out Shopaholic Blogs for more from fashionista queen Nida! How do you rock a summer festival look? Which look of Nida’s can you see yourself wearing? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
Jun9

Shoes Muse: Follow Your Heart, Not Fads

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Shoes Muse: Follow Your Heart, Not Fads

Hi everyone and welcome to another vacation guest post brought to you by the beautiful Tara over at Tarabells. If there’s one thing that Tara and I know, it’s that girls love shoes. So what better way to pay tribute to every female’s undying love for all things heels, flats, booties, and wedges than discussing some super cute summer footwear trends? Please take a look at Tara’s blog because it’s absolutely fantastic and then enjoy this post that she created special for my lifewithlilred readers:

Shoes Muse: Follow Your Heart, Not Fads

I’ll be the first to admit, when I read a trendy fashion blog post about the hottest thing this season (aka lace-up ballet flats) I turn into Cookie Monster (“me WANT!”). But so often what’s ‘in’ turns out to be uncomfortable, forgettable the next year, incompatible with most of our wardrobe, or worst of all – guilt inducing to wear out (I think this is because deep in our hearts we know shopping should be more of a thoughtful ritual and less of a hasty catharsis).
One thing I have been hasty with is SHOES. So this year I did something different. Instead of vacant online perusing and clicking, I decided to visit stores in person A LOT. I did my research and took mental notes. I read four fashion books, yes, FOUR (I will share at the end of this article). I journaled about my personal style and asked myself what makes me unique.
I’m nowhere near done with this process; even the fashion gurus say finding your own style takes time. But I did gather a nice assortment of summer shoes that I’m happy with so far! Here’s the lineup:
Navy Print Keds: SO unbelievably cute, casual, and COMFORTABLE. These will go with just about anything in your wardrobe. And you don’t even have to wear socks, for crying out loud (as long as you’ve got foot powder)!  I like them so much because I can take the dog for a walk and my feet still feel adorable.

Vintage Cowboy Boots: These warm my heart because they were purchased at a local music store next to a bar that I used to play music at frequently. There’s nothing like a pair of cowboy boots to hold all of those Kentucky memories of summer nights in the dive bar with no A/C, sharing crappy beer and original songs!

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Kitten Heels: Sometimes you find the best things when you’re not looking. These sexy kitten heels peeked out at me from the size 10s and 11 section (I wear a size 7 1/2 or 8!). Somehow they got misplaced and how on earth I was able to spot the tiny size 8 tag I will never know. I guess their magnetism just drew me to them!

 

Green Goddess Sandals: Ha, well that’s what I call them. They represent everything about me that’s ME. They aren’t really trendy at all. They’re well worn (bought from a local used clothing store). They are bright green (one of my favorite colors!). And most of all, my feet feel good in them. I especially love that they add a little pop of color and make a basic outfit chic!

Jewel Encrusted Sandals: I have had my eye on this style for years…it started when I read about them in a Paris Street Style book. Mystical as they were, to wear anything with gems, sparkles, or jewels felt foreign to me. Could I pull it off? Now I realize it’s less about ‘pulling it off’ and more about having fun. Go ahead and feel fancy from time to time – we all deserve that! FYI, you’ll be delighted to know that they did not cost a fortune – these babies were thrifted for six bucks!

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Thanks so much for reading. Click here for a lil’ freebie (it was a grad school project that involves fashion and I now give it away on my site). Cheers!

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^^^ LOVE IT! I can’t thank Tara enough for creating such an amazing post for lifewithlilred. It was so much fun being able to see her gorgeous pics and what she thought about each shoe and I’m very thankful to be able to host such brilliance on my page! Please be sure to check out Tara’s blog if you’re interested in more posts like this one! What is your favorite type of shoe to wear? How about least favorite? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun8

What’s In My Purse?

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What’s In My Purse?

Hello everyone and welcome to a What’s In My Purse? guest blog compliments of Miss Rehma from Glamorous Etoiles. Rehma is one of my regulars here on lifewithlilred and I am always so happy when she joins me on my page. Working with Rehma is such a joy and I just love her blog so please be sure to check it out! Now let’s find out what Rehma keeps in her bag when she’s on the go this summer:

What’s In My Purse?

