Tag Archives: weekend

Feb20

What’s In My Bag?

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What’s In My Bag?

Hey everyone and happy weekend! I’ve been meaning to do a What’s In My Bag? post for the longest time – they seem like so much fun to do! I was switching what purse I was using anyways so I figured that I might as well snap some pics of the innards of my bag as I do so. (Remind me never to say the word innards again.) I decided to break out my beautiful Betsey Johnson telephone purse to tote around so take a look at what lies inside:

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The Purse: When I saw this darling Betsey Johnson stunner at Macy’s, I knew that I had to have it. I love all things Betsey and this little baby is no exception. My parents got it for me as a gift for my 21st birthday and I’m so obsessed…And yes, the telephone handle really does work! You can plug it into your iPhone and chat away! So cute.

The Contents:

  • Mustard Yellow Wallet: This was a find from Target and I always manage to get compliments on it. I’ve had my wallet for about three years now and it still looks great – I wish it were a little fuller though! 😉
  • Sequin Coin Purse: I got my little coin purse as a present for being a Victoria’s Secret Angel Card member. My mom, sister, and I spent our way to their credit card with the best rewards and this purse was one of them. I think it’s too cute! I was going to put it in my stockpile of freebies to gift to someone but I liked it so much that I kept it for myself.
  • Marlboro Smooths: Yes, I smoke. Whoops!
  • Car Keys: The keys to unlock my beloved Little Red Love Machine AKA my 2012 Mazda2 hatchback. My favorite keychain on there is of Despicable Me’s Agnes and her unicorn which my sister got for me at Universal Studios! We match because she got one for herself, too. 🙂
  • Envelope Makeup Bag: My sister gets a monthly beauty bag from Ipsy and her February goodies came in this precious purse. Obviously, she gave it to me and I adore it. Plus, it matches my Betsey bag perfectly! All of the next items listed are stored in my Ipsy bag.
  • Four Lighters: Yes, I’m a lighter hoarder. Whoops!
  • Five Chapsticks: I also appear to be a chapstick hoarder, as well…
  • Tide To Go Pen: This thing is a life saver! It has saved me from the grief of coffee, pop, and food stains when I’m on the go.
  • Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer: I got my Apple Harvest sanitizer as one of my B&BW freebies. It’s nice to have when there isn’t a way to wash your hands close by. I wish I would have gotten it in a different scent, though, because the smell is way too strong.
  • Plastic Heart (on top of the lighters): I sort of kind of snagged this from a restaurant that my boyfriend and I ate at recently. The candle holders on the table were filled with them and I couldn’t stop myself from stealthily dropping one into my purse!

*** Fun Fact: My purse wouldn’t stay standing up in the picture above so I put one of my Minnetonka moccasins in it to weigh it down! #clever

Ahhh! This was so much fun! It made me feel like one of the celebrities who empties out their purses contents for People magazine. You guys found out What’s In My Bag and now I want to hear about what’s in yours! What is one of your must have products when you’re on the go? What is something unusual that you carry in your purse? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb16

Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

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Lifewithlilred By The Numbers

Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! I was blown away by recently hitting my 2,000 followers mark here on lifewithlilred. Since I’ve had my page up and running for over a year now, I thought it would be fun to do a stats post and see just how much things have progressed on my little old blog. Let’s take a look:

   My Stats:

  • Posts: 562
  • Comments: 1,553
  • Followers: 2,105
  • Categories: 32
  • Tags: 2,335
  • Countries: 150
  • Views: 43,679

*** Note that I am prewriting this so these stats are slightly off!

If you would have told me when I first started blogging that after over a year I would have posted 562 times, I would have said that you’re crazy! But now, I feel strange if I don’t get to write at least a quick post every day! Once a week I take twenty or so minutes to plan out my posts for the week as well as ideas for days to come. I love coming up with new and exciting articles to write and it’s always so fun to me to see how you guys react to them.

I always find so much joy in looking at my stats and seeing how all of my hard work paid off. If you haven’t already, I can’t recommend making a post like this enough – or at least going through your accumulated stats to see how you’re doing. It felt awesome to look through these numbers and see how much they’ve grown since my very first blog post! For once, it was a trip down memory lane that was enjoyable to take!

