Back to School

Well... it's official. Everyone is in full swing back to school mode. This marks my third fall not buying a new wardrobe, new pencils and other school supplies. Do y'all miss that? I know I do. 

What I don't miss is dolling out hundreds of dollars for books that I don't really use. Books that I will inevitably sell back for a tiny fraction of what I paid (though don't they always promise to buy them back for more?) 

When I was an undergrad, I had a faint idea that you could rent books, but never really gave it much thought. I assumed you couldn't highlight or underline (something I often did) with out forfeiting a deposit or something. Well come to find out, I was so very wrong. 

I recently found out about Campus Book Rentals and man, do I wish I knew about it years ago. You can rent almost any book for a fraction of the cost, up to 90% less. 

 

You can highlight them, until you can't highlight anymore. You don't have to pay for any shipping. If you're worried about the time frames, don't. They have super convenient and flexible rental periods. 

If you drop a class? Don't worry. You have 30 days to return for your money back (my campus bookstore gave you until the end of drop add, can you say rip off?)

If you fall in love with a book and want to hold on to it? Not a problem, just go to your handy account, and purchase it for a fraction of the cost you would've paid. 

Now y'all know me. I don't write sponsored posts for just anyone, but Campus Book Rentals has proven to be a trustworthy company, that I thought y'all should know about. 

Even if you're not heading back to school this fall, tuck this nugget away for the future if/when you do go back to school. I know I'm stocking it away for the coming fall... law school books are expensive... from what I hear. 

If you are heading back to school today (shout out to my bff KC!) I hope y'all have a wonderful day!!!!

Note: I was compensated for this post, however all opinions are solely my own. I would never advertise any product or company I do not support. 

Come visit me at the Chocolate Mile

Hey y'all. I'm taking a full length LSAT this morning. Then treating myself to a massage this afternoon. Followed by a sinfully delicious restaurant week dinner at Cedar. 

In the meanwhile, I'm posting over at 

come visit me here. I'm talking about my struggles with food and weight... Little bit of a departure for me, but I hope y'all go read it. 

Happy Weekend :)

{Friday Cocktail} Basil Bloody Mary

Can you feel it yet? There's a change in the air. The light looks a little different. Something is coming... Fall. Do you know what the best part of fall is? FOOTBALL SEASON! and football season means lots and lots of day drinking. Morning drinking really. And this girl is not exactly one to pop open a cold beer at 8 am. I am however a big fan of a good Bloody Mary. 

Now, I know there are a lot of people out there who are not really Bloody Mary fans, but I urge you to try again. The great thing about this drink, is it is so customizable. Don't like spicy? Leave out the pepper. Love salt? Throw in more olives. You can go as light or as heavy on the vodka as you please... with out really noticing. 

A while back I got a taste of a basil bloody mary, and I've been dreaming of it ever since. The basil pairs so well the the tomato juice, and really holds up to some spice. Love it! I would definitely recommend adding it to your bloody next time your whipping up a batch.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Tomato Juice (any kind is fine)
• 3 oz Vodka (lets not drink anything that comes in a plastic bottle folks... we need to pace ourselves)
• Worcestershire 
• Bitters
• Tabasco
• Cayenne Pepper
• Basil (about a handful)
• Black Pepper
• Celery
• Ice
• Lemon wedges

Directions

In a cocktail shaker muddle the basil (reserve a few leaves for garnish), juice from lemon wedge (start with 1/8 of the lemon, add more if desired), a tsp. of Worcestershire, dash of bitters, pinch of cayenne and black pepper, and vodka. It looks gross, but keep going. Add tomato juice. Shake until your heart is content. Pour over ice. Garnish with celery and a basil leaf or two. Remember to pace yourself. 

* I don't love basil and olives together here... but that's totally my preference. Feel free to throw in a few, and maybe some horseradish, or bacon? mm or cilantro? all good options. Just have fun with it!

Either way, fall is coming, and football is right around the corner. I'm going to apologize in advance, if you're not much of a college football fan, Blue Dog Belle may be going Red and Black in the coming months, so If you get sick of me, come back in January. (Okay, okay... I'll try to keep football mentions on Monday's and Friday's)

Thursday Randoms

Hey ladies,

I've seriously been missing y'all lately. I hope you've been enjoying all the guest posts. I know I appreciate the break from daily blogging (plus I love getting to know some of my favorite ladies a little better), but I miss y'all. I miss writing, and I feel like I'm phoning it in. When I started this blog I knew it would be a time commitment, but sometimes it's really like a second job. whew. emails, comments, writing code, keeping track of a schedule? It can definitely get overwhelming at times. I know this whole LSAT thing is temporary, but man is it a lot of work. Since I haven't really updated y'all on my day to day happenings lately, I'm going to do a bit of a check in.

Trying to get in a few more fruits and veggies | Succeeding at Brunch at Matchbox

Some of the greenery in my life lately. Pretty flowers on my desk | basil on the stoop

who doesn't need georgetown cupcake in their life | latest makeup obsessions

Not that y'all are super interested in the details of my LSAT prep (though if anyone wants to talk about it/has questions, I could probably discuss the subject for hours), but I wanted to share a little bit of my progress. I'm about a month in to my class, and I hadn't really been seeing improvements in my scores. BUT I took a timed full length test on Sunday and had a wonderful 6 pt bump (You can score a 120-180, generally you need to be 150+ to get in to any school). I was so happy I literally jumped up and did a happy dance around my kitchen. not kidding. Hopefully all this hard work will pay off come test day.

It's August Recess. I forgot how awesome August in DC can be. No traffic. Recess hours for weeks on end. No mandatory fundraisers or other functions requiring appearances. Jeans whenever? I mean, I'm loving it.

I have also been craving chocolate milk like a crazy person lately. I've gone through like 4 containers of chocolate soy/almond milk in the last 2 weeks. It's kind of ridic.

sidenote--- I'm not a health freak person, but drinking milk kind of sketches me out. I've never been a big fan taste or texture wise, but I can't get over the whole drinking another animals milk... pretty sure we're the only species that does that. I don't know. I much prefer almond and soy milks. thanks.

 Oh! I won one of Fashionably Broke's giveaways--- any pair of glasses from Firmoo

what do y'all think? I'm kind of obsessed with them! I have this stupid dream of being mistaken for a hipster... and I feel that these glasses might just help this dream come to fruition.

Why I desire to be mistaken for a hipster is beyond me. I think it's probably because I'd like to blend in with the cool kids... and in my neighborhood (Bloomingdale for all you dc folk) hipsters reign supreme.

I think that's about everything happening in my life lately. I really just go to work and practice for the LSAT.

HOWEVER. I'm going to do my best to make it to Kate's big shopping event on Sunday. Let me know if you're going! If you aren't, you pretty much need to.

Now that recess is here, and I only have 2 more weeks of lsat class, I'm hoping to put a little more effort into my posts. Have some exciting things planned for you ladies, so I hope you keep coming back!

In the mean time, I'll see you for a cocktail around these parts some time tomorrow.