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  • Pop or water
  • Victoria’s Secret body mist
  • Victoria’s Secret moisturizer
  • Rimmel Stay Matte foundation
  • ABH That Glow palette
  • Baby Lips chapstick
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Powder brush
  • Sunglasses
  • Books

I love that Rehma has books at the ready to toss into her bag and hit the beach. She’s definitely a woman after my own heart! I also think that she’s brilliant for keeping some matte-fying foundation handy to freshen up with in the summer heat. Even though girls don’t sweat, they glisten (duh!) – we all need a little touch up from time to time!

Thanks again to Rehma from Glamorous Etoiles for emptying out her summer tote for my readers! What do you keep at the ready in your purse? What item can you not leave the house without? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun7

Happy Birthday To Me!

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Happy Birthday To Me!

Hello everyone and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Today I celebrate my 22nd birthday in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. This is my first time becoming another year older away from home and I’m so excited to be able to celebrate the birth of beautiful me while I’m on a family vacation! I want to thank all of my guest bloggers that are helping maintain lifewithlilred while I’m away. And, of course, I want to thank all of my wonderful readers for being such amazing friends. Lifewithlilred would be nothing without all of you!

If you’re interested in seeing how I’ll be celebrating my birthday, feel free to follow me on my personal Facebook. You will also be able to see all of my vacation posts before they hit my blog upon my arrival home. A birthday like on my page for lifewithlilred is always nice but what I would really love is for everyone to click on my Twistfire ads on my personal FB page so I get a big fat birthday paycheck! 🙂

I will be back on June 12th so until then, enjoy all of the guest posts that I have lined up for the rest of my vaca! Much love. -Sarah

❤ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! ❤

Jun6

Accidental Lip Facelift

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Accidental Lip Facelift

Hi everyone and welcome to a guest post from my friend, Lori, over at The Bluntist! As all of you know, I am on vacation right now and am lucky enough to have such amazing blogging friends to help maintain lifewithlilred while I’m away! So without further ado, enjoy a hilarious post from the beautiful Lori, with a guest appearance by tequila:

Accidental Lip Facelift

On Saturday we invited 30 of our closest friends over to celebrate my husband’s birthday. At a loss for what to drink, I opted to just do tequila shots all night long. I figured it would save me all the calories I would be consuming if I had selected a mixed drink or beer. After shot number 4 or 5 my lips felt crazy chapped. I felt like the 9 year old kid back at summer camp with the super chapped and peeling lips, except mine weren’t visibly chapped, they just felt like they were. I kept looking in the mirror and they looked plump and I didn’t need lip gloss. I kept up with the tequila shots.

The next day, I kept applying coconut and olive oil because Vaseline and Carmex weren’t cutting it. Come Monday, I was irritated and told myself that I would moisturize for one more day before taking to my lips with a toothbrush to exfoliate them. Patience has never been my strong suit so I grabbed a tissue and gave my lower lip a swift wipe right to left and then dragged the tissue left to right over my top lip. Instantly dead skin flaked off my lips and they were left feeling softer than a baby’s behind! What the hell had just happened?

Months ago, I had stumbled upon an easy natural-ish one ingredient cleanse  and it appears that I’ve now discovered another easy natural one ingredient lip facelift! Here are the easy steps on how to rejuvenate your lips.

Directions:

1. Cut up fresh limes into wedges.

2. Fill shot glass with Patron Silver.

3. Take the shot of Patron Silver and follow up by sucking on a lime wedge.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 numerous times.

5. When your lips begin feeling chapped, begin moisturizing with Vaseline, coconut oil, olive oil, or any other lip moisturizer. Do this for 24-36 hours.

6. Swipe a tissue swiftly across your lips. Wipe away the flaky dead layer of lip skin. Is lip skin technically a thing?

7. Enjoy your new soft supple lips….. compliments of my accidental lime lip facelift!

You’re welcome!

^^^ So funny! This is one beauty hack that I definitely don’t mind trying! Thanks again to the always wonderful, Lori! Please make sure to check her page out at The Bluntist and give it some love! Also, remember to tune in tomorrow for another guest post here on lifewithlilred! Much love. -Sarah