So there you have it, Lifewithlilred By The Numbers! A short and sweet post that took ten minutes to write and that brought a smile to my face. So worth it. How long have you been blogging for? How many posts have you wrote? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb13

Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

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Olay “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser Review

Hey everyone and happy weekend! I recently started using Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser and I’m really pleased with it so far! When I wash my face in the morning, I usually use some type of cream cleanser and then I use an exfoliater so it’s been nice using Olay’s product which is my two skin care staples in one. Take a look at the sunny bright packaging of my latest cleanser and let’s discuss:

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I’ve always liked using Olay’s skin care products and their exfoliating cleanser is no exception. As you guys know by now, it’s essential that the products I use smell good and my new cleanser passed the smell test with flying colors. As it says on the packaging, it has the essence of honeysuckle and white tea which makes for a sweet and bright scent. I love when my cleansers have a really invigorating aroma to them because it makes for a great pick me up during my morning showers. There’s a slight hint of floral to the scent but it’s not overpowering at all which leaves you with a fragrance that’s perfectly fresh and clean.

It is important to me that my cleansers create a lush and powerful lather when I’m scrubbing away and this product does exactly that. I was using one of Simple’s cleansers before this one and my biggest complaint about it was that it created no lather. Needless to say, I’m in bubble heaven now. What’s amazing about this product is that despite the exfoliater beads in it, it still feels so soft on the skin. A lot of exfoliating products leaves my skin feeling tight and dry but Olay’s “Bead Me Up” cleanser leaves my skin feeling supple and hydrated.

The best thing about this exfoliating cleanser is its personal vendetta against my blackheads! I have five nose piercings and I tend to get a lot of blackheads surrounding my studs. I’m not exactly self conscious of them because they’re really not noticeable but I know that they’re there and it drives me crazy! After just one use of “Bead Me Up”, 90% of my blackheads were gone. I rarely find cream cleansers that are strong enough to eliminate my blackheads so I am very happy with Olay’s exfoliating cleanser.

My one complaint about my cleanser is that it’s not gritty enough. What I love about exfoliaters is how rough it feels on my skin. I like the feeling of really scrubbing away and removing all of the dead skin and gunk clogging my face. If this exfoliating cleanser were just a smidgen grittier, it would be perfect.

Despite my desire for the exfoliating aspect of this cleanser to pack a bit more punch, I’m going to rate Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser with: four stars. I’ve really enjoyed incorporating this product into my hygiene routine and I’m excited to see the effect that it’s going to have on my skin!

So there you have it, my review of Olay’s “Bead Me Up” Exfoliating Cleanser! What is one of your must have skin care products? What cleanser are you using right now? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb9

My Makeup Free Weekends

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My Makeup Free Weekends

Hey everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you all are having a great start to your week. So for the past few months I’ve been making an effort to give myself some makeup free days. I settled on doing makeup throughout the week and living makeup free over the weekends. At first, my days of being au natural were torture and all I wanted to do was plop myself in front of the bathroom mirror and do my daily makeup routine. That was then, this is now though because now I live for my days of having a fresh face! Let’s discuss:

As the weeks progressed of having my makeup free weekends, all of the benefits began to pile up. One of them being that it’s a total money saver! Thanks to my days of not applying a single drop of makeup, I haven’t had to buy any new makeup products in months. On an average month, I would say that I’m not wearing makeup for at least a third of it. That’s ten days of no eyeliner, eyeshadow, blush, and all of my other makeup must haves. Not using my favorite products regularly has stretched out my usage of them tenfold and has really stretched my dollars, as well!

I’m the first to say that I’m a total freak about my skin. Good skin care products as well as face washes and exfoliators are an absolute necessity for me. I’ll do anything to keep my skin as fresh as can be and I pride myself on my porcelain complexion. Over the TV, internet, and magazines skin care can be made out to be so complicated. There’s nothing hard about wearing no makeup though! I’ve noticed that my skin has become so much softer overall due to my au natural days. It makes sense when you think about it, though. For ten days of the month I have no makeup to scrub off of my face, no products clogging my pores, and a fresh face allows my moisturizers and treatments to really soak in and do their jobs. Score!

The money saving is nice and it’s cool to have my skin improve but the best thing I’ve gained from my makeup free days is confidence. When I was applying my makeup regularly before, you couldn’t pay me to step out in public with no makeup on. I always had to be done up even if I was just staying in for the day. I thought that I had to have makeup on to be pretty and I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Now, I spend my weekends out and about running errands, working, and hanging out with friends without an ounce of makeup on and I’ve never felt better. I sometimes have days where I’ll catch my makeup free face in the mirror at a store and wish that I did my beauty routine that morning – but don’t we all? However, I must confess, that it’s Sunday (I like to prewrite my posts) and I am wearing makeup! My boyfriend and I have a few Super Bowl parties to attend and I wanted to get dolled up for them! But fear not, I made up for my negligence of my makeup free rule on the weekends by flaunting a fresh face on Friday. 🙂

