2021 Book Haul and Reading Challenge

2020 was a shit show. We all know it. I took a hiatus, but black lives matter and we need to fight for what is right, always. I don't honestly have a reasonable transition back into blogging, but please refer to my last post for how to help minorities gain and keep equal rights, as it always should have been. I'd like to start out 2021 with my own reading goals, which in the light of everything sounds incredibly selfish. Human rights are the forefront!

These are my book hauls recently. In an effort to help someone other than Bezos, I'm linking to Thriftbooks instead, and while they're still a large company, it is hard to find an independent book seller to link to that keeps a large stock. However, I encourage everyone to support their local independent bookstores.

You've Got to Have Balls to Make it in this League: My Life as an Umpire by Pam Postema and Gene Wojciechowski // Of course I bought Pam's book, as she's a baseball umpire.

Lost Ballparks: A Celebration of Baseball's Legendary Fields by Lawrence S. Ritter // I love reading about baseball history and snagged this at 2nd & Charles for a song.

Why is the Foul Pole Fair? by Vince Staten // Also as an umpire, I like anything to do with the game of baseball itself.

1941: The Greatest Year in Sports by Mike Vaccaro // This has a few stories in it that I thought sounded really interesting.

Death Row All Stars : A Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder by Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss // True crime and baseball?? Immediately grabbed this when I saw it.

Center Field on Fire: An Umpire's Life with Pine Tar Bats, Spitballs, and Corked Personalities by Dave Phillips // Another umpire book. I can't stop.

Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey into the Heart of Cuban Sports by S. L. Price // This looked like a really interesting read.

As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires by Bruce Weber // Do I even need to explain? Haha.

The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci // I'm a huge Yankees fan and was excited to see this!

Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About Baseball is Wrong by The Baseball Prospectus Team of Experts // Again, I love everything to do with the game of baseball.

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King // I liked this movie and finally got around to ordering the book. It's rare for me to find some of King's work I haven't read, but I'm excited to start this one.

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer // I've come across this child abuse case several time in my Wikipedia rabbit holes and ordered the book.

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo // Educating yourself is an important step in making the world equal for all.

Most Wanted: A History of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List by Mark Sabljak and Martin H. Greenberg // True crime junkie over here.

Melissa Explains It All by Melissa Joan Hart // Last summer during my brief unemployment stint, I rewatched the 90s Sabrina the Teenage Witch and ordered this one.

The last several years I have failed to meet my reading goal on Goodreads. I've read a lot of books, but fell short of my goals. This year, I fully intend to meet my goal of 50 books! If we're not friends on GR, add me!

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

marshall's mini cruelty free haul

I stopped at Marshall's one day after work to pick up another dog bed for Tucker and perused the cosmetics aisle for a bit. Stores like Marshall's can have some really awesome finds, but you have to be careful and make sure the beauty products haven't been opened or swatched (because ew). I lucked out and picked up this Too Faced Melted Latex liquid lipstick in Hopeless Romantic for $5.99 and a Pacifica Cactus Revive Milk to Foam Face Wash for $4.99.

This lipstick is a gorgeous color and from how it performed on my arm, it has staying power. I had to use a lip color remover* to get it off completely after smearing it all over the place. It'll be a nice muted color for the office. I think the Latex line might be phasing out and the cleanser is discontinued, so snag the lipstick while you can!

Found anything good lately? ♥


frugal bandit blog | my poshmark closet | shop leggings | shop my mercari

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

target clearance haul // cruelty free beauty

 Who doesn't love clearance scores?? While waiting for the pharmacy to open one Sunday I wandered around the cosmetics aisles of Target. I typically avoid these because I have so many products and I'm supposed to be on a no buy. Well...I broke it a little. Here's what I scored!

 I love Pacifica's products and picked up their Mineral SPF Body Butter in Blood Orange for only $4.18! It's regularly $14. This will come in handy for the baseball season. I snap up cheap sunscreen whenever I can! The Wet n Wild ColorIcon Blush in Mellow Wine was the first item I found in a bin on an endcap for only $2.08, which isn't a far cry from it's original price but I take what I can get. I snagged the little Soap & Glory Peach Pout Completely Balmy Lipstick in Peach Ball for only $4.98 with an additional 25% off via Cartwheel. The last item is Profusion Cosmetics Smoky Eyes Palette for a mere $3.48! 

 The colors in this are right up my alley. I've been trying to get away from just brown looks, so I'm hoping to incorporate the grays and blues and blacks of this palette.

I love anything peach related and this lipstick doesn't disappoint! It's a pretty peachy color that isn't too overpowering and perfect for the office.

What have you scored lately? ♥


frugal bandit blog | my poshmark closet | shop leggings | shop my mercari

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lucky bandit is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links and paid advertisements. I may earn compensation for a click or purchase through a link. Paid (whether via product or monetary) reviews will be noted in the actual post. Though compensation may influence the type of posts, all opinions and reviews will be legitimate and honest.

