After you hit publish...

So I saw this on pinterest today and I just had to share it with y'all. This is a great reminder to all of us that blogging is about so much more than putting words on a page. I definitely need to focus on these steps a little more.

via

Sorry for the slow blog week over here. But I promise to be back with a Friday's Fancies Post tomorrow. Happy Thursday!

A Little Revamp

Thank you all for your sweet response to yesterday's post. I think I definitely just needed a little break from all of the craziness, so I spent the day allowing me to treat myself here and there. Cupcakes for breakfast? Sure. A latte in the afternoon? Why not. Needless to say I'm feeling much better today.

I've been reading a lot of design blogs lately, and after reading this awesome post from Allyssa I decided it was finally time to take the plunge and do a little revamping of my "about" page. My original one was thrown up kind of haphazardly more than a year ago. So I figured why not go ahead and update it?  Here's the whole shebang...

Emily: The Girl Behind the Blog

Welcome! I'm Emily, the girl behind the Blue Dog Belle blog. I am originally from Georgia where I lived the first 21 years of my life. A few months before I graduated from college, I picked up everything and moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue my dream of working in politics. 

I love all things girly and have a strange obsession with the color gray. Like any southern girl I love a good monogram and drinks in mason jars. I am a beauty junkie with a weakness for all things makeup, and I'm a huge college football fan. Throw in an infatuation with glitter and you have me in a nutshell. Want more? Quirks. Goals. Friends. Confessions. History of me. 

Washington, D.C. : The Setting

After nearly four years living in Washington, D.C. the city has really become my home. DC has a unique culture unlike any other city in the world. This is truly the epicenter for all things political, but with a diverse and youthful citizenry the life of a local is never too serious or boring. Want a little taste of what it's like to gallivant around DC? Try this. this. this. this. or this.   

Blue Dog Belle: The Name

Many a-political types aren't tuned in to the various coalitions within political parties, and that's okay. But to understand a little more about me, you need to understand what a Blue Dog is.  According to their website...

"The Blue Dog Coalition was created in 1995 to represent the commonsense middle of the Democratic Party. Blue Dogs advocate for mainstream American values, a commitment to fiscal responsibility, and a strong national defense. 

The name “Blue Dog” originates from the long-time tradition of referring to a strong Democratic Party supporter as being a “Yellow Dog Democrat,” who would, “vote for a yellow dog if it was listed on the ballot as a Democrat.” Leading up to the 1994 election the founding members of the Blue Dogs felt that they had been “choked blue” by the extremes of both political parties." 

So essentially a "Blue Dog" is a moderate Democrat. Fiscally conservative, socially liberal is what I like to think. The Belle portion comes from my desire to be a southern belle. Really I just wanted a name that would represent multiple aspects of my personality. You guys know this, but I'm a political junkie with an addiction to glitter and sparkles. For more on the meaning behind the blog read my post: here.

New Orleans: The Future

As I posted here I will be picking up my life again to move to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue my dream of going to law school. I'm both terrified and excited about this new adventure, saying goodbye to DC is much harder than I expected. Stick along for the ride though, and I'm sure we'll have tons of adventures in cajun country together. Read about my first adventure here.


And I'm back! So what do y'all think? too long? Are you annoyed by the round pictures? I hope you love it just as much as I do! Now I'm inspired to make even more changes! What should I tackle next???

Blogging Confessions

So the other day Whitney wrote this post about hiding the blog from her real life friends. As I was reading through her post I was touched, because each and every word she wrote seemed as if it was my own.

Confession time. 90% of the people in my life don't know about my blog. 

Sure my roommates know a lot about it since I'm constantly using them to help me brainstorm, edit and create content. My other two best gals both read it often (one of them has a blog herself). My Mom reads it every now and again, my sisters know about it but I doubt they've ever really looked at it, and my Dad's probably in the same boat. I've shared it with a few other close friends, but generally only after they organically found it through some form of social media.

I have so many trepidations about publicly claiming this blog. First and foremost I'm afraid of what it could do to my professional career. What do employers think about a personal blog? Y'all know I never ever talk about my job on here, and I would never do anything to compromise the company I work for. But still, an employee with a blog is a bit of a liability isn't it? In this difficult job market why would I do anything that could jeopardize myself as a potential candidate *not a candidate for political office. Don't worry, I have no plans or desire to pursue that life. But I do want a career in politics, so even if I myself am not the politician, as a staffer you're still subject some elevated scrutiny of your personal life. Is this blog a political liability? I'm gonna say no, but would an employer? I'm not so sure.

More  confessions. At times I feel very self conscious about being a blogger. 

You and I both know that blogging is about so much more than sharing what I wore today or what I did this weekend. We're all here, documenting our lives, making friends and working in this creative community that gives us so much satisfaction. Blogging has added so much to my life, and I love it dearly, but to the random facebook friend? Doesn't it still look vain? "Oh... she has a blog? and she talks about makeup and sparkly things? Hmm..." And in comes the judgement.

It's freeing not to be worried about what other people think. I can write whatever I want, no matter how stupid or frivolous. Sure we all get those negative comments that sting, but I can brush it off because at the end of the day, who cares? I never have to see them in real life. But that anxiety that comes from the fear of in real life judgment, sometimes it's just too much.

So, there you have it. I'd love to hear how you have incorporated your blog into your personal life. How do you handle sharing the blog in your real life?