My Makeup Free Weekends have done nothing but good for me and I can’t recommend my regimen enough. Does anyone have a similar makeup free routine to mine? What are the benefits that you’ve found from going makeup free? 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

Feb6

Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review

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Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review

Hi everyone and happy weekend! Last week my mom surprised me with a new chapstick because I’m seriously always complaining about how chapped my lips are. She came home from the grocery store with Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm and I was so excited because I’ve heard lots of good things about their products. But unfortunately, my new chapstick didn’t quite make the mark so let’s discuss:

My first impression of Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” chapstick when I put it on was how light it felt. The balms that I usually use tend to be thicker in their consistency which is something that I didn’t realize I liked until now. My number one complaint with this chapstick is that it absorbs much too quickly. To some, that’s a good thing. For me, not so much. I like being able to feel my chapstick on my lips and know that it’s working. Within five to seven minutes the Nivea balm was almost completely absorbed and I was left feeling like I needed more.

Before I snapped some quick pictures of the product, I applied a healthy layer on my lips. By the time I finished preparing the photos, categories, and schedule of this post – I was ready for another helping. What’s the point of a chapstick if you have to keep applying it multiple times per hour? My thing is, is that if the product felt like it was working every time I reapplied it, I wouldn’t have as big of an issue with it. But Nivea’s chapstick leaves my lips feeling dryer than they were before. The way I see it, Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm is giving my lips a few sips of hydration when I really just need a whole bottle!

One nice thing about this product is that it’s not fragranced which is a plus for me. I always end up licking the balm off if it’s scented with a delicious smelling flavor! I can see this balm being great in the summer time when something light is all that’s needed. However, with cold winter weather among us, I need something that really gets the job done and Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm just isn’t strong enough to do that.

All in all, I’m going to rate this product with: one and a half stars. The lightness of the balm and its lack of fragrance is nice. Having said that, it’s extremely inconvenient and annoying to have to reapply your chapstick constantly. Nivea’s “A Kiss of Smoothness” balm might be good for use on occasion but if you’re looking for the cure all product to your chapped lips then this chapstick is not for you…or me, for that matter.

So there you have it, my Nivea “A Kiss of Smoothness” Chapstick Review! What lip balm do you swear by? Who likes to make their own lip care products? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Feb5

Bath & Body Works February Freebie

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Bath & Body Works February Freebie

Hi everyone and TGIF! This week I stopped in to Bath & Body Works to snag my February Freebie and ended up with a super sweet travel size lotion. As many of you know, I live for my monthly freebie from B&BW and as I counted and calculated all of my loot from my past few visits, I learned that I collected over sixty dollars worth of free product! Not bad! This month, I went with their Pink Chiffon fragrance. Take a look at the pretty in pink packaging and then let’s discuss:

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I had a difficult time picking what fragrance I wanted when I went to Bath & Body Works this week. When you cash in your freebie coupon, you’re limited to the scents in B&BW’s signature collection and at this point, I’ve sampled almost all of those fragrances. I wanted something that I haven’t had before, so I decided to finally give the Pink Chiffon lotion a try.

The Pink Chiffon fragrance is very sweet – it seriously smells like spun sugar. I’m not a really big fan of “girly” smelling fragrances, to be honest. I much prefer something fruity, which I think has a little more kick. But the great thing about the Pink Chiffon scent, is that it still smells nice to me despite my preferences. It’s one of those scents that I think everyone would like because it’s so soft and light.

My thought process behind choosing the Pink Chiffon lotion was that it would make a good add on to a birthday or holiday gift because it’s such a universal scent. Thanks to my B&BW freebie hoard, I’ve dodged many an awkward bullet when someone has got me a gift and I didn’t get them anything. My Pink Chiffon lotion will be a great addition to my stock pile and will save me some money when I’m putting together a gift basket or care package. Sweet!

If you’d like to score some free swag from Bath & Body Works, make sure you enter in your email address or phone number next time you go shopping there. This will get you signed up to receive their coupons. You can also do some shopping online at their website! Whenever you shop with B&BW, make sure you enter your information in again at the cash register so you can continue receiving emails and snail mail with their coupons and promotions!