*All affiliate links will be marked with an asterick.*

latest thrift finds // tn

While out in Tennessee, I stopped by a local Goodwill. I'm pretty far from a major city so thrifting can be hit or miss out here, but I did find some neat things! The black checked shirt dress is from Old Navy and will work nicely with a pair of red flats. That little sweater is going to be adorable with dark wash jeans and boots this holiday season, and the full skirt is vintage with such a great print. I can't wait to wear it to the office with black pumps and a blush top. And if you ask Jess, I'm obsessed with tiny things, hence the little nesting baskets. They'll go nicely with my tiny lazy susan.

Have you found anything interesting while thrifting lately? Drop your links in the comments! ♥

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pacifica // crystal punk holographic mineral lip gloss

I found one! It's Pacifica's Crystal Punk Holographic Mineral Lip Gloss*. The one I ordered is called Cosmos and it's a sheer silver/blue top coat like gloss. Cosmos isn't the only color available, there's also the pinkish Spaced Out and a peachy Halo. Of course it's Pacifica brand, so it's cruelty free and 100% vegan. The great thing about this gloss is that is has a couple oils as ingredients; safflower, rose seed, and jojoba!

I'm excited to work this into my regular makeup routine!

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pacifica haul

During the 21 Days of Beauty at Ulta, I stocked up on some new Pacifica products when there was a gift with purchase.

I'd really wanted their banana lip balm but it was sold out online, so I picked up a tube of Lips Like Sugar* in Candied Lemon, which is a sugar lip scrub in tube form. The Indian Coconut Nectar Hair and Body Mist* is something new I wanted to try since I love that scent. Along with those I picked up two masks: the Energized Glow Turmeric Spice* and the Stress Rehab Coconut and Caffeine*. They were buy one get one half off, so I got them fairly cheap.

The free gift with purchase was a a sample sizing of the Crystal Melon Makeup Remover Wipes* and a mini body butter in the Hawaiian Ruby Guava* scent. I love the mini body butters for my desk drawer at work.

My favorite thing about Pacifica is how the whole brand is cruelty free and every single item is vegan. It's so easy to shop with them!

What did you score during Ulta's big sale? Drop links in the comments! ♥

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book haul // i actually bought new books

This is a pretty groundbreaking post in the book talk category - all of these books were bought brand new. Very rarely do I ever buy new books, but in my defense, I didn't pay retail for any of these. I've been reading like crazy this year so my interest in books has been renewed.

I picked up If the Allies had Fallen on a whim while browsing Barnes & Noble. They usually have a great selection of WWII books in their bargain section. That same trip I picked up Matt Bellassai's Everything is Awful, which I'd been pining over since I started listening to his podcast. I scored it for half off since it had just left the new release table.

Leah Remini's Troublemaker was an order from Books-a-Million with a gift card from Christmas. I've always been morbidly interested in Scientology and I've wanted to get my hands on this for a long time since I'm a big fan of Remini. How Not to Kill Your Houseplants was an Amazon purchase since the reviews were good and I've recently really gotten into houseplants.

Lastly, K picked me up Gizelle's Bucket List by Lauren Fern Watt from the airport one night when I was on my way to get him. (What's better than a man that buys you books?? Nothing.) It's almost guaranteed to make me cry, but it looks really good!

And there we go! I'm super excited to get started on all of these. If you haven't already, add me as a friend on Goodreads! I love seeing what other folks are reading.

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pacifica // rollerball fragrance trio

My mom is an amazing deal finder and an amazing stocking stuffer. I opened this trio of Pacifica rollerball fragrances* and was ecstatic! The Indian Coconut Nectar scent is one of my favorites. Tahitian Gardenia and Sugared Amber Dreams are both going to be perfect for the office.

I especially love Pacifica because their entire line is cruelty free and vegan, so there's no label reading to be had! Pacifica is also sold at a wide variety of stores including Target, so it's easily found and has a great price point.

Definitely check them out!

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mini Sephora haul

This is a super small Sephora haul because I'm still trying to use up the massive amount of beauty products I have, but I couldn't pass up the birthday gift and a points redemption! I chose the Tarte set, which includes the Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint* in Birthday Suit and the Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush* in Paaarty. I'm not a huge blush fan, but my face does look better with it so I thought I'd start somewhere.

Since I'd racked up some points, I redeemed some for the drybar Triple Sec 3-in-1* dry shampoo. I don't wash my hair every day and it normally handles that well, but I've wanted to start using a dry shampoo for a little boost, so I snagged this one.

This will probably be the last of the beauty supplies I buy for a while, but at least it was a fun, frugal haul. ♥

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Toadily Candles & Soaps haul

While out visiting my mother for our Christmas, we stopped in downtown Morristown and I picked up a few things at Toadily Candles & Soap, an adorable little shop with a penny tiled entryway and a giant toad in store!





All of their candles were half off, so I snagged a Toadily Cantaloupe jarred candle. It smells amazing!





I couldn't decide on a full-size bath bomb, so I picked up a couple small samples to try, in Basil, Sage, and Mint and Just Peachy, along with an aromatherapy shower tab in Wake Up and Start the Day.



While at the register I spied their Pure Vegan lip balm and since I'm a total sucker for lip balm, I brought home one of those, too!

If you're in the area or just love bath products, Toadily is cruelty free and lots of products are vegan. Check them out!

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Pacifica cruelty free & vegan stocking stuffers

My mom is brilliant at paying attentions to things I talk, blog, and text about and in turn saving those little tidbits throughout the year. She picked up these two stocking stuffers for me from Pacifica and they're perfect!





I haven't yet tried the body butters Pacifica offers, but the Indian Coconut Nectar is my favorite scent they offer. Of course I can always use makeup wipes, and being cruelty free and vegan don't hurt! I've tried their Super Detox wipes and they worked well, so I'm looking forward to these.

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mini haul from tn

While out in Tennessee, we may have done a lot of shopping, but most of it was for gift giving. However, I did pick up some clothes I'd had on my "to find" list and a few odds and ends.

Did you know if you sign up for the Eddie Bauer Adventure Rewards they send you a $10 certificate every so often that you can use on anything? We stopped by the outlets and everything in the store was half off, so I scored two Stasher Totes for only $2 and some change. I love little collapsible bags I can put in my purse, so I'm glad we stopped there.

We stopped by Ulta and while I had a few gifts in mind, I picked up Tree Hut's Passion Fruit and Guava Shea Sugar Scrub. I'm a sucker for anything passion fruit and I've really gotten into scrubs lately. My e.l.f. powder is panned so I thought I'd try the Essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder for a change. I've already cracked it open and I like it so far.

The In Vitamin Activated Charcoal Tooth Powder is something I've wanted to try but didn't want to order, so I snatched it up at a hefty discount at TJ Maxx. I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm excited to try all of these!


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ulta birthday haul!

For my birthday I received all kinds of glorious things (including a pair of Ray-Bans!) and an Ulta giftcard. Well, while out in Tennessee my mom wanted to go by Ulta, so I picked up some things I'd been wanting for a while.

Pacifica Cactus Water Micellar Cleansing Tonic // I've been wanting to try a micellar cleanser for forever and though the Garnier version is super popular on the beauty blogs, it's not cruelty free. However, Pacifica's is both cruelty free AND vegan! I kept looking at this every time I'd go in Ulta but never made the leap - until now!

The Body Shop Blemish Fade Night Lotion // This was, admittedly, an impluse buy. I have trouble with dark spots from blemishes on my face, I've heard good things about The Body Shop's Tea Tree line, so I'm hoping this works as promised.

Nip + Fab Viper Venom Micro Blur Fix // I've already opened this and used it and I love it so far. I can see a difference already in oil control and it's tacky enough to use as a primer to keep foundation in place.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Whiskey // My current eyeliner is on it's last leg so I decided to splurge a bit and grab this pencil from Urban Decay. I was swatching all over the place trying to find a dark brown color that I liked and I settled on Whiskey.

Real Techniques Brushes - Lash/Brow Groomer and Expert Face Brush // The lash brush purchase stemmed from my horrid application of mascara that morning and resulting in appearing to only have five extra large eyelashes on my right eye. It was great. Since the Real Technique brushes were buy one, get one 50% off, I picked up the Expert Face Brush since I've been looking to try out different kinds to apply foundation. I've tried it and so far it is fabulous.

What's the last thing you got at Ulta? ♥

iHerb mini haul

I recently discovered iHerb and I was amazed at the massive selection! There's tons of natural, organic, cruelty free, and/or vegan items! I didn't start shopping with anything specific in mind, so I didn't order a ton of stuff. However, I did order some things I'd never heard of or had been on my list of "things to get eventually".

Source Naturals Vegan True Melatonin // I've had trouble sleeping for what seems like forever. I'm tired of taking sleep aids (which are basically Benadryl), so I'm going to give melatonin a try.

Merry Hempsters Vegan Spearmint Lip Balm // Since I announced that I've been having trouble finding vegan lip balm (I swear there isn't any in any stores near me), I've kind of gone on a lip balm buying rampage. So far, though, I really like this! It's minty but not overly so, and it soaks in well and stays put.

TheraNeem Naturals Lotion // I need more lotion like I need a hole in the head, but at $1.20 for the bottle, I couldn't help but give it a try.

If you've never tried iHerb, if you use the code TNZ430 at checkout, you'll get $5 off and I'll get $5! It's a win-win.

my first lush haul

Last week I had a girls' day out with Jess and went to Lush for the first time ever! I'd been eyeing a few things on the website and picked them up while I was there. Not gonna lie - I was pretty overwhelmed by the selection and could've picked up so many things. It's so nice to walk into an entire cruelty free store with so many vegan options! Here's what I brought home:

Tea Tree Water // I've seen several reviews of this on blogs and I'm hoping this will help with my oily skin!

Superbalm Scalp Treament // This was on my beauty wishlist and I can't wait to try this out.

Sex Bomb Bath Bomb // I'm not a big bath person, I prefer to shower, but I figured I should pick up a bath bomb on my first visit, and Jess said this one was really good.

I'm definitely adding to my Lush "want" list, so hopefully these work out and I can add more to my stash!