Wednesday, June 13, 2012

WILW: Monogram Madness




For this What I'm loving Wednesday I want to focus on my latest obsession. The monogram. 

Marley Lilly



Marley Lilly
etsy

Marley Lilly
etsy

Marley Lilly

Marley Lilly
 and FINALLY. I've been lusting over one of these for YEARS. It's one of those that I know I'll LOVE once I get it, but I can't quite justify the price tag. Oh well. I can still dream

marley lilly
 Also I want to give a quick (and unsolicited) shout out to one of my favorite ETSY shops. Jennifer Lauren Bijoux is a jewelry designer and helped me with all of my Christmas presents last year. As well as a few birthday presents since. I bought one of her small gold disk necklaces and I seriously wear it EVERY day. 

golden leaf and monogram

Hope y'all have a great rest of your Wednesday!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

{Beauty Tuesday} DIY Body Scrubs

First of all I want to say thank you to the wonderful Julie I just won a sweet giveaway, and I'm so excited for my sparkly earrings to get here :) Thanks love!

It's summer time and we all want that glow that comes from spending the day in the sand and surf. Since I'm beyond fair skinned I've tried to re-create the look, just from my bathroom. First I started off by thinking about what creates that glow exactly? my answer was salt, sand and sun. So what better than a DIY salt scrub and a little sunless tanner to get the job done? This is a two part project. Lets start off with the salt scrub.

I just kind of winged it, and now I'm completely obsessed and will be making these like crazy (slash I was BEYOND crazy to pay so much for those fancy scrubs from bath and body works). You need to just keep in mind this basic ratio. 2 parts grit (salt/sugar) 1 part oil.

I used a combo of sea salt, sugar and epsom salts. Each of have a slightly different size so my thought was they would combine to make a more efficient scrub. The epsom salt is definitely larger than my sea salt, so it wasn't the most gentle scrub (but I liked it). The sugar and the salt I used were pretty much the same size, but I felt that the salt dissolved a little faster than the sugar.

To mix up the scrub I simply filled a bowl with equal parts sugar, sea and epsom salts (about 1 cup). Then I added 1/2 a cup of olive oil. stir together and maybe add your favorite essential oil (I'm definitively thinking lavender, maybe lemon? the possibilities are endless). Stir it all together. bottle. and your ready to go.
via

Seriously y'all. that's its. so easy. and I was REALLY happy with my results.

*I will note that if you do not use enough oil, shaving AFTER exfoliating could potentially be painful. I say this from experience (round 2 with more oil went MUCH better)

 So now you're clean shaven on your legs. They're glowing with baby smooth skin. Now apply your favorite sunless tanner. I'm still just getting into the world of sunless tanner but I am loving this one in particular

Sublime Bronze

This one goes on dark, so you can see where you're putting it. This goes for any sunless tanning lotion but BE CAREFUL with how much your using. A little really goes a long way. You can always do two coats if  you're not happy with the results. I like this one because it doesn't get you super dark on the first application, though it's certainly build-able. One thing I don't like it that it has glitter in it. It's kind of fun for going out, but I'm more of a shower at night, sunless tan then rinse off in the morning before work. The glitter doesn't really come off that first shower though. Not so work appropriate. It's subtle enough that I'm probably the only one that notices, but still.

So there you go. Look like you just stepped off the beach (well in my case I never look like that when I get off the beach, HELLO SUNBURN) but save the cancer causing UV exposure for another time.

Now I have a question for y'all. I NEED sunless tanner recommendations! I don't like being super dark, but the Jergens daily lotion isn't fast enough for me. I'm a klutz with the sprays, so lotions or some other rub on products only please! What sunless tanners do you love/hate?

Monday, June 11, 2012

I've been doing too much shopping lately.

Yes. My wallet is a little angry at me, so after so savvy couponing/sale shopping this weekend I wanted to share with you my finds. I am going to have to take a small break from shopping for a while, so I had to make it count right?

forever 21

forever 21

the limited

the limited

the limited

forever 21
Mostly work stuff, but such is my life. I feel like in DC especially everything has to be work appropriate. Slash, my personal style has gotten far more conservative since I moved here. I used to have no problem with tight jeans, shorter dresses, lower cut tops, (still with in reason though). but now I feel like I've become paranoid. I rarely wear ANYTHING above the knee. it has to hit mid knee or it's out. I put camisoles under everything (but that is mostly due to the fact that a larger bust makes EVERYTHING look low cut). I'm far more comfortable wearing stockings/tights when I have a dress or skirt on (even in the summer), and I bring a cardigan absolutely everywhere.

Has this ever happened to you? Has your style changed dramatically since college? High School? I wonder if I'm the only one.


Sunday, June 10, 2012

Sunday Social


Happy Sunday everyone! I was super excited about Neely's new link up, so I thought I would try it out since this is the first week she's doing it! I'm not much of a weekend blogger, but I may have to start if y'all like this one


Sunday Social

This weeks Questions:

How did you come up with your blog name? I used to have a blog by the name of Georgia Girl in the District. When I made that title I was completely new to blogging and didn't have any idea anyone other than my in real life friends would read it. This time around I wanted something a little more creative. I consider myself a bit of a southern belle hence the "belle" but more than that I wanted to represent my love of politics and specifically my views as a moderate democrat. For those of you not familiar there is a group of moderate Democrats who call themselves blue dog dems. We are more fiscally conservative, socially liberal. (Think Bill Clinton). And there you have it. Blue Dog Belle. 

What is your favorite thing about blogging? I love having the creative outlet that blogging creates, but more than that I love the friends and support I get daily from all of you lovely readers!

What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now cant live without? Oh god, there's too much to count. Color blocking is a trend I can't live with out. Make up reviews, recipes, etc. NO WAIT. scratch that. I found pinterest through blogging about a year ago and I now cannot live with out it. Oh pinterest.   

Facebook or Twitter? and why? Well, I'm still kind of new on the twitter train, but I definitely check my twitter more often. 

If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be? Oh jeez. I don't even know. I've been reading Megan McCain's blog for years and I kind of love her.  

What is something you want people to know about your blog? Hmm... that's kind of a hard one. I feel like my blog is pretty self explanitory. I guess I would want people to know that this is just an expression of me and everything I love. I'm not pretending to be something I'm not. I don't claim to be a fashion or make-up guru, but I do love both those things, so the opinions expressed on the blog really are just my own.

Hope y'all have a great rest of your weekend. I'm off to do some chores before settling down for the SEASON FINALE of MAD MEN tonight. so sad. Oh yeah, and Real Housewives of New Jersey, can't wait for that wedding!


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