So there you have it, my Bath & Body Works February Freebie! I can’t wait to pick out another fragrance again next month! Are there any good freebie sites that you use? Which store do you think has the best coupons and promotions? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan31

Sunday Reminder

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Sunday Reminder

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a nice and relaxing Sunday. This post is just your friendly reminder to give Lil Red some loving on her social media pages! I’m friends with a few of you on my personal Facebook page and I love it. The only thing that I ask is that if you send me a friend request, please shoot me a message letting me know that you’re a lifewithlilred reader so I don’t delete the request on accident. I’m 99% confident that I’ve deleted a few of your requests already and I feel pretty bad about it! I’m also creeping up on 350 likes on my Facebook page for my blog so PLEASE shoot me a like as well!

How to contact me:

THANKS! ❤

You might have noticed some ads on my wall if you perused on my Facebook pages. Those are compliments of Twistfire Media. If you have a strong following on your Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest then I can’t recommend signing up for Twistfire enough. Your only responsibility will be to post different ads on your wall and you’ll get paid for each click on them. You’re essentially getting paid to use social media! If you are interested in getting signed up for Twistfire Media, then feel free to get in touch with me with any of the methods I listed above! 🙂

Jan30

My Making A Murderer Verdict

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My Making A Murderer Verdict

Hey everyone and happy weekend! My boyfriend, Kyle, and I jumped on the bandwagon last weekend and binge watched Netflix’s documentary, Making A Murderer. The show followed the trial of Steven Avery for a sexual assault and murder that he may or may not have committed. From the first few minutes of the show, we were both hooked and completed the ten one hour long episodes in three days. I’ve had to laugh because on Facebook everyone has turned into a lawyer while discussing the show but in all reality – Kyle, my sister (who watched the series too), and I have all been doing the exact same thing.

We have all come up with the verdict of NOT GUILTY and now I want to hear from my fellow binge watchers. To those who have watched Making A Murderer or who followed the case closely when it was happening, what is your verdict? Why do you think that Steven Avery was guilty or not? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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^^^ Lol, these are priceless!

Jan28

Ice Skating Fun

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Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Last Sunday my darling boyfriend, Kyle, and I went ice skating at the Lock 3 skating rink in Akron, Ohio. I skated competitively for quite some time and now I’m a coach for the Special Olympics. Kyle and I have never been skating together before so I was so excited when he finally agreed to making a date out of it on Sunday afternoon. We bundled up, I gathered my skates (I’d rather die than wear rental skates), and then we hit the road for our date.

Once we got to Lock 3, we saw that the rink was pretty crowded. Lucky for us, though, it cleared up by the time we were done waiting in line to rent skates for Kyle, getting our skates on, and walking over to the rink. This was Kyle’s first time ever on ice skates and right from the get go he gave it a valiant effort, which I thought was so sweet. Walking to the rink which was about one hundred feet away proved to be a struggle, to say the least. To me, skating and walking around on skates is second nature so I never thought how difficult it must be to put these contraptions on your feet for the first time and then walk to the rink let alone skate on it!

Once we got on to the ice hand in hand we began our first trip around the rink. My poor Kyle got the worst rental skates on the planet and I felt so bad at how difficult it looked for him. The blades on each skate were so crooked but I didn’t have the heart to have us walk back to the rental shack, get new skates, and then have to walk all the way back to the rink. After a few times around the rink, the skates started to hurt Kyle which is pretty common with rentals. We then devised a plan that I would go skate for a while, he would watch and rest, and then we could skate some more together.

I happily took the opportunity to get some skating in for myself. When I’m coaching, I rarely get the chance to do any spins or jumps before or after the session so it felt so good to do some of these things on my own. Whenever I go skating at a public rink, I’m always so flattered by the people who stop to watch me do my thang. I was greeted to some applause after I pulled out of a spin and many a “good jobs”, “beautiful” and “well done” throughout the hour or so on the ice. My favorite compliment came from a teenage boy who was with a group of friends who asked me if I would stay on the ice and do a show after every one exited the rink for it to get zambonied. It was definitely an unexpected and very sweet compliment, considering the boy was surrounded by his gaggle of male friends!

After a few minutes of skating on my own, I always would return back to Kyle so we could take a journey around the rink together. After a while, we both decided that it was getting cold and that we should head back home. We got off the rink and I walked while Kyle waddled back to the rental shack to take off our skates. Taking our skates off and putting our shoes on felt so good that we used the term “pillow feet” to describe the walking on air feeling!

The real question that arises from this is “did going skating with your boyfriend really happen if you don’t have pictures”? The answer is NO, so to prove the validity of this post, take a look at some cute pictures of me and Kyle. My featured image photo is my favorite picture of us!

^^^ I love us!!

So there you have it, some weekend Ice Skating Fun with my beau! We had a blast and I hope we can hit the rink again sometime soon. What is your favorite winter sport? Who has never gone ice skating before? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah